“It took you two hours to put away the horses?”
“There’s always lots of chores.” Rob sat down again.
Sunshine was shaking her head. “No, your truck was warm when we walked by. I saw steam rising from it, didn’t you, Morgan?”
“That’s right. So where were you two?” Morgan demanded.
“It wasn’t just the two of them. They said they talked to Ethan. And Jamie.” Sunshine narrowed her eyes. “What were you four up to?”
“Just…” Rob waved a hand, but couldn’t seem to come up with an answer.
Cole needed to fill the gap. “Man stuff.”
“What kind of man stuff?”
“Just… stuff.” Cole couldn’t come up with an answer, either. “You know.”
“No, I don’t. That’s why I asked.” She wasn’t going to let it go and Colt knew that every second he hesitated would make Sunshine more suspicious. He needed to say something concrete. Something that would distract her.
“Just… practicing.” Shit, that wasn’t what he meant to say.
“Practicing what?” If he’d wanted to distract her, it had worked, but not the way he wanted. She settled in, waiting to hear more.
Cole searched his mind for something—anything—to fill in that blank. Sunshine raised an eyebrow like he had when he’d grilled her. “Practicing…” His mind flipped through possibilities and discarded them one after another. Baseball? Too snowy. Archery? Ditto. What the hell were they practicing?
“Line dancing,” Rob blurted.
Cole sent his friend a disgusted look. Sunshine blinked. Then smiled a gotcha smile. Now they were well and truly trapped.
It was Morgan who spoke. “Why would you be line dancing?”
“It’s… a surprise,” Rob squeaked.
Cole wanted to bang his head against the table. Line dancing? That was the most idiotic thing he’d ever heard.
“Well, that’s pretty interesting,” Morgan said, obviously not buying it for a second. “In fact, I think you all should join our Christmas performance. You can do your dance after we play our song.”
“I… don’t think that’s a good idea.” Cole looked to Rob for help, but Rob had popped up again and was searching the refrigerator for… something. Cole didn’t know what, and he had an urge to boot his friend and slam the door shut on him. Some help he’d turned out to be.
“Too late,” Sunshine said sharply. “If we have to play, you have to dance.” She grabbed a packaged salad from the takeout bag, and sailed out of the kitchen into the living room.
“Where are you going?” Cole called after her.
“To watch TV. I’m pooped.”
“Me, too,” Morgan said. She grabbed the remainder of the fast food and followed Sunshine into the other room.
“Well, now what the hell are we going to do?” Rob asked.
There was nothing for it. “I guess we’re going to learn how to dance.”
Sunshine could barely keep her eyes open as she sat in front of the television. Her body ached from the unusual activity of working on the house, she was still hungry despite the salad she’d eaten, and she’d never felt so alienated from Cole.
This new trick he was playing cut her to the quick. Bad enough what he’d said about not wanting children. Now he was lying, too?
And he was definitely lying. Line dancing?
No way in hell. Not her fiancé. He knew the same basic set of steps it seemed everyone in the west learned as teenagers, but that was as far as he got. He sure wouldn’t spend hours with his friends coming up with a new routine.
So what was he hiding?
Or who?
Fran’s sharp features filled her mind, along with her cleavage threatening to spill out of her suit jacket. Is that where he’d gone? To see his old girlfriend?
Bitter jealousy curled its fist in her chest. He’d better not have.
She realized it had been weeks since they’d even discussed setting a date for their wedding. Had he lost interest?
She wanted to slink off to their room, but Sunshine stayed in the living room and watched show after inane show on the television, even after Morgan went to put Jack to bed and Rob followed her soon after. Cole went upstairs not long after Rob did, but Sunshine didn’t want to face him, so she stayed downstairs.
Around ten she gave up, turned off the TV and the lights and made her way carefully up to the guest room on the second floor. She’d hoped Cole would already be asleep, but a light shone under the door.
Sunshine sighed.
When she opened it, Cole was stretched out on the bed, his clothes still on. He was reading a paperback he must have found on the shelf near the window.
“I’m going to bed,” she said, and went to open her suitcase.
“Sounds good.” His voice was even, but he didn’t sound happy.
Well, neither was she.
They got ready with little more talk and slid under the bedclothes silently. Cole shut off his bedside lamp. “Night.”
“Night.”
She thought about reaching out to him. Surely one hug could make all the trouble between them disappear.
Fran’s face flashed into her mind again and she found she couldn’t do it.
She curled on her side and tried to fall asleep.
“I never in a million years thought I’d see bison in Chance Creek,” Cole said the next day, as he leaned on the fence that penned in several of the giant beasts. He’d said good-bye to Rob first thing that morning before making his way to the Mortimers’ place. He’d asked him to keep his secret. Rob had promised to do so.
“Aren’t they beautiful?” Evan Mortimer said. “Just think what it must have been like in the days when herds stretched for miles.”
“A sight to behold.”
“Bison meat is making a comeback. I supply restaurants all over Montana now. Bison aren’t nearly as hard on the environment as cattle are.”
“That’s terrific. And you said it was Jake’s idea to start a herd?”
“His wife, Hannah’s, actually. She rescued a bison that was going to be hunted.” He used finger quotations around the word. “There wasn’t any real hunting going on, though. Some guy paid a bundle to shoot it in a pen. Hannah set the animal free before that could happen.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow.” Evan chuckled. “The women around here…” He didn’t finish the thought.
Cole wished Sunshine knew more of the women in town. He was glad she’d met Autumn, Claire and Morgan, but it took more than a quick visit to make the kind of friendships women seemed to require. “You met Bella during a reality television show?”
“That’s right.” Evan looked sheepish. “I needed a wife—fast. My assistant convinced me it was a good idea.”
“Guess she was right.”
“In the end she was, but it was a hell of a fight. Bella gave me a real run for my money.” He made a face. “She ended up winning, actually. She got the money she needed to expand her veterinary practice and animal shelter and since we’ve been married, we’ve pooled our funds to do all kinds of projects together.”