Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tate was all too aware that he was avoiding looking in Jason’s direction.
There had been arguments on both sides, and plenty of them.
Jason was acting cagey. He was hiding something, Tate was sure of it.
There were times when Tate would spend his evenings with Rylee, getting in late with the expectation that everyone was home and asleep.
Only for him to find out, right after he locked everything up, that Jason was hot on his heels.
His twin insisted he was just hanging out with some friends, but they shared friends. Tate would have heard if there was something going on in their group.
Seeing as he was shirking some of his responsibilities, Tate didn’t feel comfortable demanding that Jason tell him what was really going on. His reasoning had everything to do with the budding relationship he had with Rylee.
Had he asked her out officially? No. But there was no denying the chemistry.
He’d lost track of the number of times he’d nearly just gone for it and kissed her senseless. But then something would always come between them.
A phone call. Nightmare—the cat. Or a visitor. He’d been getting blocked more times than he wanted to admit and he couldn’t decide if he was grateful for it.
There was still a very small part of him that questioned if he’d be able to handle it if Rylee walked away after everything.
“You gonna be here tomorrow?” Jason grunted, ripping Tate out of his thoughts.
Tate shot him a sour look. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m always here when I’m needed.”
Jason scoffed under his breath, but didn’t argue. Tate was tempted to throw back that he might be slacking, but at least he wasn’t keeping secrets. But he kept his mouth shut.
Right now, they were preparing the corral for their next student.
The boy was eleven and he was new to the rodeo scene.
His older brother had gotten him interested in the sport, but as with most things involving family, training was difficult.
The kid had a hard time listening to his brother.
Likewise, the brother didn’t have the patience to teach his younger sibling without snapping at him.
Tate grunted as he grabbed the wooden fixture they put saddles on to teach balance and technique. Jason had grabbed the other side and they trudged out to the middle of the ring. Neither one of them spoke even though they made eye contact several times.
“You can’t blame me for asking,” Jason said. “You’ve been gone a lot.”
“But not when it counts,” Tate shot back. They lowered the equipment, and Tate dusted off his gloved hands. Fists on his hips, he frowned at his brother. “What is this really about?”
“I told you,” Jason snapped harsher than he usually did. He moved his weight from one foot to the other. “You’re gone a lot and that means I have to pick up the slack. I want—” He cut himself off with a huff and shook his head. “Never mind.”
Tate rolled his eyes. “None of that. What do you want? Fewer shifts?”
Jason winced. “No. It’s not that,” Jason insisted under his breath. “It’s—”
“There you are. Sheesh, do you guys know how hard it is to get both of you in one place?” Faith’s sharp voice traveled to them and they both turned as one.
Then Jason shot Tate a pointed look.
“Shut up,” Tate muttered under his breath.
“She’s not wrong,” Jason volleyed back.
Faith came to the edge of the corral and folded her arms atop the bar. She rested her chin there and shot each of them a narrowed look. Jason’s was short-lived as she chose her target. “You need to do something about Rylee.”
Tate and his twin stiffened. Then they looked at each other. Mirrored confusion on each of their faces. Tate was the one to speak up, though. “What about Rylee?”
She huffed out an exasperated sigh. “She’s going to leave, you know that, right?”
The tightness in his chest worsened. “She’s said as much, yes,” he hedged.
Faith’s eyes widened. “And you’re not upset by that?”
“Why would he be upset?” Jason asked, glancing between them.
Their sister straightened then slapped her forehead with her hand. “Seriously, Jason? You notice everything, so you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how much time Tate spends at her place.”
“He’s just being neighborly,” Jason murmured, though by the sound of it, he was making excuses for the sake of his brother.
“Is that what you’re telling him?” Faith barked at Tate.
“Be honest with yourself. Be honest with him. For heaven’s sake.
Everyone and their cat can tell that you’re into her.
I’ve never seen anyone so interested in helping their neighbor as you have been.
