“You think the son of horse ranchers grew up loving malls?” Anne asked.
“Good point. But it’s weird. I mean, he really loves taking me out on a Saturday to nice shops and restaurants.”
“And you?” Skye snatched the remaining piece of Sophie’s scone, then thinking better of it, tossed it back on her plate. “What would you prefer to do?”
“If I had my way, I’d order clothes out of the Penny’s catalog and spend my time riding cable cars and boats around the Bay. And picnicking in Golden Gate Park. Although now that I’m hooked on horseback riding—I’d much rather do that.”
“Have you told Alex what a good rider you are?” Skye asked.
“Not really.”
“You told him that you’ve been riding though, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“Did he want to take you out himself?”
“He’s kind of busy. But that’s okay. You’re probably a better teacher than he is anyway.”
“Are you kidding? He taught all of us kids to ride—me, Anne, Sean, Matt, every single kid in the family and even some of the kids in the neigh—”
“Oh.” Sophie understood why Skye had stopped. She wouldn’t be surprised if her tongue was bleeding. “That might explain why he doesn’t want to teach me.” Memories.
Neither Anne nor Skye responded. They just gave each other those knowing looks that Sophie was beginning to get used to.
“Are you okay?” Anne asked.
“Sure. Of course. This has been great. But now I want to hear about the two of you and men in your lives.”
“That should take all of one minute,” Anne said.
“Hey, my love life isn’t that boring,” Skye protested. “At least—hmmm—never mind.”
“Exactly,” Anne said. “Mine hasn’t exactly been boring. It’s just that none of mine last very long.”
“What’s the longest?” Sophie asked.
“That’s easy. Four months. Every four months I go out on tour, which coincidently is the time they decide to make a disappearing act.”
“That must be hard. Why do you think they can’t handle your being on tour?”
Anne shrugged and pushed her plate of tea sandwiches and scones away. “They can’t handle having to look after themselves? Being on their own for a month? Who knows?”
Skye smirked at her cousin. “Or maybe there’s another reason.”
“What’s that?” Anne asked. “Having to go for a month without sex?”
“That too. Or maybe you put out vibes that it’s over. Maybe you don’t want to settle down and if someone actually stuck around and waited for you to come back from your tour, that would mean they were serious—pretty scary thought. Maybe you even go on tour just to get rid of them.”
Sophie watched for Anne’s response which she expected to be a firm denial. Instead the corner of her mouth curved slightly upward into a guilty smile. “Smart ass,” she told her cousin.
They were silent as the server cleared away their dishes. When she was finished, Sophie asked, “What now?” She was not ready to end their time out together. She could get used to spending time with her new friends. A sense of dread washed over her as she anticipated returning to San Francisco and Alex’s business partners and friends. It seemed that with his love of entertaining, she had less and less time for casual get togethers with her own friends, fellow teachers for the most part.
“What now?” Anne repeated Sophie’s question. “Turn about is fair play. Skye’s love life.”
Sophie was relieved to be brought back to the present.
Skye leaned back in her chair. “Don’t get too excited. Unfortunately my love life is kind of boring—especially lately.”
“No cute hikers en route to or from camping?” Sophie asked.
“Or cowboys coming out to ride the trails.” Anne knew her cousin’s preference.
Skye smiled sheepishly. “Well, maybe a few. But nothing serious.”
“It’s never serious with you,” Anne said.
“Can I help it if I’m busy? Between making my jewelry and trying to market it and working at the pub, I don’t have that much time for a serious relationship.”
“Other than with your horse?” Anne sneered. “You would make time if the right guy came along.”
“Which he obviously hasn’t.”
Anne looked up at Sophie. “Skye gets bored easily.”
“Not unlike Anne,” Skye said.
“Hey, we’ve moved on to you, cuz. Besides, it’s not so much that I get bored. It’s more that I get—antsy.”
Sophie and Skye laughed. “Same thing.”
Anne grinned. “Not quite. I stick with a guy for a few months at a time. Skye is more a one-weekend kind of woman. Or less.”
Sophie looked over at Skye to see if she concurred. She shrugged. “In other words, you’ll probably never settle down.”
“I don’t know about that,” Anne said. “She just has to find a man who can handle her.”
“Like that will ever happen,” Skye said. “Besides, I’m not the marrying kind, so it really doesn’t matter.”
A warmth spread over Sophie like a comforting shawl. She really did not want this evening to end. She didn’t want this vacation to end. She wanted to take Anne’s classes and watch her teach and dance. She wanted to watch Skye make jewelry and help her when allowed. She wanted to meet the men who came and went from their lives. She wanted to go out to tea with them and gossip. She wanted to keep helping Sean at the store and Nan and Grant at the ranch. She wanted to keep playing checkers and riding horses and making ice cream sundaes. In just one week she had fallen in love with everything about Canden Valley and the entire McCullough family. After another week of country life, she wondered if she would be able to go back to her old life. She didn’t know if she wanted to.
* * *
“Have you seen Cassie lately?” Having raised his voice over the jazz music that was getting louder as the evening grew later, Alex looked at Sean when he asked the question
“Yeah. Of course.”
