Page 103 of Quiver

He gave his son a tight smile. “Sure, sounds fun. Aunt Fletcher always puts on a good show. Plus, it’ll give us all a chance to say a formal goodbye this time before Kylie leaves again.”

The boy appeared happy enough with the answer, and even Ryder managed a weak smile as he walked past her on his way out, but the chill that blew in when he opened the barn door didn’t even come close to matching the iciness radiating off of Fletcher when he closed it.

Kylie waited, jaw clenched until she heard him pull away, before turning to face her fully. “Fletch.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not. That was shitty.”

“Yes, but I think I earned it.”

“I didn’t.”

Kylie stepped toward her, arms outstretched, but for the first time in days, instead of meeting her in the middle, Fletcher took a step back.

“Hey,” she said softly, which only caused the woman before her to look away, denying her even the opportunity to read those dark eyes.

“I’m going to go get a little more practice in while Gabrielle is warmed up. Will you get Winston taken care of?”

“Sure.” It was the least she could do … the least of what she should do.

Damn it, Ryder.

He had a right to be miffed or to not trust her anymore, but he didn’t have a right to shatter the solace Fletcher had just found again. Or maybe he hadn’t done the shattering. Maybe she’d betrayed them both by not being able to say the things she needed to in response to him, or even before that when she’d still had the chance to make a difference.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The cymbal above Fletcher clanged loudly as her arrow struck true, then fell to the dirt a few feet away. She waited only long enough to watch Gabrielle’s ears twitch and then settle before nocking another. She loosed again, letting the clash rain over them both as she readied another pull.

She’d been at it a few minutes without much more than a huff of annoyance from her horse, and Fletcher couldn’t blame her, as she felt pretty much the same way at the moment. She shot another time to the same results all around, and she would’ve kept doing so until she emptied her biggest quiver if not for the sound of light applause behind her.

She turned to see Kylie sitting on a hay bale against the far wall.

Fletcher rolled her eyes. “It’s not a hard strike when I’m standing flat-footed on the ground.”

“I wasn’t cheering for you. Gabrielle’s looking good though.”

She lowered her bow and let her shoulders drop. “She is. We’ll practice with a full crowd this Saturday.”

“Good.”

She arched an eyebrow at the lack of argument.

“We’re all breaking patterns around here, right? Might as well let her try something new.”

She nodded.

“In that vein, we should probably talk about what happened back in the barn, you know, instead of storming off and bottling it up, and hiding in our work.” Kylie said the words nonchalantly.

“What, like we always do?”

“Bingo.”

Fletcher walked over and propped her bow up. “This seat taken?”

Kylie smiled at her sweetly. “Only if you want it to be.”