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she curled instinctively.
    “For you it would, honey.”
    She crossed her arms. “Right, because of how short I am.”
    His cheeks went ruddy under that bronzed skin. Well good. His behavior had been insulting. All night she’d tossed and turned. While she’d always appreciated Cole’s attributes , last night in the hallway she’d been given a close-up. And he didn’t disappoint. For a second, when he’d looked her up and down she thought she saw the flicker of recognition, of mutual desire. And then he’d shut down that theory when he told her she was short. Well, of course next to him anyone would appear short. Sarah hadn’t. She’d been tall, elegant, and stunning. They had been a spectacular couple. Last night reaffirmed that Cole hadn’t gotten over losing Sarah. She needed to remind herself of that so she didn’t make a fool of herself.
    “Look, you’re not—” He waved his hand at her, obviously struggling.
    She raised her eyebrows and gave him a pointed look. “Vertically challenged?”
    He nodded tersely. “Cinnamon will be the perfect horse for you. Let’s go before it starts to snow.”
    That again. She wasn’t getting on a damn horse. “You know what? It’s actually not even necessary for me to go up there, really. Why don’t you go up there yourself with your little BFF.”
    His head looked as though it swelled, like a balloon ready to burst. “Who the hell is my little BFF?”
    She waved her arm. “Gage.”
    He glared at her. “He’s not little and he’s not my BFF.”
    “Fine, fine. But you two could totally—”
    “No. We’re not party planners.”
    “Fine, fine.” Melanie started walking toward the front door. She needed to make her point. “I need to get out to the chapel, so I’ll just ask Gage to help me find the place. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a leisurely stroll up there.”
    Cole fell into step beside her. “Gage isn’t a personal escort. No one has time to traipse around all day party planning.” He held out her coat and she took it from his hands. Last thing she needed was him being all gentlemanly and placing it on her shoulders. He jammed his arms through the sleeves of a dark brown Sherpa lined jacket and then slapped his dark brown Stetson on his head. Melanie was spared the humiliation of being caught ogling him when Mrs. Harris’s heavy footsteps approached.
    She was struggling with a large picnic basket. Melanie heard Cole mumbling something beside her. “Wait, wait! Gage tells me you’re going up to the chapel. Now that could take a while, so I packed you a lovely lunch.”
    Cole’s jaw clenched. “We’re not going on a picnic.”
    Melanie glanced back and forth between him and the housekeeper, sensing an undercurrent of something.
    “Of course not, but that was the only thing I could find to pack your meal,” Mrs. Harris said, clasping her hands together. She gave him a bright smile and placed the basket in front of Cole’s feet. She was unphased by Cole’s bluster.
    The thought of having lunch with her was clearly not appealing to him, and she didn’t want it to look like she was keen on the idea either. Melanie cleared her throat. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Harris. I’m sure I’ll be long gone by lunch time.”
    “No need to rush on Cole’s account. He needs some downtime.”
    Cole muttered a curse that unfortunately was a little too loud.
    Mrs. Harris gasped. “Cole William Forrester, you cannot swear in front of a lady.”
    Cole closed his eyes and Melanie tried to hide her smile. Mrs. Harris stood her ground and waited for him to respond. “Thank you for the lunch, but I can’t be carrying a picnic basket around all day. We can eat when we get back,” he said, flipping open the lid to peer inside. He snapped it shut and then glared at Mrs. Harris. Melanie could have sworn she spotted candles and a bottle of wine inside the basket.
    Mrs. Harris squeezed her lips together and Melanie was pretty sure she was trying to hold back