” She gave Tate a pointed look. “And I’ve heard more than enough grumbling from Jason about you not pulling your weight.
Just admit that you like her and do something about it. ”
Hands on his hips, Tate looked at the dirt. “I don’t see how that will help anything. She’s pretty set on leaving.”
This time Faith threw her hands into the air. “Why do I have to do everything?” Her hard stare went right through him. “Okay. Last week when I was at her place, she got a phone call from some guy named Alexander.”
Tate stiffened. Was that the guy he’d heard Rylee speaking to? Probably. And it sounded like he wasn’t about to give up.
“… And that’s when I heard her tell him that if she goes home, maybe they could reevaluate.”
Tate frowned. “Faith, I really don’t know what you want me to say. She’s allowed to date whoever she wants when she goes home.”
Faith’s mouth dropped open. Tate’s frown deepened and he glanced at his twin. Jason only shrugged. “Oh. My. Gosh! You can’t be serious! She said if. IF, Tate. That means you might already be changing her mind and not even realizing it.”
That’s when her words finally sank in. If she went home. She wasn’t insisting she’d be heading home—not in the same way she had been. She might want to stay.
For him?
No. Of course not. She was making connections. Rylee had roots here in Rocky Ridge. It didn’t have anything to do with him.
Wait a minute.
He locked eyes with his sister. “Why do you want her to stay so much?”
Faith straightened. “What? I don’t. Not like you.”
His eyes narrowed further and he wagged a finger in her direction. “No. That’s a lie. You want her to stay. What’s it to you?”
“Do I have to have a reason?” She shuffled her feet, and it wasn’t until Jason spoke that Tate remembered there was another one of his siblings witnessing this conversation.
“Because you’re friends, right?”
Tate shot his brother a dark look, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah, of course. Rylee is sweet. And honestly, she seems like she belongs. Don’t you think so?
” Faith’s eyes pleaded with him to agree.
“Honestly, there’s no big reason. But I just get this feeling that she…
needs this place. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s what it is.
” Faith lifted her arms at her sides then dropped them.
“And the fact that you clearly like her makes me want to believe that both of you could benefit from her staying.” And that was when Faith’s face turned ruddy.
She looked away in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
“I want you to be happy, Tate.” It was said so low he almost didn’t hear her.
“I am happy,” he murmured.
She glanced at him, squinting. “Are you, though?”
He huffed a laugh. “I’m plenty happy. I have everything I need.”
Faith cut Jason a pointed look, then sighed and walked away without arguing further.
“Not everything,” Jason muttered.
“What?” Tate asked.
His twin shrugged. “That’s what Faith wanted to say. You don’t have everything. Neither one of us does. Not like Faith has. We don’t have that.” He didn’t have to explain himself for Tate to understand.
Jason was talking about Brent. Faith had started her own little family.
She’d have children one day. As much as Tate had taken on the responsibility of his siblings, he had to admit that he no longer had to worry about Faith the same way.
She’d found someone else to do that for her now.
And one day, his other sisters would do the same.
Tate glanced to Jason and he wondered if he wanted to find love like their sister had. He’d never been the social one. And until recently, Tate had been able to read him. He was about to ask his twin if he’d ever considered finding someone to settle down with, but Jason surprised him once again.
“You should ask her out.”
“Who?” Tate barked with a laugh.
“Rylee. Faith is right. You like Rylee. And maybe she likes you. Faith seems smart enough to see that. So you should ask her out.”
Tate was shaking his head before Jason finished his statement. “Rylee wouldn’t want me to ask her out. You don’t know her like I do.” Jason didn’t know how many times Tate had nearly crossed the line and kissed Rylee. Asking her out would blow that line in the sand to pieces.
“Faith seems to believe that Rylee likes you.” Jason peeked at Tate for a moment. “You’re distracted. Maybe it would be helpful like Faith said. If you ask her out on a date—”
“And what if she doesn’t want to go?”
“You won’t know until you ask.” Jason’s tone was so final, so unyielding, that it caught Tate off guard. Jason was right. Tate would never know if he didn’t ask.
