“I’m not sure.”
He arched a brow. “You’re not sure?”
For the third time that day, her cheeks flushed. “I’ve never really had a proper drink.”
Tommy hadn’t expected that. “Oh.”
“Well, let me clarify that,” she added. “I should say that I haven’t had many opportunities, that’s all. My parents don’t drink, and even in college I kind of stayed away from it. It seemed to me like it always made people do things they regret.”
“That’s a very wise observation,” he said, turning his attention to the cashier. “Could we get one Coors and three lemonades, please?”
Liz touched his arm. “Tommy, get whatever you want. I didn’t mean anything by that.”
He smiled and gave a little shrug. “Lemonade sounds good. And besides, I don’t need to drink to have a good time.”
They returned to their seats to enjoy the rest of the rodeo, although Tommy paid very little attention to the arena. In fact, he and Liz were so lost in conversation that he almost missed Rebecca and Star’s performance.
Only then did he realize that he’d come to the rodeo to see Rebecca ride and hadn’t thought of her once since he met Liz.
Chapter 9
After the rodeo ended and they’d waved goodbye to Jeff and Allison, Liz turned to Tommy. “So if I did want to go somewhere and get a drink, where would you take me?”
“Depends. What do you have in mind?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe somewhere with music?”
“Quiet music or dancing music?”
Liz gave a rueful grin. “I’m not much of a dancer.”
Tommy chuckled. “You don’t drink and you don’t dance. I bet you’re going to tell me you don’t swear, either.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“Strangely, not at all.”
She laughed. “I know I’m boring.”
“You’re not boring, Liz. I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed this much.”
She smiled up at him for a moment before she shyly dropped her gaze. “Come on,” he added, reaching for her hand. “I’ll take you to my favorite spot.”
The bar was only a few blocks away, so he left his truck where it was and they made the journey on foot. Liz didn’t pull her hand away; instead she laced her fingers through his as they walked down the old wooden-planked sidewalks and entered the foyer of the lounge.
“So what would you like to try?” he asked when they reached the bar.
“I don’t know. What do you normally drink?”
“Anything, really. I like beer, I like whiskey. I even like a glass of wine once in a while.”
“A glass of wine?” Liz raised her brows. “Now who’s the boring one?”
They hadn’t even started drinking yet, and already she was flirting with him. This was rapidly becoming the best date of his life.
“That sounds like a challenge, Miss Parsons,” he replied, leaning his elbows against the bar top. “Should we kick this right into high gear?”
She settled onto the bar stool beside him. “Go for it.”
Tommy turned to the bartender. “Could we get two shots of Patrón, please?”
Liz’s eyes widened. “We’re doing shots?”
“Hey, I was ready to get a glass of wine,” he said with a shrug. “But I didn’t want you to think I was boring.”
She giggled and leaned her face against his shoulder, suddenly right back to the embarrassed girl who’d spilled lemonade on his shirt. How, he wondered, could someone be so innocent and so unbelievably sexy at the same time? Liz truly was an anomaly.
And the best part was that she didn’t have the slightest clue what she was doing to him.
Soon the bartender returned, lining up their shots with the obligatory salt and lime. Tommy outlined the procedure before he watched her bravely repeat the process. Each step brought a new and wildly entertaining expression to her face–the harshness of the salt, the burn of the tequila, the sourness of the lime. By the time she pulled the remainder of the lime from her mouth, both of them were doubled over in hysterics.
“I can’t believe you made me do that!” she screeched, giving him a playful shove. “That was terrible!”
“No. It was high gear. You said that’s what you wanted.”
“Well, now I know that I never want it again,” she said, touching his arm as she rose from her stool. “I’ll be right back.”
Tommy watched as she crossed the lounge and made her way toward the restrooms. Then he turned back to the bar and released a slow breath, trying to gather his own thoughts.
This was not the way he’d envisioned the night playing out. Whatever was happening between him and Liz was happening fast. Crazy fast. It wasn’t the first time he’d fallen for a girl in one day, but somehow this felt different.
Liz was unlike any woman he’d ever met.
She returned a few minutes later, sending him a warm smile as she approached. She’d combed her hair and touched up her make-up–not that she’d needed to, but it meant that she wanted to look good for him.
Before she could resume her seat, Tommy rose to his feet. “Dance with me?”
She glanced at the couples who were dancing near the stage. “I wasn’t lying earlier. I really don’t know how to.”
He took her hands in his. “I’ll show you.”
The band was starting a mellow tune as he led her onto the dance floor. He could sense her nervousness when he touched her back; then he felt her relax as he gently pulled her closer. He placed her hand behind his neck and curled his arm around her waist, swaying in time with the music.
“See? Nothing to it.”
Liz smiled up at him. “You know, my mother told me never to trust a man who knows how to dance.”
“Your mother sounds like a very smart lady,” he replied. “So I’m sure she also told you that there’s an exception to every rule.”
She gazed at him curiously. “How old are you, Tommy?”
“I’m twenty-six.”
