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Garrett took a deep breath as he stared off across the pasture. Was that true? What if he had only pushed away his true feelings for Elise, and God had pushed them together to show him what he should have seen all along?
“Right, man?” Jenson asked.
“Sorry, what?” Garrett turned his attention back to his brother.
Jenson laughed. “It’s okay. I can see that your mind is elsewhere today.”
Garrett cleared his throat. “No, I’m good. I’m here, and paying attention.”
“I just said, we’re all happy for you, and you should consider our offer to take some time off. But I’ll leave you to it. I’m headed to the training facility to see Sierra. You know it’s the best part of my day.”
Garrett watched his brother ride away and thought about his words. The best part of Garrett’s day had always been working. He had been ready to join his dad and brothers from the moment he could sit upright on a horse. He had watched his dad spend his days on the ranch, and never take vacations, and he thought that suited him just fine. Would he ever be happy taking time off?
That was a question he would have to consider. He cared for Elise, a lot in fact. Enough to make this commitment to help in her less-than-ideal situation. But was he ready to say he wanted to be with her more than he wanted to take care of the ranch?
That was a question he wasn’t ready to answer.
16
Thursday morning, Elise was up before the sun, and before Garrett. She quietly gathered a change of clothes from her duffle bag and slipped into the bathroom. She secured the lock with a click before she turned on the water for the shower. As she waited for the water to warm up, she rubbed circles in her temples with two fingers. It would be nice to sleep a few more hours, but after seeing how much work there was to do at the house, she needed to get an early start. As thoughts washed over her mind, she desperately wished she had her notebook to jot things down. She knew it was beside her makeshift bed on the floor. But now she was wrapped in a towel, and heat crept up her cheeks at the thought of walking into the room like that with Garrett asleep in bed.
They might be married, but other than a quick peck of a kiss at their ceremony, there had been very little physical contact between them. Last night, she had worked at the house until she and the boys were late to dinner at the Macklin’s. After dinner, Garrett went back out to check on a fence that needed mending and didn’t come home until after she had the boys settled, and she was reading on the couch.
Garrett had said he was going to shower and come back out, but an hour later, she found him asleep in his bed.
It was just as well. The less they talked, the easier it was to remember what their situation really was. Garrett had never wanted a wife or a family, and she had promised him he wouldn’t have to take care of them. She would do her best to keep that promise.
She quickly showered and dressed before exiting the bathroom. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and saw that Garrett’s alarm would be going off in just a few minutes. Elise rushed to straighten her bed and then slipped out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her. The night before, she had gathered clothes for the boys and put them in the car. They only needed to get out of bed and walk out the door, and they could get dressed at the house.
Tiptoeing into the boys’ room, she woke them as gently as possible, reminding them, like she had the night before, that they had to leave early this morning. She needed them to get up quickly. It was harder than she hoped, but in a matter of minutes, they were loaded up and pulling out of the drive. As she backed up, she looked up at the house in time to see a bewildered Garrett step out the door and onto the porch. He ran a hand over his face as he lifted the other in a wave.
Elise wasn’t sure if he was asking her to stop, but she simply waved back and pulled out of the driveway.
When she was almost to her parents’ house, her phone rang. “Hey,” she answered, surprised to see that it was Garrett.
“Hey, you’re up early,” he said. He sounded a little more awake than he had looked on the porch.
“Yeah, I wanted to get to the house and get started. There’s a lot to do.”
“You could have told me,” his voice was kind and not accusing.
“Sorry. You fell asleep last night before I got a chance, and I didn’t want to wake you this morning.”
Garrett laughed. “I never would have thought you would be up early enough to leave before I was awake.”
“I don’t plan to make a habit of it. You cowboys are crazy to work at this hour.” Even as she said the words, she knew she might leave early more often if she could avoid seeing him too much. Although, she didn’t know how she could walk past him every morning and not peek at his perfect sleeping form.
“Do you need me to come over and help you? My brothers said they can handle things without me.”
Elise bit her lip. She appreciated the offer, but the tone of his voice said he hoped she wouldn’t pull him away from the ranch. “No, it’s alright. I’m just packing boxes and sorting through things you wouldn’t know what to do with. I’ll be happy to recruit the Macklin brother’s moving company when it’s time to deal with the furniture. Although, I guess I just need it moved to the driveway, and I can schedule a pickup from the donation center.”
“You don’t want to keep any of it?” Garrett asked.
“Where would I put it? Your house has all the furniture it can handle already.”
“Hmm, that’s true. But if there’s something you don’t want to let go of, you know, anything special, we can figure something out.”
“Thanks,” she said. Emotion rose up in her chest, and she swallowed to push it away. Why did he have to be so nice? It only made her wish things were real between them. “I’m pulling in now, so I’ll let you go.”
