Page 21 of Spur of the Moment
I looked over at him. “Don’t you want to save as many as you can?”
“Of course I do. I’d also like to get out of my parents’ in-law unit. As convenient as it is living on their property, I need a place of my own.”
I nodded, tapping my finger on the outside of my thigh.
“Reed won’t ever leave my parents’ ranch.”
“You think?” He must’ve seen my anxious tapping because he reached over and set his hand on mine, his fingers resting on my thigh. My hand froze as all of my awareness focused on his touch.
“I mean, why would he? Cheap rent, and all his work is close.”
“Yeah, maybe. I think he’s hoping he can take over the ranch someday. Horseshoeing is hard on the body as you get older.”
A breathy laugh escaped my lips. “He is getting a bit of a hunchback, huh?”
Bailey chuckled. “That’s exactly why I didn’t go into that field.”
“Oh? Not because you have a million other things on your plate?”
He slowly slid his hand away from mine. “Had to keep my mind busy these past few years.”
No doubt because of me. There was that guilt creeping in again.
He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “Lettie.”
“Yeah?”
“You can open your eyes now.”
I hadn’t even realized they were still clamped shut. I looked out the windshield to see the rain had slowed to a light trickle. I was so lost in his voice that I didn’t notice when the sound of the wipers slowed and the thunder stopped. I brought my gaze to him and saw a faint rainbow painting the cloudy sky out his driver side window.
He glanced at me. “I’d save every single one of them if I could.”
I studied him as he drove, his eyes not straying from the road in front of him for a while after our conversation. His cowboy hat was sitting on the dash against the windshield. His hair was messy but his jaw was free of the stubble that was there yesterday. He must’ve shaved this morning, but I knew by the end of our trip, his usual five o’clock shadow would be back.
Damn him and his big heart and his jawline and his hair and every word he spoke that made me forget every reservation I had when it came to the possibility of me and him.
We were barely a few hours into our trip and I was already falling back into old routines.
11
Bailey
Iflicked on the blinker, turning into the hotel parking lot. The lot was packed, so I drove around the back and found an empty row to pull the truck and trailer into.
It took up a few spots, but I didn’t have any other options. Hotels really needed to offer trailer parking. I couldn’t keep track of how many dirty looks I’d gotten in the past for parking like this.
The clock on the dash showed it was half past one p.m. Though we left at the crack of dawn, the storm we passed through slowed us down quite a bit, but regardless, we made good time.
Beside me, Lettie unbuckled and opened her door before I had the chance to get out and do it for her. Heaving a sigh, I got out and opened the back door to grab our luggage. Rougejumped past me, flying over my shoulder. I looked behind me to see him taking off in the direction of the grass.
“That dog is crazy,” I said when Lettie opened the back door on her side. She reached in to grab his leash from where it sat on the floor.
“I call it full-of-life.”
She closed the door, whistling for Rouge as she came around the hood of the truck. Pulling the luggage out, I turned in time to see him running at Lettie full speed. When he made it to her, he jumped up on her, his front paws almost reaching her chest.
She hooked the leash on his collar and he let out a whimper. “Sorry, bud. Can’t have you running around the place.”
