Page 94 of A Rancher's Bride
“No prob.” Kelli watched him hurry away, amusement rising when she turned to discover Lisa Coleman headed toward her.
It might have been coincidence, the other woman coming from the very direction that Josiah had just escaped from like he’d been pursued by dragons.
The fact Lisa was preoccupied, checking in all the stalls she passed, seemed a teeny bit suspicious, though.
Kelli cleared her throat, and Lisa’s head snapped up, her eyes sparkling. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” Kelli couldn’t resist. “Looking for someone?”
“Josiah,” Lisa admitted, somewhat reluctantly.
“Something wrong? I mean, I just saw him. I could run and—”
“Don’t worry about it, we’re good,” Lisa’s gaze sharpened. “What’s up with you?”
So much for keeping the upper hand. Lisa was not one to be messed around with. “I never said anything was wrong.”
“Of course you didn’t. Now tell me.”
Kelli rolled her eyes. “Fine. Luke seems to be avoiding me. Like literally turning heel and going in a different direction to avoid talking.”
“Ahh.”
Well, that was annoying too. “Ahh?That’s really all you’re going to say?”
“It’s less obnoxious than ‘Gadzooks, I’ve got it!’ I think Luke is giving you space to figure out what you want.”
“What I freaking want is to talk to him about what I want,” Kelli complained.
Lisa laughed. “Yeah. But he’s being noble or something annoying. Am I right?”
“Could be. I’m not sure since I can’tfindhim to ask.” Kelli’s annoyance was fading, though. “It’s not that complicated, I guess. I just want to think it through more. What’s the right thing to do?”
Lisa looked thoughtful. “It sounds like such a simple question, doesn’t it? You’d think that the right thing would be sitting up on top, visible and bold. Most of the time it’s the opposite. The truth hides, not because it’s trying to be hard to find, but because it’s important enough you need to dig for it. You’ve got to really want it.”
It had been such a short time, and yet Lisa had stepped into the family and joined Silver Stone as if she belonged there, which made sense because she was such an intricate part of Tamara’s life.
Only now Kelli wondered…
Kelli looked her over closely. “What doyouwant, Lisa?”
Lisa blinked hard. Then her face lit up, and an enormous smile slid into place. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”
Okay. “That’s good, but it’s not an answer.”
The other woman folded her arms and leaned back against the stall boards. “I haven’t had a lot of people ask me that, you know. I’ve had a lot of people tell me what they think I ought to do, and even more tell me what they think I shouldn’t do.”
“I get a lot of that, as well, but you’re not answering the question,” Kelli pointed out. “If I stepped over a line or something—”
“Nah, definitely not a line, but it is something I’ll admit I’ve only been thinking about really hard in the last couple of months.” Lisa shrugged. “I want to be happy. I think most people do, but usually what made me happy in the past was makingotherpeople happy. That’s not wrong, but going forward, I plan to focus a little bit more on me. Untangle a few of the secrets I’ve kept not just from other people, but maybe even hidden from myself.”
“Deep.”
“Very. I think I’ll end up on a journey of discovery, because I don’t know what tomorrow should hold. There’s an awful long time between now and forever. I want it to matter. Whatever I do. I want it to matter to others, but especially to me.”
Doing what mattered. Doing what truly would make Kelli happy.
It was like being hit with a brick wall. Or the time she’d taken a kick right in the solar plexus, flying through the air and reeling from the impact of hoof and earth. “You’re not as simple as you like to make others think, are you?” Kelli teased with a smile to soften the words. “I’m glad you want to be happy.”