“And how is it that a guy like you is still on the market?”
He grinned at her compliment. “I guess I’ve been waiting to meet the right woman.”
The air was still pleasantly warm when they exited the bar an hour later. Liz looped her arm through his and leaned her head against his shoulder as they strolled through the town square. Tommy didn’t know where they were headed and he didn’t care.
He’d never felt such an easy silence with anyone.
He didn’t know how long they’d walked when Liz abruptly came to a stop. “This is me.”
Tommy grinned when he recognized the apartment building. “My sister used to live here. In 2F.”
“I’m in 2B,” Liz said, hesitating for a moment. “Do you want to come up?”
He turned to her in surprise, thoughtfully studying her expression. If he had to wager, he’d bet that drinking and dancing weren’t the only things she’d never done before.
“You don’t have to,” she added when he remained silent. “I just thought–”
“No, I want to,” he assured her. “Just as long as you’re sure.”
Liz didn’t respond; she merely took his hand and gave a coy grin as she led him up the staircase.
*
Tommy awoke to the annoying beep of the alarm on his wristwatch. Automatically he reached for his nightstand to shut it off, but his hand found nothing but air. When he opened his eyes, it took him a second to get his bearings. There was no nightstand beside the bed because he wasn’t in his cabin.
He was in Liz’s apartment.
Tommy cursed under his breath and reached for the floor, where his watch lay buried beneath the rest of his apparel. He silenced the alarm and stared in dismay at the illuminated numbers, cursing again when he saw that it was already past six. Then he located his cell phone and dialed the number to the farmhouse, praying that Rebecca would answer the call.
“Hello?”
Thank y
ou.
“It’s me,” he said quietly. “I, um…I’m gonna be a little late this morning.”
He could hear the smile in her voice. “Are you still in town?”
“Yeah.” He glanced at his watch again. “I’m really sorry. Give me an hour, okay?”
“You know what? Why don’t you take the day off?”
Tommy frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Definitely. I can go down and help Jake with check-ins. It’s not a big deal.”
“You wanna run it by Alec first?”
Rebecca laughed. “Believe it or not, Tommy, Alec’s not the only one who makes decisions around here.”
He chuckled, too, as he hung up the phone. In all fairness, Tommy had never missed a shift in eight years, so he doubted that Alec would have given him a hard time, either. He took a moment to gather himself before he rose from the bed and pulled on his jeans. Then he searched high and low for his shirt, but it was nowhere to be found. With a shrug, he finally gave up and exited the bedroom.
The scent of butter and maple syrup hit his nostrils before he even set foot in the living room. Liz’s apartment was tidy and quaint–just the bedroom and a living room and a tiny kitchen–but it was the perfect size for one person. He rounded the corner and couldn’t help but smile when he saw her standing at the stove, wearing his shirt that was at least six sizes too large for her.
“Hey,” she greeted, sending him a sleepy smile. “I was hoping to have this ready before you got up.”
“It’s okay,” he replied. “Whatcha making?”
“Belgian waffles. Nothing fancy.”
Tommy lowered his head to kiss her neck. “Sounds fancy to me.”
On any other date, he knew exactly what to expect when a woman invited him in. But last night he’d entered Liz’s home with no expectations, fully prepared to let her set the pace. Even if she’d done nothing more than show him around and kiss him goodnight, he would have been fine with it.
He didn’t want to spend the night with her and then never hear from her again. He’d been there and done that more times than he cared to admit, and he was sick of the whole game.
Liz wasn’t the type to play games, though. From the instant their lips met he knew that she’d been waiting for the right person, too. He had no idea why she’d chosen him, but he felt like nothing less than the luckiest man on earth when she led him into her bedroom.
He’d never been anyone’s first, and he couldn’t believe how different the whole experience was. He didn’t give a single thought to himself; he was too absorbed in Liz, watching her eyes and her lips as her entire body responded to his touch. Afterward he wrapped his arms around her and held her close through the night–not because she expected it, but because he genuinely wanted to.
“When do you have to leave?” she asked, bringing him back to the present.
“I don’t,” he said, leaning against the counter. “I just got the day off.”
Her eyes lit up. “Really?”
He nodded. “So we can do whatever you want.”
They shared breakfast on her couch–him in his jeans, her in his shirt–laughing and chatting as if they’d done it a thousand times before. “So can I ask you something?” she said once they set their empty plates aside.
“Sure.”
“Is it always this good?”
Instantly he shook his head. “It’s never this good.”
When Liz scooted closer and leaned in to kiss him, he knew then and there that he was falling in love with her. And if the way she was kissing him was any indication, his feelings weren’t one-sided.
At this point, though, all she knew about him was that he was from Texas and he managed a ranch. He’d told her nothing about himself or his journey that led him here, and he didn’t want her to fall for someone that he wasn’t.
She drew back and frowned at his expression. “What is it?”
