The Rancher's Fake Girlfriend - Leslie North Page 0,5

sauce.

“Always,” Chad replied. “Noelle roped you into making sauce?”

Jett nodded. “She had a crazy day at the bakery, and she asked me to pitch in. Besides, my sweet honey recipe can’t be beat.”

“You made the sweet one? That’s a rookie sauce. I like the tangy smoked version better.”

“Sometimes the ladies and little ones prefer something sweet,” he said with a shrug.

Chad frowned, growing more and more suspicious. “What ladies? The Radford women like it hot.” Baby Lucy—toddler Lucy, at this point—didn’t usually eat the same thing as them for dinner, so she didn’t count. And the only other kid was his nephew Drew, who was growing like a weed and basically ate anything that didn’t run away from him first. A picky eater, he was not.

Jett shrugged again.

Matilda finished arranging a vase of flowers and placed it on the table while Noelle swept into the kitchen with a berry-topped cheesecake that she tucked away in the fridge.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Chad asked. “This isn’t a regular dinner. Did you invite someone from the Cattlemen’s board to suck up to them?”

“Nope, better.” Noelle grinned at him.

Shane came in through the screen door and let it bang shut behind him.

“No slamming,” Drew reminded his father. “Auntie Noelle thinks it sounds angry!”

“Sorry Drew-bie,” Shane said, ruffling his hair. “Hey, guys, they’re here.”

“Who’s here?” Chad asked as he walked to the window.

He doesn’t recognize the white minivan, but when the driver got it out, it hit him that his sister-in-law was up to something.

“You invited Hannah to dinner? Why?”

Noelle shrugged with clearly faked innocence as she fussed over the table settings. “She’s new in town, and she could use some friends.”

“I remember what that was like,” Matilda said as she scooped up her niece Lucy and tickled her under the chin. “Your momma was my first friend! Yes, she was! And you were my second!”

“Hey,” Shane called out. “What about me?”

“I’d say we skipped the ‘friends’ part. We jumped from enemies to something more fast.” She grinned at him, and they shared a moment from across the room.

Chad watched Hannah take a little girl out of her car seat and head for the house. Suddenly, none of the playful bickering behind him registered. All he could focus on was the beautiful young mother carrying her adorable daughter up the front stairs.

Noelle met her at the door with Lucy on her hip and introduced Hannah to the family while Chad hovered in the background like a nervous high schooler, offering her a little wave from the doorway to the kitchen. Something about Hannah made him feel … different. Shy, even though he was usually known for being the center of attention. He had no idea why she affected him this way.

“Hey, we’re almost done with dinner, so would y’all mind heading out to the porch and having a drink while we finish up?” Noelle said, pointing to the door, giving them little choice. She’d stepped into the role of Radford matriarch with ease, and everyone in the family knew it was in their best interest to listen when she spoke. They served up lemonade for the kids and beers for the grown-ups, passed off Lucy from Noelle to Matilda, and headed outside.

“Does Aria want to come to the swing with us?” Matilda asked, pointing to the tire on a rope just off the wraparound porch. Shane was already headed that way with his son.

“Aria?” Hannah asked the mischievous four-year-old. “Would you like to?”

The words were barely out of Matilda’s mouth before the little girl let go of her mom’s hand and skipped off to join them, leaving Chad and Hannah alone on the porch. They watched the kids playing together in silence even though Chad itched to say something to her.

“What a wonderful family,” Hannah said wistfully, watching Shane push Drew on the swing while Matilda picked dandelions with Lucy and Aria.

“We got lucky,” Chad agreed. “Everyone gets along, but even better, we all like each other.”

“Hm.” She smiled and rocked in the old white rocker.

Chad watched her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed nervous, pulling off the label on the beer bottle and folding it up into tiny pieces. Hannah looked especially pretty that night, in a pale pink sundress and brown cowboy boots. He smiled at the sight of them; Hannah wasn’t a local, but she was picking up Kingsley dress code quickly. Chad was happy to have a chance to get to know her a little better without everyone