Chapter 30
Brit clued her mother in that they needed another break-time discussion to bring her up to date. She hadn’t mentioned the trip to Rowdy Ranch to her mom the day before because she hadn’t decided whether she’d follow through.
At least that’s what she’d told herself. Maybe she’d suspected all along that she wouldn’t be able to stay away. And wouldn’t want to leave.
The possibility of spending the night had hovered in the back of her mind from the moment he’d invited her to his cabin. He’d likely had the same thought, despite his attempt to neutralize the visit by inviting Angie and Dallas.
That they craved each other way more than they’d expected was a problem. If she glossed over it, she wouldn’t be doing either of them any favors. She’d start by being completely honest with her mom about this attraction and why she wanted to nip it in the bud.
She brought a thermos of decaf into the break room after wrapping up her nine-o’clock appointment. Her mom wasn’t there yet.
She popped in a few minutes later. “Sorry. I had someone who had to reschedule and it took a while to get them squared away. Let me get my coffee.” She glanced at Brit’s thermos. “Decaf?”
“Yes, ma’am.” She grabbed a cup, sat down and opened the thermos. The aroma of the coffee Trent had bought her was subtly different from Doc Bradbury’s choice for the break room.
Breathing it in sent a shiver of longing through her. Tasting it brought back the memory of their goodbye kiss at the door. She missed him.
Her mother took a seat on the other side of the small table and cradled her cup in both hands. “Fire away.”
She put down her cup. “As usual, you called it. I spent the night out at Rowdy Ranch.”
“Color me shocked.” Her mom took a sip of her coffee. “I figured that would happen. Either that or he’d come to your house. So what now?”
“He asked me to come out Friday night for the rehearsal dinner and stay until early Sunday morning. That means I won’t be driving out there with you and the doc on Saturday.”
She nodded. “None of this surprises me. Not after seeing you two together yesterday.”
“Also, I can’t remember if I told you his parents are flying out for the wedding.”
“Oh, they are? No, you didn’t mention it.”
“Do you want to meet them? It’ll be a huge crowd, so if you’d rather not….”
“Let me think about it. Is he telling them about the baby?”
“Yes. He and Dallas are picking them up this morning. He’ll tell them on the way back.”
“Then I should meet them. If he was planning to keep it a secret, I might have avoided it in case I let something slip. I guess you’ll meet them at the rehearsal, then.”
“For the second time. I had a brief conversation with them at Angie’s wedding, but I doubt they remember me.”
“What are they like?”
“Tall. Nice looking. Vanessa’s hair was light brown in February, but I’m sure she colors it so it might be different now. Harry’s is salt and pepper like yours. They seem like good people.”
“They probably are if Trent plans to tell them. It sounds like he trusts them not to overreact and disrupt the festive weekend.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re right.”
“If you stayed through Sunday you could get to know them better.”
“No way. I’ll be back for our Mother’s Day celebration. It’s important to me.”
“Me, too, but?—”
“I’ll be here. We’ll cook and watch movies like we always do. If you have time, maybe you can dig out those softball pictures so we can look through them.”
She smiled, the crease of worry between her eyebrows fading. “I’ll do that.”
“Speaking of trusting people to keep their cool, I talked with Desiree while I was out there.”
Her eyebrows rose and she put down her coffee. “How did that happen? Isn’t she knee-deep in wedding frenzy?”
“Not so much. Dallas and Angie had dinner with us, and they both urged me to go see her and get her advice. Angie rode over with me and the discussion was…intense.”
“I’ll bet. So what did she say?”
“Kind of what you said, that the original plan Trent and I agreed to isn’t realistic. So I’ve come up with a new one — to continue our physical relationship for now but gradually taper off.”
“Gradually taper off.” It was a comment, not a question.
“You’re not buying it.”
“No, can’t say that I am. But honey, if you can manage it, more power to you. He’s down on marriage and you aren’t excited about it, either, so maybe you two can successfully deescalate the situation.”
“I believe we can. I’m not saying it will be easy. But it’s for the best.”
“I just wish…” Her mom trailed off and then she sighed. “Maybe this is my issue, not yours.”
“What?”
“I’ve always wished you’d fall deeply in love with someone worthy of you, someone you couldn’t wait to see every day who would give you joy and make you want to build a life together. I didn’t find my soul mate, but I’ve hoped maybe you would.”
“I haven’t yet.”
“Are you sure? Because when you’re with Trent, it’s like there’s a magnetic force at work.”
“It’s static cling. The shirt I wore yesterday was polyester.”
“Very funny. I guess all I was sensing was sexual chemistry. He can’t be the right one since he doesn’t believe in happily ever after.”
“Neither do I.” She said it softly, but her mother still flinched. “It’s not your fault. Or Dad’s. It’s me. I have ridiculously high standards. I might eventually find someone who measures up, but in the meantime, I won’t miss out on parenthood.”
“Would you be willing to tell me what your ridiculously high standards are? I don’t think I’ve ever heard them.”
“Okay. Sure. He’s kind. I mean to the max. To people, animals, all living things. He’s intelligent but not a know-it-all and not threatened by smart women. He’ll scrub a toilet, change a diaper and wash windows. He can laugh at himself, is considerate in bed and looks good naked.” She paused to take a breath.
“That’s it?”
“Mostly, except he has to love Wagon Train ’cause I’m not leaving, and it would be a bonus if we had a couple of activities in common. Oh, and if he’s curious about things, that would be nice. It’s logical he’d be fun to talk with.”
“That’s a great list. So if you found someone like that, you’d marry him?”
“Assuming I’m also wildly attracted to him and we have a great time between the sheets. Trent’s set the gold standard, there.”
“Does he fulfill any of your other requirements?”
“I can’t say. There’s a lot I don’t know about him. But even if he ticks all the boxes, you just said it. He’s had a wife and never wants another one. He thinks romance is for suckers.”
“So you’ll be driving out there after work tomorrow?”
“Actually, no. He wants to pick me up.”
“Because he’ll be in town running errands?”
“I don’t think so. He didn’t mention that.”
“Then won’t he have to bring you in on Sunday and then drive all the way back out to Rowdy Ranch?”
“Yes, and it makes no sense. I told him he’d use twice the gas I would use. More than twice because I doubt his rig gets the mileage mine does. But if it makes him happy, who am I to argue?”
“Hmm.”
“I guess he just likes driving that truck.”
“I’m sure that’s it.” Her lips twitched, as if she was holding back a smile.
“All right, I’ll admit he has a tendency to play the knight in shining armor role.”
“Because there’s certainly nothing romantic about that.”
“It’s one of those silly contradictions. Everyone has ’em. It doesn’t mean he’ll suddenly drop to one knee and propose.”
“Of course not.” Her mom finished her coffee and stood.
Brit did the same and pretended not to notice the twinkle in her mom’s eyes. She’d just decided Trent wasn’t a lost cause, after all.
But that wasn’t what made Brit’s stomach churn or her hand shake as she twisted the top back on her thermos. She’d just created a mental image of Trent on one knee asking her for her hand in marriage.
That would ruin everything.