Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Still nothing?” Hallie whispered.
Rylee cut her a look then glanced over to the living room where Aunt Roxy was regaling her friends with stories of her time in New York. She shook her head and continued mixing up the dip for the chips. Two more days of radio silence.
She’d hoped Tate had simply been busy and he’d message her to tell her that they should talk later, but she didn’t even get that much. Part of her wondered if, since she’d been the one to storm off, she needed to be the one to admit she was ready to talk again.
“Nothing,” she murmured. “I don’t get it. He went from reaching out nearly every day to a whole week of not talking.”
“Guys can be idiots,” Hallie muttered. “Believe me. Even a guy as good as Tate.” She cocked her head thoughtfully. “I hope nothing else is going on.”
Rylee didn’t dare bring up the picture that Alexander had shown her. If Hallie saw it, she might do something they’d all regret. The woman seemed more than capable of putting up a fight when she thought someone deserved it.
“What are you not telling me?” Hallie demanded.
Rylee startled and lifted her eyes to her friend. “Nothing other than what I just said.”
“That look.” She wagged a finger in Rylee’s face. “That look says that something happened and you don’t want me to know.”
“Nothing happened,” Rylee insisted. “It’s… nothing.” She didn’t have another word for it. “I swear, everything is fine. Well, as fine as a guy ghosting me because we got in an argument.”
“I still think he should have never said those things to you.”
“Yeah, well, it was the heat of the moment.”
“Not a good enough excuse.”
“What if I told you he’s been dealing with a lot. Like with his job and his brother… not to mention the whole thing with the developer trying to take over the town.”
Hallie scrunched her nose in disgust. “Right. I heard about that. I can’t believe there are some folks around here who think it would be a good idea for them to completely take over that property.
Don’t they understand the long-term ramifications?
That’s how cities get overrun. It will start edging out the ranchers and the farmers.
Just one more town that adds to destroying the agriculture our state is known for.
I wouldn’t be surprised if in a decade or so, there are no more fields to grow crops here.
Farmers would have to move farther out to get land they can work. ”
Rylee nodded. “That’s what Tate is afraid of.
It’s like he’s trying to take on this new threat all on his own.
You should have seen him when he heard about that meeting that’s going to happen.
” The anger coming off him was like nothing she’d ever seen.
Tate was losing his grip, and all she’d wanted to do was help him take a break from all of it even if it was for just a day.
She sighed. “I’m sure after that’s figured out, things will settle down with him.”
“But will that be soon enough?” Hallie asked. The pointed way in which she stared at Rylee made her squirm.
“What do you mean?”
“Faith said you plan on leaving.”
Rylee sighed. “That was always the plan.”
“But Tate could have changed that.”
Her words gave Rylee pause. There was something in the way she said it that made Rylee wonder just how much these new friends of hers wanted her to stay.
That warm, fuzzy feeling erupted in her chest but before she could answer, there was a knock on her door.
A persistent, hard knock that had all heads turning toward the door.
Hallie grinned. “You don’t suppose that’s your suitor come to call?”
Rylee rolled her eyes. “If Tate thinks he can just show up out of nowhere and have it out, he can think again. I’m not going to let him get away with that. He’ll have to accept that I’m busy and we can talk after you all leave.”
Hallie pouted. “But that’s no fun.”
“Are you going to get that, dear, or shall I?” Roxy called from where she sat in the living room.
Rylee wiped her hands on a nearby hand towel.
“I’m on it.” She swept through the room, fully prepared to send Tate packing after he’d chosen to keep to himself after their argument.
But when she opened the door, she stopped short.
Surprise morphed into irritation. “Alexander, what can I do for you?”
“I heard you sent my flowers away with a farm girl.”
It wasn’t the greeting she’d braced for. There was no charm laid over the top of it at all. Alexander had stopped performing for the first time since he came to Montana.
“I did.”
“Do you have any idea what those cost?”
“I know exactly what they would have cost me,” Rylee said. “That was rather the point of not keeping them.”
Anger moved across his face, but he quickly regained his composure.
When he spoke next the polish was back on, which was somehow worse. “Have you considered what I’ve said?”
Rylee was fully aware of the audience at her back and the last thing she wanted was for any of them to get more opportunity to jump to conclusions and butt into her business.
She pulled the door shut and stepped out onto the porch.
“I’m not ready to discuss this with you.
” She meant for it to come out sharp and steady, and it came out very much the opposite.
Her voice wavered and she was just exhausted.
So tired of having to deal with the unknowns her life continued to throw in her direction. “Alex, I need you to—”
“What is he doing here?” Tate’s sharp tone startled her, and she glanced around Alexander to find Tate storming toward them, face red with fury. Worse than that, her reaction to his surprise visit probably made her look guiltier than anything.
And why should she feel guilty? She hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d been patient. She’d waited for Tate to be ready to talk. And she definitely hadn’t gone out to coffee or dinner with Alex.
Rylee folded her arms tightly across her chest and scowled at Tate. “I could ask the same of you.”
He stopped on the grass, his brows pulling together. “What?”
Alexander sneered with triumph. “Finally, you’re going to get what’s coming to you.” He turned to face Rylee. “Have you asked him yet? Shown him the picture?”
Her mouth fell open. Tate’s attention flickered to her then to the house.
It was entirely possible that they had an audience at this point.
The girls inside weren’t exactly known for minding their business when it came to matters of the heart.
Rylee had heard more than enough about each of their love stories to last a lifetime.
She swallowed hard and dug her fingernails into her arms. “Alex, enough.”
He ignored her and trailed down the steps to get closer to Tate. “You think you’re untouchable, don’t you? That you can float through life dating one woman after another without suffering the consequences. But you can’t.”
Tate’s eyes narrowed into a scowl as they landed on Alexander.
