Page 48 of At the Rancher's Pleasure

Sarabeth shrugged. “I suppose so.”

She saw the puzzled looks Gina and Jaynie exchanged. “And Brett only came over when this happened? Not before?”

Sarabeth could see that they were backing her into a corner but had no idea how to get out, so she stared out of the window of the diner to look at what was happening on Main Street. Nothing interesting, unfortunately.

“Ross or Asher or even Daddy would be across the room so fast if I were having an argument with someone. And if he looked like he was hurting me, they would’ve punched his lights out first and asked questions later,” Gina stated.

True. Dammit.

“So, Brett did neither of those things but just approached you and told Rusty to back down?” Jaynie picked up the interrogation.

Pull out the bright spotlight and the cold-water baths, Sarabeth thought,and let’s get this torture session over with.

“So what, exactly, did Brett do wrong?” Jaynie asked.

Nothing. It was all her. Obviously. She’d admit it if they would just end this wretched conversation.

Jaynie half turned in her seat to face Gina. “I think that your mother just used Brett’s response as a way to bail out of the relationship, because she’s a big scaredy-cat and she didn’t want to get hurt.”

“Sitting right here,” Sarabeth reminded her, annoyed with Jaynie’s perceptive summary of her situation.

“But she is hurt,” Gina responded, ignoring her. “She’s miserable and sad and she misses him dreadfully.”

“Still here.” What was the point? They were both enjoying their little byplay.

Gina rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “Do you think that she’s scared to be loved, scared to take a chance? Scared to fail at another relationship?”

“Oh, undoubtedly,” Jaynie blithely replied. “She believes everyone is going to leave her so she finds a reason to walk before they can.”

Ouch.But true. That was exactly what she’d done with Brett. And, because she was tired of them talking around her, she decided to try an explanation. “What’s the point of us carrying on? It wasn’t going to last!”

“Why not?” Gina asked, sounding genuinely confused. “And don’t you dare tell me it’s because he’s younger than you.”

“Well, he is,” Sarabeth muttered, fiddling with her phone, tears welling in her eyes.

Her daughter immediately stood up to try to hug her, but Jaynie gripped the band of her jeans to pull her down into her seat. “Sympathy is not what your mom needs right now, honey.”

Sarabeth glared at her oldest friend. “And what do I need?” she demanded.

“Basically, a good kick in the butt,” Jaynie bluntly responded. She pushed aside her smoothie and their glances held. “I know you, Sarabeth. I’ve known you for a long, long time. The problem is that for you, love has always been transactional.”

Sarabeth frowned and Gina asked Jaynie to explain. Jaynie pushed her bangs to the side and ran her finger up and down her glass. “Sarabeth, your mom loved you when you did well at pageants, adored you when you married the most successful man in Royal. She never loved you foryou. Rusty—sorry Gina—only married you because he thought it was time to have kids and he had the brains and you the beauty, so your kids would win the genetic jackpot. Not your fault the man had the attention span of a fruit fly and couldn’t keep his pants zipped.” Jaynie patted Gina’s hand. “Sorry, honey.”

“I’ve heard it all before,” Gina told her on a wan smile.

“Those men after Rusty loved your looks, but none of them saw past your pretty packaging. You then moved to LA and devoted all your time to your business and none to your love life.”

“Is there a point to this?” Sarabeth asked, squirming under Jaynie’s laser-like focus.

“The point is that Brett is the first man who sees you, all of you. He likes your pretty face and your skinny body, but he appreciates your mind and he seems to enjoy spending time with you, in bed and out.” Jaynie tapped her hand with her index finger. “He knows who you are but that scares the hell out of you.”

“Shouldn’t it?” Sarabeth cried. “It’s damn scary!”

“You know what’s scarier, babe?”

Sarabeth wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer but cocked her head anyway.

“Being alone is scary. Not living is scary. Giving up control and surrendering to love is horribly scary,” Jaynie said. “But it’s brave and joyous and lovely and wonderful. And you’re an idiot if you choose to be alone, running away instead of planting your feet and trying.”

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