Chapter Seven
Josh stared into those shining blue eyes of hers and knew there would be no convincing her. She was not going to marry him.
And that hurt. A lot. Mostly because he hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted her to say yes, not until this moment when she was turning him down.
They stared at each other. The silence between them was a knife to the heart.
He couldn’t take it. “I’m going to go.”
Now she looked stricken. But she nodded. “I get it. Of course.”
He swept to his feet, dodged around the coffee table and headed for the door. Roger jumped up and followed. Riley did, too. Josh glanced over and saw her standing several feet away as he put on his coat and shoved his hat on his head.
“I’ll, uh, be in touch,” he said.
“Josh, I—”
“Don’t,” he flatly commanded. “Not now.”
“Um, okay. But when?”
No way could he answer that at this moment. “Riley, I don’t know. Just let it be, okay? When I’m ready, I’ll call you.”
She gulped and nodded. “All right, then. I’ll wait for your call.”
A moment later, Roger at his heels, he was out the door and headed down the steps to his truck. When he got there, he pulled open the passenger door. “Roger, let’s go.”
The dog understood. He jumped into the cab. Josh marched around the front of the truck, climbed in behind the wheel and got the hell out of there.
* * *
Riley had the weekend off from the hotel. She used the free time to be with her son. They ran errands on Saturday morning. That afternoon, they visited Macy at her house on the Double-K Ranch.
It was just Riley, Dillon, Macy and her two kids. Macy’s stepdaughter, Camryn, was with her mother that day. As for Joe, he’d gone into town to work at the hardware store, which he and Macy owned and ran together.
Eight-year-old Ana took charge of Dillon. The two of them hung out in the living room playing UNO and Crazy Eights with the family dogs and Ana’s cat, Voodoo, close by. When card games got old, Ana brought out the crayons and construction paper.
In the kitchen, as Macy’s nine-month-old, Justin, played with his toys on the floor, Riley drank decaf and told Macy everything—that Annette had urged Josh to suggest marriage. And that Josh had proposed the night before.
“And…?” asked Macy.
“I said no.”
Macy made a sad little sound. “Oh, Rile…”
“Don’t you start in on me. You know how I feel. I’m not marrying anyone.”
Macy nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know.” They shared a long look, and then Macy asked, “How did he take it?”
“He was hurt. I feel awful today. I really want to call him, Mace. I just want him not to be mad at me.”
“Was he mad, too?”
“I don’t know. Let me put it this way, he sure wasn’t happy.
” She watched baby Justin crawl across the kitchen floor, pushing his plastic dump truck ahead of him.
He looked perfectly content. Watching him, Riley could almost wish she was a kid again—back when life wasn’t so full of complications and difficult choices.
Macy said, “I doubt Josh is angry at you. He’s probably just trying to deal with your decision and figure out what he needs to do next.”
“You think?”
“I do, yeah. Give it time. Be ready when he’s willing to talk about it.”
“Oh, Mace. I want to fix it, and I want to fix it now.”
“Of course you do.”
“It’s weird. I mean, all this happened last night.
But I miss him today like I haven’t seen him in months.
I get that I should give him some space, but all I want to do is head straight for his place and beg him not to push me away.
I have this burning need to get it all worked out between us, to make things right again. ”
Macy just looked at her, a thoughtful kind of look.
Riley demanded, “What in the world are you thinking?”
“So…have you had second thoughts about marrying him?”
“Oh, no way! I told you. I am never getting married again.”
Macy suggested softly, “Then maybe you really should give him space for a bit.”
“Ugh. I know you’re right. I just…”
“You miss him.”
“I do. So much.”
Right then, Justin rolled his toy dump truck into Riley’s foot. “Ga-baa-da!” he announced.
She ruffled his dark, curly hair. “Back at you, young man!”
He giggled up at her and then drove his dump truck around the barrier of her shoe and under the table. Riley watched him crawl away pushing the toy.
When she glanced Macy’s way, her friend was staring at her. “Go ahead,” Riley grumbled. “Just say it.”
“Well, lately, you two have gotten really close. And I’m not only talking about the, er, friends-with-benefits thing.
You’re close, and you count on each other, and you’re together a lot.
Your sons are like brothers. And on top of all that, now you’re having a baby with him.
Last night you said no to him. He walked out. ”
“Why are you telling me what I already know? I was there, remember? Where is this going?”
“Well, think about how you feel right now. You seem pretty miserable.”
“What? It’s strange that I’m miserable? Of course I’m miserable. He’s my friend, and he’s not happy with me.”
