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She looked up, clearly frustrated and angry. Her eyes went right to Beth’s, and she visibly deflated. “TJ wasn’t involved,” she said, her frown only deepening. She turned back to the farmhouse. “You should probably come in and start explaining. Trey says the two of you got married so you could enter the Sweetheart Classic, and your father is upset.”
She strode back inside too, and Beth knew Daddy wasn’t the only one who was upset.
Chapter Fifteen
Trey kept frowning at the back door, willing Beth to walk through it. Maybe another cow had gone into labor. Maybe he should be out there helping her instead of in here stirring cole slaw that didn’t need to be stirred.
No one spoke now, except the parents to their little kids. Lucas cried just outside the back door, and Kait stood a few feet from him, but out of his sight.
He wanted to ask if she’d seen Beth out there. Walter had come in from the birthing shed several minutes ago, and the rain had started in earnest just after that.
“I’m going to go see where she is,” he said into the relative silence. He wished he could go back in time twenty-four hours and fix all of the things he’d done wrong. First, he’d let TJ build a blanket fort, but he wouldn’t be stupid enough to sleep on the hard floor when he had a king-size bed with a pillowtop just down the hall.
He was far too old for sleeping on anything but a bed for longer than an hour or two. He’d somehow box up his anxiety so his dear, sweet Beth wouldn’t have to come back out to the truck and help him get inside the church.
He’d call the restaurant and request delivery of the food he’d ordered, no matter the cost. That way, he wouldn’t be rushed, impatient, and cranky by the time he returned to the farmhouse with the food they were feeding her family and the cowboys who’d been working at Dixon Dreams.
Because he wouldn’t be rushed, he wouldn’t have dropped the quart of sticky barbecue sauce all over the living room floor, and he wouldn’t have snapped at TJ to help him. He would’ve been personable when he’d answered the door to greet Beth’s father and brother, and he wouldn’t have nearly growled at them to come in.
He could live with almost all of that—he sincerely regretted letting his temper come out on TJ—but he’d been in such a terrible mood and place that when Kait had made an off-hand comment about how maybe Beth and Trey would be the next ones to have a baby, he’d snapped.
Is this all you guys ever talk about?
He’d said those words, and not in a kind voice either. They’d all gone silent, and Trey should’ve stopped talking then.
Beth walked through the back door, a sniffling Lucas in her arms before Trey could pull on his boots and jacket. He’d ruined his other pair of brown boots with all that blasted barbecue sauce, and his irritation with himself only increased.
Everyone looked at Beth, who scanned the living room and kitchen and dining area in under three seconds flat. “What’s going on?” she asked.
All eyes volleyed back to Trey. He stood there, shame and regret moving through him. “I told them we got married so you could enter the Sweetheart Classic.”
Kait stepped over to Beth and took her son from her, stepping back so there were no obstacles between Trey and Beth.
“Why?” Beth asked. “We talked about this, Trey.”
How could he explain the perfect storm of things that had driven him to the breaking point of his patience?
“Momma,” TJ said, running up to her. He wrapped her legs up in a hug and said, “Trey yelled at me, and then he yelled at Grandpa.”
“I didn’t—” Trey cut himself off, already feeling his frustration rise again.
“It’s fine,” Clyde said. “He didn’t yell at anyone, TJ. He was just frustrated.” He clapped his hands together. “Is everyone here, Bethy? Can we eat?”
Trey couldn’t look away from Beth as she patted TJ’s back. She looked like he’d betrayed her, and he probably had.
“Everyone’s here,” Beth said quietly. “We can eat.” She crouched down in front of TJ and smoothed his hair back off his forehead. Sally said something to Hugh, and the two of them started bringing food over to the table from the counter.
Trey was going to leave it there and do a more buffet-style serving than having to pass the food around the table. He honestly didn’t care how things went, and he wished he’d gone out to the birthing shed to help the heifer deliver her calf.
He watched Beth hug TJ and straighten, and he wanted to take her out into the garage and have a private conversation. He wasn’t sure how to just move past this as if it hadn’t happened. At the same time, he didn’t want to perpetuate the scene and continue to make everyone uncomfortable.
In the end, Trey faded into the background, taking up a spot with the men he’d worked with many times at Bluegrass Ranch. He knew them, and they knew him. He knew their wives and children, and Trey felt like he belonged on the sidelines in this house for the first time.
Marc exchanged a glance with him, and Walter said, “We’ve all been there, Trey.”
“Is that right?” Trey asked, still a hint of bite in his tone. “You and Jen got married in less than three weeks to meet a racing deadline? Fascinating. I’d love to hear that story.”
Marc started to chuckle, as did Dominic.
