Page 114 of First Bride to Fall
She spoke without turning. “I don’t mind cooking.”
He wished she would look at him so he could read her expression. Her voice was blank. “Yeah, but itisan awful lot. I mean, maybe we can cut out a thing or two?”
“Like what? The eggs are boiled already.” She still wouldn’t look at him, and maybe he was lucky she was talking to him at all, after all his unreasonable demands. But what about her and her big secrets? About Aidan and that bet?
“Great,” he said about the eggs being boiled. “We can save them for breakfast.” Assuming she’d still be here. That only made him feel worse. He didn’t want Nell’s company under these conditions. Everything was all twisted up and felt so wrong. Like a battle he couldn’t win, no matter which way it went.
He sighed and stared at the cocoa tin. A cheese grater sat beside it by a cutting board and a hunk of vegan cheese. He walked up to her, speaking softly. “Let’s skip the brownies,” he said morosely. “You won’t eat them anyway.”
She shot him a glance, but she’d set her mouth in a hard line, like she suspected another trick. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll skip the brownies.”
He hated the wariness in her tone, knowing he’d put it there. “Same with the mac and cheese.”
She shrugged and turned away. “Fine by me. Still want the baked beans and tots?”
“Sure,” he said, because he knew those were easy. “I’ll work on the campfire for the hot dogs.” The mood had changed between them, settling into a quiet disillusionment. He’d give anything to bring back their fiery heat. Or even a smidgen of a smile. “Need any help in here?”
“No thanks,” she said, finally turning to face him. “I’m all right.”
Her eyes were flat, devoid of emotion, and it churned him up inside. Shewasall right. Of course she was. Nell was the solid sort of woman who would always land on her feet. And she pretty clearly wanted to land there without him. Frustration, and maybe a little hurt, burned through his chest as he headed for the back door. “I’ll go work on that fire.”
…
Grant threw another log on the fire. It crackled and caught, emitting short flames. It was one of the logs Nell had chopped during her wood-chopping frenzy, which only served to increase his frustration.
Their conversation inside hadn’t gone well. Not only had she refused to own up to why she’d tried to trap him into a relationship, she’d refused to walk away. Apparently, for Nell, it was all about winning. What he couldn’t understand waswhy. Why wouldn’t she walk away? He had his reasons. What were hers?
His heart ached over the whole situation, but then his gut twisted, indignation rising to the surface once again. Her reasons didn’t matter. None of this was worth it. Not the games, not the apologies, not how he was feeling—none of it. He trudged back toward the cabin, determined to have it out with her once and for all.
“Nell,” he said when he entered the kitchen. “We need to talk.”
She pulled the baked beans from the oven and set them on the stove top.
“You’re right.” She sighed. “We probably do.”
He spread his hands out in front of him. “Why couldn’t you just be honest with me?”
She stared past him and out the back door at the tent. “And why couldn’t you resist sticking it to me, Grant? Hmm?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you just walk away?”
She stepped toward him. “Why didn’tyou?”
“This ismycabin.”
“I’m not talking about that, and you know it. I’m talking about us.”
He stared down into her eyes, breathing hard. “I’m not sure there is any us.” His heart ached when he said it.
Her eyes glistened. “I thought we felt something for each other. That first night—”
“That was before. Before I knew about your bet—and Aidan.” He frowned. “And that I’d been targeted as your last-minute groom.”
She blanched. But she had to have figured it out at some point. Had to know that he knew. “Grant. That’s not how it was.”
“Are you sure about that? Because your sisters sure seemed to think you’d gotten out of marrying that guy by winning me over.”
All the guilt he’d expected to see earlier flooded her wide brown eyes. “I was going to tell you—about Aidan, the bet, everything.”