“Yeah, maybe,” Tate murmured. Neither one of them brought up the idea for the rest of the afternoon while they worked. And when they were cleaning up, all their talking about Rylee must have somehow summoned her.
Jason noticed her first and tipped his chin toward the trail.
Tate looked in that direction, and his heart stalled.
Rylee looked…
Well, she looked like a vision.
She had on a pair of khaki capris and a dark blue t-shirt that hugged her frame. She had on white sneakers and her hair was tucked back behind her ears. Was she wearing makeup?
Tate’s mouth went dry as Rylee continued to close the distance between them. She’d walked all the way here on the trail between their properties. Rylee gave a nervous wave. “Hey.”
Jason nudged him, knocking him out of his stupor. “Tate,” he grunted.
“Hey, hello,” Tate squeaked, then got it back down where it belonged. “What’s up?”
She shrugged, her hands in her back pockets. “I didn’t have anything to do…” Rylee winced and let loose a laugh.
When Tate glanced over at Jason, he noted his brother looked deeply uncomfortable. He glanced up at the sky then down to Rylee and Tate. “Storm’s coming.” Then, with that announcement, he turned on his heel and walked away.
Rylee stared after him for a few seconds before she giggled again and turned her eyes skyward. “It’s cloudy, but…” She wrinkled her nose. “A storm? It wasn’t on the weather channel.”
Tate chuckled. “Jason’s got a knack for knowing when storms are coming. It’s… uncanny, actually.”
Once again, she glanced up at the sky. “Huh.” Then she brought her sparkling eyes to meet his. Her head tilted and she smiled like she was expecting him to say something.
He stepped forward, drawn to her without deciding to be. Jason and Faith seemed to believe that she wanted something more. Were they right? He could test their assumption right now—ask her out and prove them wrong.
Or maybe he’d prove them right.
As if against his will, he reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “You look nice today,” he murmured. It had to be his imagination, but for a moment there, he thought she leaned into his touch. That was a good sign, right?
Her lashes fluttered and her whispered, “Thanks,” hit him somewhere under the ribs.
He exhaled, allowing himself to imagine what his life could look like if he could call Rylee his. Tate must have been staring for far too long because Rylee released a strangled laugh.
“Are you okay?”
Dropping his hand like the prolonged contact between them burned him, he chastised himself for losing his focus. Now was not the time to ask her out. He needed a plan. That was how he would succeed.
Tate nodded. “Yeah.” It wasn’t that he was scared. He refused to admit that what his pulse was doing had anything to do with the fear of rejection. He’d ask her out. Just when he was ready.
Rylee rocked back on her heels. “So…”
“So…” he repeated. Then he thumbed over his shoulder. “I was just going to turn in for the evening. Make some dinner for Jason and me.”
She seemed confused as she looked at him, then his house. Then her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed deep red. She looked away and coughed out something unintelligible. He frowned while she struggled to get anything out. “Right. Well, I guess you’re busy, then.”
He opened his mouth to contradict her statement but before he had a chance to do so, she was walking backward with a strange kind of smile on her face.
“I’ll catch you later, yeah? When you come by to put the finishing touches on the barn?”
He nodded. “Yeah, the rest of the supplies are supposed to be delivered by mid-next week.”
“Yeah, okay. Next week it is. See you later, Tate.” Then with those parting words, Rylee scurried away.
Tate frowned at her retreating form. Why did she come by if she didn’t want to stay?
He trudged toward the house, more confused than ever only to be stopped short by a scowling Faith.
She stood on the porch with her arms folded.
“What?” he demanded. “Look, I’m not in the mood for another lecture, okay? ”
Faith scoffed. “You’re such an idiot.” Then she skipped down the steps toward her car.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he called after her.
When she reached it, she turned to face him once more. “Think, Tate. Think really hard.” Then she climbed behind her wheel and drove away.
It took him two hours to finally connect the dots.