Page 77 of Slow Burn

Getting out of bed, I pick up Beck’s t-shirt and my panties and throw my hair up in a messy bun before heading downstairs. Wade had an appointment marked on the calendar for today, and a note beside it saying he was having a friend from town pick him up. So I’m not expecting to see him sitting in the kitchen reading the Sage Valley Herald when I waltz half-naked into the kitchen.

“Oh, uh, hi Wade,” I stammer. I try to appear casual as I help myself to a mug and pour myself a cup of coffee from the pot. He doesn’t look up, so I’m hoping he hasn’t noticed my attire, or lack thereof.

“Morning,” he replies, and the smirk on his face as he keeps his eyes glued to his paper tells me otherwise.

I don’t acknowledge his cheeky, knowing expression as I add a splash of oat milk to my coffee and sit down at the table across from him. Probably best if I act as if this is completely normal.

“Anything interesting happening in town?” I ask, even though I notice he’s looking at an old paper, from a few weeks ago when I first arrived.

My gaze lands on the headline on the front page. SAGE VALLEY STAR FLOPS AT RODEO. There’s a photo of Beck to go along with it. I wince and look away. It doesn’t seem like a story that should make front page news, but it was a significant event for the town. Still, my chest squeezes at the memory of Beck’s loss, and how hard he took it.

“This and that,” he says, and without looking up he adds, “If you mean more interesting than you staying the night here, then no.”

My mouth opens and closes a few times, but before I can say anything, Wade sets down his paper and leans back in his chair, putting his hands in the air.

“I’m teasing. My appointment got rescheduled, so I’m catching up on the crosswords.”

A beat of silence hangs between us as I’m still working out how to respond.

“Now, I’m not one to insert my opinion where it doesn’t belong,” he says. “But I will give you some food for thought.”

I nod, hanging on to his words.

“The last few weeks, Beck has been happier, lighter, more himself than I’ve ever seen him. I want all that and more for him, and if you’ve got Austin’s blessing to move forward with this, then I’m thrilled.”

Austin’s blessing.

“That’s a little old fashioned, don’t you think?” I ask, taking a sip of my coffee to hope it stops my stomach from doing somersaults.

“I don’t mean it like that. I may be old but I still live in the twenty-first century. I just mean, I hope he won’t be blindsided is all.” Wade’s face tells me he knows exactly how blindsided Austin will be if we continue the way we’re going.

“Beck is trying to find the right way to tell him,” I answer. “Sometimes I wonder if I should do it, rip the bandaid off you know. At least he won’t punch me out. Can’t say the same for Beck.”

Wade clicks his tongue. “This is something Beck has to do, I’m afraid. If he wants to keep his honour and have a chance to maintain the friendship.”

I nod solemnly. “That’s what Beck said.”

“Good man,” Wade says. “It’s how I raised him. Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

I let out a single laugh at the irony that the very thing I admire about Beck, the very thing that makes him the kind of man I could love, may be the thing that keeps us from being together.

Wade and I are suddenly interrupted by the sound of the sliding door opening, and Beck walks into the kitchen. Something in me alights when I see him, standing there in his faded jeans, and snug fitting black t-shirt.

He’s traded in his signature suede cowboy hat for a blue baseball cap that he’s wearing backwards. His hair curls out from underneath it and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from jumping him here in the kitchen in front of Wade.

He looks between Wade and I with suspicion shadowing his eyes, like he knows we were talking about him. But he says nothing about it. Instead, his dark gaze lands on me and he tips his chin up in my direction.

“You feel like coming with me for a ride today, Trouble?”

My mind instantly snaps back to the first day I started here. How Wade had to practically force Beck to take me out with him. I had been nervous to go with him then, but not today.

Today, a smile takes over my face and I answer him with an eager nod.

Beck’s eyes skate over my body and his mouth tugs upward. “Better get dressed then.”

When I come back downstairs, now fully clothed, Beck is waiting for me. There’s a smile on his face that makes warmth radiate within me as I follow him out of the house and across the yard to the barn.

Willow already has her saddle on, but I can’t help but notice she’s the only horse in here.