Chapter 1 #2
But I was just now realizing that being back home would mean getting set up by misguided friends.
I’d already dealt with that in Washington.
By this point, I was willing Sophie to wake up the ranch with one of her bad dreams, but for the first time in months, the monitor sat in disappointing silence.
“Should we make a bet that you won’t fall in love this summer?” came Logan’s question.
But I was ready for it now.
A smile came unbidden across my lips. Even now, five years later, the bet I offered between Logan and Tessa had been one of the finer moments of my life.
“That just feels like sloppy seconds on your end.”
Logan laughed. “I’m good with that.”
“Or maybe we can rig a basketball game and see what that does,” Cade said, leaning forward with a grin etched across his face.
I sighed, keeping a laser focus on my cards. “If you guys want to keep giving me the highlight reel of my matchmaking skills, fine by me. I have no regrets. You can’t beat the player at his own game.”
As soon as I said the words, I regretted it.
I saw the way they shifted in their seats and exchanged glances.
It was clear, in my happiness to see Shelby again, that I had failed to imagine what our friendship might look like to everyone else.
Shelby and I had been raised more or less like siblings.
We’d never crossed that barrier, and we’d never wanted to cross it.
Once she got here, we’d have to set them straight.
Any paltry attempt at matchmaking would be wasted on me.
I wasn’t getting married again. Ever. Which, in a town this small, meant I wasn’t going to be dating either. There was no way I would let my daughter get attached to a woman who’d just end up leaving. There was no way I would be getting attached to any woman ever again.
We should have been safe here. Sophie had her grandma and all the pretend cousins, aunts, and uncles nearby that she could ask for.
It was enough. It would have to be enough.
But the two morons, plus Briggs, sitting at this table would never agree with me, which meant I had to divert their interest.
The bet was raised, and all the cards were out. I was definitely sitting pretty with a flush. All spades. The best hand any of us had gotten all night.
Cade sighed and threw down his cards. “I fold. Again.”
“So…should I cancel our date?” Briggs eyed me carefully. “If you got something going with her, I’ll back off.”
I looked over at Briggs. “Shelby has a thing for construction workers. You should definitely take her out again.”
I had no clue what types of guys Shelby liked.
When we were younger, the only guy in her life, besides me, was a Spalding basketball.
But Briggs wasn’t ugly. I doubt she’d put up a fuss to go on a date with the guy.
I wouldn’t pass Shelby off to just anybody, but Briggs seemed to like her.
And if the two of them going out got everyone off my back, all the better.
“So,” Briggs began, “you’re not going to hogtie me to a fence—or whatever you cowboys do?”
I motioned with my head toward the cards on the table, waiting for Briggs to decide if he was still in or not. “I might do that now, if you don’t make a decision.”
“What’s the rush?” Cade’s low voice caused me to look over at him. He was watching me across the table with a slightly amused expression on his face—one I immediately hated.
“No rush.” I leaned back in my chair and smiled back at Cade.
“I fold.” Briggs tossed his cards face down on the table.
Logan pushed his entire stack of chips toward the middle of the table. “I’m all in.”
I leaned forward and whistled. “What a cute little stack of chips.”
“Shut up. You in?”
I flung an equal amount of chips into the pile. “I’ve got some spare change I can add.”
“Show your cards, then.”
With a flourish, I set my cards down one at a time, all black and all spades, and beamed toward Logan.
My stomach dropped.
Something was wrong. He didn’t look worried. He played the part like he might be, but he wasn’t that good of an actor, which was exactly how I knew he and Tessa should be together all those years ago.
Logan tossed his cards so they landed in a heap in front of me. My stomach sank as I peered closer. A pair of nines and three queens.
“Full house.”
Deflated, but not beaten, I grinned and pushed the pile toward Logan. “Here, take it. You need it more than me anyway.”
“Thank you, good sir.”
Cade cleared his throat. “So I don’t think we ever got a straight answer, Jake. You’re good with Briggs and Shelby?”
I’d been hoping the subject had been forgotten, but Cade looked way too interested in my answer.
“We’re just friends. If Shelby says yes to your ugly face,” I told Briggs, grinning at him, “that’s her business.”
The game moved on, and thankfully, the guys did too.
But while they shuffled and laughed and dealt the cards, even poker night couldn’t keep my ex-wife, Miranda, from intruding on my thoughts.
Having to tell Sophie that her mom wasn’t ever coming back still kept me up at night. She was three years old when it happened. She wasn’t able to understand.
I still didn’t understand.
But holding Sophie during the night while she screamed and cried for her mom, unable to do a thing about it, was something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
Which was the reason my heart, that now beat only for my daughter, was black as night.
Having Shelby here this summer would be perfect. The best kind of distraction. Soon enough, everyone on the ranch would see that we were just friends. Hopefully, she’d start dating Briggs, and everyone would move on. Things would blow over.
But for right now, it felt like I’d been thrown off a cliff, only to find a safety net just before I hit the bottom.
Shelby Tucker was back in my life. My whole body sighed with relief at the knowledge.
Already, I could imagine us placing bets, shooting guns, and playing basketball just like the old days.
She knew I peed the bed that one time in fifth grade after we stayed up late watching a scary movie and hadn’t told a soul. I knew she wore night headgear in the fourth grade and had to change her pillowcase every morning because of the drool.
There could be nobody safer to have around me than Shelby Tucker.