“So I guess this means your trip is canceled,” Katherine said.
“Yes.” I sighed. “I’ll call Londyn later and tell her.”
“She won’t care.”
“I know. It’s just disappointing.” I’d been looking forward to the trip, not only to find Karson, but because Easton would be going with me.
When—if—I decided to see my mother, I wouldn’t have had to face her alone.
I shrugged. “Eventually, we’ll go.”
It would be after the baby was born, and after the wedding we’d planned for next June. Maybe this road trip to California could be part of our honeymoon.
Carol, Liddy and Katherine had thrown themselves into the wedding planning. The four of us met each Sunday to go through bridal magazines and talk about ideas. They were anxious to make me an official Greer, though I didn’t need the last name to feel a part of this family. Every day that went by, those roots grew deeper.
I’d been dealt a miserable set of cards for the first part of my life, but now I was getting straight aces.
“Can I help with dinner?” I asked, practically begging not to have to sit here while people waited on me.
Carol scoffed. Liddy gave me a sweet smile while shaking her head. Katherine hid her laugh in a glass of wine.
“Activity restrictions,” I muttered. “This sucks.”
And if I knew Easton, he was outside right now talking to his grandfather, father and brother about how to cut my hours at the training facility.
The expansion was in full swing on the new property, with Cash taking the lead. We’d planned to take the trip to California in a few weeks because it would be before the construction crew broke ground on the stables at the new training facility.
Once construction started, I didn’t want to miss a minute, especially after contributing a million dollars to the project. It was the first of three major investments I’d made in the past six months, though with the other two I truly was silent.
One was a women’s shelter in California for women who’d escaped their nightmares. Dr. Brewer had recommended the organization to me and they’d been thrilled to welcome me aboard. The other was a national children’s organization that focused on serving runaway kids. I’d been happy to give them large sums of money and let them run with the dollars.
Benjamin had been more than happy to take them under his wing so I could concentrate on activities in Montana.
The expansion would be time consuming for us all to get it off the ground, though particularly so for Cash and me. Easton thought the expansion was part of my elevated stress levels. He wasn’t entirely wrong.
If they voted to have me station the lodge’s front desk again, I was moving back to the cabin.
Not long after Christmas, the time spent planning the training facility had ramped up. On top of the already busy resort and ranch activities, Easton and Cash had struggled to keep up with the emails and phone calls and general office work.
Enter me.
I loved barking orders and making decisions and as it turned out, my entrepreneurial expertise came in handy, so I’d been promoted from silent investor to joint director of operations. Cash and I were working together to get the breeding and training facility open. We were having a blast, though the hours had been demanding.
Maybe too demanding.
But it was hard to slow down when everyone was so excited. When I was excited. This was more than just my new job. This was more than turning a profit. This was about building a legacy for my son.
“Promise you won’t make me sit at the front—” Before I could get Katherine on my side in this inevitable war about what was best for Gemma, the doorbell rang.
“Who could that be?” Carol stood from the table, but before she could take a step, Cash flew inside.
“I got it. I got it. I got it.” He waved us all back into our seats and rushed to the door. He swung it open and a female voice floated through the air.
My stomach dropped and I turned to Katherine, seeing all the blood drain from her face as Cash escorted a pretty blonde into the house.
Holding her hand.
No. Cash, you idiot.
Katherine’s eyes were glued to their linked hands. She studied them for a long moment as Carol and Liddy greeted the guest, surprised as we were by the addition.
“You guys remember Dany?” Cash asked, getting nods.
“Hey, Kat.” Dany waved.
“Hey.” Katherine forced a smile but it didn’t reach her eyes.
I stood, using my growing belly to block out Katherine and give her a chance to recover. “Hey, Dany. I’m Gemma. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
I let go of her hand just as Easton came inside carrying a platter of burgers.
He saved me from making small talk and with everyone clustered around the table, fixing their burgers and diving into the meal, it allowed Katherine time to pretend this wasn’t killing her.
I loved Cash. We’d gotten to know each other these past six months and he was genuinely a good man, like his brother. But for fuck’s sake, he was stupid when it came to women.
What on earth had possessed him to bring a woman tonight? Who was this Dany? And when had they started dating? The two of them sat side by side at the dinner table, whispering and canoodling and annoying the hell out of the rest of us.
I nudged Easton’s elbow with my own, then shot him a silent question. Had he known about this?
He shook his head, as shocked as the rest of us.
The minute her burger was done, Katherine took her plate to the kitchen without a word. I stood to follow.
“Leave your plate,” Carol said.
“It’s an empty plate.” I ignored her and found Katherine in the kitchen, refilling her glass of wine. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“I take it this was a surprise.”
She nodded and gulped her wine.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Liar.”
Katherine hung her head. “I’m so stupid. I mean, I knew this would happen eventually. I just hoped . . .”
That Cash would love her, like she loved him.
“I can’t keep doing this,” she whispered. “Waiting. I need—I don’t know what I need.”
“A vacation.” An idea sparked.
It happened to me every so often—where something hit me with such force that I knew instantly it would be brilliant. Like the time I’d sunk an entire year’s profit at Gemma Lane into development of an organic, eco-friendly skin care line. It had paid off tenfold within thirteen months.
“I don’t have time for a vacation,” she said.
“You need to make time. Get away from here. Get away from him. Carol and Liddy and JR will cover for you. Let your heart heal a little bit.”
Her eyes tracked to the dining room where Dany had said something to make Cash burst out laughing. “Where would I go?”
“Drive the Cadillac to California.”
“No,” she said instantly. “I’m never going back there.”
I didn’t blame her for that. “Then how about, um . . .” I snapped my fingers. “Oregon.”
“What’s in Oregon?” she asked.
“Not what, but who.” I smiled. “Aria.”