Page 69 of Wilde Flame

“Will your aunt go visit your parents since she’s in town?” I asked.

“No, she’s only here for tonight, then headed back to Denver in the morning. She wants it to be a total surprise. No one else knows. Well, except us now, so no one let it slip.”

“My lips are sealed,” Moreen declared, as she mimed locking her lips and tossing the pretend key over her shoulder.

Our appetizers were delivered, and we all dug in. As I ate, my stomach calmed, and I began to look forward to dinner. But the moment Moreen’s lamb gyro was placed on the table, and I got one whiff, my stomach revolted.

I put a hand to my mouth and quickly stood.

“Lilibeth?” Ensley asked, standing as well.

I looked around, not sure where the bathroom was. When I couldn’t find any sign of it fast enough, I ran toward the front door so that I wouldn’t throw up in the dining room of the restaurant. I made it out the door and around the corner before I emptied my stomach in some bushes.

“Lili? What’s wrong?”

I tried to answer Caden, embarrassed he’d followed and was seeing me throw up again, but another wave hit me, and I threw up some more.

“Oh my God,” Ensley stood next to me, a hand on my back. “You really don’t like lamb, do you?”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I took the napkins she handed me and wiped my mouth. “I’m so sorry. I’m suddenly not feeling well at all.”

“Do you think you’re coming down with something?” she asked as she rubbed my back.

Standing up, I looked sheepishly at Caden and Ensley. “I’m so sorry about that.”

“Let me have them pack up our stuff to go and we’ll head back to River Falls.”

“No! Ensley…no. Just give me a few minutes and I’m sure I’ll be okay. Please, just go back in and eat.”

Caden looked between the two of us. “I’m about to head back. I just need to drop Kendall off at her hotel. I can give you a ride home.”

“No,” I said, waving off his concern. “I’m fine. My stomach’s been off all day. My father had the stomach flu last week, so maybe that’s what this is. I’m okay now.”

“Are you positive?” Ensley asked, looking worried.

Caden frowned as he studied me. “You’re sure you don’t want me to take you home?”

Nodding, I replied, “I’m sure. Thank you, though.”

The second I stepped into the restaurant and the smells hit me, I turned and walked right back out.

“That’s it,” Caden stated. “I’m taking you home.”

Ensley nodded at Caden. “Aunt Kendall can join us. I’ll take her back to her hotel. Just get Lilibeth home.”

“Honestly,” I started to say—before I turned and ran back to the same bush. I soon had nothing left to throw up and was just dry heaving. By the time Caden had gotten me into his truck, I was exhausted. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be in much of a talkative mood. The drive was silent, and before long, I’d closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Caden

“Hey,” I said, as I walked up to Ensley, who was shoeing one of the horses. “Working here today, huh?”

She glanced up and smiled. “Yeah. Emeline asked if I could help out with some things on this side of the ranch. Just getting the job part of my job over first.”

Nodding, I leaned against the wall as I watched my sister work. Just like Emeline, Ensley seemed to sense what the horses were feeling. When Ensley told our parents she wanted to be a farrier, no one was surprised. From the time Ensley was old enough to walk, she was in the barn with my mother, grandmother, and the horses. She was the animal lover in the family. The one who brought home every stray she found and rescued every wild animal.

“I’ve always wanted to ask you, why do you grab their tails?”

“They like it. Other horses in the herd will mess with each other’s tails. It’s like we’re buddies and this is a secret handshake.”