Page 68 of Spur of the Moment
I beelined for my SUV, trying to keep my boots quiet on the ground.
“Going out?” I heard Reed call out.
My fucking luck.
I stopped to turn in their direction, taking a few steps. They closed the distance on their horses, my dad wearing his signature frown as always.
“Meeting up with Brandy. I’ll be home late,” I said.
My dad nodded, but Reed narrowed his eyes at me from under the brim of his dark brown cowboy hat.
“You always dress up to see Brandy?” Reed asked.
It was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. “Since when does it matter what I wear to go see Brandy?”
He shrugged, the reins in one hand with his other arm casually draped over his opposite wrist. “I get the feeling it ain’t Brandy you’re goin’ to see.”
My hand moved to rest on my hip. “Why’s that?”
He tipped his head in the direction of the white barn. “‘Cause Brandy’s still in there working with one of therescues.”
I pursed my lips together.Twice with my luck tonight.
“Fine. I'm going on a date, but thewhois none of your business.”
Reed scoffed. “The hell it isn’t.”
Travis shot Reed a look. “Give her a break, son. You know your sister will be safe.”
I wanted to gag. I didnotneed the birds and the bees talk from my dad.
Reed stared at me, sucking on his teeth before clicking his tongue and pulling on the outside rein to spin his horse around. He trotted off toward the barn without another word.
My dad shook his head, bringing his gaze back to me. “I trust that you’ll use protection.”
My jaw dropped. “Dad! Please!”
He cleared his throat and mumbled, “This is why I leave this kind of thing to your mother.”
“Yes, please. For all our sakes, leave that part of parenting to her,” I pleaded.
He nodded once, then clicked his tongue at his sorrel, spinning him in the direction Reed took off in. He stopped a few steps later, looking over his shoulder at me. “I’m glad you’re giving him a chance, Lettie. He’s a good man.”
I swallowed the emotion that climbed its way up my throat. Baileywasa good man, and while I always knew that, I was glad I wasn’t keeping him off limits anymore. He was giving me a second chance, the opportunity to make things work after allthose years away, and I was damn sure going to make it count from here on out.
I waved my dad off, turning on my heel to get back to my SUV. He could always read me like that damn newspaper, as if I had headlines of my thoughts sprawled across my forehead.
I started up my car, turned on my headlights since the sun had begun to go down, and headed over to Bailey’s parents' property. He lived next door, but with the acreage both our families owned, it wasn’t feasible to walk, and I didn’t want to ride back in the dark later tonight.
As I drove down our long driveway, the nerves began to settle in. Bailey was my childhood friend. We’d both seen each other at our worst. But something had changed between us in the past couple weeks.
Something I wish I would have been open to all those years ago.
36
Bailey
Stabbing the thermometer into the slice of meat, I checked that it was close to rare. One thing I could never forget about Lettie was that she liked a red piece of meat. She’d order the dang thing still moo’ing if she could. I liked my steak, but I preferred it cooked to some extent.
