Theywerea bunch of snooty, snot-nosed bitches. I only sent her to that school because my parents had already enrolled her before I’d gotten custody. The tuition could cover a small mortgage, the students had their noses so high in the air, I didn’t know how they saw where they were going, and the teachers were no better. Old money kind of people. The most obnoxious kind of people.
But Lizzie was my responsibility, which made it my responsibility to correct her. “Language.”
She waved me off and reached for the dressing I had just finished making. “You never answered my question.”
“Which was?”
“Gwen. Is she going to tutor me now?”
“You’re really lucky that she said yes, because if she hadn’t, I wouldn’t be driving you three hours a week to the second-best musical academy in the state.”
She smiled. “Good. Gwen’s fun. And she plays better than those snooty, snot-nosed bitches anyway.”
“If I have to tell you about your language again?—”
Another dismissive hand wave. “So. How are you paying her for my lesson? As good as you paid thetop musical academy in the state?” She switched to a London accent for that last bit.
“I don’t see how that’s your business.” Bowl of salad in hand, I gestured to the dining area. “Grab that bread off the oven, would you?”
She did, then met me at the antique cherry dining table. The silk-lined seats clunked through the grout lines of the marble tile below. “I mean, are you at least taking her out for a nice dinner as payment?”
“Yeah, we talked about getting something to eat after.” My stomach flipped at the words, and I passed Lizzie the bowl of salad. “You’ve gotta eat some vegetables other than tomatoes, kid. All kinds of nutrients in the leafy greens. Just take them by the fistful if you’ve got to.”
As I instructed, she grabbed a fistful, held it to her mouth, and chewed like a cow on hay. I wasn’t sure if I should roll my eyes or laugh. I did a bit of both. She joined in on the laughter.
When it fell off, she squeezed a piece of chicken between the tongs and laid it on her plate. “Why do you have to be so weird about it?”
“Weird about what?”
“Anytime I bring up that maybe you and Gwen could do something together, orbesomething together, you try to change the subject.” Slicing at her chicken, she raised a shoulder. “Why? Why can’t you just admit that you like her?”
I didn’t like Gwen. I loved her.
I loved how kind she was to animals. How much her friends mattered to her. The gentleness in her demeanor, to not step on any toes at the ranch. And her firmness on almost everything else. Her eye rolls, her sarcasm, her artistry—all of them. Fromthe cake decorating, to the piano, to the simple way she walked through a room.
And that red hair. God, I loved that hair. It was somehow as bright as a fire engine and as deep as a cherry at once. With a color choice like that, you’d think she’d demand attention in every room she walked into. But she was more of a wallflower. Quiet, reserved, almost aloof, surveying every move everyone made in every room.
But get her talking about her dog, or equality, or any man that landed a woman at Rhiannon’s Ranch, and then you understood the hair. She didn’t have it for attention. It was a warning. Like a venomous animal whose vibrant complexion said,Stay back. I bite.
The things I loved about her were the very reason it took so much courage to admit my feelings were more than platonic.
She hadn’t even been at the ranch for a year. That meant that less than a year ago, she’d been living in some version of hell.
She never talked about her ex. Never even told me her real name.
So I didn’t know her story. Not entirely.
But I knewthestory.
I didn’t want to be a rebound. It could take her far longer to heal, to be ready for what I wanted.
A partner. Someone to move through life with. Someone to come home to, someone to lie beside at night, someone to laugh with.
And I didn’t know if she wanted that, let alone if she was ready for it. Never mind ifIwas who she’d want it with.
“I like her very much.” I dipped my bread in the garlic infused olive oil. “She’s a great friend, and I’m really lucky to have her in my life.”
Sighing deeply, Lizzie rolled her eyes again. “Whatever. I’ll shut up and act like I don’t have eyes and ears. But all I’m sayingis, if you want it to work with her, you gotta be the one to make the move. Gwen spends so much time in her own head, you’ve got to knock if you want her to let you in.”
