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One look at her, though, and he didn’t. “Let’s go to dinner,” he said. They got in his truck, but the conversation never really took off. She told him a little bit about the people she worked with in the ice cream booth. He asked about her mama. There were huge pockets of silence, where Maddy looked at her phone or Kyle fiddled with the volume on the radio.
He told himself if was because the hearing aid on her left side—the one closest to him—was out, but he knew it was more than that. This date felt like the first one they’d had months ago. The one he’d labeled “weird,” and he remembered how he’d almost not gone out with her again. He’d asked Todd and Laura to double with him so he wouldn’t have to see Maddy alone.
He looked out his passenger window, at a loss for what to do. “This is…we don’t have to go out,” he said.
“What?”
He looked over to her. “This date feels weird. Don’t you think?”
Maddy blinked and tucked her phone under her leg. “It’ll be better when we’re seated across from one another.”
He nodded and continued on, and by the time they sat in a quiet booth across from one another, Kyle’s nerves felt one moment away from fraying. “I started a new song on the plane home.”
“That’s great.” She gave him a smile that felt half-hearted to him. This was definitely a repeat of their first date, and Kyle had no idea how to salvage it. “Tell me about it.”
He did, because he desperately needed something to talk about. Adam started texting about halfway through the meal, and since it was about that evening’s concert at the ranch, Kyle had a good excuse for buying himself in his device.
The meal finished, and they got back in the truck. The longest part about tonight would be the drive to and from the restaurant, and before he knew it, he stood on her porch with her again. “It was real good to see you,” he said.
“Are you going over to the concert?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Nah, not tonight. Adam’s got it handled, and I need to work on my songs.” He hadn’t said anything that was untrue, but Maddy’s face tensed.
She hid her expression from him a moment later by ducking her head. “All right. Well, I’ll see you.” She twisted the knob and went inside without a kiss.
“She’ll see you?” he repeated. He stared at the wooden door, wondering what to do. He wasn’t the type to bang down the door and demand a kiss, and that left little option for him but to leave.
He did, and back at his house, he once again bypassed Todd and Laura—at least they were in the kitchen now, cooking together—and went into his bedroom without answering any of Todd’s questions.
“Cooking together,” he scoffed. “How perfect.” He strode to the window, which overlooked the front yard, and hated how much daylight remained. Probably an hour, and he should be with Maddy.
Instead, he pulled out his guitar and sat on the edge of his bed. His fingers knew right where to walk, and he played through old tunes that existed in his head. Eventually, the light dimmed, and Kyle got up to flip on the light. The scent of bacon and cream wafted down the hall and then ebbed away.
He moved on to his new music, making notes on the paper the stand in front of him held. He scratched out ideas for lyrics, but his focus right now was on the music. The actual notes he needed to play and sing. He’d told Jolene he wanted to write all the music on his debut album, and she’d said, “Give it your best shot, Kyle.”
That was exactly what he was going to do.
ChapterTwenty-One
Maddy adjusted her sun hat and reached into the feed bag for another handful of seeds. She tossed them into the air, watching the edges catch the morning sunlight before they fell to the earth. The chickens she fed squabbled and clucked as they pecked at her feet. She’d learned the first day she’d come out onto the ranch to help with feeding the small animals that she needed to wear closed-toed shoes. Boots, if possible.
She’d ordered some online, and she’d been much happier in the week since they’d arrived. She could feed the chickens solo now, and such a simple task shouldn’t bring her such joy. It did, though, and she embraced the feeling.
“Brewster,” she called, and the dog poked his head from the edge of the field. The chickens here at the ranch were free-range, but they all knew to swarm the moment they saw her. She liked the way they filled the air with their warbling, and she could see why Todd, Laura, and some of the other cowboys loved working outside with the animals.
They relied on her; she was needed. Maddy wanted to feel like she mattered, which was why teaching had been such a great profession for her.
Her heart felt a tiny bit heavy at the thought of leaving this new life behind. She told herself she always felt like this in the summertime. She became a different person, and it was a rough transition back to Teacher Maddy every single fall.
This felt…different though. She loved the lighter atmosphere here. She loved talking to different people every single day. As Kyle had disappeared more and more into his guitar and sheet music over the past week since he’d returned from Nashville, Maddy had gone to Holly and asked for more work.
She’d referred Maddy to Blake, who’d sent her to Todd. He’d gladly put her to work, and she fed chickens morning and night, cleaned the huge water bin for the goats and refilled it three times a day, and Little Nick had just started teaching her how to clean stalls.
The horses didn’t spend much time in them during the summer, and he’d started with one who took care of his business in the same corner every time. He claimed that made his stall easy and fast to clean, and Maddy didn’t know any different.
She may be from Texas, but she’d never owned animals other than domesticated dogs and cats. She’d once had a fish as a fifth grader, but they didn’t require a whole lot of care.
With her new ranch duties, the art classes, and her hours in the ice cream booth, Maddy was working full-time here at the Texas Longhorn Ranch. She loved it, and she let her mind wander down a path that seemed impossible.
