* * *
The next morning Ginger opened her eyes in her own room and smiled to herself. Shane wasn’t just a great lover. He was the greatest lover. She just couldn’t tell him because he wouldn’t be able to fit his head through his tee-shirts.
She walked out into the hall to use the bathroom and almost ran into Trevor. “Sorry. Hi.” She grinned goofily.
“Morning.” He frowned. “You know… You really should be a little more quiet. You kept me up quite a while last night.”
Her jaw dropped. Before she could respond, he walked down the stairs.
She put her hands over her flaming cheeks. Great. So her brother had heard everything. At least her parents were heavy sleepers.
When she made it downstairs, her dad had already finished with breakfast and gone out to check on his cows with Trevor. Ginger sat at the table as her mom placed a mug of steaming coffee in front of her.
“Good morning,” Zoe said cheerfully. She had on her red apple apron, which she only wore when she was in an exceptionally good mood. “How are you feeling?”
“Not bad,” Ginger said.
Shane was at the table too and gave Zoe his most charming smile when she put more bacon on his plate. “You’re an amazing cook, ma’am. I bet not even Mark’s fancy chefs can make bacon this good.”
She gave him a side-eye, her lips twitching in a suppressed smile. “Who’s going to believe that?”
“Me. And Ginger. And anyone else who’s eaten your food.”
Zoe laughed and put a plateful of scrambled eggs, bacon and home fries in front of Ginger. “Eat. You’ve lost too much weight.”
“All right.” Ginger dug in. Zoe had fretted after she’d come back to the States with Debbie. But she hadn’t known exactly what was wrong, and Ginger hadn’t told her.
She also hadn’t told Shane, and didn’t plan to. Better to leave that pain in the past. It still hurt when she thought about it, and what would be the point of telling Shane now? Debbie had the right attitude—that it just wasn’t meant to be, but heaven would bless her again when the time was right.
Zoe went to the kitchen to look at what kind of dessert to make for lunch and dinner. Ginger leaned over to Shane. “Hey,” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Did Trevor say anything to you?”
“About what?”
She leaned closer. “Our noise last night.”
“No. Why?”
She pulled back with a scowl. “I see.”
“What’s that expression for?”
“I know what’s going on. And here I thought Trevor really heard something.”
“Heard what?” Zoe asked, coming back to the tab
le with a pitcher of iced tea.
“Nothing,” Ginger said quickly. “I was having a dream and apparently talked in my sleep.”
“Well, don’t mind him. The slightest little noise will have him up and prowling the house.” Zoe put a hand on Ginger’s shoulder comfortingly. “More bacon, Shane?”
“Please.”
Ginger pushed her plate his way. “You can have mine too.”