Page 32 of Something Tangled Something True
“Whatcha got there, darlin’?”
Her gaze flits to mine. “It’s the dress I wore the other night,” she says, and a pretty pink hue colors her cheeks.
I chuckle deeply at that. “It’s okay to say wedding dress,” I tease.
“It’s weird,” she admits. “Anyway, Mayte is picking it up to return it to the boutique. It was a rental.” She lays it over the back of one of our dining room chairs, spinning to face me. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” I tell her, patting the seat beside me. “You wanna watch something?”
“Whatever you want. I’m not picky,” she says, taking a seat at the opposite end of the couch.
I change the channel to something I think she’d enjoy, but she doesn’t react. Her eyes stay glued to the screen, yet there’s a distance in her gaze, like her mind’s already miles away. The longer the silence stretches, the more the knot in my stomach tightens, my fingers drumming nervously against the armrest.
I scoot over to sit closer to her, and when she doesn’t notice, I cover her hand with mine, draping my other arm along the back of the couch. “Darlin’, what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?” I ask softly.
“Hmm?” she asks, her far-off gaze making it clear she’s still somewhere else. “I’m sorry, what’d you ask?” Her eyes look sad, and she seems tired, her eyes sunken and her lips turned down. It’s not the kind of exhaustion a nap could fix.
“You’ve got something on your mind. Care to let me in?”
She breathes out a long sigh, clamping her eyes shut for a moment, before she scoots around to face me. She adjusts her grip so she’s holding my hand now, and it sends tingles up my arm.
“It’s the dress.”
I stare at her, no less confused than I had been moments ago.
“Do you not like the dress?”
She shakes her head, those gorgeous curls flying all over in the way I love so much.
“No, the problem is that Ilovethe dress. I know it’s silly because we’re only married on paper, but I’d always dreamed of keeping my wedding dress, having it preserved, and saving it for my daughter.” Her cheeks heat again, and it travels down her neck onto her chest. If it moves beyond that, I can’t see it through the sheer fabric of her cropped white tank top. “And then the realization I may neverhavea daughter kind of…”
“It kind of what, darlin’?” I ask, my voice a strained whisper.
Her cinnamon gaze meets mine now, and she chokes on a sob. “It sort of crushed me, Ry.”
I can’t help myself, overwhelmed with the need to comfort her. I drag her into my lap, kissing her shoulder, then the top of her head. “You’ll have anything you want in this life. I can’t promise you a lot, but I can promise you that.”
I’d burn down the whole world for this woman.
We sit like this for a while until her body relaxes in my hold. I hear her soft snores, and when I can’t hold my eyes open any longer, I carry her to her bed, tucking her in under the covers.
“Goodnight,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
The sliver of moonlight shining in through her blinds cuts across her beautiful face, and I feel weak in the knees, like the ground beneath me just got a little too far away.
Anything she wants, she can have.I’ll make sure of it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
HEAVENS TO BETSY!
MONDAY, MAY 5
The sun is risingon the horizon, and the morning air has a sharp edge to it, crisp and biting, the kind that doesn’t linger long after the sun rises. My boots crunch over dew-covered grass as I make my way to the north fence. Dad called early this morning, letting me know the horses had been restless last night, pacing the pasture, their whinnies cutting through the quiet like warning bells. Animals always know first when something is off, and something definitely feels wrong to me.
Dad had been worried, but he didn’t get a chance to make it down here to check it out because he couldn’t get ahold of Zeke.
I wonder where Ezekiel was since he’s never far from the ranch.