He wasn’t rising to the bait, however, and Rylee didn’t know what to think about that.
The control he was showing did something to her insides, especially with Alexander losing his cool a little more with every step. He looked absolutely feral.
“A gentleman doesn’t move on from something when they know they have it good.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Tate gritted out, no longer looking in her direction. “But a gentleman also doesn’t chase after a girl when she’s made it clear she’s not interested.”
Alexander scoffed. “You think she’s not interested? Then why has she let me pay her a visit multiple times?”
Tate’s eyes cut over to where she stood. There was a flicker of uncertainty, but it was doused as fast as it arrived. “I’m not her keeper.”
Conflicting emotions hit her with that one statement. He trusted her, right? But then that photograph came to the forefront of her mind and she couldn’t help the turn her thoughts made. Didn’t he care? Didn’t he want to make sure she was being true to him? Like he was supposed to be true to her?
Then again, they hadn’t had that talk yet. She didn’t know if they were supposed to be official or if this thing between them was just fun.
Her hands curled into fists as she observed Alex get right in Tate’s face.
He lowered his voice to say something that she couldn’t hear and that was when she’d had enough.
She charged down the steps just as Alexander pulled out another one of those pictures.
She was vaguely aware of the door opening and footsteps sounding on the porch before she shoved herself between Tate and Alexander.
But it was too late. Tate was holding the picture. And the look that crossed his face wasn’t confusion, and it wasn’t outrage—the two things an innocent man had any right to feel. It was recognition. He knew exactly what he was looking at, and something behind his eyes shuttered.
She blinked back tears as she continued to stare at him.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Alexander snapped from over Rylee’s shoulder.
She spun and gave him a push. “Give us a minute,” she snapped.
Alexander’s eyes dipped to her and if she’d expected him to show remorse or worry for her, she would have been disappointed. Triumph. The man thought he’d won. But she wasn’t going to walk away without asking.
When Alexander had moved to the front porch, she turned back to Tate. He wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were still pinned to the photograph.
“I’ve had one of those since the night my aunt arrived,” Rylee said.
That brought his head up.
“It’s in my father’s desk. Alexander carried it into my house and I took it off him and I put it in a drawer, and I haven’t asked you about it once.
” It came out shaky. She let it come out shaky.
“Do you want to know why? Because as long as I didn’t ask, nobody had left yet.
That’s a thing I learned when I was four years old and I am not proud of it. ”
Tate’s mouth opened.
“So I’m asking. Out loud, because apparently that’s where we’ve ended up.” She swallowed. “Tell me what it is.”
He looked at her the entire time she said it.
Then he looked away. When he didn’t utter a word, she felt her heart breaking.
It was him. He didn’t even bother denying it.
But why couldn’t he explain himself? She knew about his concerns regarding the town and that developer.
She would have even believed him if he said he’d met with the woman to discuss her boss’s plans.
But there was… nothing.
Absolutely no explanations or even a request for her to trust him.
And perhaps that was what hurt the most. She’d felt so close to Tate. But it turned out that the boy she knew fifteen years ago wasn’t the same man standing in front of her now.
“I see,” she muttered brokenly.
He cut her a glance and she almost thought he might say something, but he didn’t.
Instead, he folded the picture and tucked it in his pocket.
He shifted his attention to the girls on the porch with her aunt and Alexander.
Faith had come partway down the steps. Her arms were folded, and she was studying her brother like she wasn’t buying a word of it.
Whatever she saw in Tate’s face made her frown. Not at him, exactly. Around him.
Alex had probably told them all what he’d figured out. Soon the whole town would know that Tate had been seen with another woman.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Tate simply turned around and headed for the trail that would take him home.
Rylee watched after him, her heart breaking.
She’d gotten so caught up in what she thought was happening between them that she hadn’t considered putting a label on it.
Maybe she would have been better prepared for this situation if she hadn’t had any expectations.
Tate was always going to put his desires for the town and his family above her. His meeting with that woman wasn’t innocent by any means, but she had to believe it wasn’t romantic. She just couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t confide in her.
Turning, she trudged toward the house.
“Rylee—” Faith started as she stepped forward from the group. “I’ll talk to—”
Rylee sliced a hand through the air. “It’s fine.” She forced a smile at each of her friends. “I’m just going to go clean up. Sorry, but I’m not in the mood for hanging out anymore.”
Hallie seemed about ready to protest but Sammie pulled her back and shook her head.
“Yeah, okay. We’ll catch up later, okay?” Faith offered.
Rylee nodded numbly and entered the house. She could sense Alexander at her back, and turned to find he’d followed her and Roxy inside. Shaking her head, Rylee pointed to the door. “You need to leave.”
“But—”
“I told you I needed time and you didn’t respect my wishes. This didn’t have to happen like this.” Rylee hated that her voice broke on those words. “Just… please go.”
Roxy stepped between them. “She’s right. You should go. We’ll reach out when she’s ready.”
Rylee fought the urge to roll her eyes. There was no way she’d reach out to Alexander now. Not with how broken she was feeling. And she wasn’t ready to talk it out like she knew Roxy would want to do as soon as Alexander was gone.
Her room was the best option at this point. And she’d nearly made it there before she heard the front door shut and Roxy’s voice call out to her.
“You can’t avoid this forever, dear. We’re going to discuss this.”
“No, we won’t,” she muttered under her breath. Because she’d made her decision. She couldn’t stay in Rocky Ridge after the spectacle her life had become. Her friends weren’t going to look at her the same way. And if that developer was successful, then his assistant would be sticking around as well.
But returning to New York filled her with a different kind of dread. Maybe she didn’t belong in either place. Perhaps it was time to consider that she needed to find somewhere new to put down roots.
A fresh start.
Yeah, that was what her heart needed.