Page 14 of Forever Country (Forever Bluegrass #24)

H olt turned down the drive that was a second home to him. Annaleigh was practically bouncing with excitement as she tried to guess what their date was. She’d confided in him that most of the dates she’d gone on had been focused more on business than fun, much less romance.

Holt pulled his truck up to the barn and waved at the people waiting for them.

Annaleigh was so excited that she jumped out of the truck before he even had time to get out of the cab.

His friends chuckled at his look of surprise.

He’d wanted to be the perfect gentleman and open the door for her, but Annaleigh had different ideas.

“Hi! I’m Annaleigh,” she said, sticking out her hand.

“I’m Parker Davies and this is my wife, Tilly,” Holt’s friend said, shaking Annaleigh’s hand.

“I’m the better-looking twin, Porter. And this is my wife, Willa. It’s nice to meet you, Annaleigh. The betting app has been going crazy since you and my buddy here graced the gossip sites.” Holt almost punched his best friend.

“Betting app?” Annaleigh froze in place.

Willa and Tilly, best friends who’d fallen for the twin brothers, were angels and immediately stepped in.

“It’s so much fun,” Willa told Annaleigh.

“The town bets on marriages, babies, and stuff like that. Winners get a cut, but then the rest goes to charity. At the end of the year, the Rose sisters and their cousins, Poppy and Zinnia, meet up and play Santa with the money.”

“Now that you’re with Holt, I’ll send you an invite to join,” Tilly told her. “It really is fun. I just made a bet that Sebastian Abel, who’s married to Parker’s cousin, Greer, is going to pass out when Greer gives birth. It’s all in good fun.”

Holt saw Annaleigh visibly relax and then even giggle. “Wait, the billionaire?”

Willa nodded. “Sebastian and Greer live here part-time and in D.C. part-time. But you know the tougher they seem, the quicker they fall.”

Holt loved seeing Annaleigh fall into conversation with Willa and Tilly as if they were long-lost friends.

“She seems great,” Porter told him as he and Parker joined Holt.

“She is,” Holt agreed. “Thanks for this. You have the best trail around.”

“No problem,” Parker answered. “The girls got carried away with the romance of it. You’ll find champagne and a blanket by the creek.”

“You jump horses?” Annaleigh was asking when Holt and the guys returned to them. “Can you please show me? That’s so amazing!”

Willa and Tilly suddenly looked strange. Almost as if they’d been caught in a lie and were trying to find a reasonable explanation for it but that didn’t make sense. Holt glanced at Porter and Parker who were suddenly very interested in the two horses they had tied to the fence.

“Um,” Willa said with a forced smile. “We’re taking a little break from jumping right now.”

Annaleigh’s smile slipped. “Oh gosh, I sure hope you weren’t injured.”

“Oh, no!” Tilly said, giving her a reassuring smile. “Nothing like that. We just needed a little time away from jumping to focus on—” Tilly paused as if she totally forgot what she was going to say.

“Stuff,” Willa added.

Holt looked again between the two women and their husbands. Now Porter and Parker weren’t staring at the horses, but at their wives. More specifically, their wives’ midsections. “You’re both pregnant!” Holt gasped even as he reached for his phone to place a bet.

“We were hoping to hide it for another month to make sure everything was okay with the babies,” Willa said with a shrug. “But we are!”

Annaleigh was already hugging them. “Congratulations! No wonder you can’t jump. But, sweeties, I don’t think you could hide it for another month. Bless your hearts, you’re horrible at cover stories.”

Willa and Tilly looked momentarily shocked and then burst out laughing.

“We really are,” Tilly said, still laughing.

“It feels so good to not hide it anymore,” Willa said, snuggling up to Porter.

“Do not tell my parents that you were the first to know,” Parker said threateningly.

“Yeah, we'd better go tell them right now,” Porter agreed.

“Enjoy your ride, and it was so good meeting you, Annaleigh,” Tilly told them.

“If you hear screaming, don’t worry, it’ll just be the twins’ mom, Gemma,” Willa called out as they began to walk away.

“Yes,” Parker agreed. “And if you hear crying it’ll be our dad.”

Holt hugged the brothers as they walked by and offered his congratulations to them both before turning to Annaleigh. “How do you feel about taking a ride?”

Her face lit up and Holt knew he’d planned the right first date.