“What do you mean of course?”
“I always see her when she’s in town. We’re friends, remember?”
“I remember.” The response was loaded but Sean kept his mouth in check. He did not want to bring more tension to an already strained evening. It was not what Matt had had in mind, he was sure, when he had organized this event. It had started out fine as long as they had golf balls to hit. Alex always had liked outdoing his cousins in anything that required athleticism—or anything for that matter. Not that golf was particularly athletic, Sean thought, taking a silent oath to never again attempt the game.
“How is she?”
“She’s okay.” He did not feel the need to inform him that she was far from okay, that because he and Sophie were here she was considering leaving instead of moving back permanently, and that she was still not over him after all these years. If his cousin insisted on being an insensitive oaf, that was his own damned fault. He was not going to rescue the idiot from himself yet again.
“Just okay?”
“Fine. She’s fine.”
“When did you see her last?”
“It’s none of your damned business,” almost slipped out. For Matt’s sake and in an effort to keep the family peace, he said, “Yesterday.”
“Did you—spend much time together?”
Sean tossed a handful of salted peanuts into his mouth. “A few hours maybe.” He didn’t know why he’d done that. It had been a few minutes, not hours. But it was too late to take it back, he decided happily. Let the idiot think what he wants. And he had to admit, he was taking some sadistic pleasure in his cousin’s pain.
“Let’s order some food.” Matt was anxious to put an end to the subject of this conversation. “I’m starving and I think we need something a little more substantial than peanuts.”
“What were you and Cassie doing?” Alex asked Sean, ignoring Matt.
Sean t
urned his attention from the gyrating bodies on the dance floor to his cousin. “Why do you care?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t. Just curious.”
Like hell, Sean thought. It sure was interesting that his engaged cousin was far more upset that he had spent a supposed few hours with his ex-girlfriend than he was about the long days he was spending with his fiancée.
“Okay, we’re done.” Anne pushed herself away from the table and stood up.
“It’s really nice here,” Sophie said.
“Yeah it is. But time to move on. How about going dancing?”
Skye pushed back her chair. “Anne never tires of dancing. You’d think after teaching and rehearsing all day, she’d want to sit with her feet up. But no, the woman is a maniac.”
Fighting back a tinge of envy, Sophie watched them as they linked arms and headed toward the door. They had grown up together, they and all their siblings and cousins. What she would have given to have even one sister or one cousin. But, she reminded herself, she’d had Arielle, her best friend. It didn’t get better than Arielle.
“Hey, come on, slow poke.” Skye turned around with her arm extended to pull Sophie into the fold.
She hurried across the room to join them. She definitely did not want to return to San Francisco. Ever.
“So where to?” Skye asked.
“What about the Dunedin Inn? We’re guaranteed to have partners there. There are always some single guys hanging around.”
“As if you needed a partner.” Skye turned to Sophie. “I’ve seen her dance by herself in the middle of a dance floor for an hour at a time.”
They climbed into Skye’s Mustang and headed for the highway. Ten minutes later they were pulling into the Dunedin Inn parking lot, alongside two very familiar trucks.
“Oh, brother,” Anne said. “When I said we were guaranteed partners, I didn’t mean them.”
“Ick,” Skye said. “Cousins? Brothers? Gross.”
“So what do we do?” Sophie asked. “Is there another place where we can dance?”
Anne and Skye smiled mischievously. “This might not be so bad,” Anne said.
“They’ll think we’re checking up on them,” Skye said.
“Exactly,” Anne said.
Sean saw them first. Actually Sean saw her first. He knew his sister and his cousin were with her, but he wasn’t looking at them. He was well aware that this was the first time since their initial meeting that he would be around both her and Alex at the same time. The thought was not appealing. It was bad enough watching them together from a distance. Having to see them up close, holding each other while they danced or worse, kissing, would be sheer hell. Maybe he’d be wise to call it a night and leave now. Alex could get a ride home with the women.
“Looks like we’ve got company,” Matt said.
“So much for getting away from the prying eyes of the McCulloughs,” Alex mumbled.
“Hey, ladies, what brings you here? Checking to see if we’re up to mischief?” Matt grabbed some chairs from the next table.
Anne sat down beside him. “We don’t need to check up on you to know that.”
“We’re here to dance. Your being here is an added detraction.” Skye gave the men a sassy scowl.
“How was the tea room?” Alex motioned for Sophie to sit beside him.
“Very nice,” she answered.
It was the most subdued Sean had ever seen her. The fact that there was no exchange of affection between the happy couple did not escape him. He looked across the table at Sophie and smiled. She smiled back but immediately the sadness returned to her eyes.
“Oooo, my kind of music,” Anne said, swaying back and forth. “Who wants to dance?” She didn’t wait for an answer before heading to the dance floor.
“All music is your kind of music,” Skye said, following her.
Sophie contemplated staying put. She really was not in the mood to dance. What had started as a lovely afternoon was turning into a less than pleasant evening. Nothing had been resolved between her and Alex. He was still upset with her for helping at the store, and she was still hurt that he wasn’t more understanding. To say nothing of her having learned the real reason for his reluctance to teach her to ride—memories—the good kind—of his ex-girlfriend.
