When a Cowboy Loves a Woman (Creedence Horse Rescue #2) - Jennie Marts Page 0,48
me after. We went on a shopping spree.” Mandy bounced over to the other side of the sofa and pulled out the glittery purple cup. “She bought me this, and we got a pink one for her and a blue one for Bryn. Isn’t it so cool?”
“Very cool,” he said, peering at the other bags.
“And she bought me some clothes and some pajamas and a new swimsuit too.”
Elle noticed she left out any mention of the training bras. She also noticed Brody’s face darkening as his brow furrowed.
“That’s a lot of stuff,” he said.
“Don’t worry,” Mandy told him. “Elle has plenty of cookies, and she just likes to share them. Right, Elle?”
Elle had to chuckle. “Right.”
“I feel like I’m missing the joke. I’m not sure what cookies have to do with anything, but this is too much.” He took a step back and turned to Elle. “We can’t accept all this.” He lowered his voice again, but this time it wasn’t in a sexy drawl; this time it was more of a heated whisper. “I can afford to buy my own daughter her clothes.”
“I know,” she whispered back. “Of course you can. I would never presume anything like that. We were just having fun.”
“Oh, Dad,” Mandy said, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Elle told me grown-ups get weird when you buy them too much stuff, but I’m not a grown-up. And we had so much fun picking all this stuff. So don’t be a weird grown-up, okay?”
He glanced from Elle to Mandy, then sighed. “I certainly don’t want to be accused of being a weird grown-up.”
“Plus, look at this great shirt she got me.” Mandy cracked up as she pulled the llama T-shirt out and held it up with a flair.
“Wow,” Brody said, trying not to laugh. “Speaking of weird…”
“It’s not weird. It’s hilarious. She got a matching one for her too.”
Brody pointed at the shirt, then pointed at Elle. “You also got a pink shirt with a sparkly sequined llama on the front. Like that one?”
She beamed as she nodded. “Exactly the same. And it is glorious.”
He let out a soft chuckle. “This I gotta see. I’ll make you two a deal: we’ll come to dinner tonight if you both promise to wear your new matching llama shirts.”
Elle and Mandy looked at each other and grinned. “Deal,” they said at the same time, then dissolved into laughter.
* * *
“Apparently, you all decided to have a party and forgot to invite me,” Elle said thirty minutes later as she stepped through Bryn’s front door. She planted a hand on her hip as she surveyed the partygoers.
Tiny was sprawled out on her back on the living room sofa, two of the puppies curled next to her considerable girth. Two throw pillows were on the floor, and Grace had her head on one and was curled against the other with two more puppies asleep next to her.
Otis stood in the kitchen, a bag of Goldfish crackers clutched in his teeth and a spray of the orange, cheesy crackers spread across the floor in front of him. The puppy Mandy called Peanut Butter sprawled on the floor at the goat’s feet, licking at a cracker.
Tiny raised her head and let out an oink that could have meant sorry, it was all the goat’s idea, or do you have any more crackers?
“Don’t try that innocent act with me,” Elle told her. “I can see the orange dust on your chin.”
The pig laid her head back down and let out a remorseful sigh.
Otis let out a bleat and didn’t act a bit remorseful.
“Everybody out,” Elle told them as she pulled a broom from the cupboard. “We’re having company for supper, and unless you plan to help clean up this mess, you’d better scoot before I take this broom to you.”
Otis offered her a steely stare, then made a beeline for the back door, taking the Goldfish bag with him. Tiny took a little more convincing, and Peanut Butter was not happy to have his cracker swept up.
After cleaning the mess and righting the living room, Elle had barely enough time to get the chicken and the macaroni and cheese prepped and tossed in the oven before jumping in the shower, swiping on some mascara and doing a quick blow-dry of her hair. She was just slipping on her new khaki shorts and a pair of sneakers when she heard the front door open.
She had texted Bryn earlier in the day to tell her she’d be