Page 9 of Spur of the Moment
“Honestly, no.” Not even me. But fuck, I’d work my damned hardest to become the man she did deserve. I didn’t know if that’d be in one year or ten, but I’d earn Lettie Bronson one day, and I’d treat her better than any man could.
Once I was sure she’d fallen asleep, I slipped out from under the pillow, hating that I couldn’t stay. If Reed found me asleep in here on her bed, he’d flip.
Slowly standing up, careful to not jostle the bed, I looked down at her. Her chest was rising and falling with her steady breaths, her lips slightly parted.
She looked so peaceful.
So damn beautiful.
I crouched down, my fingers just barely touching her as I pushed a strand of hair out of her face. Before I did anything stupid, I stood, then made my way to the door.
I twisted the handle slowly, knowing that if you twisted it too fast, it’d make a small squeak, and I didn’t want to wake her.
Before slipping out of her room, I took one last look at her sleeping on her bed, one arm curled under her cheek and the other draped across her stomach. I committed the image to memory, never wanting to forget how she looked in this moment.
5
Lettie
Iclosed the door to the house behind me and found Reed sitting on the porch, beer in hand. He regarded me from where he sat, then looked back out at the ranch, taking a swig from his beer. I took the seat next to him, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. I knew Reed had things he wanted to say, but he’d keep quiet, his silence speaking louder than his words could.
He didn’t understand what changed to make me close myself off from everyone. How could he? He wasn’t the youngest sibling with a medical condition who couldn’t get a break from people hovering over her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him lift the beer again. I snatched it out of his hand and took a long pull, the cool liquid pooling in my belly, feeling damn good on this hot day. Ireluctantly held it back out to him after I took a second sip. He grabbed it, sitting back in his chair.
“Dad’s right, you know. Give Bailey a break.”
I kept my eyes trained on the horses out in the pasture as I spoke. “Why’s everyone so concerned about Bailey?”
“He did a lot while you were gone. More than you may think.”
I sighed. Life didn’t pause for anyone, no matter how much you wanted it to. I didn’t think my leaving would have affected the people I loved so much, but I was coming to find that I shouldn’t have been so selfish in my decision to leave.
Though I regretted it now, back when I came to the conclusion that leaving was the best option for me, it seemed like a good idea. Feeling like a burden being passed around between the people in my life was mentally draining.
“I’m not blind to the hard work he does. I just don’t know how to talk to him anymore. He seems so…”
“Different?” Reed filled in.
“Yeah.”
He paused, finishing off his beer. “That’s because people change over the course of five years, Lettie. Did you expect to come back and things would be the same?”
“No, but I didn’t expect everyone to hate me.”
In my peripheral, I saw Reed was looking at me. I sat back in my chair, facing him. “No one hates you. We just missed you, and now that you’re back and not telling anyone why, we’re confused.”
“Trust me, you’re not the only ones.”
“Why did you come back, Lettie? Why now?”
“I guess I just missed you guys, too.”
***
I found Bailey in the white barn, cleaning out Red’s stall. He had a wheelbarrow blocking the entrance to the stall as he scooped the soiled flakes off the ground. Rouge was sprawled out on the ground beside the wheelbarrow taking a nap.
“You know we have volunteers for that, right?”
