Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
The fact that Erika had agreed, even before their date’s end, to go out with him again to dinner lit Cody up inside. Everything had gone so well that he spent his entire Tuesday feeling like a man who’d been completely reborn, fresh and new.
But then came Wednesday, and her text message.
Erika : I’m sorry but I need to cancel. I have plans I forgot about.
Plans. An unwelcome twinge of jealousy ratcheted through his stomach before he chastised himself. He had no business feeling that way. He didn’t even know what her plans were. Besides, they were very early on in building their connection. This was no biggie.
Cody : No problem. What day works for you?
The three dots of an ellipsis that told him she was typing appeared on his screen, only to vanish. This happened three more times before she actually responded.
Erika : Can I get back to you?
All that waiting for this? Oh, well.
Cody : Of course.
What else could he say? But he was being silly. They could reschedule. He felt sure they would.
Only they didn’t. Mainly because she never returned his text. He sent her another handful of messages asking when she’d like to meet up again but received only crickets. Cody reviewed their date from beginning to end, searching for anything that might’ve gone wrong or felt off. Something that he’d originally missed.
Yet he came up with nothing.
Stumped and a bit demoralized, he threw himself into his work on the Duncan Ranch, hoping Erika would call or text, but a month had now passed, and he’d heard nothing from her. That night when he got home, he left a message not on Erika’s phone, but on his brother Boone’s voicemail.
He knew going in to not expect a call back any time soon since his little bro was a professional NHL hockey player up in Edmonton, Canada, and the season had just started. Still, he knew Boone would get back to him as soon as he could.
Cody next called his best bud up in Minneapolis, Patrick O’Connell. His friend went by Pat, but Cody had always referred to him as Paddy, mostly just to get on his nerves. His buddy immediately picked up, and Cody experienced a great upswell of relief.
“Cody, you miscreant, how the heck are you?”
Just hearing that voice had him feeling better.
“I’m still kicking. You?”
“Kicking and screaming whenever the occasion calls for it. How’re you liking ranch life?”
They shot the breeze for a few minutes before Paddy asked the question Cody knew to anticipate.
“Are you coming back to the city yet?”
Paddy liked to tease him like this despite knowing what his answer would be. Cody strongly suspected that his friend sincerely wanted him to come back permanently even though he’d explained to Paddy that he likely wouldn’t be back anytime soon. If ever.
“Afraid not, old friend. Job’s too good, and I like it here. Also, I really like one of the local women I’ve met, even if she’s not reciprocating. Apparently.”
“Ah, it’s like that, is it?”
“Exactly like that.”
“Well, tell me what’s going on.”
Cody did, and merely pushing the words out of his head and across the airwaves helped him put this in a better light.
“She’s ghosted me, and I don’t know why.”
“You can never tell with stuff like that. How long’s it been since you contacted her?”
“A week.”
“Try again. One last time. Anything more could come across as hounding her, and you don’t want to do anything that reeks of desperation.”
“I know that, you jerk.”
Cody resented that a bit. He wasn’t some wet behind the ears kid. But then, Paddy loved to get his goat, especially when it might free him from sliding into a downward spiral. After his divorce from Stacey, he’d tumbled down into a depression for a while that his friend had spent months helping him out of.
Not that they ever talked about any of that.
“You have access to any of her friends?”
“Not really. Though my coworker is the husband of her friend.”
“Might try getting through to her that way.”
Now that might just turn out to be a good idea.
* * *
Zeke didn’t seem to agree, however.
“Look, I think you and Erika should keep this between the two of you.”
“Me, too,” Cody couldn’t keep from snapping. “But she’s not letting me. I need some help here, and you could talk to your wife, find out what’s going on with Erika.”
“I don’t know.” The thing was, Cody knew that Zeke wasn’t saying this to be a pain. The guy might be extraordinary when it came to things like engineering, but he didn’t happen to be especially skilled with people.
Cody would rather not use this particular card, but in this case, he felt he had no choice.
“Come on, Zeke. You asked me to be in your wedding, but you won’t assist me with this one little favor?”
It was a low blow. Well, a bit of one, anyway. He knew Zeke had asked him to be his groomsman only because Callie had wanted the wedding party to be even. He and Zeke had become friendly acquaintances during his short time on the ranch, so it’d been Cody that he’d gone to, acting uncomfortable the whole time.
But as tacky as it felt to use this as leverage, Paddy had hit the nail on the head. With every day that passed with radio silence between him and Erika, Cody felt more and more desperate. At this point, he really needed to know if she was cutting him off. If she had decided to end things before they ever got off the ground.
Zeke blew out a breath that sounded more like a huff of annoyance than a sigh. “Fine. I’ll ask Callie about Erika. But I can’t make any promises.”
“That’s fine. And thank you.”
The next morning arrived, and Cody blasted into work with his nerves on overload. The second he saw Zeke, he barreled toward him. Zeke stood his ground with a sour expression on his face.
Well, now, that didn’t bode well, did it?
“Morning,” Cody greeted Zeke, tension tightening his neck and shoulders. “What do you have to tell me?”
“That you’ve opened this huge can of worms.”
Cody frowned. “How?”
“My wife is on the rampage now. She flew into action the minute I mentioned this with a plan somehow ready.”
“What type of plan?”
“She won’t tell me. All she’ll do is pat me on the chest and say, ‘Don’t worry. I have all this under control.’ I get the feeling that you might need to brace yourself.”
Cody swallowed. He got that feeling, too.