Ain't She Sweet (Seven Brides for Seven Mothers #2) - Whitney Dineen Page 0,52

that farmers are known for their standards regarding fashion.

Rachel jots something down in the notebook she’s carrying before pulling out an envelope from her purse. She hands it to Tara. “Here’s the contract for our interview. It states that I can meet with you three times and take pictures to accompany whatever I write.”

“Three times?” Tara demands. “I don’t recall that being part of the deal.”

Rachel nods her head in a placating fashion. “My editor upped the money to a hundred and thirty thousand to compensate you for the additional time.”

There’s an energy radiating off of Tara that makes me think she could launch herself to the moon without a rocket. “And if I say no to the additional meetings?”

“Then I continue to follow you around and write whatever story I want to, accompanied by whatever photos I take. You’re public domain, Tara.”

“I don’t know why I thought you’d be any different from all the other reporters, Rachel, but I have to confess that I’m a bit disappointed.”

“I told you the truth when I said I wanted to tell your side of the story. You changed the game when you asked for money. To justify the expense, my editor wants more.”

“What does that mean, more?” I finally join the conversation, feeling a tsunami of nerves wash over me. A sweaty mustache pops up on my upper lip despite the cool day.

“We’re looking at a three-part series,” she says. Then she turns to Tara and adds, “You’re not really surprised, are you?”

One look at my new girlfriend has me putting my arm in front of her as a protective barrier to keep her from bodily launching herself at Rachel. We don’t want the first headline to be “Model Murders Reporter!”

Tara’s body weight pushes against my arm slightly. “And you didn’t tell me this ahead of time so that you would have the opportunity to take pictures of me if I didn’t go for it.”

Rachel shrugs. “Maybe.” Then she looks at me and asks, “Not to be rude but why are you here, James?”

“James is my boyfriend,” Tara announces. There’s no going back now. She continues, “I thought you might want to meet him and ask him a few questions for your story.”

“Your boyfriend?” The reporter seems shocked. “You didn’t say anything about that on the phone.”

“Surprise!” Tara deadpans.

There’s so much tension in the air I feel like I should do something to break it. So, I turn to the stable manager and call out, “We’re going to need three mounts, Jeet.”

“What?” Tara turns to me nervously.

“I don’t know how to ride,” Rachel interjects.

“That’s no problem. We’ll make sure to give you Daisy May. She’s as docile as a rocking horse.”

Jeet helps the ladies onto their mounts while I saddle up my dad’s horse, Thunder. He’s a bit of a challenge but I figure he’ll look great in pictures. I’m envisioning a whole gentleman farmer spread.

I’m confident nothing can go wrong.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Gwen

When the doorbell rings, Gwen’s first inclination is to ignore it. She knows Tara has her interview this morning, so it’s probably not Rachel Perry, but that doesn’t mean Syd Byerly isn’t slinking around like the worm he is.

It rings again and she sneaks over to the peep hole to look out. It’s a young woman holding a basket of flowers. “Can I help you?” she calls out.

“I have a delivery for Gwen Heinz,” the voice replies.

Had it been a delivery for Tara, she would have told her to leave it. But her? Who in the world would be sending her flowers? She opens the door and takes the basket, before asking, “Do I need to sign for anything?”

“No, ma’am, you’re all set. You have a nice day.”

Gwen puts the arrangement on the counter before opening the card. It says:

Thank you for the wonderful company the other night. Your friend, Billy

Touched by the unexpected gesture, Gwen’s heart plummets a little by the platonic nature of the closing.

After looking in the mirror and applying her lipstick, she grabs her car keys. She’s going to go over to the lodge and thank Billy in person for the flowers and then she’s going to invite him to Tara’s place tomorrow night so she can cook for him.

Tara

What in the heck is James doing putting us all on horseback? We didn’t discuss any of this. In fact, we carefully scripted this morning, covering everything from wardrobe to the path we would take to the garden to show off our project. Our preparations were meant to