Page 6

The group urged their horses up the trail, and Paisley fell in beside Weston again. She could still keep an eye on her group, so no worries there. But now she needed to think of a topic to which Weston might respond. She cast him a sidelong glance, but he was looking away.

Hmm. “I bet you’re enjoying Stephanie and Tate’s baby. Lucky you, with two little nephews.”

Weston scowled at her. “Since Tate is not my brother, Jamie and Simon are not my nephews.”

Touché. At least he’d answered. At least he acknowledged the boys had names. “Almost the same thing, since you all live so close together.”

“Not the same thing at all.” He lifted his chin as he faced forward and urged Ranger to walk faster.

“I can’t wait to get a chance to hold that sweet baby. Have you held him?”

Weston spared her an incredulous look.

Of course, he hadn’t. “I want half a dozen kids someday. How about you?”

“None.”

“Aw, how can you say that? Babies are the best. Little kids are cool, too. Jamie loves all his toy cars. Isn’t he so adorable?”

No response other than Ranger’s long legs stretching just a little more.

Well, Enchantment’s gears had another notch, too. He kept pace with Ranger. Pretty soon they’d be cantering into the tails of the horses ahead of them.

“Teenagers might be more problematic. I know I wasn’t the best.” Now, wasn’t that an understatement? But with no father around and a druggie for a mother, maybe she could be cut a little slack. “How about you? Your mom seems great.”

Weston scowled.

Paisley carried on. She was committed now. “I know your dad passed away. I’m sorry about that. Mine has never been in the picture. I have no idea if he even knows I exist.” She snapped her fingers, and Enchantment’s ears flattened for a second. “I should put my DNA up on that site — what one did your mom find your grandfather on?”

“No clue.”

“Maybe I’ll ask her.”

No response.

Wow, Weston Kline was a hard nut to crack. “I really like your mom. She’s such a great cook and an all-around nice person.”

He grunted something that may have been affirmative.

“My mom got sober a few years ago. I think it’s going okay. At least my sister seems to think so. I haven’t seen her in a while.”

The cowboy glanced her way a tad longer than required.

Aha. He was interested in that bit of information, if nothing else she’d said. “She was in an accident that left her in a lot of pain, and she became addicted to prescription drugs. But then she needed stronger stuff and fell into a spiral for years. My sister Kait convinced her to seek help, and she finally went. She’s only relapsed once, and she’s been clean this time for about three years, I think.”

“Huh.”

Well, that was a response, wasn’t it? Not that Paisley wanted to spend this entire ride talking about her mother’s problems, even if it was the only topic he’d responded to. She cast about for another subject, preferably one where he’d have to do some of the talking. “What’s it like having a brother? I only have sisters.”

Did Weston just roll his eyes? “Annoying,” he muttered.

“Sisters, too. Mine are older than me, though, so they were super bossy. Jude’s younger than you, right?”

He grunted.

This conversation was going nowhere quickly. It might not even qualify as a conversation. “Weston, why are you so prickly? Why don’t you smile and talk to people?”

He bared his teeth in her direction. “I smile. I talk.”