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“You see, I was engaged.”
Oh.
Aspen and I both popped up and propped ourselves up on our elbows, intrigued by this revelation. I’d wondered about that tan line on her wedding finger.
Shelby pulled the covers around her tighter as if she needed the comfort. “A few years ago, at a concert my parents wouldn’t have wanted me to be at, I met Ryder.” Her voice hitched with the pronunciation of his name. Immense loss sounded in the change of her tone when she said his name.
We would get to that in a moment; what I wanted to know first was why did her parents care what kind of concerts she was attending? “Shelby, how old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
So a few years younger than us, but come on.
“My birthday is on Valentine’s Day, the day I got engaged,” she cried.
Of course she was born on Valentine’s Day. It wouldn’t have surprised me if Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty herself, hadn’t hand carved this woman in her image and sent her down from the heavens.
“What happened?” I tried to sound more sympathetic than curious.
She sat up and took the sleeping bag and blankets off Aspen and me. She pulled her knees up to her chest, along with the covers. This forced Aspen and me to do the same if we wanted to stay warm. Nights at this elevation were chilly no matter the time of year.
Shelby gathered her thoughts while resting her head on her knees. Even in the dark I could see the tears trickle down her beautiful face. And those thick, long eyelashes of hers? I’d found out earlier in the day they were all real.
Shelby let out a meaningful sigh. “Ryder wasn’t my parents’ ideal boyfriend or husband for me. He was a little rough around the edges and he didn’t have the right . . . credentials,” she hesitated to say.
“Credentials?” Aspen asked.
Shelby bit her lip as if she knew what she was about to say was a bit snobbish. “His education, financial situation, and family ties were less than desirable to my parents.”
“But you didn’t care?” I had to ask. Though Sawyer had an impressive resume, I couldn’t let him be with someone who would think less of him because he wasn’t properly bred.
Shelby shook her head with a sad smile. “Not at all. Ryder,” she swallowed, “was, or at least I thought he was, the smartest, funniest man, and when he wanted to be he was all gentleman, but he was a tad unconventional.”
Both Aspen’s and my eyes said, what?
Shelby fidgeted a bit. “Although he never had any formal higher education, he was real smart. He worked for a software company. He was like a Bill Gates.” Her voice shined with pride.
“Did he own the company?”
“Oh, no. That might have made it better for my parents, but Ryder was happy without those kinds of pressures. He believed life was too short to spend it living at work. Well, until the end, except I don’t think he was really working like he said he was.”
Now we were getting to the crux of it.
“Ugh,” Aspen spat. “I know where this is going. Men are vile pigs.”
Shelby nodded. “They can be.” She pulled her knees tighter to her. “My momma and daddy hired a private investigator and there were pictures of him with this woman while he was on a business trip.” She full-on started to bawl.
People really hired private investigators? I thought that was just in the movies.
Aspen was good enough to wrap her arm around Shelby. “It’s better that you found out before you married the cheater and had a baby with him.” Resentment and regret wove through Aspen’s words. She never regretted having Chloe, but she wished for a different father to help raise her daughter. Leland was, for the most part, an absentee father. He hadn’t lived around here for a long time and he only paid child support when it suited him. Aspen’s parents had stepped in and helped raise Chloe. She was with them this weekend.
Shelby nodded. “I suppose so. I just don’t know how I could have been so fooled. For three years I gave him my life and defied my parents, all so we could be together,” she choked out.
“I’ve been there,” Aspen growled.
“He’s why you moved here?” I asked. This way I would know who to properly hate when Shelby rode off into the sunset with my man.
Shelby turned my way and wiped her eyes. “Yes,” she didn’t sound so sure.
I tilted my head, asking for more clarification.
Shelby lifted her head. “You see, my momma’s family are the Hobbs.”
I sat up straight. “As in Hobbs Eye Centers?” As in one of the largest eye store chains in the country?
Shelby gave a tentative smile and a slight nod. “That would be correct.”
