Page 62 of Grit
She’d only ever had two serious boyfriends. One in high school. One in college, whom she married as soon as she graduated.
And me.He didn’t say that part when it came up in conversation. He’d let her figure it out on her own.
They were nearly at her ranch. “When are we going to do this again?”
“Uh… Abby goes back to her grandparents in a couple of weeks.”
Cary frowned for the first time in hours. “So you don’t want to go out again until Abby leaves town?”
“I just assumed—”
“I’m not interested in hiding this—in hidingus—from your daughter.”
“It’s not that.” She sat up, and he saw the tension return to her shoulders. “But this is all new. And I’ve never dated before. And I want to talk to her about it because she sees you as a close family friend, but not… whatever it is we are now.”
Cary let her ramble until they were at the ranch. He got out, opened the gate, and drove through it. Then he repeated the process in reverse, not saying a word once he was back in the truck.
“I’m not going to budge on this, Cary.” Her back was up now. “Abby is my daughter, and she only has one parent now. She has to be the priority and—”
“Did I say I disagreed with you?” He kept driving toward the house; a low anger simmered in his belly.
“You’re doing the silent thing.”
“I’m a quiet person.”
“You haven’t been quiet all night, and now you’re being silent, so what was it? Me not telling Abby about us right away? Me making her the priority? Me—”
“You’re trying to fit us in boxes again.” He parked the truck and turned to her. “She sees me as a close family friend. I’m still a close family friend. That’s not going to change.”
“But if we keep dating, it will change. That’s what I’m saying. And then if things don’t work out—”
“You already planning on that?”
She shook her head. “I’m not saying that. But I have to think about it as a possibility.”
Cary was quiet for a long time, absorbing what she was saying.
She had to think about the possibility.
Of course she did. She had to think about every possibility. He probably should have thought about it too.
The problem was Cary couldn’t even imagine a future where he wasn’t in love with Melissa and nuts about her daughter. So the possibility of her trying him on and deciding it wasn’t a good fit just pissed him off.
“You should show me the bunkhouse.” He opened his truck door and walked around to hers.
“What?” She opened her own door.
He helped her out of the truck. “You should show me the bunkhouse.”
Melissa blinked. “Is that code for something I should know?”
He crowded her against the side of the truck and caged her with both arms. “I don’t know. You all right with me kissing you right here where your mom could see from the windows?”
Her cheeks turned red. “I should show you the bunkhouse.”
Chapter Fourteen
Melissa had spentweeks cleaning and organizing the bunkhouse so that renovations could begin. The cobwebs were gone. The dust had been chased away. The large room was mostly empty, but there was still some old furniture out there. Nothing plush like the retreat she envisioned for ranch guests, but bed frames and a few dressers.
