Page 51 of Cowboy Falling Hard

“Mrs. Brown was young once.”

His words brought her up short. Not necessarily what he said, but what it reminded her of. She had thought Mr. Brown and Mrs. Brown’s relationship was in the state that it was in because they weren’t talking to each other. And there she was, rushing off because she didn’t want to talk.

Whether Dwight and she had a relationship, or whether it was just a friendship, she wasn’t sure, but one thing she did know was that if it was going to be solid, she needed to resist the impulse to walk away without explaining.

“I’m sorry.”

“About what?” His tone was truly baffled, although she suspected that even if he didn’t have an inkling of what she was sorry about, there was probably at least a bit of irony floating around in his head that she was going to run off without talking, after they had just had a whole conversation about how important it was to talk.

“Because I was going to walk away without telling you why. Especially since you asked.”

“Thank you. It does kind of make a fella think that maybe he shouldn’t ask if he gets the silent treatment when he does.”

“And it probably makes it harder to ask in the future. And then whoever you’re with is going to accuse you of not caring because you didn’t ask.”

“I’ve been there.”

“I have too. That’s what I’m sorry about. And I... I was giving myself a hard time, because I told you I wanted to be just friends, and yet...” Could she admit what she had wanted to do? She didn’t know how he felt, although he hadn’t been backing away. He hadn’t been putting up walls or trying to keep their conversation on non-intimate subjects.

She decided that part of their relationship depended on what they had just been discussing, taking a chance and trusting that God would order her life right, as long as she wasn’t taking foolish chances or doing things just for herself, despite clear direction to the contrary.

“I was going to kiss you. I wanted to.” She paused and hesitated for just a second, and then went all in. “I still do.”

“I want you to.”

Chapter 17

Communication. - Anonymous from California

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“BUT I GOT SCARED. Iquestioned myself. After all, we were going to go slow. That’s not slow. That’s not friends. That’s not anything that we decided. That’s emotions.” Orchid hoped Dwight understood and didn’t think she was being silly or, worse, playing games.

“Emotions aren’t all bad.”

“But they often lead you to places where you shouldn’t go.”

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