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Nash fought to keep from laughing. The grapes had been one of the best ideas he’d ever had to get them all hot and bothered after eating the delicious sandwiches. Not that they’d needed the grapes to reignite their passion. But it had been fun eating them off each other’s bodies like Jell-O shots at a frat party.
“As a matter of fact, Cookie has a lot of those grapes left—and they need to be eaten before they go bad. I’ll have him pack some for you to take with you. But for now, come on up to the house. Your castmates just came down for breakfast. I’m sure they’ll want to hear all about your adventure in the rain last night.”
“We’ll be there in a minute,” Nash assured him. “Could we get a little more grain for the mare? She’s got an appetite this morning.”
“Sure.” Mitchell tipped his head toward a line of garbage cans. “The feed is kept in those cans. Help yourself to whatever she might like.”
“We won’t take much,” Londyn said. “Just enough to satisfy, but not enough to have her getting sick on the trip.”
“Sounds good,” Mitchell said. “See you in a few minutes, and don’t worry about cleaning the stalls. We’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you,” Londyn said. “Will you at least let me pay you for boarding us for the night?”
Mitchell shook his head. “Not a chance. I might decide to come visit you on your ranch someday. You can put me up in your barn.”
Londyn smiled. “I’ll do better than that. I have extra rooms in the house. I’ll be sure to put fresh sheets on the bed.”
“Gonna one-up me?” Mitchel shook his head with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He turned, chuckling. “Don’t be too long, or the food will get cold.”
Mitchell left the barn, and Londyn’s gaze followed the other ranch owner. “There are good people in this world.”
“Yes, there are.” He glanced down at her. “Let’s gather our things and get up to the ranch house for breakfast. I seemed to have worked up an appetite.”
“For grapes?” Londyn shook her head, frowning, though her lips twitched on the corners. “I can’t believe you asked for grapes. It’s not like we can have a repeat of last night while driving to the ranch.”
“I don’t know,” he said, giving her an assessing glance. “I love a challenge.”
She backhanded him in the gut hard enough to get his attention but not hard enough to hurt. “Let’s get going, grape nuts. I’d like to be on the road in less than an hour.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nash said, chuckling. He leaned close. “The grapes have you salivating?”
“No, but Cookie’s breakfast does.” She shook her head and walked back into the stall with the sleeping bags. She lifted the one on the top, folded it over and zipped it together. Then she folded it in half and rolled it tightly, using the attached straps to secure it.
While she worked on one sleeping bag, he worked on the other. They gathered their wet clothing, the sleeping bags and the bag of clothing items Mitchell had offered that they wouldn’t be using.
With their arms full, they checked Butterscotch once more, then headed to the house.
Cookie met them at the back door leading into the kitchen and held the door while they carried everything inside. “I just put the food out on the buffet in the dining room.” He waved them toward the dining room. “Please. Help yourself. Do you want coffee, tea or juice?”
Nash entered the dining room, where a long table was set with plates, flatware and drink glasses.
Mitchell sat at the head of the table. Six men sat on either side. Julia Banes and Craig Ryland sat at the table, looking refreshed. Julia’s hair was expertly coifed, and her make-up was subtle but beautiful. She smiled as Nash and Londyn entered the room. “Oh, there you two are. We’re so glad you made it here, what with the storm and all.”
“That’s right,” Craig said. “We were shocked to hear your horse ran away. Does that happen often?”
“It was a first,” Londyn said. “Butterscotch has never displayed a reaction like that before.”
“She’s all right?” Julia asked.
Londyn nodded. “I’m taking her back to my ranch today.”
“Anything I can do to help you?” Julia asked with a smile spread across her face.
“No, thank you,” Londyn responded. “We can handle everything.”
Nash loaded a plate full of food and set the plate on the table in the position beside Craig. He gave the man a nod and returned to stand with Londyn while she scooped fluffy, yellow scrambled eggs onto a plate and dropped two pieces of bacon on the side. She added a slice of bread before turning to the table. A slight frown pulled at her forehead as she claimed the seat beside Julia.
Nash snagged a slice of toast as an excuse for hanging out at the buffet for so long. He carried it to his plate across the table from where Londyn sat.
