Page 61 of Take Me Please, Cowboy
Ansley swallowed hard.“I have to talk to him.I have to explain.”
“What happened?”
“He heard me talking to my mom.I said some things…” Her eyes filled with tears, and she struggled to finish her sentence.“I shouldn’t have said.”
“About him?”she asked, coming to sit on the couch next to Ansley.
“About how different everything here was from… my home.”
Mrs.Calhoun’s lips parted and then she pressed them closed.“Rye is pretty protective,” she said, the exact words Josie had said the night of the art show.
“I wasn’t trying to be unkind.”
“No, but honesty can be painful.”
Ansley had nothing to say to this.She couldn’t remember ever feeling so awful before.This was her fault, 100 percent her doing.
“Want me help you pack?”Mrs.Calhoun said, breaking the silence.
Ansley wiped away the tears clinging to her lashes.“He wants me gone.”
His mother nodded.
Ansley packed, and put her bag in her car, but before leaving she went to the main house and said her goodbyes.It was the proper thing to do.The only thing to do.There were hugs—a very long hard hug from Rye’s mom—and a fierce hug from Jasper who asked her to come back and visit soon and then she was in her car, fighting the tears while she reversed and then drove away from the house.
Ansley didn’t know where she was going to go.But she knew this—she was not going to go home without speaking to Rye.And even though she felt terrible—beyond terrible—and even though she still wanted to throw up, she was determined that they have a proper conversation, face-to-face.
Instead of leaving Eureka, she checked into a motel, and spent a sleepless night going over everything she wanted to say, while trying to anticipate everything he might say, before dragging herself out of bed for a shower.
It wasn’t going to be an easy day.She dreaded the next couple of hours, but she wasn’t going to just run away.Running away solved nothing.
Ansley grabbed some coffee and a cinnamon roll at the coffee shop next to the motel before driving to Calhoun Roofing’s office.As she expected, Rye’s blue and white Chevy truck was already in the parking lot.She parked next to his truck and entered the office, through the unlocked front door.
The reception was empty but the bell tinkling on the front door drew Rye from the back.He stopped when he saw her.
For a long moment, he said nothing, his jaw granite hard.“I thought you left town,” he said as the silence grew unbearable.
“I’m driving back this morning, but I had to see you before I left.”
“Why?Seems that everything that needed to be said was said yesterday.”
“You and I didn’t talk.”
“No, but I overheard you on the phone.It was more than enough.Your feelings were clear.”He fell silent and looked away, jaw still clenched, expression harsh.
Ansley swallowed around the knot thickening her throat.“I’m sorry that I hurt you.”
He shrugged.“I’m glad to find out how you felt.Saved us both a lot of time.”
“I was overwhelmed, Rye.”
“Yeah, I got that, but there’s no need to make excuses.My family is not for you.It’s as simple as that.”
Pain flickered through her, hot, brutal.“This isn’t about your family—”
“It’s completely about my family.It’s only about my family.”
Ansley fought to hang on to her composure.Crying would be a disaster now.“I fell for you practically at first sight.I care about you so much.”
