Page 60 of Take Me Please, Cowboy
He hadn’t expected it of her.
He’d thought she had more compassion.He’d thought she’d adore his mother.Why didn’t Ansley talk about his wonderful mother to her mother?Why didn’t she mention how hard everyone worked today to make Ansley feel welcome?
Chest on fire, Rye drove, but he didn’t know where he was going.All he knew then was that he’d been right to keep women away from his home.He’d been right to avoid romantic attachments.
But somehow, he’d convinced himself that Ansley was different, and because he wanted her to be the right one, he thought she’d be okay with everyone.That she wouldn’t mind the main house or the trailer.He’d thought she’d realize they were all doing their best and she’d be proud of the way they pulled together.
Instead, she just saw the wounds and the flaws and all the Calhoun weaknesses.
Rye drove through downtown Eureka, and then onto Highway 22, driving to where, he didn’t know.He passed the office for Calhoun Roofing, seeing it tonight through her eyes—a tiny little business, in a very humble building, with its practical exterior and unassuming interior.
Because that was who the Calhouns were.Practical unassuming people.
He should be relieved to know how she felt, and yet his disappointment was excruciating.He felt profoundly let down, her criticism so sharp, so personal.
He’d promised he wouldn’t just cut her out again.He’d promised he’d talk to her.He’d communicate.But how did one communicate about this?
There was no way he could return to the trailer tonight, not if she were there.He didn’t want her at his house anymore.He needed her gone by the time he returned, or he would say something he might later regret.
Indignation warred with hurt, shock giving way to fury.
How dare she speak about his family that way?This was his family, and he loved them.From the moment Jasper was born, Rye realized his life would never be the same.He wasn’t just a teenager, but an older brother with a responsibility to a baby whose brain had been damaged during birth.
He remembered his father saying,it’s not your mother’s fault, and it’s not the baby’s fault.These things happen and so we have to do our best, we have to circle the wagons and look out for each other.
Rye had taken that message to heart.He had spent every day of his life since then protecting his family, and just when he thought he’d found the right woman, he discovered his family, the family he loved, horrified her.
Rye swallowed the lump in his throat and rubbed a hand across his forehead, thinking he’d never forget the things he’d heard her say.
He loved his brother, his sisters, and his parents.They weren’t perfect, but they were his family, and if Ansley couldn’t see how important they were to him, then she needed to leave and leave now.
He pulled over onto the side of the road, shifted into park, and turned off the ignition.For long minutes, he sat on the highway’s shoulder, gut churning, chest on fire.Every breath burned, every time he swallowed, he swallowed acid and pain.Finally, he grabbed his phone and sent Ansley a text.I’m needed elsewhere and had to leave this evening.I tried to come tell you but you were on the phone.I hope the rest of your trip goes well.And then he pushed send.
Aware that his family would also have questions, aware that his mom might try to intercede and convince Ansley to stay, he sent her a text.I can’t talk about it now, but Ansley and I are done.Let me know when she’s gone.I won’t return until then.
His phone immediately rang.It was Ansley.He pressed ignore.His phone rang again.It was his mom.He declined this call, too.He wasn’t hiding.There was just no way he could trust himself to speak to anyone right now.
Chapter Eleven
Ansley read andreread Rye’s text, feeling a cold trickle of dread seep down her spine, into her limbs.He’d heard her.
She knew, without knowing anything else, that he’d heard some of her conversation with her mom.Possibly all of it.
Ansley sank onto the gold plaid couch, legs weak, heart racing.This couldn’t be happening.This couldn’t—
She called Rye again.He declined the call, not even bothering to let her go to voice mail.
He’d blocked her again.
Her eyes stung and she blinked back tears, her phone grasped tightly in her hand.She waited a half hour before trying to call him again, but his phone was off.
It was happening again.He was shutting her out, but this time it was her fault.This time, she’d said things that had to have hurt him terribly.Ansley couldn’t move, couldn’t walk, couldn’t think.Instead, she sat glued to the couch, cold and clammy, feeling as if she’d throw up any second.
Mrs.Calhoun appeared at the trailer door, opening it slightly to peek in.Her gaze met Ansley’s and her expression fell.“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“He’s not coming back,” Ansley said faintly.
Rye’s mother shook her head.