In the end, she followed her two friends. She was not going to let her hurt feelings or his anger and moodiness get her down. It helped that Sean was there, smiling at her, in what might have been an effort to offer her the comfort and support she needed right now. How did he know?
She and Skye followed Anne’s lead, swaying and gyrating to the jazz rhythm that was infiltrating the laughter and conversations, and even her mood. It was a welcome relief and she let herself give into the music.
“Wow, she can dance,” Matt said to Alex.
“Of course she can. Sophie is amazing.” His forehead wrinkled. “But I’ve never seen her dance like that. Must be Anne and Skye’s influence. Not sure I like that skirt so much anymore,” he mumbled. “Not when she wears it out in public anyway.”
Grateful that the dance floor was directly in front of him, Sean didn’t take his eyes off her. Where the hell had she gotten that skirt, if you could call it that? It was scarcely covering her gorgeous round ass. Must have been one of Alex’s brilliant ideas. He was well aware that he was in not-so-good company as he and every man in the place stared at her. He could almost feel Skye’s slap upside the head and hear her scolding him for lusting after his cousin’s fiancée, but he didn’t care. As long as Alex didn’t notice.
When the music slowed, the women returned to the table. Anne and Skye were careful to smile at men in the crowd to let them know they were available. Sophie, on the other hand, hardly looked up from her lap.
It wasn’t long before the three women were asked to dance. Much to Sean’s surprise, Sophie did not turn to look at Alex, but instead got up and headed for the dance floor.
“What’s up with you two?” Matt asked.
“Nothing.”
“Then how’d you know I meant you and Sophie?”
Alex smirked. “We just had a—disagreement, is all.”
“About what?”
Alex glanced at Sean before answering. “Nothing.”
Sean knew exactly what nothing was. It had to do with her working at the store.
“Aren’t you going to dance with her?” Matt said.
“Not in the mood.”
“You’re okay with her dancing with some stranger who seems to think he owns her?”
Sean and Alex looked up at the dance floor at the same time. Alex snarled and shook his head and started to get up.
“No fights,” Matt said.
Alex headed for the dance floor and smiling, cut in on the couple. The guy was smart enough to know better than to mess with someone at least thirty pounds heavier and who happened to be sitting with two other men of at least equal size and build.
But after a minute, he left Sophie standing in the middle of the dance floor and sat back down.
“What is wrong with you?” Matt asked.
“I told you I’m not in the mood to dance. I only went up there to get that jerk away from her.”
“So why’s she up there alone?”
“Because she refused to come sit with me.”
“Looks like you might have to run interference again.” Sean nodded toward two men who were headed directly for Sophie.
“Shit.”
“I’ll do it,” Sean said, undoubtedly a little too enthusiastically as he made his way across the dance floor, stepping in between the two men and Sophie. “Sorry, gentlemen. She’s taken.”
Sophie sighed with relief as Sean pulled her gently into his arms.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Fine.”
“Liar.”
She laughed despite her mood. “It’s nothing, really.”
“It’s just Alex being a jerk? About your working at the store?”
“How did yo
u know?”
“I’m just smart that way, I guess.”
“Thanks for rescuing me, Sean.”
“Happy to do it.” Happier than he wanted to admit. Aware that Alex was just a few feet away, he pulled back slightly from Sophie, but when he looked over at the table, Alex was not even looking in their direction.
They danced through three songs with hardly a word spoken. All he could think about was how soft and warm her hands were wrapped in his, and how incredible her hair smelled. Coconut, he decided. He wanted to pull her closer and inhale her scent. Hell, he wanted to pull her closer and swallow her up in his lovemaking. A fast song would help about now, he thought, but no such luck. He would have to draw on all his willpower and restraint which was quickly dwindling.
“I’m going to have to go to Rhode Island for a couple days, Soph. See if I can establish a paper trail,” he told her. Anything to get his mind off the feel of her in his arms. And the image forever imprinted on his memory of those gorgeous legs extending below that skimpy skirt.
“When?”
“I’ll leave on Monday.” As much as he hated to leave while Sophie was still in Canden Valley and miss time he could be spending with her, he wanted to do this for her. He had to do this for her.
“I can’t ask you to do that, Sean. That’s too much.”
“I want to,” he told her.
“Why?”
“It’s important to you.”
Sophie felt her knees go weak as she looked into his eyes that were bluer than the ocean and deeper as well. She fought the sensation that was running up and down her body, sending chills every which way. Clearing her throat, she said softly, “Thank you, Sean. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”
He desperately wanted to kiss her, to let his mouth cover hers. Or at least sink his face into her soft curls so he could inhale her. Instead he gave her a smile that said it all, if only she could hear it. “Yeah, Soph, I think I do.”
Chapter 13
It was their first fight. Because it was the unspoken words that were more disturbing than the spoken ones, she would not have thought it constituted a fight. Except that he was not there in the morning. And they had been dishonest with each other for the first time in their relationship. Not exactly dishonest, she could argue. They had both failed to divulge information to the other. She, about her actions. He, about his feelings.
Summer Day Dreams Page 14
