Free Once Upon a Valentine by Stephanie Bond Page A

center.
    Andrew didn’t respond. Instead, he seemed preoccupied with their surroundings, casting critical glances at shabby homes and muddy pastures that lined the rural road leading into Tiny. His irritation was palpable.
    “You don’t seem pleased,” she ventured.
    His jaw hardened. “I hadn’t planned to devote so much time to this project.”
    She squinted. “Then why even go to the trouble of setting up the commercial?”
    He averted his glance and realization dawned on her.
    “You thought it would flop,” she said. “You thought it would flop and that would be the end of it.”
    The tightening of his mouth confirmed her accusation.
    She scoffed. “Do you believe now, at least, that Mane Squeeze could be successful?”
    He sighed. “Not without a tremendous amount of work. And I have a career to get back to. I’ve already taken off too much time as it is.”
    “But this was your father’s dream.”
    “But it’s not my dream,” he said tersely. “And my father didn’t even see fit to share his dream with me. I’m sorry, Summer, if I don’t care as much as you think I should.”
    Hurt stabbed her, because it seemed as if he was talking about more than just the hair conditioner. “But…you can’t just pull the plug now.”
    “We’ll fulfill the orders, of course. And if there’s interest in the marketplace, we could offer the formula to the highest bidder.”
    Disappointment choked her. “This is your father’s recipe,” she managed to get out. “The decision is yours. I was only helping him. ”
    He glanced at her hair. “From what Charles said, you could probably make a pretty penny as the spokesperson if someone buys the formula.”
    Summer’s heart shriveled. He was distancing himself from the project, distancing himself from her.
    He turned down the road toward her house. What a difference twenty-four hours made. When he’d picked her up yesterday, she had been buoyant with optimism. Now as he pulled into her driveway, she turned her head. “I was wrong about you, Andrew.”
    He put the car into Park. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I assumed you still held the values we were both raised on—knowing what’s important in life, such as preserving the land and the good work of your father.”
    His jaw hardened.
    “Instead,” she continued, “you’re bearing a grudge against Barber because he didn’t share every aspect of his life with you. Did you ever stop to think you weren’t very sharing, either?”
    Instead of answering, he reached down to hit a button that popped the latch on the trunk. “I’ll get your suitcase.”
    “Don’t bother,” she said, opening the door. “I was doing fine before you came back to town, Andrew MacMillan, and I’ll be fine when you leave.”
    She climbed out of the car and closed the door, then walked around to pull her overnight bag from the trunk. She slammed the lid with more force than necessary and strode toward her home without looking back.

10
    OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, Andrew threw himself into the laundry list of things that needed to be completed. Repairs to the house and property were finally done, and Tessa was in discussion with a representative from the State Park for the parcel of land. Over the phone he negotiated a deal with a small manufacturer to produce enough of the hair conditioner to fill the orders from the home shopping channel. And he secured an agent to approach both Prince and Hollister about purchasing the Mane Squeeze formula, although he knew it could take months—maybe longer—to finalize a deal. After viewing the clip from the successful segment Summer had done for the hair conditioner, the agent mentioned the deal would be sweeter if he could offer her up as a spokesperson to the winning bidder.
    Andrew had told the agent he would let Summer know.
    Not that he’d seen her lately, except from afar. Every day after work she came by to feed and exercise the horses. He knew the moment she arrived