A Recipe For Reunion. Vicki Essex

wasn’t usually this shallow. “How can you talk about him like some kind of...gold digger?”

      Helen gave her a pooh-pooh look. “Nice is nice, but honey sweetens the pot. I’m simply looking out for you, baby.”

      Steph glared. She grabbed her mother’s arm and tugged her into the empty den, temper reaching the boiling point. “I’ve told you, I’m not ready for a serious relationship.”

      Her mother folded her arms. “I don’t see why not. You’ve quit your job. How else are you going to fill your time?”

      Steph stared, so exasperated her mind had gone totally blank. She counted backward from five before she settled both trembling hands on her mother’s shoulders. “Mom. I’m an adult. I know you mean well, but you need to stay out of my personal life.”

      Her mother inhaled sharply. She drew herself up and lifted her soft chin high. “I’d think you’d be more grateful for all the opportunities we’ve given you.”

      Steph took two steps back, fingers curling. There was that tone again, the one everyone used to imply she was obligated to live up to their standards. She wanted to yell at her mother, but it was her father’s birthday, and she didn’t want to make a scene.

      “I can’t talk to you right now.” Before she could say anything she’d regret, she hastened out onto the back deck and dug her nails into the wood railing, suppressing the scream climbing up her throat.

      Gradually, her fury drained out of her as a damp gust of wind penetrated her dress and sapped away the heat of her anger. The lake glistened cold and silver beneath the pale orb of the sun. Its struggle to shine through the cloud cover was a flickering promise of warmer spring days ahead, but at the moment all she could see were the dirty, desolate snow drifts and ice-crusted puddles of mud.

      The door closed quietly behind her. “Everything all right?” It was Wyatt. She didn’t really want to talk to him right now, not while her mother was pushing him at her. Any indication of interest—of which she could honestly say she had little—would only encourage Helen to drag out the pageant. They’d invite him over for dinner, then force him to spend time alone with her under some pretense. It’d happened before.

      “I needed some fresh air.” She tried to keep her tone cool without being rude. He didn’t need to know about her argument with Mom. But either Wyatt didn’t get her message or was too gentlemanly to leave her alone. He pulled his sweater over his head and—good Lord, he was all muscles beneath his shirt—draped it across her shoulders. It smelled like leather and lemons.

      “Thanks.” It seemed rude to refuse it.

      Wyatt leaned against the railing. “Look, I want to apologize.”

      “For what?”

      “I think I came on too strong. To your parents.”

      Steph blinked. “I don’t understand.”

      He rubbed his chin and chuckled ruefully. “This...this is going to sound crazy.” He sucked in a breath as if steeling himself. “I’ve spent my whole life helping my folks on their ranch to the exclusion of everything else, which is how I found myself at age forty-two single and childless. I don’t mean to sound like a sad and lonely cowboy...but I haven’t gone on a lot of dates.” He peeked over at her. “This is the part where you start to get suspicious.”

      A handsome, rich cowboy like Wyatt didn’t date? “Suspicious, no. Surprised, yes.”

      “There’ve been women. Just not women I was really all that into, or who were more into my family’s money than they were into me.” He scratched the side of his nose. “When I met your parents at the country club and got to know them, they seemed like really great people. They mentioned you a lot. They didn’t know I was single at the time...but after a bit, I told them I wanted to meet you.”

      A prickly feeling climbed up her arms, as if the sweater were creeping over her skin. She furtively shrugged it off her shoulders so it clung loosely to her elbows. “Um. Okay.”

      “Look, I don’t want to sound weird. We’ve just met, but...I like you.”

      “That’s...” Clumsy words weighed down her tongue. Too many confusing thoughts assailed her, first and foremost being that this was not something she wanted to hear right now. But instead of saying so, she said, “Thank you. I like you, too.”

      Smile lines carved pleasant valleys into his sun-weathered face. “I’d like for us to get to know each other better.”

      “Oh. Well...” Her pointed words of warning to back off wouldn’t come as easily with Wyatt as they had with her mother. She knew she should tell him she wasn’t interested, but the guy was too damned nice. The worst part was that despite his other attractive qualities, nice was the only word that kept coming to mind.

      “I know I’m moving too fast.” He took a step back, hands raised. “But I’ll admit I like what I see and hear. And frankly, I’m not the kind of man who has the time or patience to play games.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Might as well go for broke.” He blew out a breath and looked her full in the face. “My parents are getting older. I’m looking for someone to settle down with, and I mean to start my family as soon as possible.”

      Steph choked on a breath she tried to inhale and swallow at the same time. She supposed she should appreciate how up-front he was being, but alarm bells sounded a warning in the back of her mind. Maybe at some other point in her life, she would have loved hearing those words, but not now and not from Wyatt.

      She coughed and cleared her throat. “Look, Wyatt...you seem like a great guy. Really.” The corners of her mouth strained as she tried to lift her lips. “But I’ve told my mother the same thing I’m going to tell you. I’m still trying to find myself. And I don’t think I can do that if I’m with another person right now.”

      “I’m not hearing an absolute no.”

      She gave him a tight smile. “I need time to figure things out for me.”

      He tilted his chin down, thinking. “All right. I’ll give you time.” He pushed off the railing and touched his forelock as if he were wearing a broad-brimmed cowboy hat. “If you wouldn’t mind some advice...?”

      Warily, she said, “Go on.”

      “They say do what you love, the rest will follow. But if that were true, I’d be sleeping and eating Wagyu beefsteaks at all hours of the day.” He chuckled. “If you want to be a success, you gotta do what you have to do before you get to do what you love. Pay your dues, as it were. It isn’t always pretty or fun, but it’ll make what you love all that much sweeter in the end.”

      He was talking about her job. It was almost a relief to hear after their intense relationship talk. He wasn’t even being condo...condescending. And his advice made sense.

      A little salt to bring out the sweetness—that was something Georgette had taught her early on when it came to baking. “Thanks. That’s helpful, actually.”

      “I’m glad. I’ll let you think about that,” he said, then flashed a grin. “But I suspect you’ll see more of me soon.”

      He went back indoors, leaving her alone on the deck once more. Steph’s chills deepened. She started to pull the sweater around her, but then stopped herself. She took it off and headed back into the party.

      The rancher was right. She had to make things happen for herself. She wasn’t going to get what she wanted by wishing for it. Everything came at a price, and she had to be willing to pay it. It looked as though she was going to have to eat crow if she was ever going to own Georgette’s.