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Meg was still off somewhere. Somehow she managed to disappear like a ghost whenever she wandered off. Right now Nash used it to his advantage to drive the supplies he’d gathered to the treehouse and set things up. Now the hardest part would be keeping it a surprise.
Meg had barely sat down on the porch steps to pull off her boots when Nash busted out the front door.
“Wanna go for a ride?”
Ambushing Meg wasn’t exactly the best strategy, but he was excited and couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t nervous, definitely not nervous.Excited.That was all.
“Uh, where to?”
“Around.”
“Just around?”
“Sure.”
Meg raised an eyebrow.
“What?” Nash asked, refusing to fidget. He only fidgeted when he was nervous, and he definitely wasn’t nervous.
“Yeah, okay…”
Meg pulled her boot back on and stood up. “All right, then. I guess I’m riding Nickel?”
“Sounds good,” Nash said, striding off to the stables before he could chicken out of the whole thing.
They saddled up the horses, Meg throwing him suspicious glances the whole time, and set off through the fields. The sun was just starting to dip into afternoon light, making everything look soft and golden.
“Where are we going, exactly?” she asked once they were riding.
“It’s a surprise,” he said.
She only looked more suspicious at that. “Why?”
“Can’t I organize something fun?”
“I guess you can. It’s just thewhypart I’m hung up on.”
“We’ve been working our butts off,” he said, which was true. “We can take a little time to unwind.”
“I mean, sure…” She was clearly still waiting for some sort of trap to spring.
“Will you just come on? You don’t like fun things all of a sudden?”
“I’m concerned, that’s all.”
“Aboutwhat?”
“You’re not exactly spontaneous these days, you know?”
“I’m spontaneous. I’m plenty spontaneous. I’m being spontaneous now.”
She just smirked at him, swaying a little as Nickel walked along.
“What’s the grin for?” he asked, not caring if he sounded huffy.
“I’m just glad you sound a little bit like yourself again,” she said. “That’s all.”
It was that obvious, huh? How much she’d made a difference in the last couple weeks? Not just a difference to the ranch but to him as well. He felt like he’d been sleepwalking for the last few years, and now he was finally awake.