Holt helped Annaleigh up into the saddle. The last time she’d ridden was when she was nine. So after a quick refresher on how to ride, they headed off toward the riding trail in the woods.

They talked, laughed, and he told her about his friends and even more stories of growing up here. After twenty minutes or so they reached the creek and Holt spotted what Willa and Tilly had set up. There was a big blanket, pillows, and a bottle of champagne cooling in an ice bucket.

“Holt!” Annaleigh gasped as she took in the picnic style setup. “This is amazing.”

Holt dismounted and tied his horse to a tree branch. He helped Annaleigh from her horse, before tending to hers. “I’m glad you like it. I feel as if we skipped some steps between meeting and becoming my girlfriend. I wanted to make that up to you.”

“This is so sweet of you.”

Holt held her hand as she took a seat and he moved to pop the champagne.

Willa and Tilly had remembered the glasses, which Holt had forgotten to ask about.

Then he pulled some chocolate-covered grapes from the small bag he’d brought with him.

Poppy and Zinnia had some left over and with the promise of bringing Annaleigh to the café tonight, they sold him the rest of the chilled grapes.

Annaleigh held up her glass and Holt clinked his to hers. “I know it’s quick, but somehow you’ve been more of a boyfriend to me in this short time than any past relationship. Thank you for taking a chance on a frightened woman with conniving parents.”

“I’m trying to play it cool, Annaleigh, but there’s nothing casual about the way I feel about you.

Like you said, it’s different from other relationships.

Come here,” Holt said, leaning forward and kissing her.

He tasted the champagne bubbles on her tongue and loved the way she sighed and leaned into him.

The afternoon passed way too quickly for Annaleigh. How something so simple had been so romantic and meaningful she didn’t know. She’d spent the whole afternoon falling harder and harder for the Broadway Bachelor. A name he hated and one she was glad no longer reflected his stance on relationships.

It almost felt too good to be true. She tried not to think about how easy it would be to fall apart since it was still so new, but thoughts of her destroyed car, the flashes of a man in a hoodie in the rain, and memories of her parents embarrassing themselves trying to sign Holt kept flashing in her mind.

The horse riding had been fun and another reminder that somehow Holt knew her better than her own parents.

Annaleigh had begged for a horse for her entire life.

Her mother had given her a week’s summer camp at a horse farm.

It was everything Annaleigh had ever wanted.

When she’d returned home, hoping to get a horse, her mother instead burned all her smelly barn clothes and said she hoped Annaleigh got that nonsense about wanting a horse out of her system.

But Annaleigh wasn’t under her parents’ thumbs anymore. Not that they had figured it out yet. Getting a horse was the first thing she’d do after setting up her own company.

Willa, Tilly, and their husbands weren’t around when Holt and Annaleigh made it back to the barn.

Instead, Holt easily unsaddled the horses and gave them a quick rub down himself before he left the picnic supplies in the barn.

In that moment, his rear looking great in jeans, his back muscles rippling, and his forearms flexing as he lifted the saddles back onto the rack, Annaleigh might have forgotten how to breathe for a moment. How could arms be so freaking sexy?

“Ready for dinner?” Holt asked, opening the truck door for her.

“I’m starving.”

“Just remember, if they ask a lot of questions, it just means they like you.”

Annaleigh’s confidence faltered when she saw how packed the café was.

Every table was full. Maybe they wouldn’t even get a chance to eat.

Holt parked in the back, but they’d walked around the front, hand in hand.

Through the large windows, she saw the three elderly women whom Holt had told her about. The Rose sisters.

The shadows to the side of the building moved and before Annaleigh even realized what was happening, a woman emerged. Annaleigh gasped and jumped back, yanking her hand from Holt’s. Holt spun and cursed. “Dammit, Cassidy, what are you doing lurking in the shadows?”

The blonde smiled as if he’d just told her how great she was. “It’s kinda my job, duh. So, this is her.”

Annaleigh’s heart dropped. This was the woman Holt and Knox had had a crush on growing up. She was beautiful. “And you’re her,” Annaleigh said, determined not to be the doormat she’d been with her parents.

Cassidy rolled her eyes at Holt. “Seriously? You mentioned me to your girlfriend? You’re either totally in love with her or stupid, probably both.

But based on the way you look ready to kill me, I’m going with totally in love.

