35. Lettie
Lettie
P ainting the doors on the barn had taken longer than I’d anticipated and sunset was quickly approaching.
Bailey had left shortly after he asked me to come over to his house tonight.
I assumed it was a spur of the moment question and he had to run home to prepare, but knowing the gentleman he was, he most likely had it all planned out.
I dipped my hair under the shower head one last time before turning the water off and stepping out to dry off.
I had no idea what to wear tonight. Bailey and I had known each other basically our entire lives, and I’d never given a second thought to what I wore around him.
Boots, jeans, and a t-shirt were all I typically wore on the ranch, so he was used to seeing me in that.
But for a date with someone I’d known my whole life, who’d seen my ass covered in huckleberry juice and my hair coated in mud from the creek more times than I can remember?
Was a dress too much? I’d worn a sundress to the bar the other night, so surely wearing one tonight wouldn’t be overkill. Or would that be trying too hard, and I should play it safe with my usual clothes?
Snap out of it. It’s just Bailey.
But that was the thing. He wasn’t just Bailey anymore. He was so much more. We’d jumped fifty feet over a line I’d imagined up due to fear of giving in and messing up, and now we were going on a date.
A lifetime of never letting my mind think of him as anything more than a friend, and now I was wrapped in a towel standing in the middle of my room overthinking something as simple as clothes.
He probably couldn’t care less about what I wore tonight.
Rouge was asleep on my bed, exhausted from a day out with the volunteers.
He was attached to me - and Bailey, of course - but was always running around with new people, begging for extra attention.
That much hadn’t changed about him in the last five years, which was also why I didn’t want to take him away from the ranch when I left.
He loved it here, and it would have been more selfish for me to take him from the place he loved just to sit in a small apartment all day while I was at my classes.
Sifting through my closet, I settled on a paisley print bandana top with light wash jeans and a pair of boots that weren’t coated in dirt.
I debated grabbing a jacket, but thought better of it.
Though it was warm out, I still felt cold.
I blamed it on my dripping hair, which I’d decided to let air dry to its natural waves, afraid that if I put any effort into doing it, I’d overthink it and not go altogether.
Leaving Rouge in my room, I made my way out of the house to find my dad and Reed riding in the direction of the white barn. If they saw me wearing this, they’d know I was going out, and I didn’t feel like dodging around who I’d be with.
I beelined for my SUV, trying to keep my boots quiet on the ground.
“Going out?” I heard Reed call out.
My fucking luck.
I stopped to turn in their direction, taking a few steps. They closed the distance on their horses, my dad wearing his signature frown as always.
“Meeting up with Brandy. I’ll be home late,” I said.
My dad nodded, but Reed narrowed his eyes at me from under the brim of his dark brown cowboy hat.
“You always dress up to see Brandy?” Reed asked.
It was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. “Since when does it matter what I wear to go see Brandy?”
He shrugged, the reins in one hand with his other arm casually draped over his opposite wrist. “I get the feeling it ain’t Brandy you’re goin’ to see.”
My hand moved to rest on my hip. “Why’s that?”
He tipped his head in the direction of the white barn. “‘Cause Brandy’s still in there working with one of the rescues.”
I pursed my lips together. Twice with my luck tonight.
“Fine. I'm going on a date, but the who is none of your business.”
Reed scoffed. “The hell it isn’t.”
Travis shot Reed a look. “Give her a break, son. You know your sister will be safe.”
I wanted to gag. I did not need the birds and the bees talk from my dad.
Reed stared at me, sucking on his teeth before clicking his tongue and pulling on the outside rein to spin his horse around. He trotted off toward the barn without another word.
My dad shook his head, bringing his gaze back to me. “I trust that you’ll use protection.”
My jaw dropped. “Dad! Please!”
He cleared his throat and mumbled, “This is why I leave this kind of thing to your mother.”
“Yes, please. For all our sakes, leave that part of parenting to her,” I pleaded.
He nodded once, then clicked his tongue at his sorrel, spinning him in the direction Reed took off in. He stopped a few steps later, looking over his shoulder at me. “I’m glad you’re giving him a chance, Lettie. He’s a good man.”
I swallowed the emotion that climbed its way up my throat.
Bailey was a good man, and while I always knew that, I was glad I wasn’t keeping him off limits anymore.
He was giving me a second chance, the opportunity to make things work after all those years away, and I was damn sure going to make it count from here on out.
I waved my dad off, turning on my heel to get back to my SUV. He could always read me like that damn newspaper, as if I had headlines of my thoughts sprawled across my forehead.
I started up my car, turned on my headlights since the sun had begun to go down, and headed over to Bailey’s parents' property. He lived next door, but with the acreage both our families owned, it wasn’t feasible to walk, and I didn’t want to ride back in the dark later tonight.
As I drove down our long driveway, the nerves began to settle in. Bailey was my childhood friend. We’d both seen each other at our worst. But something had changed between us in the past couple weeks.
Something I wish I would have been open to all those years ago.