Over the next hour, Tommy told her everything about his past–things he’d never even told Alec or Jeff or Rebecca. He told her about his family and how his father kicked him out of the house. He told her that he’d been on his own since he was sixteen and that he’d never finished high school. He told her that he’d lived out of his truck for years and that he never truly had a home until he came to Jackson. He told her that he had no marketable skills and that the only thing he was ever good at was working with his hands.
“I just thought you should know all of that,” he concluded. “Before this goes any further.”
She didn’t respond right away, which only compounded his anxiety. After all, he wasn’t an idiot. He knew how the world worked. Liz was an educated woman with a professional career, while Tommy was a high school drop-out who tended livestock because it was all he knew how to do.
On paper, she was light years out of his league.
At last Liz lifted her hand and smoothed her fingers through his hair. “Do you think any of that changes how I feel about you?”
Tommy swallowed hard. “I’d understand if it did.”
“Well, it doesn’t. Because if any of that had happened differently, then you wouldn’t be the person you are today.”
Of all the drastic turnarounds he’d experienced, Liz was by far the most unexpected. He told her that same week that he was in love with her, and even now he could still envision the look on her face when she said that she loved him, too. They were inseparable after that, and their bond only grew stronger the more they learned about one another.
Then, exactly one year after they met, Tommy proposed to her at the Fourth of July Rodeo, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was making the right decision when he slid the ring onto her finger.
Still, when he approached Rebecca a moment later and saw the warm smile on her lips, he felt that same familiar twinge deep in his chest…and the constant, haunting notion of what might have been.
Chapter 10
A week after their return from Scottsdale, Rebecca awoke once again to an empty bed. Alec usually got up before she did, anyway, but last night he hadn’t even come upstairs.
With a tired sigh, she pushed herself out of bed and went through the motions of getting dressed and brushing her teeth. Then she trotted downstairs and paused in the foyer when she saw her husband asleep on the couch, buried beneath a massive hardcover book. Silently she tiptoed over to him and leaned over to inspect the title: War and Peace.
Not exactly the kind of story that was going to boost his spirits.
Alec stirred when she lifted the book from his chest. “Hey,” he mumbled. “What time is it?”
“Just after seven.”
Rebecca placed the book on the coffee table and started to turn for the kitchen when Alec reached for her hand. “Come here.”
He scooted back to make room for her and she smiled as she stretched out beside him. Then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, and she melted right into him when he pressed his lips to her forehead. It felt like the first time they’d touched in days.
They lay in silence for a while, listening to the cheerful chirping of birds outside the window, before Rebecca propped herself up to look at him. “Have you thought any more about what we talked about?”
“Which part?”
“Any of it.”
Alec sighed and turned his gaze to his father’s bedroom. “I’m not ready to go through his stuff yet, Bec. The room’s empty enough with everything in there. I can’t bear the thought of clearing it out.”
“I understand,” she assured him. “And I’m not trying to rush you. But you do realize that we’re going to have to do it at some point, right?”
He gave a little nod.
Rebecca drew in a silent breath. “What about going to see the doctor Alli mentioned?”
A dark cloud fell over Alec’s eyes. “So he can label what’s wrong with me and shove a bunch of pills down my throat? No thanks.”
“Doctors do a lot more than that, Alec, and you know it.” She paused, choo
sing her words carefully. “I think it would help if you could just talk to someone about what you’re feeling–”
“Bec, please. Don’t start with the psychobabble. I’m not in the mood.”
You never are, she thought, but she bit back the words just in time. With a sigh of defeat, she untangled herself from his arms and rose to her feet.
“Look, Alec,” she said gently, “I know I’m not a psychologist yet–”
“Then stop acting like one.”
Out of nowhere, tears sprung into Rebecca’s eyes. Automatically she spun on her heel, but she wasn’t even halfway to the foyer when Alec pulled her to a stop.
“I’m sorry,” he said, gathering her in his embrace. “I didn’t mean that. I don’t know what’s the matter with me.”
“Well, I do,” she said, pulling back to look at him. “You’re acting like you’re the one who died.”
Alec flinched and dropped his gaze, but she touched his face and forced their eyes to meet. “I miss him, too. I miss him every day. But his life is the one that ended, not yours. You still have friends and family and a business to run, whether you like it or not. Tommy and I have been happy to step up our roles, but at some point you need to start doing your part again, too. You can’t sit here and wallow in the past forever, Alec. It’s not healthy for either one of us.”
His expression didn’t change, but she could tell that he was listening. She waited for him to say something–anything–that would reveal what he was thinking. She’d been waiting for four months for him to open up to her, and she would gladly listen to whatever he had to say.
As usual, though, there was only silence.
He reached for her again and she caved in without argument, burying her face in the crook of his neck. “I love you so much,” he whispered. “Please tell me you know that.”
Rebecca nodded against his shoulder. “I know that.”
*
Long after Rebecca headed into town, Alec remained in the kitchen, staring out at the snow-covered landscape. A herd of elk was roaming through the front paddock, searching beneath the snow for any last morsels of grass. He studied the animals thoughtfully as he sipped his coffee, turning his wife’s words over in his mind.
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