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Once they’re finished, Jonas walks over to me. “You about ready to go, baby?”
I nod. “Whenever you are.”
He looks toward his mother. “Momma, we are going to get out of here. I have to work in the morning, and Andi said she is willing to take on some of the office responsibilities so that I can focus more on the ranch, so I want to show her around tomorrow.”
His mom chuckles. “Anything to keep those hands of yours dirty, huh?”
“Always. If you want to talk to your son with soft hands, go find Jessie.”
She hits him with the dishrag she had draped over her shoulder. “Get out of here, boy.”
We say our goodbyes, and Annie makes sure to whisper that I can call her any time.
Jonas helps me into the truck, and once we are driving, he pulls my hand close to kiss the back of it. “I think everyone liked you,” he says.
“I hope so.”
“No hoping necessary, baby. They’re crazy about you. Just like I am.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Jonas
Once we get back to the house, I help Andi out of the truck, and we head inside. I’m a little worried about her because she was pretty quiet on the ride back. Granted, it wasn’t a long ride, but she barely uttered a word.
Once we are inside, I take her sweater and hang it on a hook by the front door. She crosses her arms over her chest, and I can’t tell if she’s cold or just uncomfortable.
“Baby, you okay?” I ask.
She is facing away from me now, but I can see her head is nodding. Something’s definitely wrong, though. When I hear her sniffle, I turn her back around.
Tears are falling down her face almost faster than I can wipe them away.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Tell me what’s going on. Was tonight too much for you? Fuck, maybe we shouldn’t have gone.”
She shakes her head. “No, tonight was good. I just…”
“You just what, baby?”
I lead her over to the couch and sit her down next to me, waiting for her to answer.
She sniffles through her words as she beings to speak. “It’s that you and your family are so nice. I mean, everybody else in this hole-in-the-wall town is so guarded about new people, yet you and your family just welcomed me with open arms.”
I pull her closer to me. “Maybe we just know good people when we see them.”
“I’m not all that great,” she says with a sigh. “I have spent the past ten years of my life settling. I settled in my job. I settled in where I lived. I settled with the man I committed to spending the rest of my life with.”
“Well, that’s easy to fix, baby. You stop settling for anything that’s not the best. And I promise to step up and try to be the best for you.” I smile at her.
“Jonas, you have already been amazing. You letting me stay here until my stuff gets here is more than enough. And you’re so sweet. You make me feel like I'm worth something.”
“Hey, youareworth something. More than just something.”
“I’m serious, Jonas.”
Before she can continue, I gently pull her chin so that she’s looking at me. “So am I. Look, Andi, I know you and I haven’t been doing this long, and I don’t pretend to be an expert on relationships. Lord knows I’m not. But I do know that you and I have something between us. And I know that I’m crazy about you.”
“How are you so perfect? You always say all the right things,” she says with a weak smile.
