Smitten Ever After by Colleen Coble

Author:Colleen Coble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2014-05-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The atmosphere in the Morgan home was always so formal that Ryan found it easier to watch quietly. Ursula had managed not to shudder when Sophia proudly gave her the cookies. And to be fair, she’d even eaten one after dinner. Owen was warmer than Ursula. Round and bald, he had Sophia on one knee as often as he could. Ryan suspected that he would have had his granddaughter over to visit more often if he had his way. But Ursula ruled the roost.

Ryan had been seated next to Ursula at the table out on the deck, and she had chattered away until his unease dissipated. After Candace died, he’d longed for a closer family. Maybe they were actually going to try now. His own parents had moved to Florida after he took over the creamery, and he’d stopped by his in-laws’ several times with Sophia in the weeks and months after his wife’s death. Though Ursula had been cordial, he could see her mentally ticking off the minutes. And he’d suspected she blamed him for her daughter’s death. Sophia too. If Candace had never given birth, she wouldn’t have suffered the brain aneurysm. Ursula had even said as much in the first hours after Candace died. She’d apologized, but now that Ryan knew how she felt, it was difficult to maintain the front of one big happy family.

The sun had set, but they still sat on the deck listening to the music waft over the treetops from the festivities going on downtown. Every Friday and Saturday night the Garner sisters performed. They were excellent too. A couple of them—he forgot which ones—had even played professionally. He thought it might have been Tess’s grandmother, Rose. His heart warmed at the thought of her.

And she’d said yes to his invitation. When he got home later, he intended to replay every flicker of her lashes and every smile. Surely she felt a little something for him, didn’t she?

He realized Isabelle had been talking to him. “Sorry?”

“You were in a faraway place,” she said, smiling.

“I didn’t mean to be rude. How are you liking being back in Smitten?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Small-town life is so boring. We don’t even have a Macy’s. Though the spa in town is topnotch.” She twisted a lock of lustrous hair around her finger. “And I found the most unique spa down the road. Mocha Day Spa. Carly Westlake’s place in Spring Creek. I had a dark chocolate wrap. The aroma was to die for.”

He couldn’t imagine anything worse than being wrapped up in sticky chocolate. “Chocolate for your skin?”

“It’s a wonderful antioxidant.”

Was he seriously having this conversation? “Have you found a job yet?”

She fluttered her lashes his way. “Are you offering me one?”

“No, I’ve got plenty of workers. And I don’t think you’d like dipping ice cream or working on the line to get the cheese out the door. You might chip your nails.” He smiled to take the sting out of his words. There would be much wailing in the land if she ever wrapped her long, slim fingers around an ice cream scoop.

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