13. Delilah
DELILAH
I tiptoed into Abby’s room and pulled the door closed behind me.
I might have spent a magical evening with Jasper, but I wasn’t quite ready to announce it to the whole wide world.
By the time I’d changed into my pajamas and got settled on the trundle bed, I couldn’t fall asleep.
The night’s events kept playing through my head like a loop stuck on repeat.
I’d been in Ido for just over forty-eight hours, but I already felt like I was part of the town.
Even more disturbing, I felt like I was becoming part of the Taylor family, which might make it hard to stay impartial when it came time to make me recommendations to the contest committee.
If Jasper resigned as the hospitality host, I might not feel so conflicted.
As I wrestled with myself, trying to get comfortable, my phone vibrated.
Stella’s picture lit up the screen. Why did my mother only call late at night?
I dismissed the call, figuring my mother would call back in the morning.
But then my phone vibrated again. Stella wasn’t the kind of person to give up, not when she needed something.
So, I pulled the blanket around my shoulders and crept out of the room.
By the time I made it downstairs and out onto the porch, my mother had hung up and called back twice.
“Hello?” I answered as I pulled the front door closed behind me, then slipped into a rocker on the porch.
“Were you asleep?” Stella asked.
“Not yet. Is something wrong?”
“Walter and I broke up.” My mother sniffled. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
I let out a sigh. The dramatic rise and fall of my mother’s love life never seemed to end. “You’re probably better off without him.”
“He was my last chance at a happily-ever-after. I’ll never find true love now, not at my age.” When my mother got like this, it was better to stay quiet and offer emotional support than try to get her to face reality. I had learned that lesson too many times to count.
“I’m sorry. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
“I wish you were here. How am I supposed to get through this without you?” Stella had a history of relying on me to help her through the series of breakups.
“I wish I was, too. But you’ll manage. You’re a beautiful, strong, brave woman.”
“If I’m so beautiful, why did he leave me?” Stella moaned.
I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. “I’m sure it’s him, not you.”
“He said I was too demanding. Can you believe that? Me? Too demanding?”
It wouldn’t do any good to tell the truth, not in a situation like this. “That’s crazy. See? He doesn’t deserve you.”
“That’s right. I feel so alone right now. Can you come home for a few days?”
“You know I can’t do that. How would it look if I left now? When all of this is over, I’ll be back.”
The muffled sound of Stella blowing her nose came through the phone. “One more pageant, sweetheart? Can we do one more run for the big title?”
I hated that my mother seemed to use me to make herself feel better.
But it had been just the two of us for so long.
What was I supposed to say? We’d talked about this more than once.
The Miss Lovin’ Texas pageant was supposed to be my last. I didn’t want to be one of those pageant queens who didn’t know when it was time to move on.
“Can we talk about it when I get home?” If I could put Stella off for a few weeks, it might buy me some time.
“But I’m feeling so low. It would give me something to look forward to if I knew we had another competition to look forward to.”
“It’s late. How about we pick this up again tomorrow? You need to get some rest, and I’ve got a full schedule.”
“I saw your post on social media. I can’t believe they had you traipsing around grapevines in that gorgeous dress. And did you really go to a movie and sit in the dirt tonight?”
Part of my job was to keep my social media updated with pictures and posts of my experience with the contest. Of course Stella would be stalking my accounts. “It was fun. I learned a lot about wine this afternoon and the movie was . . .”
“What?” Stella asked.
I tried to think of a way to sum up the feelings I had about sitting next to Jasper on a blanket as Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman fought against the love between them on the side of an antique barn. “It was nice.”
“Hmpf.” Stella’s voice hardened. “When you get back home you won’t have time to take part in ridiculous stunts like that.
I didn’t want to open up a whole other can of worms by telling my mother how much I’d enjoyed my time so far in Ido.
“Did that cowboy with the deep voice take care of that little cricket that was bothering you?”
“It’s a work in progress.” My mother would freak out if she knew I had spent the night at Jasper’s, or that I was currently staying at his family’s home.
And she’d lose her shit completely if she knew what had gone on in the back of Jasper’s truck bed.
“I need to get some sleep. I’ll give you a call tomorrow. How does that sound?”
