Chapter Twenty-Three
“So, we have a proposition for you.”
It was early the next morning, and I was picking around my plate of incredible breakfast when Dennis blurted that out of nowhere.
The morning had come quickly.
After Jo, Dennis, and Dean had walked in on Colton and I, he stepped out of the bathroom to let me change.
I could hear not-so-quiet whispers in the hall as I got dressed.
“I know you’re a grown man, Colton, but I need to be sure you’re in the right headspace!” Jo was whisper-shouting. “It is not like you to up and leave such an important event.”
“I know, Mamma,” Colton said back. “I just-”
“What was goin’ on with you two last night?” Dennis chimed in.
“She left really-”
“And for the love of Pete, would it kill you two to shut a door when you make out?” Dean added.
“Can I say somethin’ now?” Colton asked in defeat. “Ally left real suddenly, and so I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
“Well, was she?” Jo asked.
“She is now,” he had said plainly.
Colton was sitting by me, wearing gym shorts and a hoodie, shoving food in his mouth faster than I’d ever seen anyone eat.
Dean had just finished calling him a ravishing dinosaur when Dennis interrupted.
Dean stopped laughing, and Colton set down his fork, all of us waiting on the edge of our seats to see what he was going to say.
Jo was holding his hand, dressed in her own pajamas and robe, and they shared a glance like they were going to let us in on an inside joke.
“You can obviously say no, although we truly hope you don’t,” he continued. “But we were thinkin’-”
“We want you to ride with us to the next rodeo!” Jo jumped in, a huge smile on her face.
I sucked in my piece of toast, immediately jumping into a hard coughing fit to get it out. Once I could breathe again, I swallowed and took a long drink of orange juice. “Oh!” I was finally able to get out.
Jo reached across the table and put her hand on mine. “We were just thinkin’ that we were all going to the same place anyway, and now that you and Colton are…gettin’…that you’re-”
“Suckin’ face every chance you get,” Dean jumped in.
WHACK
“OUCH!” Dean leaned down and rubbed his shin.
I felt heat rush to my cheeks and swallowed hard.
“Dean,” Dennis whispered harshly. “What my sweet wife and delinquent son are tryin’ to say is that now that you and Colton seem to be gettin’ on well, we’d like to give you some more time together.
You could drive in his truck, we could camp out together, and do some fun stuff on the road.
You wouldn’t have to ride any more planes, be alone in any more hotel rooms. We want to help you not feel so lonely on the road.
After all you’ve done for our company, we would love to make it up somehow! ”
I thought of my stupid hissy fit last night. I was convinced that Colton was some playboy and that his family was in on it.
How could I think that?
This family was nothing but kind; they didn’t want to do anything but treat you like one of their own.
On one hand, the idea of camping with Colton, getting uninterrupted hours driving with him, and spending as much time as possible together sounded amazing. On the other hand, I was terrified of getting even closer to his family and his perfect life.
After almost losing him to a misunderstanding, I don’t know if I could handle actually getting my heart broken by him.
Everyone was staring at me expectantly.
Colton put his arm on mine. “There’s no pressure. I know you have a lot of work to do.”
In all honesty, I was soaking my company for all they had.
If I really wanted to, I could go back to Chicago and do the rest of my work from there.
Agri-Corp was on a fast track, its sales doubling every week.
They were already getting ready to open another store in Ohio. They didn’t need me anymore.
All that was left was to wrap up my thoughts and give my presentation to the company.
But Mr. Sterling didn’t know that, and he didn’t have to.
I could drag out my research, finalize my marketing plan, and stay for the rest of the season. I looked around the kitchen, the framed photos of all the kids, the dough hand prints resting on the counter, and the candy jar for the grandkids.
I craved this life so much.
I was smiling like a maniac to myself. “I would be honored.”
It was time to say goodbye to the evening baths, outfits color-coordinated with the days of the week, and being too picky to use a shared fridge. It was time to embrace who I was. It was time to sleep under the stars, drive the interstates for days, and be engulfed in the rodeo life.
Mr. Sterling had asked me to get “down and dirty” with this project.
He didn’t know how literal I would actually be getting.
“It’s settled then!” Jo said excitedly. “Oh, Allegra, we have so much fun on the road! We’ve got our own little convoy!”
“If you want us to call a cab and get you on a plane at any point, we’d be more than happy,” Dennis said with assurance.
“I’ll call AnnaJane, Erin, and Miley and see who would like to join us!” Jo got up and ran to the other room, perhaps to call the girls right away.
