Ever After at Sweetheart Ranch by Emma Cane Page A

times this week, he’d thought back to standing outside her door Friday evening, reliving the moment when she’d asked him in, all warm and sweet and hesitant. He’d turned her down. Idiot. But if he’d gone in, what did he think would have happened?
    Emily came out of the kitchen, carrying three pie boxes neatly stacked, turning his thoughts away from things he couldn’t change. She was cuter than normal, wearing her BEST BUNS IN TOWN apron, so clean it was as if she never baked. It was still strange to think that just three years ago, he hadn’t known he had an older sister, but now he couldn’t imagine it otherwise. Emily had been through a bad divorce; her husband had left her partly because she couldn’t give him a biological child. Any man who wasn’t a fool could realize that kind, gentle Emily would make a wonderful mother, regardless of how they had children. And Nate was no fool.
    Emily stepped behind the counter and came to the far end where the cash register was, placing the boxes in front of Will. He started to pull out his wallet.
    â€œTony has an account with us,” Steph said, then glanced at her sister with amusement. “A hefty account we bill monthly.”
    Will put away his wallet. “Far be it from me to interfere between bakery and client.”
    Since meeting Emily, Steph had done some growing up. She’d been a much-­loved—­and spoiled—­only daughter, and at sixteen, she’d found it tough to discover she had a sister. After a slow and rocky start, they now planned to go into the bakery together when Steph graduated from college.
    â€œSo, when’s the move-­in date to the new apartment?” Will asked her. “I assume you’ll need your brothers to help carry stuff.”
    Steph gave a little squeal, and Em rolled her eyes good-­naturedly.
    â€œI just signed the papers,” Steph confided. “Mom kept trying to talk me out of it—­said I should save my money—­but Monica is giving me a really good deal. No security deposit or last month’s rent or anything. She and Travis have been moving stuff out already. I’ll need some help this weekend.”
    â€œYou got it.”
    Steph looked past him, gestured subtly with her chin toward Lyndsay and Kate, then spoke in a low voice. “I hear you guys danced a ­couple songs last Friday.”
    â€œWith Kate or Lyndsay?”
    Steph spoke with exasperation. “The available one.”
    Will exhaled slowly and arched an eyebrow at his other sister.
    â€œWord gets around,” Emily whispered innocently.
    â€œAnd why should word get around?” he asked with disbelief.
    Emily spoke with calm patience, as if he were dense. “Because you never dance with her.”
    â€œI don’t?” He glanced at Lyndsay, who was eating one of his sister’s sinful desserts. He admired the little dress she wore, which came to her knees in a teacherly fashion but bared her toned arms and dipped toward her breasts, as if teasing him.
    Teasing him? Where had that come from? She wouldn’t dress to affect him.
    He’d noticed her looks and her intelligence and how funny she could be, but he’d kept his distance, figuring that, regardless of Tony’s rules, she was just out of his league.
    He left the counter and approached the two women. “Ladies, how are you this rainy afternoon?”
    Lyndsay’s bangs were haphazard across her forehead, but they couldn’t hide the touch of chagrin in her brown eyes.
    â€œWill, I have to apologize for getting drunk Friday night,” she said. “I hope I didn’t embarrass you or myself too much.”
    He pulled up a chair and straddled it. “Don’t worry about it. You were hardly drunk, just talkative.”
    Lyndsay ran a hand down her face. “I think I remember letting you get a word in edgewise.”
    â€œYou know I don’t have a problem