Page 86 of Riding High

Mick took her hand and squeezed.‘You did this,’ she muttered, her voice thick.

She glanced back at the field to where Henry, Kit and Jed were dismounting, laughing as they handed their horses over to the grooms.‘I think Jed and Henry worked it out themselves.’

Mick smacked her arm.‘I’m not talking about them, you numpty!’She widened her arms, trying to gather the day into them.‘You didall this!It’s bigger and brighter and more fun and more professional than anything we could’ve pulled off.’

Eden looked around, and the earlier pride rushed back in, hot and bright.‘I did good, right?’

Surprisingly, it was Alistair who answered.He lifted his head, and his dark, fiercely intelligent eyes met hers.‘You didverygood,’ he rumbled the words.

Eden nodded and her throat closed.Getting two compliments in one day from Al, who rarely bothered to engage, waseverything.She placed her hand on his forearm and squeezed.‘Thank you.’

‘Sign the contract,’ Alistair ordered, his voice gruff.‘We need a family member running the foundation.Someone we can trust, someone who can read a bloody spreadsheet, decipher the simplest code.’

‘Blah blah,’ Mick muttered.

Tears welled at Al’s gruff endorsement.She might not have Jed, but she was part of this family.And that was everything.Well, nearly everything.Her eyes watered, but Eden knew she couldn’t lose it now; she needed to beHello!andTatlerphoto-ready.

‘Dammit,’ she muttered, fanning her hands in front of her face, trying to dry her tears.She blinked and sniffed, her knees a little weak at the idea of having her people, her place and a soft place to land.

Troyden touched her shoulder.‘Sweetheart, you can’t cry.You have things to do, an event to close out.’

Dammit, she did.She had a million– okay, an exaggeration– items to tick off her list before she could throw back a tequila and chase it with a beer.But the sooner she started, the quicker she’d be done…

But as soon as she stepped into the tent, she started to sneeze.Right, too many sexy polo players in too confined a space.Well, at least she could blame her horse allergy for her red-with-emotion eyes.