Page 49 of I'm Yours

Reed

It’s as if no time has passed. Having her sit next to me in my pickup is bringing back so many memories. Especially when she pulls her leg up and rests it against the door, sticking her arm out the open window.

My hold on the steering wheel might appear casual, with my own leg bent against the door and only two fingers guiding the pickup where I spontaneously decided I was going to take her. I need to relax and there’s only one place I can think of that will help me do that. The list of questions I have about her time working at Eve’s is endless. I hate it. When I saw that at the top of the list I could practically feel my blood pressure rising.

“Are we going riding?”

Figures she would know. Even the time that’s separated us hasn’t diminished how well we can read each other.

“That okay?”

“Glad I wore jeans today.”

I am, too. When she stood up to leave I got a look of her ass and almost groaned.

My thumb taps out the rhythm to the song playing softly through the speakers. It’s a song about leaving a town in his rearview mirror as he drives away and if I allow it to, it could be uncomfortable to listen to. But it isn’t. Truth is, the last twelve years happened and there’s nothing we can do about it. Time to move the fuck on.

I bypass the house and drive straight to the barn. Sadie leans forward, looking out the windshield.

“Okay, I’m excited now. Do you realize how long it’s been since I went riding?”

“Dad hasn’t been making you ride?”

“No. Well, he tried, but really I have been so focused on making the studio my own that I kind of haven’t had much of a life.”

“Too bad.”

“Eh, I’m here now, right?”

She is. With me. What the hell am I doing?

We walk into the barn and work together to get the horses saddled and before long, we’re heading out the back door. Rather than taking the same path I went the other day with Brownie, we head west. When we got to the barn, Sadie put on a pair of my mom’s boots and she grabbed one of her cowboy hats hanging on the wall. I look over at her at the same time she looks my way and can’t deny how perfect she looks. I have her riding Gabby. She’s a beautiful horse. Her deep brown coloring spotted with white, including one in the shape of a diamond.

Walking side by side, I decide to continue our conversation from the diner.

“Billy?”

She winces then wrinkles her nose and I chuckle.

“Really? That turd?”

“Turd?” I laugh.

“Yeah, well, he and I are no longer a thing. Thank goodness. We were engaged for a short time. We aren’t married for a reason.”

I’m not surprised, really. He was a jackass when we were teenagers and he didn’t seem like the type of person who’d grow out of it.

“Let’s just say he’s not worth the line on the list.”

She looks forward and guides Gabby to start going down a path that leads us to a small pond we used to frequent as kids.

“So why is he?”

“I knew you’d ask about him so figured I’d just get it out there. Truth is, he was a jerk and I never should have said yes to his proposal. At the time, it seemed like he’d changed, but once his ring was on my finger, I realized he hadn’t.” She shrugs and bends over to rub a hand down Gabby’s neck.

“So he’s a non-factor now.”

“Correct. I think he’s living in Vegas.” She raises her eyebrows and I chuckle. “He kind of liked the scene at Eve’s but wanted… shall we say, more. I think he also wanted to live somewhere that no one knew him and he could be himself.”

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