Tempted at Thoroughbred Lake by Delores Fossen

Author:Delores Fossen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-04-04T15:23:21+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

BRENNAN FIGURED RUBY had a whole lot of doubts about this date. So did he. Not the same doubts as she did since hers almost certainly centered around not wanting to get hurt again. His were more about making sure that hurt didn’t happen at all while they both tried to come to terms with the blow their kids had dealt them.

It was those things—the blow and the doubts—that had made Brennan decide to keep this date low-key. That wouldn’t have happened had they gone to any of the restaurants in town, where they would have stirred up gossip and felt as if they were in a fishbowl for all to see. Instead, he was driving Ruby to his ranch, where he planned to grill them some steaks.

A grilling date like that wouldn’t give the gossips any fodder. Well, not much, unless some of Ruby’s neighbors had noticed her getting into his truck and driving away with him. If so, there’d be speculation that the two people who’d had the hots for each other were finally going to do something about it, but even that speculation would take a back seat to news of Seth and Vivian’s elopement.

Of course, Brennan’s mind was on that hasty marriage, but it was on Ruby, too. He could blame the kisses for that. Hard to block out thoughts of a woman who had been firing him up for decades. And she had, indeed, fired him up. That was something his body wasn’t going to let him forget. First, though, he wanted to open up a different kind of emotion. Venting, maybe. Maybe pure “pissed off” anger. Maybe resignation. No matter which, he thought it was best to go ahead and get this marriage out in the open.

“I guess this elopement makes you and me in-laws of sorts,” Brennan threw out there.

Ruby had stayed pretty much still and silent so far on this short drive, but that caused her to turn to him. “Yes. In-laws who’ll have to deal with the fallout if things don’t stay rosy.”

There was that. The non-rosy factor. Marriage could sometimes be a hard road. The wrong road, too. Brennan figured the first would definitely apply to their kids, but the wrong part was still in the “to be determined” category.

“My folks got married at nineteen,” he reminded her. “They’re still together.” That was the only example of a success he could recall off the top of his head. “Of course, I got married at eighteen, and my marriage tanked.”

Ruby made a soft sound of agreement. “Ditto for my relationship. Too young. Too stupid. Too rash.”

All of which might apply to Seth and Vivian. “I considered standing my ground and telling them either they got an annulment or no college funds. But considering the too-young and too-rash parts, they’d probably just leave and never speak to me again.”

“Yes, and then we wouldn’t be there to pick up any pieces that might need picking up.” Ruby groaned, leaned her head against the window as he made the turn to Thoroughbred Lake Ranch.

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