Her Small-Town Cowboy. Mia Ross

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СКАЧАТЬ she added, “Abby’s told me a lot about your mother, and I’d love to meet her.”

      “I can just imagine what you’ve been hearing from our little one,” a woman’s voice chimed in from the front porch. The accent had a musical lilt to it that reminded Lily of her late great-grandmother Katie, who’d stepped off a boat from Ireland and into a career that took her from the garment factories of New York to the homes of high-society women up and down the East Coast. It was in one of them that she’d met the dashing Alexander St. George, and the rest was history.

      That image sparked wonderful memories for Lily, and she faced the woman with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Kinley.”

      “None of that now,” she protested, waving off the formality with a hand dusted with flour. “It’s Maggie to everyone hereabouts. Including you.”

      “Thank you. And I’m Lily.”

      “That you are.” Flashing a dimpled smile, she turned to her son with a disapproving look. “Michael, aren’t you going to invite this lovely young lady inside for something to drink on this hot day?”

      “I think you just did that.” He scowled back, but the fondness twinkling in his eyes betrayed him. So, he wasn’t such a grumbly bear, after all, Lily noted. It made a girl wonder what else was going on behind that lopsided grin.

      “Come on,” Abby urged, grasping Lily’s hand to pull her up the steps. “We’ve been making chocolate chip cookies. They’re still all gooey, so we have to eat them fast.”

      “My favorite kind. It smells like you put extra chocolate in them, too.”

      “That’s how Daddy likes them.” Flashing him an adoring look, she grinned. “Isn’t it, Daddy?”

      “Got that right.”

      He returned her look with an ease that astonished Lily. Up until now, she’d viewed him as a tightly reined-in kind of guy who wasn’t exactly the mushy type. But when he looked at his daughter, she saw a side of him she’d have never in a million years guessed he had. The more she got to know the gruff horse trainer, the more she liked him. That wasn’t the best idea for her, she cautioned herself. Getting involved with the father of one of her students—no matter how fascinating he might be—was definitely not going to happen. She had no intention of jeopardizing her teaching career by starting out with such a foolish mistake.

      So, since anything serious with him was off the table, she resolved to keep him at a polite, professional distance. It shouldn’t be too hard, she reasoned. He was clearly doing the same with her, although she didn’t quite understand why. Normally, she had to push men away when she discovered they were more interested in making nice with her well-connected family than in dating her. Because of her evasive maneuvers during their first meeting, Mike had no idea who she was, but for some reason he was still keeping his distance. While that suited her in one sense, in another it made her want to find out why.

      That wasn’t likely to happen today, so she took a seat next to Abby on a bench at the large oak table in the Kinleys’ kitchen. The sprawling white farmhouse had a comfortable feel to it, from the bright windows letting in sunlight and a soft breeze, to the mellowed wood of the carved cabinets that lined the walls. “Maggie, you have a beautiful home. How old is it?”

      “Nearly a hundred years,” she answered as she piled cookies onto a plate. “My husband, Justin—God rest him—inherited the place from his granddad who moved here from Ireland just before the First World War. Back then, they trained horses for the military, then Justin and his father got into the racing business. And our boys, of course.”

      “I just broke ’em in,” Mike clarified. “Dad made ’em into winners.”

      The pride in his voice was tinged with sorrow, and Lily said, “He sounds like a wonderful man. I’m so sorry you lost him.”

      “You have to make time to dance every single day,” Maggie advised as she set the cookies on the table and sat down beside her son. “You never know how many songs the Good Lord will grant you.”

      “Is that an old Irish blessing?” Lily asked.

      “Justin’s,” Maggie replied with a nostalgic smile. “No matter how tired he was at the end of a day, he always took me for a spin.”

      “You’ve got the broken toes to prove it,” Mike teased, and she laughed.

      “That’s the truth of it. I adored that man, but he wasn’t light of foot, to be sure.”

      “Grampa used to dance with me, too,” Abby said, pointing to a collection of family photos on the wall. One was of a large man wearing suspenders and a flannel shirt who bore a strong resemblance to Mike. Gazing down at the tiny bundle he held cradled in his muscular arms, the man had a delighted smile that reminded her of the way Mike had looked at his daughter earlier. Lily was touched by the way the strong Kinley men seemed to melt in Abby’s presence.

      Despite his brusque demeanor, she could easily see that Mike had inherited more than his father’s build and good looks. Recognizing that, she felt her vow to keep him at arm’s length beginning to waver. Maybe these riding lessons weren’t the best idea she’d ever had. If she was smart, she’d invent a reason to stop coming to the farm and avoid the temptation of getting closer to Mike. If only she didn’t feel so at home here, she added with a mental sigh. The animals were enticing enough, but now that she’d met more of his family, she liked the place even more.

      “So,” Maggie said while she handed Lily an icy glass of sweet tea, “how was your first lesson on Gideon?”

      “I’m not ready for an equestrian team yet, but I think it went pretty well.”

      “I’m afraid I’m not much of a teacher,” Mike confessed with a grimace. “Gideon did his best, though.”

      This was her chance to begin creating that space she’d just been pondering, but she couldn’t bring herself to let the poor man believe he’d failed her somehow. “You both did, and I really appreciate it.”

      That got her a grateful look, as if he wasn’t accustomed to being praised for what he did. Something about this man tugged at her soft heart, and any thoughts of ending her lessons disappeared. After all, it wasn’t as if she’d be dating him, so that wouldn’t cross the professional line she’d drawn. And as her social-butterfly mother had often told her, you could never have too many friends. Recalling that upbeat advice, she smiled and made a mental note to call Mom later for a chat. An unapologetic free spirit, she’d been divorced from Lily’s father longer than they’d been married and spent most of her time exploring one fascinating place or another. She was in Barcelona these days, and it had been two weeks since their last call—way too long.

      Abby finished chewing her cookie, then looked at Mike with shining eyes. “Daddy, I just had a mindstorm.”

      “Brainstorm,” he corrected her with a chuckle. “What is it?”

      “At lunch today, I was telling my friends how when we lived on the ranch, you taught me how to ride when I was three. They thought it was really cool, and some of them wished they could learn, too.”

      “Yeah? Which ones?”

      “Kennedy, Brianna, Jillian.” She added several more names, ticking them off until she ran out of fingers. Then she cocked her head СКАЧАТЬ