A Cadence Creek Christmas (Cadence Creek Cowboys) by Alward Donna

Author:Alward, Donna [Alward, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

THEY RETIRED TO the living room after dinner. Taylor made coffee and insisted they leave the dishes. She’d need something to keep her busy tomorrow anyway. Besides, Rhys had turned surprisingly quiet. She wondered what that was about.

“You okay?” she asked, offering him a shortbread cookie.

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” he responded, taking one from the plate.

“I don’t know. You got quiet all of a sudden. After we talked about your dad.”

She looked over at him. Despite his relaxed pose, his jaw was tight. “Rhys,” she said gently, “did you feel like it was your job to look after everyone after he died?”

“Why are we talking about this?” He shoved the cookie in his mouth, the buttery crumbs preventing him from saying more. But Taylor waited. Waited for him to chew and swallow and wash it down with a sip of coffee.

“Because,” she finally answered, “it seems to me you could use a friend. And that maybe, since I’m not from Cadence Creek, I might be a logical choice.”

Confusion cluttered his eyes as they met hers. “Do I strike you as the confiding type?”

She smiled. “Maybe you could make an exception. This once.”

He seemed to debate for a while. Taylor pulled her knees up toward her chin and sank deeper into the cushions of the sofa, cradling her cup in her hands. How long had it been since she’d spent an evening like this, with a warm cuppa in front of a glowing tree? No files open, no cell phone ringing. Just a rugged cowboy and coffee and cookies.

Simple. And maybe it would bore her in a couple of days, but for right now it was quite heavenly.

“I had my own business once,” he confided, staring into his cup. “I had an office based in Rocky Mountain House. I’d wanted to start something away from Cadence Creek, away from my dad’s reputation. I was determined to make a go of it, the way he’d never been able to.”

She got a sinking feeling about where this was headed. “What kind of business?”

“Feed supplements,” he said simply. “I had an office, a couple of office staff and a few reps other than myself who traveled the area to the various ranches. For a while it was okay. Then I started losing money. It got to a point where I wasn’t even drawing a salary, just so I could pay my staff. I fell behind on the office rent and we shifted it to run from my house.”

His face took on a distant look for a few seconds, but then he gave his head a little shake and it cleared. “It wasn’t long before I knew I had to shut it down or declare bankruptcy. Since I didn’t want the mark on my credit rating, I closed my doors. My final accounts owing paid my back rent and wages and I got a job as a ranch hand. I got to bring home a paycheck while my employees had to file for Employment Insurance since I laid them off.

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