Free Once Tempted by Laura Moore Page A

the enthusiasm she typically displayed during the tasting sessions, she plucked a chocolate oatmeal drop cookie from the plate, took a bite, and chewed. Atypically she frowned. “But this one—nope. Too ho-hum.” She fell silent, chewing, considering.
    “The cookies need a little kick. A dash of cayenne, maybe,” Ward said.
    Tess frowned at her notebook as she wrote down his observation. Darn him for having figured out what she hadn’t. He was entirely too good at zeroing in on a missing ingredient.
    “So how are we doing for the day’s schedule? Any glitches?” Daniel asked, his air of authority tempered by his obvious love and respect for Adele.
    “As of five A.M. we have three new healthy, tail-wiggling lambs. The horses Quinn and I are using on the morning trail ride are brushed. Holly, Frank, and Jim are tacking them as we speak. Twenty-one guests signed up,” Ward told him.
    Tess had already come to understand the long hours Ward logged tending to the ranch and running the business end of the guest accommodations. As impressive as they were, they didn’t outnumber his character defects. In her opinion, he still had a long way to go in the personality department.
    Reid spoke. “I called down to the barn on my way here. No one’s canceled for the morning trail ride or for the afternoon ride Mitch and I are leading.”
    Daniel nodded. “Good.”
    “How are we doing with rebookings, Phil?” Adele asked.
    Phil’s grin was happy. “Very promising so far. We’ve already got requests for next year’s Valentine’s Day as well as for other weekend dates. We’ve had a substantial increase in calls since the ad campaign.”
    “And how about the other weekend activities?” Adele asked.
    “I confirmed with the band that’s playing tonight,” Macie said. “And Naomi’s bringing two additional instructors for the yoga classes. Ava Day said they have eight bookings for manis, pedis, and facials from Silver Creek today. They’re thrilled with the extra business.”
    “I’m glad we’re able to send customers her way. She’s done a fantastic job with her salon,” Adele said.
    “I have a feeling we’ll be sending Ava even more business come this June. Guess who called me this morning?”
    Since everyone else was looking at Ward expectantly, Tess allowed her gaze to cross the table.
    “Brian,” he answered, which meant nothing to her. “He’s proposed to Carrie.”
    Around the table rose a lot of “So happy for the couple” sounds. They floated as lightly as soap bubbles blown on a warm summer’s day and vanished just as quickly at Ward’s next words: “They’d like to have the wedding here at Silver Creek.”
    “Oh,” Adele said faintly.
    “Have we recovered from the last wedding?” Daniel asked.
    “My ears haven’t.” Reid made a show of tugging his earlobe. “They’re still ringing from the bridesmaids’ drunken karaoke set. The thing lasted until four A.M. Past even my bedtime.”
    “And the next morning, the makeup artist pitched a fit when all the ladies showed up with faces the color of pea soup,” Quinn said. “And the hairstylist had to take twice as long because they kept moaning whenever the hairbrush came near. It was pitiful.”
    “Now, Quinn,” her father said with mild reproof.
    “It was,” Quinn insisted. “Don’t you remember how you had to threaten the groom’s frat brothers with the police? They were trying to ride the steers. The dopes thought it’d be fun to race them,” she explained for Tess’s benefit.
    Tess glanced at Daniel. His dark head was streaked with gray at the temples. Combined with his commanding air, he had the look of an ambassador. Even so, Tess had difficulty imagining this reserved man negotiating with a bunch of drunken wedding guests intent on riding his cattle.
    “Oh, yes, it’s all coming back to me now. That was a dreadful wedding! We had to air out the guest rooms for days afterward. They didn’t tip the cleaning staff,