Page 13 of Her Cowboy Blind Date

He shook his head. “Not in this particular situation.”

“Why not?” The wedding seemed like a big deal. If it was too complicated, he could decline the invite.

“The wedding is my buddy, Pete. We’ve been friends since high school.”

“Are you in the bridal party?” That was one way to avoid needing a plus-one.

“No. I declined Pete’s offer.”

“Why?” If they were such good friends, why wouldn’t Sam want to stand up beside Pete at the wedding?

“Pete’s brother married the girl I dated for years.”

She widened her eyes. “Let me get this straight. Your ex is now Pete’s sister-in-law.”

He slowly nodded. “We split up during spring break.”

“A few years ago, I’m guessing.” That was manageable. Time heals. At least, that was the platitude everyone had spouted at her.

“Spring break last year. They married at Thanksgiving.”

Yikes. “That’s awkward.” Who moved on that fast? She had whiplash from thinking about it.

“So everyone is telling me.”

Everyone was right. Poor guy. “What’s Cindy’s grand plan?” She could guess, but she’d rather hear from Sam.

“Cindy thinks it could be helpful if people think you and me are dating.”

Dating. That was a big leap from friends-who-hang-out. “Do you want us to date?”

He shook his head. “No, but it couldn’t hurt if people kind of made that assumption.”

A fake relationship. This was the stuff of romance novels, not real life. “Why does Cindy think I’d agree to this arrangement?”

“She said you might want to change churches, and hanging out with me could be helpful.”

“Did Cindy say why?”

“She said that’s your business.”

She nodded. “Cindy has a point.” A couple of the college guys who attended her church were misguided in their thinking. They were convinced Bek was in Gilead to find a husband and believed they were suitable candidates. In recent weeks, one of them had become more pushy in their intentions to prove their suitability, despite Bek declining every dating opportunity. Why couldn’t some men understand and accept that no means no?

“Many of the passion play volunteers attend my church. It’s only for a few months.”

“I need to think about it.” This wasn’t what she’d expected to be pondering at the end of their date.

“Can you let me know your answer on Monday?”

“Why Monday?” Did he have other candidates? That could explain his run of bad first dates.

“We’ll be at the ranch all weekend with time to figure out if this arrangement could work.”

Sam would be at the ranch?

Cindy had left out that important piece of information when she’d invited Bek. They could have avoided the whole date thing tonight. Although then she’d have missed out on a delicious hot chocolate and Sam’s company.

He was a nice guy, and he’d been honest. It would be helpful to not have to deal with unwanted male attention at church and in her classes. She needed to pray about their situation. Their weekend at the ranch would be interesting.

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