you.”
“Should I leave you ladies alone?” Adam asked.
“No, I won’t banish you to the corner by yourself.” Emily smiled up at him. “As it is, it’s pretty easy to notice you’d rather be with us girls than the kids—or your grandma.”
Monica and Brooke both chuckled.
“Hey, I’m not about to let my grandma think I put stock in her wacky musings. I’m glad she has a hobby, but I don’t have to believe in it. As for the kids, they’d rather be with each other than me.”
“Oh, come on, you remember what it was like to be one, don’t you?” Monica demanded.
Brooke was watching him silently, and he guessed she understood what he meant.
“Of course I remember being a teenager. Some of it I wish I could forget.”
Brooke glanced at Monica. “Like a couple dates he had . . .”
“Hey!” Monica said, hands on her hips. “I get your implication, Brooke Thalberg!”
“Do I need to step between you ladies?” Adam asked mildly, even as the two women grinned at each other. “But Monica, Brooke is right in one sense—I’d like to forget the way I treated you. If you’d accept my apology, I’d appreciate it.”
Monica waved a hand. “Oh, please. If I had to apologize for every stupid thing I did as a teenager, I wouldn’t have time to work. Of course you’re forgiven. But that doesn’t mean Steph and her friends don’t have something to learn from you.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Wait, wait, I didn’t get to tell you my news!” Emily cried, then looked around at the teenagers and lowered her voice. “Nate and I have decided to move in together.”
Monica practically squealed as she gave her a hug, and although Brooke also fell into the hugging line, she gave Emily a worried look afterward.
“This isn’t some kind of proof to Nate that just because you haven’t set a date—”
“No, no, nothing like that!” Emily interrupted.
“Because he’s a big boy, and he loves you enough to wait for whatever makes you happy.”
“Thanks for that,” Emily said with a soft smile. “But no, I want to be with him. I don’t need to wait for the wedding. But I had another reason to tell you the news—would you mind helping me pack and move?”
Brooke grinned. “What are friends for?”
Adam watched the three women chat happily about Emily’s plans and realized they shared a bond of friendship that was just as close as family. They’d created this themselves, something he wasn’t ever going to do by hanging out at the bunkhouse alone each night. It was hard to be happy, really happy, when his men—his brothers—were dead. That’s what he’d been telling himself for months now.
But he was happy—being with Brooke was making him happy, whether at night wrapped up in their secret, or during the day, working at her side. He looked at the teenagers, so involved in their own lives, oblivious to what might await them out in the world. He remembered those days, when the world had seemed full of possibilities. It could be that way again for him.
After the teenagers had gone, and Brooke wiped down the last table, she approached Adam, who was helping his grandma into her coat.
“Did I mention how much I love your dress, Mrs. Palmer?” Brooke asked, smiling.
“It catches the young people’s attention, of course,” the older woman said. “And that’s often the first battle.”
“Did they enjoy your readings?”
“I think they did. Oh, they giggled a bit, and the boys rolled their eyes, but some of them left here feelin’ more calm about their future, and that’s all you can ask.”
Brooke looked up at Adam and found that having to keep herself so friendly and neutral around him was much harder than she’d thought. They worked together much of each day, even had lunch together, but there were so many people around them at the ranch, and everyone was busy. She could concentrate on her work, or her discussion of work, and include Adam as a coworker rather than a lover.
It was much more difficult being around her best friends—who knew her so well—and Adam’s grandma, and finding a way to be pleasant and friendly, although not too friendly. She kept almost touching him, or leaning against him, all because of the physical intimacy they’d been sharing. It was making her tense, and she was glad the evening was almost over.
She put her acting skills to use and smiled up at him. “Josh and I came to town together earlier, and I