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I nodded. “Of course.”
“The sun’s setting, anyway,” Samuel continued. “We can put up the fencing tomorrow.”
“I say we go to The Rusty Spoke, have a few cold ones,” said Wyatt. “They’ve got live music tonight.”
“I’m not moving,” Grayson groaned from the ground.
Wyatt looked down on him and flashed a wry smile. “Ruby’s going to be there.”
“Ruby!” Grayson jumped to his feet and dusted himself off. “Really? You’ve talked to Ruby?”
Wyatt chuckled and shook his head. “I knew you were faking.” He motioned with his head for Grayson to follow. “Come on, I’m driving.”
“Ah, man,” said Grayson and he collapsed back onto the ground. “You can’t tease me like that.”
Samuel hopped off the grandstand seat, twirling the keys to his truck around his finger. “How about I bring The Rusty Spoke here? I’ll make a beer run.” He nodded toward me. “And Teddy will get his guitar. We’ll make our own live music.”
It was the first time the four of us had been together and not immersed in work since that debacle with Ruby at her neighbor’s house two weeks ago. And it didn’t take long—I wasn’t even halfway through my first beer—for us to steer the conversation toward her.
“Ruby would love the rodeo,” said Wyatt with a tinge of nostalgia in his voice.
“You could invite her,” said Grayson.
Wyatt frowned. “She’s stopped taking my calls.”
“Me too,” said Grayson.
“Even if she did take our call,” said Samuel, “and she did come to the rodeo, what then? We’d just pick up the fight where it left off. She hasn’t chosen anyone of us.”
“She probably chose that rock ‘n roll guy from New York,” said Grayson.
“Or the cop,” said Wyatt.
Samuel shook his head. “No, you guys don’t listen. She said she wasn’t going to choose. She hasn’t chosen anyone.”
“Well, actually,” I said. “She’s chosen to reject us all.”
“Thanks, Teddy,” said Grayson sarcastically. “That makes me feel better.”
Wyatt downed his can of beer in one long chug, crushed the can in his hand, and threw it angrily against the ring barrier. “It doesn’t have to be like that.”
“Be like what?” I asked.
He motioned to Samuel. “We don’t have to fight. We don’t have to make her choose.”
“Yeah,” said Grayson. “We could all share her like a free-love hippy commune.” He laughed. “Teddy already plays the acoustic guitar. Samuel already has long hair, sort of. We’re almost there. We just need to start a vegetable garden and stop using deodorant.”
“And convince Ruby,” I added.
“Maybe we could skip the part about not using deodorant,” Wyatt suggested.
Grayson shook his head. “It’s not a free-love hippy commune if we use deodorant.”
“Doesn’t matter,” said Samuel. “We can’t even get in contact with her, anyway.”
“I could ask the Mayor to help us,” I offered, not with much conviction.
“You think she would?” asked Grayson.
I lifted my shoulders and put my hands out, open palms up. “It can’t hurt to try.”
“Then try,” Grayson shouted. “Call her, right now.”
I motioned for him to calm down. “I have an idea. But I’ll need to talk with the Mayor in person, not over the phone.”
“Then go, talk to her,” Grayson insisted.
“Calm down, Grayson,” I said. “I’m not going over to her home at this hour. I’ll see her tomorrow. I have a meeting with her booked for 10 a.m. I have a plan. But we only get one chance.” I looked at each of them sternly. “We have to get it right. We have to be sure what we’re going to say.”
“If she doesn’t want to choose, we won’t make her,” said Wyatt.
“But,” I said, “you do realize what that implies?”
Wyatt nodded. “We share.”
I nodded.
“I can share her,” said Wyatt, “as long as we’re open and honest about it.”
“That’s the only way,” I said then I looked at Grayson. “Are you good with that?”
“The open and honest part I can do,” he said. “The sharing, I’m not so sure about.”
“We’ve shared her before,” said Samuel. “What’s changed?”
Grayson put his hands to his chest, arched his head back, and beamed in reverie. “Ah, absence does make the heart grow fonder. And my heart has indeed grown very fond of Ruby.”
To my surprise, it was Grayson who needed convincing. I thought Wyatt would have been the possessive type. I thought he would have been the weak link in our plan. But Wyatt, among other things, was a practical man. He understood the only way he was going to get to be with Ruby was if we didn’t force her to make a choice among us if we shared. We needed to make Grayson see that too. And judging by the love-struck expression on his face, I didn’t expect that to be an easy task.
Fortunately, Grayson looked up to Samuel. There were only four years separating them, but Grayson regarded him like an older brother. I motioned to Samuel with a nod, inviting him to go over and talk some sense into the kid.