Warrick’s inside. Go talk to him. You can take our table.

War is just waiting for our dessert to go. ”

“Cass,” Holt said with warning and Cassidy rolled her eyes again.

“Dude.” Cassidy froze and then cursed under her breath. Something about her couldn’t believe she was saying that word. “I’m your friend and I want to chat with your girlfriend. Now, shoo.” She waved her hands toward the door.

Holt looked ready to do battle. Annaleigh reached over and touched his arm. “It’s okay, Holt. I’ll be right in.” Holt looked ready to ignore her, but he finally gave in and headed inside. “So, what? Are you here to warn me off of Holt or something?”

Cassidy tossed her head back and laughed.

“Hell no. We’re friends. That’s always been it, even with their little crushes.

Crushes I think were solely because I didn’t fawn over them like every other girl.

Besides, I’ve already looked into you. Morgan would have crushed this relationship before it even started if I had found anything indicating you were a bad person.

I wanted to talk to you privately about your little stalker problem.

I hate that men think if they don’t get what they want they can harass a woman over it. ”

“Oh.” Annaleigh truly didn’t know what to say.

“I wanted to talk to you privately in case there was something you didn’t want your new boyfriend to know.

However, it seems as if you two are very honest about your past feels, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

So, woman-to-woman, are there any ex-boyfriends I should look into?

Any one-night stands that wanted to be more?

Or maybe anyone who just gives you the ick? ” Cassidy asked.

Annaleigh completely relaxed as she racked her brain for answers.

“I can give you a list of my ex-boyfriends, it’s a very short list, and none of the breakups were what you’d call dramatic.

I only did the one-night stand thing a couple of times in college.

I would think they’d have appeared a lot sooner than now.

As for the ick? I work in entertainment.

Most of the men I meet give me the ick. They are either over friendly with the women in the industry or they pretend you don’t have a brain.

You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been talked down to or completely ignored.

Hell, my own father and brother do it to me. ”

“Yeah, I know something about that. I typically deal with government issues, but Holt is one of my best friends. I’ll look around and see what I can find out.”

Annaleigh smiled at the pretty blonde. “That’s really nice of you. Thank you. Deacon and Ryan have been mentioned, too.”

Cassidy nodded. “Yeah, but they have to follow the law.”

“And you don’t?” Annaleigh was starting to understand why Holt had been a little cagey about what Cassidy did for a living. “Are you a hacker?”

Cassidy didn’t answer. Instead, she turned the conversation away from it.

“I doubt this will be the case, but since Holt doesn’t have the kind of family I have, I feel as if I need to look out for him.

Holt’s a great guy. I will one hundred percent bury you and not think twice about it if you are just using him.

” Cassidy smiled again as if she hadn’t just threatened Annaleigh.

“Go ahead and send me any info you have on your ex-boyfriends and the stalker. Morgan mentioned notes. Holt has my number. Just text me anything you have. I’ll work with the gang and get a profile started. ”

The door opened and a tall, handsome man walked out. “Are you causing trouble, Tink?”

“Me? Never. Just thought I’d offer our help to Annaleigh for her little stalker problem. Annaleigh, this is my husband, Warrick. War, this is Holt’s girlfriend, Annaleigh.”

Warrick smiled then as he shook Annaleigh’s hand.

“I figured that out from all the noses pressed to the windows trying to get a look at you. It’s nice to meet you.

Especially since I won’t be the newbie in town anymore.

Holt’s a good guy. Happy to help with any stalker issues.

Let’s go, Tink. The bread pudding is nice and warm. ”

Cassidy surprised Annaleigh by wrapping her up in a hug.

“I’m really happy for you both. Holt is a great guy and deserves someone to love him for who he is.

I look forward to getting to know you better.

If you’re still around, you’ll have to come to girls’ night.

” Cassidy let go of Annaleigh and slipped her hand into her husband’s. “Welcome to Keeneston, Annaleigh!”

Annaleigh smiled and waved to the couple.

Cassidy was looking out for her friend, but otherwise had been nice.

Inviting her to a girls’ night sounded fun.

Annaleigh wondered if it was anything like going out for a drink with Maddie.

She turned and looked up and everyone scattered from the windows as if they hadn’t been eavesdropping.

Annaleigh squared her shoulders and put a smile on her face. She was ready to meet Keeneston.