A Jackson Hole Homecoming

“I’ll turn thirty at the end of the month,” Adrianna informed Tripp when she realized he was waiting for a reply. “September 28. Mark it on your calendar.”

The ridiculousness of her response caused Adrianna to take another drink. Tripp didn’t care when her birthday was; he’d only asked to be polite. And she doubted he’d be keeping track.

“I’ve made a mental note of it,” he said.

“Made a mental note of what?” Winn sauntered up, a bottle of beer hanging loosely from his fingers.

“Adrianna’s birthday,” July informed him.

Winn’s eyes widened in surprise. His disbelieving gaze settled on Tripp. “You didn’t know your girlfriend’s birthday?”

“She’s not—” July began but stopped when Lexi elbowed her.

“I knew it was at the end of this month.” Tripp shrugged. “I wasn’t sure of the exact date.”

A smile tugged at Winn’s lips as he shook his head. “No excuse.”

Adrianna drained her glass like a college student on spring break. Considering she had very little in her stomach, it wasn’t a smart move. Of course, neither was falling in love with a man who didn’t want her. For some odd reason, at the moment, the thought seemed more amusing than sad. Adrianna smiled. “I agree with you, Winn.”

Surprise filled Winn’s eyes. “You do?”

“I bet you’re not the kind of man to forget a woman’s birthday.” Feeling uncharacteristically reckless, Adrianna slipped her hand around his arm and gazed up at him, batting her heavily mascaraed lashes.

“If you’re asking if I’d ever forget your birthday,” Winn said gallantly, “the answer is no.”

Adrianna let her gaze linger. Winn Ferris was a handsome man. His white shirt was the perfect foil for his dark hair. Even dressed simply in black jeans and a white shirt, he managed to look … elegant.

“Would you like another Crazy Coyote, ma’am?” The boy—er, waiter—asked, taking her empty glass.

Even though common sense told Adrianna to wait until she’d eaten before imbibing more alcohol, she wasn’t on call this weekend and Tripp was driving.

Winn glanced at her and smiled.

It was all the encouragement she needed. “I’d love another.”

“Do you think that’s wise, Anna?” Tripp’s voice sounded in her ear.

“She’s a big girl, Randall.” Winn patted her hand in a proprietary gesture. “I’m sure she can make up her own mind.”

“Anna,” Tripp said softly but with a degree of urgency.

She met his gaze. As his baby blues sucked her in she saw confusion and something that startled her. The man who didn’t know her birthday appeared to be genuinely worried. About her.

Anna wished she could tell Tripp that he needn’t be concerned. Though she’d been blinded by a handsome face in college, she was older now. And hopefully wiser.

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” Tripp’s gaze never left her face. “If you have a moment.”

“I think—” Winn began, but Adrianna surprised herself by closing his lips with her fingers.

“I need to go.” She slipped her hand out from around Winn’s arm and turned toward Tripp. “I love meeting new people.”

“Since when?” July muttered and Lexi shushed her.

With a relieved smile Tripp took her arm. She strolled across the patio with him, swearing she could smell a hint of fall in the warm night air. When he pulled her around the corner of the house and stopped, Adrianna glanced around. They were alone. “Who did you want me to meet?”

He gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Me.”

The tequila must have affected Adrianna more than she’d realized because what he said made no sense. “Pardon?”

“I wanted you to be with me, not Winn.” His gaze searched hers. “Are you angry?”

Adrianna pushed her hair back from her face with the back of her hand. “Not angry,” she admitted. “Confused.”

“Why confused?” He gave his head a slight shake when the waiter rounded the corner of the house, margarita in hand. The young man immediately turned on his heel.

“We both know you don’t want me.” Then because that sounded so plaintive, she added, “Of course I don’t want you either. Other than as a friend, of course.”

“Of course,” he murmured.

Now, Winn was another story. The look in his eyes said he wanted to be a whole lot more than friends.

A sudden thought hit her. “Does Jim Ferris now know that you and I are simply friends?”

That would certainly explain why Winn was being so bold, causing Tripp to overreact.

Tripp shook his head. “I haven’t had the chance to speak privately with him yet. But I will,” he hastily added.

“Make sure you do.” Adrianna wasn’t sure what kind of game Tripp was playing. She just knew it was time for it to come to an end. “Tonight.”

