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“Well. Did you know she was sacrificing at the time?”
“No. I just found out. And... I don’t really know how to make it up to her.”
Griff stood for a bit, his expression thoughtful as he seemed to study the sky. Finally, he pursed his lips, then said, “In my experience, a woman’s usually pretty fond of her children. Anything you can do for the girls would probably help you win her heart.”
“You think?” He was thinking that the one thing he needed to do was avoid the girls until she gave him permission to do something different.
“Sure. Take them horseback riding. Or... It’s a nice breezy day, it would be a good day to go flying kites on the beach.”
“Yeah. I always loved doing that.” He probably could find some kites in his mom’s basement if he went and looked.
“Of course, you could always invite Dakota to go along with you. You never know. She might accept.”
“I doubt it. As much effort as she’s put into avoiding me, I hardly think she’s going to jump at the opportunity to spend extra time with me.”
“Just make sure the girls have a good time. I mean, I wouldn’t do it only as an ulterior motive. Dakota could use someone to help her, and the girls are lovable. My wife took over some food, and Dakota acted like she really appreciated it. She’s grateful to anyone who wants to help her, so I can’t imagine that she’d turn you down.”
“I guess I have a better imagination than you do,” Ryan said, and there was a bit of sarcasm in his voice. He didn’t have any trouble at all imagining Dakota telling him flat out that she didn’t want him around.
“Or maybe you’re just not as good at positive thinking as I am,” Griff said, grinning a little, the sunlight shining off his bald head.
Was it positive thinking? Or was it that Griff could see what he couldn’t?
Sometimes a person’s experience helped them understand that the situation wasn’t what it seemed.
“Do you have any other advice for me?” Ryan asked, figuring that if Griff was going to dish it out, he’d take it. He could use all the help he could get. After all, he’d managed to screw everything up. Big time. But seeing Dakota usually did that.
He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t been drinking the night of the championship. He knew for a fact they wouldn’t have ended up sleeping together, and he wouldn’t have a daughter right now. At least not one from that night.
Would they have figured out that they liked each other? They probably would have danced together regardless of the alcohol. Maybe that would have been the night that they realized that they meant more to each other than just friends. And he messed everything up.
“Be humble.” Griff spoke, bringing Ryan back to the present.
“Simple, but extremely difficult sometimes.”
“I know. Especially for men. We have a tendency to want to be in charge and not allow ourselves to look weak. Humility feels like weakness to us.”
“Doesn’t it ever.” Ryan could attest to that. Winning a championship made him feel like he was on top of the world, and part of that was feeling like he was above everyone else, better than them. He liked that feeling, but he supposed that was just pride.
And yet he thought about the humility that Dakota had displayed when she had allowed him the freedom to win those championships. She was every bit as good of a barrel racer as he was of a bronc rider, but instead of insisting that she had to come out on top, she backed away and allowed him to win the accolades, while she won nothing. All she had was struggle. If the few things that his mother had said to him was any indication.
“Anything else?” he prompted when Griff didn’t say anything for a while.
“Well, the fact that you’re going to all this effort to impress her makes me think that there is a little bit more there than just a friendship thing.”
“You could be right.” He couldn’t deny that. Although he didn’t really want Dakota to know. She could use it against him... Except, someone who would back away and allow him to fly was hardly the kind of person who was going to hurt him in the long run. In fact, someone like Dakota was probably someone he could trust with anything.
Including his feelings, as uncomfortable as that was.
“Then I would say, if you feel that way, it’s okay to let her know. Sometimes, when women know that you like them, they feel like there’s nothing special about it, but Dakota doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who wants a challenge. She seems like the kind of woman who wants stability and someone who’s going to stick around for the long haul.”
“Yeah. Too many people don’t.” Including her ex-husband.
“But she might be a little gun-shy.”
“Yeah.”
“Women like little gestures. It doesn’t always have to be the big things. Although I think the idea behind the grand gestures is that you’re not afraid to put the time and effort into impressing them. Or into making them smile. That you’ll sacrifice what you want, and what makes you happy, in order for her to be happy. Somehow that really gets women.”
