Page 29 of The Moment He Saw Her

“Ah, well.” He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had asked him that. “I’m the Duke who usually toes the line and doesn’t cause trouble. The ‘go with the flow’ Duke, you could say. I never left like the rest of them and have never been driven.” That came out bitter, and he wished he’d kept the words inside.

“The man I saw fighting those bikers didn’t look like a ‘go with the flow’ Duke to me, and the one who runs that cafe has to be driven for it to be the success it is. Plus you own this lovely home.”

“Thanks, but you haven’t been in town long enough to know how things lie.”

He studied her face. Pale, drawn, and sad. She tugged at something inside him.

Ryder, like his brothers, was a protector. He fixed things when they needed fixing, but he knew Libby Gulliver would not be an easy fix.

“We all have many sides to us, Libby. What you see is not always the full picture.”

Her eyes lifted to his briefly and then away again.

“My family has had our share of hell,” he continued. “But we always find our way back to each other.” He took the phone and placed it on the nightstand.

“I thought my life was planned out,” she said softly. “I’ve always lived in the same place and known… m-mostly what I was meant to do and be. My dad, he’s a good man, but he likes to be in control?—”

“I bet you tested that a time or two?”

“Not really, and actually this is probably the first real time,” she said to the pillow she was now staring at. “But I just couldn’t go through with the marriage.”

“Why?” Ryder didn’t think she’d tell him because she probably already thought she’d said too much. But he’d asked anyway.

He watched as she touched the scar on her jaw, running her fingers back and forth along it.

“This is the reason I left.”

He knew there was more to that statement, so he didn’t speak, just watched her.

“I’m not sure why it’s easy to talk to you when I never talk…. I mean, about what’s in here.” She tapped her head.

“Sometimes it’s just the right time,” he said. “I was once struggling with something and sitting in the Do-Si-Do Diner. Mr. Tricker, who runs a supply store for grain and other things like saddles and clothing, wandered in. He slid right into my booth across the table and looked at me. Now, the thing you need to know about Mr. Tricker is, unlike some others in this town, he doesn’t like to talk unless he has something to say.”

“Not really a trait for a man who makes a living selling stuff,” Libby said.

“His wife likes to talk, so they even each other out.”

“Makes sense,” she said.

“Anyway, he looked at me and said, ‘I can see you’ve got something on your mind, Ryder. Want me to help you work through it?’”

“He just came out with that?” Libby asked.

“You know this town by now, Libby. No one holds anything back.”

“Of course.”

“So I found myself talking to him about some stuff, and he gave me good advice, and I felt better. Then he left, and we never spoke about it again.”

“What, never?” She looked a bit shocked about that.

“No. And Mr. Tricker is probably one of the few people in town who can also hold a secret, so remember that.”

“Nice that it was him you spoke to, then.”

“It was. So how about you talk to me, Libby Gulliver, and I’ll be your Mr. Tricker and keep your secrets.”

She stared at him hard, as if searching for something.

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