Page 3 of Waiting in Wyoming
Brandt Barratt was back. And she had realized one thing.
She wasn’t resolved about Brandt Barratt at all. Not one bit.
She still hadn’t figured him out. She probably never would, and that scared her. Confused her.
“Knock, knock. Earth to Meyra. You are zoning out on me again.”
“Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind.” That man had been on her mind for months now. Through Thanksgiving, through Christmas. And through the winter.
Even…Valentine’s Day and the three beautiful roses that had arrived at her diner. For her. From him. Just three roses. No note. Three ceramic roses, hand painted, and beautiful. She had them on her dresser. Where she could see them every day.
She’d thought she’d put him and that kiss behind her weeks ago. But he just kept creeping back in. She’d even dreamed about him and that kiss six separate times.
Meyra didn’t understand it at all.
She’d kissed other men before. But none had stuck like this.
It was March now.Four months.He’d kissed her, and she’d not heard a word from him in four months. Except that stupid message on her phone the next day.Sorry I had to leave, little one. There was an emergency with my parents. I’ll be back as soon as I can. We’ll talk then. I promise.
He’d been back to town once or twice since then.
But shehadn’t seen him.
No. He’d been on his property right behind the inn each time. Taking care of things. She’d heard all about it. There had been a lot of problems with his new property, including storm damage. Meyra had heardallabout it from her friend Fallon Preston. Fallon and her two sisters and Fallon’s eight-year-old baby brother had inherited three properties forty miles from town. But they weren’t ready to move into them. Not until after their father’s criminal trial started. Morris Preston was a horrible man who had killed people—and almost killed Ben’s brother and his wife. They were too scared to be out there alone. In case some of their father’s enemies came after them for revenge.
Fallon had told Meyra that herself. She had been telling Meyraall abouthow Brandt Barratt was letting them stay in their current house even though he owned it now. And that Brandt was in and out of the house next door that he’d also bought from Fallon’s father—before that evil man was arrested and everything.
Fallon had a lot to say about Brandt, and how she found him hot. Meyra thought Fallon had a crush or something even though Fallon said she didn’t.
Fallon thought Brandt was the hottest man in Masterson County. Fallon’s sister Molly agreed. He’d been in and out of town multiple times. His own sister had stayed at the inn over Christmas.
Yet not once had Brandt Barratt even gotten close enough to Meyra to sayhello,let alone tell her why he had kissed her the way he had. Like maybe he was sorry he had, or something. And just hadn’t known how to tell her?
So why had he sent her three ceramic roses, if that was the case?
The man had her so confused.
No man had ever made her feel that way with a kiss before. Meyra didn’t like it either. He should have at least explained what he meant. Not left her hanging with so many questions.
That wasn’t how romance worked. Didn’t he know that? A guy didn’t just kiss a girl and then run all the way to Texas like that. Not if he was serious, anyway.
Meyra was just as confused now as she was then. And it was all his fault.
She hadn’t felt this way months after Calloway Grady had kissed her. And Calloway was one of the hottest, sexiest, most successful, genuinely nicest men in Masterson County.
So why had kissing Brandt Barratt felt so different? Still felt so different?
That was a question she thought about after her sister left to find her son and make sure he was behaving. Bentley liked to run around the game room area of the inn when he wasn’t supposed to.
Something about Brandt was different.
And if he never came back to the inn, how was she supposed to figure it out?
2
She still hadn’t figuredhim out. Meyra had spent two hours in the kitchen, justthinking.
And getting nowhere. She was just going to have to give up. Again.