The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass - Maisey Yates Page 0,28
to be again.
“Meat loaf,” he said. “And mashed potatoes.” And in spite of himself, he wanted to smile. “I hadn’t had that since... My mom used to make it.”
She smiled, and there was something sad in it. “So did mine.”
“My mom probably still does,” he clarified. “It’s just I don’t go around for dinner.”
“Mine doesn’t.” That smile again. She didn’t offer any more information, and he didn’t ask.
“I’ll see you Saturday, Griffin,” she said.
“See you.”
And more concerning than any of the other feelings he’d had in the last several minutes was the fact that he felt regret watching her walk away from him.
Regret that meant nothing, and could turn into nothing.
Best remember that.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE KEY WAS there early Thursday morning, along with the mail, and Iris nearly shot through the ceiling. The excitement of the key did something to erase the strangeness of the interaction that she’d had with Griffin on their trail ride. The trail ride she wasn’t certain why they’d gone on in the first place. She could feel a deep loneliness coming from him. And he could say that he liked to be alone all he wanted, but she could sense something underneath that. Something moving beneath the surface.
What was it they said? Still waters ran deep.
That was what he was like. Like a placid pool, but she could sense there was something beneath the surface, deep down under there, and it was going to take tenacity to get to it.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to.
Or more accurately, she wasn’t sure why she wanted to.
She’d had a life filled with people who needed care. And she had done her share of caregiving as a result.
She was escaping that. She was living for herself. That she should become almost immediately consumed with the problems of a man she didn’t even know...
That made her wonder about her own sanity.
But he was compelling.
It’s because he’s handsome.
Her inner voice was pragmatic. And she felt like it probably had a decent read on the situation.
He was more than handsome. After the trail ride she had come to the conclusion that he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. The kind of man she hadn’t known that she would find appealing, but she most definitely did.
And that was probably why she found herself so compelled by him. That was kind of normal. As those things went.
“I got my keys,” she announced as she went into the dining room.
Rose was in there eating a bowl of cereal.
“Hey,” Iris said. “Remember when you baked cookies to win Logan’s affection? You can learn to make pancakes too.”
“I like cereal just fine,” Rose said, crunching noisily on the cereal, her nose wrinkled in such a way that it was clear she didn’t actually like cereal all that much. “Of course, it would help if Ryder didn’t buy old man colon-health cereal.”
“What do you want? Something with marshmallows?”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Obviously. What’s the point of being an adult otherwise?”
“You were raised by children,” Iris pointed out. “Nobody ever barred you from having sugary cereal.”
“True.”
“I got my keys,” she repeated. “I can go to the bakery today.”
Rose brightened. “Oh! Your keys! We have to go over there as soon as possible.”
“Don’t you have ranch work to do?”
“Nothing hugely pressing. I mean, nothing Logan and Ryder can’t handle. Make sure that Pansy knows she can meet us there.”
Their sister was likely working in town, so it would be easy for her to slip away for a break and wander around the bakery. And the idea of that made Iris feel... Good.
She had supported her sisters through their various life changes, and that Rose wanted to return the favor...
It was nice to be cared for. Nice to be cared for in the way that she had cared for other people for a long time.
Iris poured herself a bowl of cereal, and sat across from Rose, agreeing silently that Ryder’s choice of cereal was disappointing. But she wasn’t buying groceries for this house anymore. That was something that just occurred to her. She chewed her lip.
“What?” Rose asked.
“Nothing. Just thinking.”
“Well, let’s quit thinking and go to a bakery.”
They piled into Iris’s car, and drove the short distance down to Gold Valley. They stopped at the four-way stop, and Iris peered anxiously around the corner of the redbrick building that was going to be hers. It was right there at the intersection of Main and Grape, a fantastic location, across the street from Sugar Cup. Visible, and adorable.