9. Bailey
Bailey
“ Y ou want to help me hook up the trailer?”
Lettie looked over at me, the early afternoon sun lighting up the faint smile on her lips. “You do remember what happened the last time, right?”
I smiled, remembering all too well. “How could I forget? You made me dent my bumper. Waving your hands to keep going when I was well past the ball.”
She laughed, the sound almost taking me to my knees. “I was waving at you to stop!”
I pushed away from the fence, dusting my hands on my dirt-stained jeans. “That’s not what it looked like to me.”
She shoved my shoulder and fuck , if I didn’t want her hand back the moment she took it away. This was the Lettie I missed - the Lettie I could joke with and poke fun at. I’d get the old Lettie back, no matter how long it took.
We walked over to the dually Travis owned. He’d bought it primarily for the rescue. They’d needed a bigger rig after the previous truck crapped out on us while we were hauling horses back from Texas.
“Another Ford?” Lettie asked as we approached the vehicle.
I shrugged, pulling the key out of my pocket. “You know your dad.”
She rolled her eyes as I got behind the wheel.
I rolled the windows down and watched out the rearview mirror as she walked over to the gooseneck trailer, her ass perfectly shaped in her Kimes Ranch jeans.
I set my hand on top of the steering wheel as I took her in.
I’d stolen a look or two growing up with her, but five years did a lot to a person, and she came back looking downright mouthwatering.
She turned around by the trailer and must’ve seen my face in the mirror because she frowned. I shot her a smile and reached for the shifter to put the truck in reverse. I eased my foot off the brake, letting the truck roll back on its own.
As I got closer, I looked back out the mirror to find her standing there, waving me backwards.
She motioned to the left, so I turned the wheel, following her direction.
Almost immediately after I turned the wheel, she changed her hands to point right.
Spinning the wheel slightly, the truck’s back end drifted to the right.
And this was when she started being unclear.
She kept waving her hands, the direction looking right but the more I kept right, the more frantic her hands got.
Seconds later, she threw her hands out, and I tapped the brake, the truck rolling to a stop.
I put it in park and got out, walking along the side to check if it was lined up with the ball. I frowned and turned to her.
“Lettie, I’m like four inches off.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I tried to tell you to go left.”
“Your hands were pointing right.”
She rolled her eyes. “Maybe I should get behind the wheel.”
I chuckled, turning around to get back in the truck. I put it in drive, pulling forward a few feet, then shifted it back to reverse and didn’t bother looking out my side mirror. I looked through my center mirror, lining the truck up with the trailer.
I didn’t need her help, but I did want to spend time with her, despite us going to Montana for a few days alone. She was pretty cute when she got frustrated, and there was no way she wasn’t going to get frustrated trying to line up the trailer. Her mental measurements of distance were shit.
I put the truck back in park after I felt satisfied with where the ball was lined up. Killing the engine, I got out, double checking the position.
She crossed her arms. “I saw that.”
I got busy hooking the trailer up to the truck. “Saw what?”
“You lined it up perfectly yourself.”
“Had to get good at doing it alone without you here. ”
She was silent for so long that I paused, looking over my shoulder at her. She was biting the inside of her cheek, staring at her boots with her hands now shoved in the back pockets of her jeans.
“Lettie-”
“I’m sorry," she said softly, her eyes cast down.
I turned to face her but kept my distance. “Don’t be sorry.”
She looked up then, her eyes slightly glassy. “Well, I am, Bailey. I’m sorry I left.”
I stood there staring at her like an idiot. After about a minute of silence, she turned and walked away. I debated going after her, but thought better of it. We’d have plenty of time to talk during our trip. I didn’t want to start it out on a bad note, so for today, I’d drop it.
I finished hooking the trailer up and locked the truck before heading to my own truck to go home. I still had to pack and wrap up my chores on my parents’ ranch before leaving tomorrow.
Hopefully, the sixteen hours between now and when we left was enough time to let things cool down. Otherwise, this was going to be the longest three days of my life.