Stella sniffled. “It’s been good hearing your voice. You get a good night’s sleep. I’ll try to find something on TV to distract myself.”
Usually I would offer to stay up and talk to my mother. Maybe even stay on the line while Stella fell asleep. But the events of the past few days had worn me out. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Good night.”
I pressed the button to end the call. The wind rustled the leaves high in the trees and I sat in silence, letting me conversation with my mother play back through my head.
I was about to get up and go back inside when something moved in the darkness.
The Taylor property was out in the country, but not so isolated that I worried about wild animals.
Whatever it was came closer. I stood, ready to make a dash for the front door if necessary.
A bell jangled. I’d heard that sound, pretty recently too. Tie Dye, the colorful goat, meandered into the clearing. He didn’t appear to feel out of place at all, even though it was well past midnight.
“What are you doing out here?” I whispered.
He came close enough to nibble on the edge of the blanket.
I didn’t know much about goats, but Abby said Tie Dye was a crafty guy and sometimes worked his way out of the gate.
I could call Jasper, but I didn’t want to bother him.
Maybe I could just return the goat to his pen without bothering any of the Taylors.
They’d been so kind to me, the least I could do was to take care of putting the goat back.
But how would I get him to stay on the porch while I ran upstairs to throw on my jeans?
I glanced back and forth from where I gripped Tie Dye’s collar to the door.
There wasn’t anything nearby to secure him with.
But there was a pair of tall cowboy boots sitting just outside the front door.
I shoved a bare foot into one and then the other.
Pulling the blanket tight over my shoulders, I led the goat off the porch and down the path Abby and I had walked earlier that day.
Tie Dye willingly followed as he continued to chew on the edge of the blanket.
I didn’t dare jerk it away. If I did, I wasn’t sure he’d follow me.
We got to the edge of his pen and he balked, raising up on his hind legs and pawing at the air.
I held tight to his collar while I worked the latch of the gate.
Holding it open with one foot, I tried to coax the goat into the pen.
“Come on, buddy. It’s too late to be out gallivanting.”
He settled, falling back on all fours, and I pulled him through. The gate slammed shut, the two parts of the latch clanging together so loud I winced. Tie Dye reared back again but instead of catching air, one of his front hooves collided with my cheek.
Pain exploded across the right side of my face.
My hands went to my cheek as I raced to the fence line, away from Tie Dye’s reach.
The side of my face throbbed like the time I’d been struck below the eye by a flying stiletto during the Miss Potato Princess contest when I was fourteen.
I’d ended up with a bruise on my cheek and had to withdraw from the competition.
Based on how my cheekbone throbbed, I was afraid I might have suffered a fate far worse.
Hobbling toward the gate, I tossed a look back at Tie Dye.
He stood chomping on the blanket that had fallen off my shoulders, unaware of the injury I’d just sustained.
No wonder Jasper said he was a pain in the ass.
I made sure to clasp the gate behind me.
My injury would be for nothing if he got loose again.
Then I wrapped my arms around my middle and walked as fast as I could back to the big house.
Why did I ever allow myself to think I might be able to make a wild place like this my home?
Jasper
I stopped the truck on the gravel drive. My older brother, Colin, sat on the edge of the porch. Squinting through the windshield, I tried to confirm what I saw was real and not a figment of a bad dream.
“I wondered how long it might take you to show up.” Colin stood and shuffled his feet, drawing my attention to the custom-made boots our dad had given him on his last birthday we’d celebrated together.
That had been three years ago. Had it really been that long since I’d set eyes on my older brother?
I moved toward the porch with Buster right behind me. Where the hell had Colin come from? What was he doing creeping around when he’d promised to stay far away? “What do you want?”
Buster crouched down, letting out a low growl.
“Hey, buddy. It’s okay.” I reached out to calm the dog.
“I’m in trouble, bro.” Colin shook his head and winced. He held a rag to his arm. “I need some help.”
“We had a deal. You aren’t supposed to come around here again.” I shot a glance at the door. Thank goodness I’d locked it for a change.
“I’m telling you I need help,” Colin said, repeating himself. “I didn’t know where else to go.”