Page 93 of We Redeemed the Rain

“Wow.” I turned on my heel to walk away again.

“So, that’s how it’s gonna be? We’re not even gonna talk like adults?”

“I’m not interested in talking with someone who lies, Tag!”

“I don’t—I’m not a liar. You’re takin’ this to the extreme.”

I spun and faced him, hands on my hips. “Okay then. Out with the truth right here and now.”

His jaw ticked as he swallowed. He hesitated a few long seconds. His voice was almost a growl. “Fine. The truth.”

I folded my arms over my chest, waiting.

“Randi is upset with me for not”—he shook his head, searching for the right word—“mingling, I guess, with other singles. She wants me to be romantically…involved with someone ‘cause she feels guilty I’m alone all the time. If I told her the truth about you, she’d never stop pesterin’ me. And I don’t want her gettin’ any wild ideas.”

“So what’s the truth? Because ifthat”—I waved toward the barn—“is your honest take on me, please say it to my face so I can get my ass out of Texas and stop making a fool of myself.”

He took a deep breath and his hands came to his hips, hisexpanded frame doing nothing but making me more angry. His strong stance only lasted a couple of seconds before he lifted his hat againand that’s when I noticed he had started to tremble. But he still didn’t say anything. Maybe he didn’t know where to start.

“Start with our letters. Were you truly just passing the time?”

“No.” His neck moved with a firm swallow. “Were you?”

“No.” I moved us to the next point. “Am I your employee or your friend?”

His shoulders slacked like he’d forgotten he’d said that. “Friend.”

“Does my talking or question asking frustrate you?”

Every question I asked made him look more white, a little sicker than before. “Not in the slightest. I…” He stopped.

“Finish.”

“I love your company.”

My heart leapt.

His eyes.

Pulled down in the corners, shimmering with a tiny sheen of moisture. He was telling the truth and my breath tumbled out at the realization.

“Am I underfoot?”

“Yes.”

My heart fell. “Oh.”

“But I love it.”

I squeaked. “Youloveit?”

“I’ve never had more fun teachin’ someone about the ranch. You’re funny and blunt and hard workin’. It’s gonna be…quiet around this place when you leave.”

Hope thrummed in my chest. I scolded it—premature.

A few beats of silence passed as I let his words sink in.

He confessed again, his voice deepening in its tenderness. “I told her you weren’t pretty.” He let the sentence hang in the air between us. He didn’t elaborate because he didn’t need to. The truth was spoken in the caress and heat of his gaze and in the way it quickly traveled across me.

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