Page 55 of Cowboy Falling Hard

He tried to tamp the anger in his chest down. It was true. How many times had he been with men on the team who were away from their wives and got away with things that their wives would have divorced them over?

But no one told. Everyone kept secrets, and marriages stayed intact. Not because the men had character and integrity, but because there was a brotherhood where they didn’t tell on each other. It was a bunch of bunk, and he hated it. So unfair to their wives.

He’d always tried to focus on the game, but there was always a certain amount of comradery among his teammates. It helped build the trust and brotherhood necessary in order to win games.

Still, he hated seeing the cheating and the silence, because it was disgusting to see marriages built on such rottenness. He had vowed not to do it himself.

Maybe that was part of what attracted him so much to Orchid. Because she didn’t seem to know or care that he was a popular sports figure and certainly wasn’t interested in him for that. Although, baseball would always be a part of him. He was pretty sure she knew it and would support that, like she would support anything he did. And him her.

That was part of being in a relationship.

“I’d offer to go with you, but I assume my presence would be worse than not having anyone.”

“It would be better for me, but it would probably be harder for Katie. This is going to be the worst thing she’s ever been through.”

“And there’s nothing you can do to make it easier.”

“No. But her parents have been married for fifty years, she’s the youngest of seven children, and all six of her siblings have had lifelong marriages.” Orchid grunted. “As far as I know, she’d be the first divorce in her family. I know this is going to devastate her.”

He didn’t say anything, just held her tight. Anger bubbled in his chest, and he tried again to push it down. It just made him so mad. People were so inconsiderate. They didn’t think about how their actions were going to devastate others. Break up families, rip an innocent, faithful woman’s heart out. She would never be the same. He just wanted to grab her husband and smack him against the wall.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m not God. Because men who did that kind of thing to their wives wouldn’t survive.”

God forgave. He forgave anything. Right now, in this moment, it was almost inconceivable. Dwight certainly didn’t feel the slightest bit forgiving toward Katie’s husband and didn’t want to give him mercy or grace. Both of which had been extended to him.

That kind of thinking probably wouldn’t help the situation for Katie. Not right now. Katie didn’t even know and was certainly not ready to think about mercy and grace and forgiveness.

“How about I take the apples to the church, and I’ll get started paring them and chopping them, and you can show me what to do. And then... Do you want to tell her now?”

Orchid let out a sigh and held tighter to his chest. “I think if she gets her kids on the bus... I’ll try to time my arrival at her house right after that. That will give her the longest amount of time without them to process and recover.”

“I thought the kids got out at noon today for the festival?”

“Yeah. I guess I was thinking that I would volunteer to take them and watch them at the festival. Maybe my sisters will help me.”

“I can help too. Either with the turnovers or with the kids.” He wanted to be someone she could count on. Even though he’d never made an apple turnover in his life before. While Orchid had shared the recipe, he was still a little fuzzy about the whole process.

Starting with how to turn the stove on.

But if it would help Orchid out, he would figure out what needed to be done and do it to the best of his ability.

“I appreciate it so much,” she said against his chest.

They stood like that for a few more minutes before Orchid seemed to reluctantly pull away. “The apples are in the back of my car. Tadhg helped us carry them out and put them in.”

“I’ll follow you to the church and carry them in from your car, then you can go whenever you need to.”

“Thanks.”

Her hands seemed to cling to his waist for just a moment more before they dropped and she walked away.

A thread of anxiety slithered around his ribs. After their conversation yesterday, he knew this was one of her fears. That her marriage wouldn’t last. That something like this would happen. He hoped that seeing what Katie was going to be going through, experiencing it with her, wouldn’t keep her from taking this step with him. He could see how that could hurt. Having your best friend go through something like this would have to give a person second thoughts, especially if they weren’t entirely sure to begin with.

Lord? Timing?

He knew God’s timing was perfect, but sometimes, he wondered. Certainly this wasn’t happening when he would have it happen. Actually, he wouldn’t have something like this happen at all. Not to a woman who had been faithful and true.

They got to the church. He carried the apples in like he promised while Orchid was stopped by one of the Piece Makers, who wanted to talk about the number of turnovers she was planning on making.

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