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Chapter Twenty“I heard you cooked over a fire and ate trout off a stick.” Bobby Jay nudged me. It was Sunday evening, and the two of us were leaning over the pasture fence like a couple of kids, hoping the horses would come our way.
“Trout that I caught.” I nudged him back.
“Ryder mentioned you out-fished him.”
“If you count me catching two and him none.” I grinned wickedly. “I do have to give him some of the credit. He made sure they didn’t get away, and he gutted them.” For that I could have kissed him. I hated that part. I would have kissed him anyway, but he was still wary of me.
“I’m glad y’all had a good time.”
“I think we did for the most part, but he sure hightailed it away from me when we got back this afternoon.”
“You can’t exactly blame him, darlin’. You ripped the man’s heart out.”
“I know,” I whispered, “but I swear it wasn’t on purpose.”
“I know that.”
“Does he?”
Bobby Jay turned around and leaned his back against the fence. “I don’t think he knows what to think.” He grinned. “He’s got a battle going on inside of him something fierce.”
“For that I’m sorry, along with a whole lot of other things. By the way, where is he tonight?”
“Working.”
“On a Sunday night?”
“Girl, we have a business to run, and he was off gallivanting through the woods with you for two days.”
“Yeah, but he never worked on the weekends like this before.”
“Times change, honey.”
“I suppose so.” I wasn’t sure I liked that particular change.
We got lucky and the old paint, Paddington, moseyed on over to us. I loved on his head. “So how was your weekend?” I asked.
He wagged his brows. “Enjoyable.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to know.”
“That’s a good call. I’d hate to burn those pretty little ears of yours off.”
“Are you serious with this mystery woman?”
“I’d like to be, but she’s taking some convincing.”
“What’s her hold up?” I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of this woman.
He shrugged. “Nothing that can’t be overcome.”
“I want to meet her to see if she’s good enough for you.”
He tapped my nose. “All in good time, darlin’. You have your own love life to worry about.”
I let out a deep sigh. “I thought this weekend was a start. Even though he kept me at arm’s length, he took good care of me.”
Last night he made sure my hammock was properly tied to the tree, and he even slept close by. Today on our hike back he carried my backpack all the way home. But he mostly talked to Julian. They bonded over hunting stories and their favorite beer. They even talked about getting together in the future.
Jaime had stayed close to Macey. Last night, Macey had asked me if I liked Jaime. I think she was hoping I did so it would give her a clear path to Ryder, though I was pretty sure he wasn’t into her. I told her I thought of Jaime as a friend, but that any woman would be lucky to have his attention and affection.
“He mentioned you hurt yourself, but like an idiot you kept on going,” Bobby Jay said.
“Did he call me an idiot?”
“No. Worse.” He grinned evilly. “He said you were too dang irresistible.” Bobby Jay chuckled. “Apparently, independent wilderness Shelby is a real turn on. I’m still mad I didn’t get to see you pee in the woods.”
I rolled my eyes at him and rubbed Paddington’s neck. “What do you think I should do now?”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing, girl. I can’t say for sure whether it will work out or not. But this I know, he’d be a fool to let you get away again.”
I wrapped my arms around Bobby Jay’s middle. “Thank you for convincing him to go.”
He patted my back. “It did take some work. For the effort, I think you owe me at least a gallon of sweet tea.”
“If this works out, I’ll make you sweet tea for the rest of your life.”
“I’m going to hold you to that, darlin’.”
~*~
That night I decided I should start the process of making things right with Ryder’s parents, if that was even possible. I sat on my bed and stared at my phone for several minutes trying to think of how to even start a conversation. “Hi, this is Shelby, your would-be daughter-in-law. Sorry I left your son because my parents are awful people, which you already knew but were always too kind to say.” Or maybe I could go with, “Remember when you told me there was nothing I could do that would ever change your mind about me? Did that include me ripping your son’s heart out? Your only son? Your pride and joy?”
Ryder wasn’t the only child. He had an older sister who died when she was four from the flu. Ryder was two at the time, so he doesn’t remember Ada, but there were pictures of the pretty little girl with corn silk hair all over his parents’ small home. Momma Jo used to tell me that she thought Ada and I could have been twins. It made my guilt feel all the more acute. But I knew if I was going to get Ryder back, I had to start mending the fence with his parents. They were a tight-knit family bound by love and hard times, Momma Jo used to say.
