Page 43 of Head Over Spurs

Distracted, she nearly missed the way he leaned in for another piece of the sweet treat.

“I said a taste.” She swiftly pulled it back away.

“I can make it worth your while,” he offered with an amused grin.

“That I believe.”

The sound of tires crunching on the rough drive grewnearer. Stealing another glance, she tried to make out the shape of the driver. It appeared to be a woman of pale complexion with light-colored hair. Same as hers. Same as her mother’s.

“Do you normally see this car around here?”

“Actually.” He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, a slight tilt to his head. “This is the first time.”

“Oh my…”

Jules could see her clearly now. Francine Graham in the flesh. But how?

She sucked in a breath as her mom parked before them, pushing open her door and gracefully stepping down to the dirt below.

“I’m guessing you’re familiar with her?” Riley offered. His eyes darted back and forth, cataloging the similarities in their appearances.

“Riley, please meetmy mother, Francine.”

Surprise flashed across his face for a split second. To his credit, he recovered quickly. Far quicker than she was managing.

“Hi there, Jules. And, Riley, was it?” her mom greeted them calmly. As if it was completely natural for her to hunt Jules down and show up unannounced.

“Yes, nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Confusion gave way to curiosity. “What did you—how are you?” She couldn’t decide what to focus on first. Jules hadn’t heard from her mother since she landed in the States and received aglad you had a safe triptext message. She certainly hadn’t told her mother that she was coming to Sterling Ridge. She wasn’t even sure her mother had been in Denver at the time.

“How did I find you? Social media, darling. You forget that I follow Maddie. That rodeo looked fun.”

Hearing her mom’s reasoning, it really wasn’t a huge leapthat she found her. Her eyes drifted over to Riley and she shifted in her seat on his tailgate. He seemed perfectly at ease despite the dysfunction on display. She envied his ability to be laid back in any situation, and wondered if it was genuine.

“What time are you done here today? I was hoping we could have dinner.”

Jules bit her lip through a frown. “You could have called to plan something.”

Francine’s delicate laugh drifted through the air. “Please, I’m your mother! And you have to eat dinner at some point, don’t you? I thought I’d explore this cute little town until you are ready.”

“Yeah, okay,” she replied, ruing the fatigue still fogging her brain. Not a single excuse was coming to mind. “Let’s do dinner.”

“Wonderful.” Her mother clapped her hands together before turning for her SUV once again. Climbing back inside, she offered a wave and turned the vehicle around, heading back down the drive.

“Wow,” Jules pondered aloud. “What just happened?”

“Is it safe to assume that this isn’t typical?”

“It is very safe to assume that.”

He nodded, his thumb rubbing across the corner of his mustache. “And your family didn’t know you were here?”

“Oh, you caught that.” She dropped her attention to the cinnamon roll, ripping off a bite for herself. Of course he did because he didn’t miss anything. “I wasn’t trying to hide it. But my dad is always so busy, he barely looked up when I went by to tell him. Then he assumed I was headed to Argentina now, so I didn’t correct him.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t even sure my mom was around. After she left my dad, she kind of just disappeared altogether.”

He shifted on the tailgate to face her. “She left you too.”

“I guess.” She pursed her lips and glanced up at him. “It was like she just didn’t want to deal with the mess of it all. My father’s withdrawal from their relationship, his grief. My grief.”

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