Tripp was surprised to see his parents walk through the door just as everyone was sitting down to eat. He’d been over to see his dad earlier in the day, but the older man hadn’t been feeling well and his mother thought they might skip the barbecue.

Even though his last round of chemo had been almost a month ago, the family was still waiting for him to bounce back. Tonight his dad actually looked … better. Certainly better than he had last week and much better than he had this morning.

He and Adrianna had been about to join their friends at one of the many tables set up for the event. But when Tripp saw his parents, he touched Adrianna’s arm. “My parents just arrived.”

“Oh.” She inclined her head. “Shall we sit with them?”

Tripp searched her eyes to make sure the offer was sincere. Because he’d come with Adrianna, his first loyalty was to her. But he knew how much it would mean for his parents to share the meal with them. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all.” Adrianna turned toward their friends. “Tripp’s folks decided to come after all, and we promised to sit with them.”

As expected, their friends understood.

Tripp’s mother’s face lit up when she saw them approach. His father’s lips lifted in a slow smile.

“You look pretty this evening,” his dad said to Adrianna.

“Thank you, Mr. Randall,” Adrianna said, blushing prettily.

Frank lifted a brow. “Are we going to have to go through this each time we see each other?”

“Frank,” Adrianna said, gazing at his father through lowered lashes. “How nice to see you again.”

Was Anna flirting with his dad?

His father chuckled.

Yep, and his dad was loving every minute of it.

Tripp cast a sideways glance at his mother and found her watching the exchange, a tremulous smile on her lips.

“I wasn’t sure you’d be here,” his mother said to him. “I know Jim Ferris isn’t one of your favorite people—”

“Kathy.” His father spoke sharply, though in an equally low tone. “Jim is our host.”

His mother’s cheeks turned a bright pink and an uncomfortable silence descended over the foursome.

“I see a table for four over there,” Adrianna said.

“Are you inviting us to eat with you?” his mother asked, obviously not wanting to read anything into her comment.

“Only if you want to,” Adrianna said quickly.

“Yes, Mother,” Tripp said, almost at the same time. “We’d like you and Dad to eat with us.”

“Offer accepted.” His father sounded almost jovial. “It’ll give me a chance to get to know this little lady better.”

His dad smiled warmly at Adrianna and Tripp realized he must make it clear to his parents that he and the pretty midwife were just friends. But not now.

He wanted them to enjoy the evening. And he didn’t feel like answering their questions as to why he wasn’t interested in Adrianna.

Conversation flowed easily over dinner and for a normally shy person, Adrianna talked a great deal. Although his parents were very adept in social settings, his suspicions were that Anna’s talkativeness had more to do with a second Crazy Coyote Margarita that the waiter brought her than his parents’ natural friendliness.

His mother continued to smile warmly at Adrianna, which worried Tripp. But she’d been doing that all through dinner. The two women had bonded over their inability to eat anything cooked with an intact face.

Then she’d asked Adrianna about her work. His mother’s eyes shone when Adrianna had gushed about how much she loved delivering babies.

But when his mother lifted a brow and a gleam filled her eye, Tripp shifted uneasily in his seat.

“I assume you want children of your own?” his mother asked.

“I do,” Adrianna said without hesitation. “But I need to find a husband first.”

When his mother’s gaze slid pointedly to him, Tripp realized he should have seen it coming.

He ignored the look she shot him and stabbed the last piece of pork on his plate. “Did I tell you that our emergency department received another honor?”

“Honey—” his mom’s tone turned chiding “—can’t you forget about work for one evening?”

He resisted the urge to point out that she and Adrianna had been talking about her “work” for the past ten minutes.

“Your mother is right.”

Tripp couldn’t believe his father was agreeing with his mom. Frank had been a businessman as well as a rancher for most of his life. He understood that events such as tonight’s barbecue were as much about business as socializing.

“We appreciate the fact that you’re encouraging Tripp to get out more,” Frank said to Adrianna.

Whoa, what had his father said? Tripp had been the one to invite Adrianna to this event, not the other way around.

“He can be somewhat of a workaholic.” Adrianna cast him a teasing glance and motioned for the server to bring her another Crazy Coyote.

“Are those good?” his mother asked.

“Delicious,” Adrianna pronounced.

“I’ll have one, too,” his mother told the server.

Tripp resisted the urge to groan.

His father settled back in his chair, looking amused. “So you enjoy being with my son.”

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