Page 45 of Unyielding
Shannon shrugged and stared into the distance. “Whatever.”
I was starting to get a little annoyed that she wasn’t cutting me any slack, but I pressed on.
“Trust me, it’ll be good. Okay?”
Shannon finally turned to face me, but she wasn’t smiling. “Sure. That’s fine.”
I decided to ignore the fact that she was still upset, since I doubted we could reach any sort of consensus tonight. Plus, thefatigue was settling into my bones and I was desperate for my bed.
“Great, then it’s settled. I’ll get out of your hair for now and I’ll see you tomorrow when we’re both well-rested and feeling better.”
She nodded, her expression still hard. I considered leaning in for a kiss goodnight, but I didn’t want to risk getting turned down. No, screw it. I leaned toward her before she could react and kissed her forehead.
“Till tomorrow.” I smiled at Shannon, then turned to jog down the porch steps.
As I drove home, I went over everything she’d said. I was far enough ahead in school that I hadn’t been aware of the rivalry between Fiona and Eli, but given the younger Cafferty’s personality, it didn’t surprise me. But what Shannon described about the situation with Becca was troublesome.
Even though I’d thought I had a very reasonable reason for needing to reschedule, I was slowly realizing that if it had been anyone other than Becca, she would probably have been fine with it. If she couldn’t understand why my job had to take priority, even if that meant making nice with Becca, then we were bound to have issues. I wasn’t in a position to decline Becca’s requests when she called. Not with the money she spent on vet care.
Was this what a relationship with Shannon would be like? Always second-guessing what she needed from me? Disappointing her and then sparring when I tried to make it right?
I’d thought I could balance working toward my goals and having a personal relationship, but maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe I’d have to choose after all.
TWENTY-EIGHT
SHANNON
The new computer program Declan had suggested was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. Sure, I’d had a few stumbles as I figured out how to merge various paper forms and Excel spreadsheets I’d been using, but now that everything was imported and I’d installed the app on my phone, I felt like I could barely remember how I’d lived without it. I still couldn’t believe that my entire operation, from client profiles to medical records to billing, was all consolidated in one spot. Declan had streamlined my business with a few keystrokes, and once I saw how easy it was, I kicked myself for putting it off for so long.
There was no way I was going to tell Josh that he was right. At least not yet.
My thoughts returned to Declan and I frowned. I felt bad about the way I’d gone off on him the night before, but he’d made me a promise, then broken it. WithBeccaof all people. It felt like the competition between us was getting worse, and I didn’t like it one bit. Why did it have to matter? We raised different types of horses. Her program was a full-blown operation that was all about the tech while I was getting used to using a trackingapp. We shouldn’t have been in competition, but she seemed determined to view us as rivals. And now, it looked like Becca was chasing after Declan as well. A part of me wondered if she somehow knew that we were going out, and if that was the real reason why she’d called him with that manufactured emergency.
I leaned against the barn and scrolled through the app, checking on a mare’s ovulation cycle, absentmindedly petting a barn cat that had perched on the fence beside me. It was the end of the day, but I still had more client management to take care of and I was sort of enjoying the ease of using my phone.
“Hey, cowgirl.”
I turned and saw Declan striding toward me carrying a picnic basket and a bunch of sunflowers with his dog, Ford, trotting along beside him. The cat shot down the post and disappeared into the barn.
“Oh, hey there. You brought your dog.”
I was happy to have something to focus on besides how damn good he looked. The setting sun put a backlight on him, and he was glowing like he was lit for a movie scene. And his smile was hovering between sweet and sexy. All I wanted to do was run over to him and jump in his arms, until I thought about what had happened the night before.
I was jealous and a little hurt, and I still couldn’t get past it.
Ford jumped in happy circles around me, wagging a hello. I leaned down to pet him as he licked my hand.
“Look at you. I wish I had a treat on me,” I said, trying not to look at Declan.
“As much as he’ll disagree, he’ll survive without any treats,” he said. I could feel him staring.
“What’s all this?” I asked, gesturing to the picnic basket and flowers.
“I’m making up for last night, as promised. A dinner feast for the hardworking cowgirl.” He handed me the flowers. “And some sunshine, pun intended.”
“Thank you.” My smile finally broke free as I took them.
“And I wanted to say a few things.” He watched Ford trot off in the direction the cat had run with his nose pressed to the ground. “First, I’m really sorry about what happened last night. I never wanted to hurt you. But the fact is, I might have to cancel on you again. It’s not that I want to, but there’s no way I can predict when I’ll get called away for an emergency. But I promise I’ll always give you as much notice as I can. And if something goes wrong between us, I want us to be able to talk stuff through until we both feel okay. We left things messy last night, and I don’t want to do that again.”
