Wander Canyon Courtship. Allie Pleiter

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       Chapter Two

      When Chaz opened the hotel room door after lunch, he expected to see Dad in hip waders, ready to spend the afternoon fly-fishing. Instead, the man wore khakis and a bright green polo shirt. A polo shirt was something he’d never seen Dad in before. Were it not for the familiar boots under the khakis, Chaz might have had to look twice to see if it really was Dad.

      “Change of plans,” Dad said, stating the obvious with an apologetic smile. “So you’re gonna want to change your clothes.”

      Chaz had been looking forward to a few hours of peaceful fly-fishing. This morning’s ridiculous standoff with the pretty-but-annoying baker had put him in an irritated mood, and he was looking forward to some quiet companionship. The sport was one of the things he enjoyed most with his father—it always fed both their spirits. And since Wyatt had never possessed the patience required of a fisherman, it had been something unique to the relationship between Chaz and his dad.

      Something he clearly wasn’t going to get to do today.

      “I’m not dressing like that,” he said, trying—but not necessarily succeeding—to keep his voice light and teasing as he motioned Dad into the room.

      Hank puffed up his chest at his uncharacteristic attire. “Pauline bought these for me.”

      I could have guessed that, Chaz thought sourly as he closed the door. He opted instead to strive for a reluctant compliment. “Very spiffy.” Leery of the new agenda for the afternoon, he asked, “So we’re going someplace else instead of fishing?”

      “Okay by you?” Dad asked.

      The earnest look on Dad’s face made it impossible for Chaz to say anything but “Sure. As long as I don’t have to put on a tie or anything.”

      “I should check, but I don’t think so.”

      You don’t think so? Chaz swallowed his annoyance. He hadn’t packed a tie. Dad hated ties. Why should he even need to check if they were doing something requiring a tie?

      Then again, Chaz hadn’t expected to be here at all. There seemed to be no logical reason why Dad invited him on this wedding planning trip. Dad had to know he wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of leaving the ranch in Wyatt’s care. Wyatt could barely run the ranch for an hour on his own. Chaz couldn’t fathom how he’d handle the five days they were here in Matrimony Valley to firm up wedding plans and for Hank and Pauline to attend a wedding of a friend of Pauline’s. It’s pointless for me to be here. Why did I ever let Dad talk me into coming?

      “Pauline is taking all of us to the Biltmore this afternoon,” Dad pronounced. “It’s a big fancy estate over by Asheville. Wedding’s mostly nailed down, so we can do a bit of sightseeing before that nice steak dinner I promised you.”

      Chaz picked those three sentences apart. “Wedding’s mostly nailed down” meant that choices had already been made, and his mission to salvage at least some of this event for his dad with any degree of male dignity was probably all but gone. “Big fancy estate” sounded like nothing he’d find interesting or a remotely fair trade-off for time spent fishing with his father. Most worrisome of all, “All of us” meant that not only was he expected to go on this fussy field trip, but it was also likely Yvonne would be coming, as well.

      “You want to go visit some fancy house?” Chaz asked, swallowing back “instead of going fishing?”

      “Pauline’s all excited about it.” Dad scratched his chin as if, like Chaz, he wasn’t quite sure what the allure of walking all around someone else’s property was. “I’m gonna need you along so I don’t drown in girl talk.”

      So Yvonne was going. He still didn’t know what to make of that woman. His mind kept replaying their conversation. His brain kept bringing up the picture of her eyeing him like she had him all figured out—bright eyes blazing, chin raised in defiance, hands planted on curvy hips. Under other circumstances, he might have found her amusing, even attractive. But here, she was just another of the army of people who seemed to be trying to marry Dad off as fast as possible.

      A rebellious part of him hoped Wyatt would do what Wyatt always did—end up knee-deep in some sort of ranch problem. Maybe he could play that into necessitating the next flight to Colorado.

      His sense of loyalty won out, СКАЧАТЬ