“And you can’t do a lot about it right this minute. Not unless you change your mind and say yes.”
“I told you, that’s not ever happening.”
“Well, okay then. You wait. Eventually he’ll come to you.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
“Rile. I’m not sure about any of this. I’m just giving you my best guess.”
Ana chose that moment to appear in the wide arch that opened into the living room. “Snacks, please,” she said.
“Yeah, snacks!” Dillon concurred as he stepped up beside her.
“To be continued,” Macy said.
“Sure,” Riley agreed glumly.
The kids got juice boxes from the fridge and Macy brought out cheese and crackers.
After their snack, Ana decided they should all go outside to visit the horses and throw sticks for the dogs to fetch.
The opportunity to continue the discussion about how Riley could make it right with Josh never presented itself.
Riley drove home feeling edgy and unhappy. She’d never before been on the outs with Josh. And now that she was, she didn’t like it one bit.
But she did decide that Macy had a valid point. Since Riley wasn’t going to change her mind about the marriage thing, she needed to give Josh the space to make peace with her decision.
* * *
Sunday was awful. She wondered constantly how Josh was doing. Was he okay? Or was he miserable, too?
She got through the day, though. Somehow. Then at five in the evening, Annette appeared at her door.
Riley had not forgotten her mother-in-law’s part in the problem between Riley and Josh. She greeted Annette with a scowl. “What?”
Annette actually winced. “I take it you’ve spoken with Joshua.”
“Yes, and I—”
“Grammy!” Dillon came pounding down the stairs. “You came to see me!” He made a beeline straight for her.
“There’s my boy!” She scooped him up in a hug.
He wrapped his arms around her neck and planted a loud kiss on her cheek. “You came for dinner!”
Annette slid a hopeful glance at Riley, who offered grudgingly, “Roast chicken. There’s plenty.”
Annette put on her sweetest smile. “Smells delicious. I’m in.”
Was she ever. Annette was astonishingly agreeable that evening—and so helpful. She tossed the salad. She set the table. She also hung on Dillon’s every word. After the meal, she worked alongside Riley clearing off and loading the dishwasher.
Then she asked Dillon, “Shall we go upstairs?”
Dillon nodded firmly. “Yes!”
Annette turned to Riley. “We’ll play for a while, then I’ll hang around while he gets ready for bed.”
“And then you can read me a story, Grammy…” Dillon said with an angelic smile.
“I absolutely will.” She held out her hand, and Dillon took it. Off they went.
An hour and a half later, Annette came down alone. “He’s all tucked in bed,” she said. “And he wants you to kiss him good-night.”
Riley went up and tucked him in a second time. When she returned to the first floor, Annette had made decaf. Riley turned on the fireplace, and they sat in the living room.
Annette spoke first. “Feel free to express your displeasure with me.”
“Thank you, I will. Josh told me everything. He said you encouraged him to ask me to marry him.”
Annette didn’t even have the grace to look uncomfortable. On the contrary, she seemed pleased with herself. “Yes, I did.”
“But, Annette, you can’t just go butting in like that without consulting me first.”
“Hmm. Well, sweetie. If I had consulted you first, you would have said no, that you absolutely did not want me giving Joshua advice.”
“That is exactly what I would have said. And yet you gave him advice anyway.”
Her smile was both smug and way too sweet. “Sometimes a man needs a little nudge.”
“Josh needed no such thing. You just set him up for disappointment. Now he wants space from me because I had to turn him down.”
“You turned him down?” Annette cried in dismay. “Why ever would you do that? Sweetheart, that man adores you. He was going to propose anyway. I merely let him know that he had my support.”
Riley made a low, growling sound. “Boundaries, Annette. You need to observe them. Why can’t you be like other mothers-in-law?”
Annette wore a knowing little smile. “Enlighten me. How are other mothers-in-law?”
“I just… First, you call me a whore…”
Annette groaned at the sound of that ugly word. “Darling. I thought we’d worked that out. I was wrong, and I have sincerely apologized, and you have forgiven me. Haven’t you?”
“Yes. Yes, of course I have. But…”
“Dearest, either you have or you haven’t.”
“I have.”
“Excellent. So then, let it go.”
“Fine, Annette. It’s forgotten.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m just upset with you about the matchmaking thing.”
“Perhaps I overstepped, going to Josh, advising him the way I did. But if so, I want you to know that I did what I did with the best of intentions.”
“I don’t get. How can you be matchmaking me with Josh when I was once happily married to your only son?”