“There’s nothing to tell,” Lauren said. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Emma’s gaze suddenly shifted away. “Hmm? Could this be the man in question coming our way? Maybe he’ll be more talkative.”
Lauren spun around and shot a warning look in Wade’s direction. “Stay away,” she shouted.
He regarded her with confusion. “Why?”
“Because Emma has questions, and she’s a seasoned trial attorney. She’ll grill you until you tell her what she wants to know.”
She should have guessed that that was the exact wrong thing to say. Wade hesitated, then closed the distance despite her warning. If anything, he looked intrigued.
“I have nothing to hide,” he said. “What’s the crime?”
“No crime,” Lauren said, resigned to the inevitable. “Emma has heard things about the two of us.”
Wade looked nonplussed by that, but he was too close now to turn tail and run. Not that he would have, anyway, she realized. He’d already done his part at Stella’s to keep the talk alive. He was clearly enjoying either her discomfort or being the center of attention himself.
“Fascinating,” he said now. “According to these reports, was I any good?”
Emma shifted her gaze to Lauren. “Now that is fascinating. My sources didn’t seem to know that things had gone that far.”
“Things, as you so eloquently put it, haven’t gone anywhere at all,” Lauren said. “Wade’s just trying to stir up the pot. He seems to find it amusing, while I, to the contrary, have had my fill of people dissecting my life. In no time at all, it gets out of hand.”
Emma’s expression sobered at once. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. You’re right. Of all people, I should know better. I’ve had my own share of run-ins with the media. I know how quickly things can get out of hand.”
“Media?” Wade said, picking up on the telling remark at once. “Why would they be involved? I thought this was about small-town gossip.”
Lauren shot a discouraging look at Emma, then told Wade, “Emma had a bad encounter with the Denver press.” Perhaps she could shift all of the focus to Emma and away from her own experiences.
“Aren’t you Ford Hamilton’s wife now?” Wade asked Emma. “You must have gotten over it, if you decided to marry the editor of the local paper.”
“I trust my husband,” Emma agreed. “But not the media in general.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. But what does any of that have to do with Lauren?”
“It’s not important,” Lauren said hurriedly. “Did you need me for something?”
He stared at her blankly for a minute, then nodded. “Oh, yeah, I was going to let you know that I’m leaving now. I’ll be gone most of the day. Remember what we talked about.”
“My memory’s not that short,” she said testily. “I don’t need to be reminded that you don’t trust my judgment.”
“Lauren—”
“I know, I know. I won’t do anything stupid.”
He gave a curt nod of satisfaction. “That’s good. I’ll hear about it if you do.”
“Who’s going to tell? Midnight? Is the horse conversing with you now?”
“Dammit, Lauren, this isn’t a game,” he said with evident frustration. “He’s still dangerous.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Lauren heard Caitlyn calling out to an approaching horse. She turned just in time to see Midnight dancing closer to the child, who had climbed atop the split-rail fence. Midnight was probably braving the encounter with the hope of getting one of the treats Lauren had been bringing him on a daily basis.
Wade spotted the potential for tragedy at precisely the same moment. Before Lauren could even begin to gather her wits, he was across the ground scooping Caitlyn into his arms and out of the horse’s reach. Caitlyn was scowling at her abrupt removal.
“Why’d you do that?” she demanded, regarding Wade with a disapproving pout. She was completely oblivious to the danger she’d been in.
Wade grinned at her to take the sting out of his action. “Because Midnight’s scared of pretty little girls.”
The pout faded and Caitlyn’s eyes widened with interest. “That great big horse is scared of me?”
“Yes, indeed,” Wade confirmed.
Caitlyn still looked doubtful. “He didn’t look scared.”
Emma turned to Lauren, a question in her eyes.
“The problem horse I’ve been working with,” Lauren mouthed quietly.
The color drained out of Emma’s face. She gathered Caitlyn out of Wade’s arms and hugged her so hard the child protested.
“Mommy, stop!”
“Sorry, baby, for a minute there you had me scared, too,” Emma said, then lifted her gaze to Wade. “Thank you.”
He shrugged. “Not a problem. It probably would have been fine, but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” he said, with a pointed look at Lauren.
“I’ll use my head,” she promised. “Now go. Grady needs your help this morning. He’s probably chomping at the bit to get started.”
Wade nodded, and after one more long look, he turned on his heel, mounted his horse and rode off.
“My, my,” Emma murmured when he’d gone. “I see what Cassie was talking about. The sparks between you two are better than the Fourth of July fireworks.”
Caitlyn picked up on her mother’s remark and regarded Lauren seriously. “Is he your boyfriend, Aunt Lauren?”
“Absolutely not,” Lauren said heatedly.
But the idea was beginning to hold more appeal than she cared to admit. And seeing Wade with Caitlyn cradled protectively against his chest had certainly helped to enhance that appeal.
Wade still got nauseous when he thought of what could have happened to Caitlyn if Midnight had gotten fractious when she was within inches of his hooves earlier. He couldn’t seem to shake that image.
Nor was he able to shake the probability that Lauren would deliberately defy him today, despite her promise. He didn’t trust that promise any more than he’d ever trusted his mother’s promise that one day his
