Page 30 of There I Find Wisdom


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Chapter 11

Ryan gathered up histoolbelt and opened the door to his cottage. He had been walking to Dakota’s shop, carrying his things that he didn’t leave overnight. Dakota had been successfully avoiding him for the last three days, and he supposed that was for the best because he had no idea what he was going to say to her when he was actually able to talk to her.

He hadn’t gotten any closer to a solution or ideas of what he could do to... He didn’t even know. Be better friends?

He owed her so much, and he admired her. And the same feelings that he had for her from nine years ago had resurfaced.

If he was being honest, he wanted more. Or wanted to explore the possibility. And not just because she was the mother of his child.

Just the little bit of talking that he’d done with her, seeing the way she was, the kind of character she had, and her willingness to put herself aside in order to benefit someone she cared about, drew him like a magnet, and he couldn’t resist.

Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to have any trouble resisting him, if the way she’d avoided him for the last three days was any indication.

He took the back way to the store, wondering if maybe she would be outside, possibly getting a breath of fresh air or something. He didn’t know where she spent her time. All he knew was that she didn’t work in the shop until after he was gone.

But he could see as he came up over the small rise that there was no one around the back stoop on her building. But Griff stood outside the back door of the diner, his hands on the railing, looking up at the sky. He seemed to be taking a couple of deep breaths, maybe getting his bearings after the early morning breakfast rush.

“Good morning,” Ryan said as Griff straightened and looked in his direction.

“Hey there. You’ve been working hard.”

Ryan grinned. “I have. I actually like this kind of work. It’s not the same as breaking horses, but it’s good work. It’s nice to see that you’ve accomplished something after a day, to be able to stand and look at it, you know?”

“Yeah. I like making a cake or watching people eat the food that I’ve made.”

“Yeah, like that probably.” Ryan had no idea about that. He could cook enough that he didn’t poison himself usually, but he wasn’t able to do anything fancy.

He’d been praying for a while that God would give him an idea of what he could do to convince Dakota that she should take a chance on him or at least allow him into her life, but he hadn’t come up with anything.

Still, he found himself stopping in front of the low stoop and leaning against the railing opposite from where Griff leaned.

“I’ve seen Dakota look both ways before she steps out of her door. Do you have any idea why she’d be doing that?” Griff asked, and his words sounded casual.

Ryan snorted. “Maybe because she’s looking for me?”

“Why would she be avoiding you? She scared?”

“I don’t think so. But she’s managed to avoid me the last three days I’ve been working there, so I’m guessing that there’s something going on.”

“And you don’t have any idea of what?”

He could hardly admit that he was the father of her child. Beyond that, he had to shrug his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

But then, he added on, without really thinking about it, saying something he normally wouldn’t. “I’ve actually been praying about how I can get her to trust me. She and I... We used to be pretty good friends, but then she ran into a little bit of trouble and I didn’t help her. In fact, I let her down. And she... She made a pretty big sacrifice in order for me to be able to go on and do and accomplish the things I wanted to accomplish.”

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