Dennis got up and started clearing the plates, a soft grin stuck on his face.
Dean stole the last muffin and followed his dad into the kitchen, complaining about a bruised shin.
Colton laced his fingers in mine, squeezing them. “Ally, if you’re doin’ this just to make me happy, I-”
I squeezed his hand back. “I want to,” I said honestly. “It’ll be really fun!”
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek, his morning stubble tickling my skin. “See? I knew you were a country girl.”
I smiled at him, my heart begging to tell him my entire story. His soft green eyes told me they’d understand, and I was dying to let someone in my cold heart.
But not right now.
Dean threw a towel at Colton, making him jump in surprise. “You know what that means, Colty!”
Colton gave him a teasingly sour look.
“Armillo by morning!”
“Oh, shoot,” I said out loud before I realized I had opened my mouth. I smoothed my hair. “Um, I need to go make a few phone calls real quick, if that’s alright?”
“Yeah, take your time!” Colton said, oblivious to my sudden shock. He grabbed my plate and glass, starting to sing as he went. “Everything that I’ve got is just what I’ve got on!”
I smiled at Dean and Colton, who were now singing the song as loud and off-key as they possibly could.
I stepped out the sliding glass door and clicked on my mother’s contact before I could change my mind.
“Allegra Ford, I have been calling you for days!” She picked up on the second ring and immediately yelled. I put the phone on speaker so I wouldn’t have her yelling directly in my ear.
“Sorry, Mom.” I settled myself into the porch swing, cuddling a throw pillow against my chest.
The yard took my breath away all over again.
It’s green grass that stretched for at least an acre, the rows of corrals, the gorgeous green pastures, the giant practice arena in the big red shop; it was a rodeo family’s dream.
Colton’s sweats were still on me, drowning me in comfort. I slept in them all night, bringing the sweatshirt to my nose every once in a while to inhale his sweet scent.
“I’ve been really busy with work, in fact-”
“What if it had been an emergency?” She continued on her rampage. “What if I were dying and you were being too selfish to pick up my calls?”
I swallowed hard. “I’m really sorry, Mom. What’s been going on?”
“I’m gettin’ evicted, Peach.”
I felt a hard punch to my gut. “You’re what?”
“Are you deaf?” She screamed, her accent as thick as honey, warping her words. “I said I am gettin’ kicked out of my house!”
I was so frustrated I could die. “Mom, what happened to the money?”
“What money?”
Oh my gosh, I was going to lose it. “The money I’ve been sending! Or how about Dad’s life insurance? Between all of that, you should be set for years! What happened to all that money?”
“Are you actually askin’ for money right now, Allegra?”
If you could explode from anger, I’m pretty sure it would’ve already happened to me by now. “MOM, you are not listening to me. I have been sending money for years. What have you been doing with it?”
“I’ve been livin’ my life! You know I can’t work with my ailments.”
Her “ailments,” right. I rolled my eyes, grateful she couldn’t see. “Okay, let’s pretend I wasn’t sending you enough. What about the life insurance money?”
She laughed mockingly. “You mean the Allegra Ford loan?”
“What does that even mean?”
A horse whinnied at me. I looked up to see Gracie at the edge of the pasture, trotting happily. I wanted to climb on her back and take off, letting the sun melt my problems away.
“It took all that money to raise your spoiled butt,” she said plainly.
I remember the fight they had about signing up for life insurance money. My mom had just been fired from her third job in two months. My dad was getting ready to hit the road again.
“What if something happens to me, Ida? What would Ally do?”
“Because I’m incapable of takin’ care of my daughter, right?”
“Apparently! All I want is for her to be financially stable. Can’t we agree on that?”
I gripped the phone so tight it was beginning to leave indents in my skin. “When are you getting evicted, Mom?”
“I have a month.”
“I’ll be in Armillo in a few days. Can we sort this all out in person? I would love to go over your bank statements and see if there’s any wiggle room,” I said in my corporate voice, which I knew she despised.
“Fine.” She hung up.
Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
“Knock knock,” said an all-too-familiar voice.
I blinked hard and smiled too widely. “Hey.”
Colton took a seat next to me in the porch swing, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “How were your calls?”
“Informative,” I said, trying not to sound bitter.
Colton was quiet, waiting to see if I was going to go on.
I wasn’t.
“When do we leave?” I asked, leaning into his touch.
“Sunday night. Really, Ally, my family can be intense. I don’t want to scare you off.” He sounded hesitant.
“You can’t scare me off, and neither can your family,” I promised.
It was my family I was worried about.