the party. As he shaved, he practiced what he was going to say when he saw Julia, but everything sounded false. She knew him well enough not to fall for any of his bullshit.
He studied his face in the mirror. She did know him, probably better than anyone even his own family. Why did he even doubt her? There was no way in hell she’d sell out her own father. How could he be stupid enough to not even try and make things work? If he never asked, he’d never know, and she’d find someone way better.
Decision made, Kaiden got dressed, put on his best pair of boots, and went to confront his future at the party.
* * *
Julia walked over to the large picture window in the Morgan Ranch Guest Center and admired the outline of the Sierra Nevadas and the foothills sloping down toward the ranch itself. She hadn’t been up to the ranch since Chase and the rest of the family had finally come home and started making changes. After talking to Ruth Morgan she had begun to see why so many new houses were needed in the valley.
The guests of honor, Ben and Silver, hadn’t arrived yet. Julia had established Juan in a group of ranchers and left him chatting away in fine form. By the time she’d finished at the Evans place, she’d barely had time to say hi to him before rushing off to get changed. She turned back to survey the room. If she wasn’t mistaken, the happy couple had invited everyone in Morgan Valley.
She smoothed down the skirt of her red-and-white-patterned dress and considered how long she would be able to stand upright in her spiked heels before she broke out the flats in her purse. She’d put her hair up and secured it with a large flowered clip on one side of her head. Her father had clapped and said she reminded him of her mother when he’d first met her.
Despite her newly restored confidence in her future career, she couldn’t believe how nervous she was about seeing Kaiden again. She had a sense that this time she’d reach him—that together they could make things right between them again.
“Hey.”
She’d been so focused on the door, that she jumped when she heard his voice behind her.
“Kaiden!” She spun around like some dizzy rom-com heroine. “I didn’t see you come in.”
He smiled, but there was a definite hint of watchfulness in his eyes.
“I got here a while ago. I was talking to Blue Morgan about some work he needs doing at his place.” His gaze swept down to her feet and back up again. “You look . . . well.”
“Thanks, so do you. Is that a new shirt?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded, aware that the ease between them had disappeared and frantically wondered how to get it back.
“Was your dad able to come?”
Kaiden jerked a thumb back toward the door. “He’s coming with Mom, Evan, and Danny. They should be here any minute now.”
“I heard that you weren’t working on the ranch anymore.”
“Yeah.” He shoved a hand in his pocket and looked out of the window.
Julia repressed a sigh. “Are you okay about that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She waited to see if he was going to say anything else and then slowly nodded, her stupid hopes dying like the wind. “Okay, then. It was nice talking to you, Kaiden. Have a great evening.”
She was just about to turn away when he cleared his throat.
“If you can spare me some time after Ben and Silver get here, I’d be grateful.”
“Really?” She raised her chin. “Because right now, you look like you can’t wait to get away from me.”
He shrugged and offered her a faint smile. “Actually, I’m kind of nervous right now, and I don’t know how to handle it.”
“Nervous about what?”
“Talking to you.”
“Right, because I’m so terrifying,” Julia said.
“You can be, especially when you’re glaring at me like I’m dog meat.”
“I am not—” She looked him in the eye. “Fine. I’ll talk to you later.”
She spent the next hour silently worrying while attempting to be pleasant to her neighbors and making sure her father was happy. So much for Kaiden Miller being her soul mate; he was the most exasperating man she’d ever met. If he was planning on asking her to date him, she’d make him beg real hard before she capitulated. She ate food, toasted the happy couple with champagne, and, if asked, would not have been able to name a thing she’d eaten, or