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Where were their dates? While holding my midsection, I caught a glimpse of Macey’s poor date, Jaime, standing nearby watching with the same kind of kick-in-the-gut reaction as me. Jaime was sizing up Ryder, and by the way his head hung, he’d decided he’d lose if he had to go head-to-head with Ryder.
I made the mistake of looking too long. Ryder looked up through the narrow passage between Marlowe and Macey and zeroed in on me. Our eyes connected and his held me hostage where I stood. I waited for him to smirk, gloating over his catches for the evening. Instead, his face pinched as if he was angry. What did he have to be angry about?
“I think someone else misses you too. Though the darned fool won’t admit it,” Bobby Jay stated to my side.
I whipped my head toward the big oaf. “That is a lie if ever I heard one.” I marched off toward the house.
Bobby Jay followed. “I guess you don’t want to dance?”
“What are you even doing here, Bobby Jay?” I shook while I walked and not from the chill in the air.
“I told you I wanted to talk.”
“That’s not what I meant.” I began my ascent up the porch steps.
Bobby Jay’s large hand engulfed my slender one. “Shelby, slow down. Give a man a chance to explain himself.”
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out. I did want some answers. “I suppose this calls for some sweet tea.”
“I hope you have a pitcher full, darlin’. I think we have a lot to talk about.”Chapter FourBobby Jay smiled at the glass in front of him on the breakfast bar. “You remembered the lemons. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” I took a sip of my own tea across from him, standing in the kitchen.
Bobby Jay looked around the grand home that was reminiscent of a ski chalet with exposed wood beams and majestic stone fireplaces. I particularly loved this kitchen that was in the heart of the home. Large and functional with enough counter space to feed an army, yet its rustic charm with a hearth and spiral staircase at the back that led to the upstairs made it feel cozy.
Bobby Jay took a large gulp of his tea. “Ahh. No one makes a finer glass of the house wine of the South than you, Miss Shelby Duchane.”
“That sounds an awful lot like you trying to sweet talk me into something. Besides, I know you think no one makes better sweet tea than your Leigh Anne. Where is she by the way?” I hadn’t asked in front of the café how his wife was as their appearance had made me forget my manners.
Bobby Jay slammed his drink on the counter, making it splash over. I quickly grabbed a kitchen towel and wiped up the mess on the granite.
“Sorry,” he apologized with a bloodred face.
“Not to worry.” I pressed my lips together and studied him. Particularly his wedding finger, which was missing a gold band. “Did something happen between the two of you?”
He clenched his fists before taking several deep breaths in and out. With the last big breath out, his hands relaxed and his face returned to its normal tan color. He patted the high back stool next to him. “Come sit next to me for a spell. I told you we had a lot to talk about.”
I grabbed my glass, more than worried. He and his wife had been high school sweethearts. The epitome of a Southern romance. Bobby Jay was the high school quarterback and Leigh Anne was head cheerleader and prom queen. The entire town of Eatonton had showed up to their wedding—on the football field, no less. I’d seen the pictures. The reception was held in the high school gym decorated in streamers with a large balloon arch in their high school colors of green and yellow. It was tacky but cute. The kind of reception Ryder would have preferred and would probably have one day. The thought didn’t sit well with me, especially knowing he was outside right now wooing Marlowe and Macey. As their friend, I would have to warn them that he was a liar and a cheat.
I took my seat, unable to relax next to my old friend. I missed the easiness that once existed between us. He must have felt my hesitancy too since he pulled my stool closer to him with a stupid grin on his face. “You know I’d never bite you. Ryder would kill me.”
My left brow raised, questioning his statement.
He shook his head at me and took another drink of his tea, not bothering to try to convince me.
“What happened between you and Leigh Anne?”
He stared straight out into the kitchen. “She moved on to greener pastures.”
“I can’t believe it.”
He grabbed his glass and emptied it. With a loud sigh he slammed it on the counter. “Well it’s true. She said it wasn’t fair that she never dated anyone else. Said we got married too young. And she started to resent that we could never have children of our own.”
