He took her to bed and made sure to affirm that. Over and over again.
And when it was over he felt resolute. In that at least.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“THETOWNHALLmeeting is later today.”
Violet looked up when Wolf walked in and said that as a greeting. She had been distracted all day. Staring at the ring on her finger. Luxuriating in the fact that she had spent the whole of the past two nights making love with him again. In some ways, things felt right. In other ways...there was a tenor of uneasiness that seemed to wind between the cracks of their interaction, but she chose not to dwell on that.
“What’s the town hall meeting?”
“It’s more of a potluck. It’s a bit chilly out, so we’re having it in the barn down at the McClouds’.”
“Oh,” she said. “It’s all the families?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll get to meet them,” she said.
“Yeah. As my fiancée.”
She flushed with pleasure at that, and really hoped that he didn’t notice.
There. There was the uneasiness. Because she wanted to hide how much this meant to her. Wanted to hide her response to it. Wanted to hide how deeply she was affected by it. She wanted to pretend that she was right with him on this. Not any more invested, not any more emotionally involved. He was resolute, certain. But it wasn’t the same as being...happy.
She had never seen Wolf happy. Not particularly. He seemed settled right now. Seemed content. But it wasn’t the same as...
She did not feel settled, not really. She didn’t feel content.
She was something else altogether, and she was loath to examine it too deeply.
“I can bring some food,” she said.
“There is going to be food. Tons of it. The Sullivan sisters always go overboard. It’s part of their charm.”
She was nervous. And spent too long choosing what to wear. She hadn’t been to the McCloud property yet, and it took several minutes going down the winding dirt road to get there. When they pulled up, there were already trucks parked out front in a line. So many trucks.
And cowboys everywhere.
There was a parade of women in fluttery floral dresses carrying food, and that she assumed was the Sullivans. One of them was gesturing broadly and directing some of the men to carry things, unloading the back of their truck, and the food seemed endless.
She saw Elsie, standing with them, dressed in her jeans. When the car stopped, she got out, and went over to her future sister-in-law. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” She looked down at her hand, her gaze zeroing in on the ring. “Oh, my gosh,” Elsie said. “Heproposed.”
“Oh. Yeah,” she said, putting her hand behind her back.
“This is Wolf’s fiancée,” Elsie said. “This is my friend Alaina. Alaina Sullivan. And those are her sisters, Fia, Rory and Quinn.”
The other girls smiled. “Wolf’s fiancée,” the one who she thought was Quinn said. “Well. That is something. Good for him.”
There was something strange and grave about the way that she said it, and she felt certain she had missed something. But she didn’t have time to ask, because Wolf joined her then, putting his hand on her lower back. “I see you met all of them.”
“Yes,” she said.
There were a lot more men than women, and so the women stood out. There was one group that seemed a little bit aloof, even standing there in front of the barn. And there was a woman with them, with long, curly chestnut-colored hair, and her lips set down into a frown. She was very cowgirl chic. Rhinestones and studs all over her jeans.
“Who are they?”