Page 43 of From Rivals to I Do

“Don’t do this,” I sigh as I get out the big mixing bowl and begin to crack eggs into the bowl.

“I’m telling you that you don’t know the whole story!”

“And I’m telling you that Joe isn’t the nice guy you seem to think he is,” I say as I turn to him, and I can see the anger on his face. “He’s a coward and a cheater.”

“I—”

“I think what we need to do is just put this to bed,” I say. “I’m not going to change my mind on this. Besides, cheaters are awful people, and someone who would threaten a woman isn’t too great either.”

“Eli—”

“Mitch, I told ya I don’t got time for this!” I snap, and Mitch gets really quiet for a moment, a bit of red creeping onto his face.

Boy, he’s getting way more upset about this than I imagined he would. It’s so weird. I get being loyal to your friends and all, but he won’t even listen to me or consider what I’m saying.

“I'm sorry,” Mitch says as he draws in a deep breath through his nose, slowly releasing it.

“It's okay,” I reply as I continue to break eggs into the metal bowl. “I just want to make breakfast, make sure I’m all ready for when she gets here, and have a good day.”

“Right,” Mitch says quietly, looking down at the floor as he nods his head. “I, uh, I gotta use the bathroom before I get to chorin’.”

“You aren’t going to eat?” I ask.

“I’m not hungry,” Mitch says quietly. “I need to get my work done so I can cut out early, got a date of my own.”

“Oh! Well, alright,” I say, not liking the tension hanging in the air between us. “Hey, when you go out there, would you mind mucking the horse stalls?”

“Sure,” Mitch says, his smile obviously forced as he heads back to the bathroom. His reaction to this whole situation seems like overkill, I think to myself. Hopefully this date of his will leave him in a better mood. . .

**

I’m buzzing with excitement as I weave through the backroads of Thistleberry on my way to Eli’s for our early morning Valentine’s date. Lucky for me, Doreen talked to one of the overnight gals, and she’s covering my shift today so I could make it. Otherwise, it would have been a bust—which would’ve been truly heartbreaking.

Ever since he’d driven me home, our texts have become more and more frequent. We text whenever we can, from when I get up until I go to bed, which is really nice. But the longer I’m away from him, the more I feel myself longing to be near him again.

I have to admit, however, that I’m also really excited about getting back in the saddle. Even though it won’t be the same without my beautiful mare, it’s something I have really been looking forward to. Besides seeing Eli of course. In fact, it’s really sweet of him to even offer to do this. I mean, trusting someone with your animals is a big deal, I certainly wouldn’t ever have let just anyone ride my Laney, that’s for sure.

Red dust kicks up all around me as I turn up the lane to his house and the pavement disappears. I roll up my windows, not wanting to ruin my makeup before I get there, and squint through the billowing clouds of crimson to look for the sign he said I’d see at the end of the road.

Finally, I find it—the sign with a beautiful Texas rose pattern carved into it—hanging over an open gate and drive on through. I pass by a small, dark building, but I keep going, looking for a white house.

When I get there, it’s bigger than I expected, surrounded by a dirt dusted white fence and a porch that wraps around the whole front of the place. It feels like being back at my daddy’s old ranch, so I feel oddly at home as I open the gate and walk through.

My confidence from before wanes a bit as I go to knock on the front door, but I choose to ignore it. I deserve to be happy, I deserve to move forward, and I’m not going to let Joseph, or anyone else stop me. The past is the past, and I’m leaving it there.

I give the door a hearty knock, and after a few moments, it slowly cracks open. I expect to see Eli standing there, but instead I see a very young man in traditional western yoke, paired with a matching cowboy hat and some well-worn jeans.

“Oh, um, hi,” I say with a little wave.

“Morning,” the young man says. “You must be Darla.”

“And you must be. . . Zack,” I reply, remembering that Eli said that Zack had blue eyes and Noah has brown ones. The only real difference between the two.

“Guilty as charged,” Zack says with a chuckle. “We’ve heard a lot about you,” he says as he opens the door wider, and I can see Noah peering at me from the large kitchen table.

“Good things I hope,” I reply.

“Well, all except for that pie thing,” Zack says with a chuckle.

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