Page 76 of A Rancher's Bride

“Just nauseous. Again. Or still, whichever way you want to look at it.”

Tamara’s sister stood beside them, bending down to nudge her shoulder gently. “More fluids.”

“You’re such a taskmaster,” Tamara complained, but she opened her eyes and accepted the cup.

“I learned from the best,” Lisa said. “I’ve got this one sister, and she used to be a nurse. She was the biggest pain when it came to being sick. She always said it was important to do what was right, no matter how much people complained about being bossed around.”

“Shut up,” Tamara muttered with a smile. “You’re not allowed to toss my own lectures back at me.”

Lisa offered Kelli a wink. “Good to see you back and looking so chipper. Did you have a good time at the gala?”

My God, was it written on her forehead what she and Luke had been doing? No way was that innocent expression on Lisa’s face anything but fake. “What did Luke do after I left the room? Break out photos or a video of everything we got up to?”

Lisa raised a brow. “No, is there footage? Because,damn.”

Tamara snorted.

Now Kelli didn’t know which of them to give the evil eye. “Does this mean it’s a very public knowledge that Luke and I are—?”

She still didn’t know what to call it.

Fortunately, Tamara didn’t seem to have the same trouble finding words. “Dating? Yeah, we kind of all know. Caleb was clueless when the idea came up the other day, so Lisa took advantage of his naiveté to earn a few bucks.”

“Good grief, you guys are terrible,” Kelli complained. “On top of everything else I was worried about, I thought you’d be at least moderately upset. I’ve been trying to figure out how much trouble this relationship could cause if things don’t work out.”

“You’re both grownups,” Lisa pointed out. “Neither of you are going to do something horrifically stupid like cheat or get spiteful. You seem to honestly like each other.” She raised a brow. “It’s not a bad way to step into a relationship.”

Kelli supposed that was true. “I do like him.A lot,” she admitted.

Lisa and Tamara exchanged glances before turning back, both of them smirking. “Honey, tell us something we didn’t know.”

“Seriously? You did not.”

Tamara lifted a brow.

Lisa gave a shrug. “He seems like a really good guy. So enjoy yourself, but know that we’ve got your back.”

“Only if you promise no more bets based on my relationship,” Kelli countered. “Because that’s just wrong.”

A heavy sigh escaped Lisa as if she was oh-so-hard done by. “You’re ruining all my fun,” she complained.

“No bets,” Kelli insisted.

“Okay, fine.” The other woman headed to the kitchen, speaking over her shoulder. “Let me grab the tea and cookies. Because there’s no time like the present for you to spill the beans about your week at the gala.”

“Regarding Silver Stone and the horses, as well as your personal gossip,” Tamara said quickly.

“But not necessarily in that order,” Lisa quipped.

Kelli caught them up on the gala, sang Diane’s praises loudly, and somehow avoided sharing anything too intimate regarding what had happened between her and Luke.

But she blushed. A lot.

When the visit was over and she meandered across the long expanse between the main ranch house and Luke’s place, the icy cold air didn’t touch her. Kelli was too wrapped up in the warmth of the women’s friendship.

The sight of Luke standing in his living room window, watching her approach with a smile on his handsome face, well—

She might not know exactly where this was going, but she planned to hang on with both hands as long as she could.