Page 10 of What the Cowboy Wants
Molly did something with her eyes and, stunned, Rose laughed.If it hadn’t sounded so preposterous, she could’ve sworn Molly had just rolled her eyes.Hugging the dog, she walked down the corridor toward her bedroom.
She was going to miss her so much, but it was time to take control of her life again, time to tell her friends what had happened, time to stop licking her wounds.
Since she’d arrived in Marietta, she’d felt so sorry for herself, she’d been hiding away in the house, wallowing in self-pity and if it hadn’t been for the wonderful friends she’d met on that first night she’d arrived in town, who had kept in touch in spite of all her efforts to ignore them, she would probably still be a mess.
At least she wasn’t as stunned as she’d been when she’d gotten in her car all those months ago and drove away from Seattle, from her life, her boyfriend—okay, the man she’d thought was her boyfriend—her thousands of followers, all the advertisers and their constant demands on her time.
Her future was still very unclear.At this point she wasn’t certain about much, but what she did know was that she was never going back to the life she’d left behind.She’d been a damn good interior designer.That was what she was going to do again.Making people happy and creating beautiful spaces where people felt welcome and safe had always given her such a thrill.For a while, she’d forgotten her purpose—or rather, her purpose had been so skewed, she couldn’t even see it.
And maybe, when she kept busy, she could put Cooper Weston out of her mind.
Taking out her phone, she inhaled deeply.She also knew it was time to tell her friends how she’d ended up in Marietta.The stories about her flying around town were becoming more ridiculous by the day.While working in the yarn shop, she’d heard the different variations of why she was in Marietta from various members of the town’s gossip mill.
Now she finally had a plan for her future, she wanted to tell her friends what had brought her here.Tuesday was too far away, fingers crossed they could all see her after work on Friday.
*
Thursday lunchtime, Cooperwas still at the table having lunch when Willow strolled in.The whole family usually have their meals in Hayden’s home.
“Late again?You’ll have to talk to Hunter at some point,” Becket said with a chuckle.
Cooper swallowed his smile.Willow only showed up for meals lately, if she showed up at all, after Hunter Grant had left the table.
The tall cowboy had joined the Weston Ranch when Becket had stepped away from the day-to-day work on the ranch.Hunter had also moved into one of the houses on the ranch, a fact that irritated Willow no end.Maybe because he’d moved into their brother, Walker’s, house.Or rather, the house that Walker had lived in before that fateful night they’d lost him.
“I still don’t understand why you’ve hired him.”Willow was clearly irritated.“There are so many other people you could’ve asked to join the team on the ranch.It’s bad enough that he works here, but why does he have to live on the ranch and eat with us?”
Hayden who was still sitting at the table, grinned.“You know why.”He turned to Cooper.“Coop, I’m glad you’re also here.I’ve been thinking.I’m very pleased to have Hunter Grant work for us.It’s great having an extra set of hands, but we know he has a ranch in Colorado and at some point he’ll want to go back.I don’t know when, but we need more help, even now.I have also been considering buying more land.That got me thinking—shouldn’t we talk to our cousins Dylan and Carson?The Grayson Ranch and this one used to be one ranch before Dad and Uncle Grayson got into a fight.I’m hoping our cousins would be open to discuss managing both ranches as one again.Both Dad and Uncle Grayson are buried and hopefully, so is the reason why they were so angry they never spoke to each other again.They are Westons, they are family, and the fact that we have no contact, has been bothering me for a while now.”
Cooper stared at his older brother.This explained Hayden’s preoccupation over the last few days.
“I like the idea,” Becket, Cooper’s second oldest brother said.“Have you spoken to Mom?She never talks about Uncle Grayson or his family, and as far as I know, she’s never mentioned what their fight was about.She only told us once about the family feud when we asked why we don’t see our cousins.”
Hayden nodded.“No, but I will talk to her.I wanted to ask you all about it first.”
“I don’t have a problem,” Cooper said.
“Neither do I,” said Becket.“I’ve often spoken to them during the years I was still footloose before I had a wife.”Grinning, he touched Ellie’s hand.“They also had no idea why the brothers weren’t talking to each other.I like both of them.Willow?”
“Interesting,” Willow said.“I have no problem either, but you should talk to Mom.She might know something we don’t.I also can’t remember Mom or Dad ever talking about it.”
Hayden moved to get up.“Okay, great.I’ll talk to Mom.”
Ellie, Becket’s wife of only a few months, leaned forward.“Willow, you’ve been so busy, I’m so glad you’re here today.You look gorgeous as always.I’m so sorry I missed Rose yesterday, but it was my turn in the yarn shop.Did you two have a nice time?”
“We did, thanks, but she had an accident as she left.Hasn’t Coop told you about it?”
“Oh no!”Ellie exclaimed, turning toward Cooper.“Why haven’t you said anything?”
Willow’s eyes met his.She grinned.“Yes, Cooper, why haven’t you said anything?”
Cooper quickly dropped his eyes.As he very well knew, his sister saw way too much.“She swerved for a stray animal in the road and her car ended up in a ditch.We had dinner, I took her home.”
By the time he’d finished talking, Ellie’s jaw had dropped.“You had dinner?You took her home?She let you do all that?We’ve been trying for months to invite her for coffee, for dinner, but she’d always declined.I was so pleased when she finally agreed to join the book club.”
Shrugging, he got up.“She’ll have her car back today.”With a wave, he left.
Ellie’s voice reached him as he walked away.
