Page 42 of Catch Me, Cowboy
Ty came back out of the barn. “I’ll replace that before I go.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
The darkness made her feel safer. He couldn’t see her face, couldn’t read her. He propped his forearms on the railings a few feet away from her. The big horse was now quiet, so she had nothing to focus on except for Ty.
“I’m surprised you’re home.”
“Keeping tabs on me?”
“Not on purpose. I’m not sleeping well.” And how was that for hanging something out there? Well, he could make of it what he wanted.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be gone soon.”
“You could be gone now. I’m thankful that you’re not—for Gramps’s sake.”
“I owe Les.”
So she’d once said.
He kicked a little dirt with the toe of his boot. “I can’t help wanting you.”
The out-of-the-blue statement made her heart jump.
Tell him how you feel… communicate. See if you can work some of this out.
She couldn’t. Too damned dangerous. He was riding again, heading back out on the road. Maybe at some future point… not now.
“I’m not faulting you there.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Small mercies.” His tone was dark. He pushed off the rail, keeping a healthy distance between them. “Like I said. I’ll be gone soon.”
Her throat thickened and she didn’t try to push any words out. She nodded, not knowing if he could see her acknowledgement in the semi-darkness.
“Until then, I’ll stay out of your way.”
He started toward his trailer, the gravel crunching beneath his boots. “Ty.” He turned at the sound of his name and Shelby took a few steps toward him, wondering why she’d been unable to leave well enough alone.
“Shelby… maybe it’s best if you don’t say anything.”
“Why?” She stopped walking and folded her arms over her chest as if cold.
She heard his low exhalation before he said, “Maybe we should leave things as they are right now. I think that would be better for both of us.”
She turned on her heel and headed toward the house, her arms still wrapped tightly around her middle. This was best. Definitely.
But if would be even better if she didn’t feel this overwhelming sense loss.
*
Shelby stared atthe ceiling of her room for what seemed like hours before she finally dozed off, only to be jerked awake by the sound of her alarm. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up before she gave into the temptation to flop back onto the pillows and close her eyes again.
Pushing her hair back out of her face, she got out of bed and went to the window, catching sight of Ty disappearing into the machine shed.
At least she didn’t have to see him this morning. Didn’t need to think about him telling her not to say anything. Not to make things worse. It was pretty obvious she wasn’t the only one hurting. He’d come back to try to make things right. Why couldn’t she let him?
Because she was so damned afraid of losing him. That had always been the issue. She dressed and went into the kitchen where her grandfather had the coffee waiting for her and it was surprisingly drinkable.
“The coffee had been sitting there for almost fifteen minutes,” he grumbled when she sat down and pulled the cup toward her.
