Page 69 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
“Any man who can do that for you deserves to be heard.What you do after that is your decision, but don’t make it without all the information.”
She studied him for a moment.She could tell this was digging at him at much more than a surface level, much more than simply being asked to deliver a letter.And hardly for the first time she wondered what the full story was behind her father’s most unlikely marriage to a flighty, work—and motherhood—averse woman who’d abandoned them both.
But whatever the rest of the story was, nothing changed the fact that her father had never hesitated, never faltered.He’d accepted her, raised her, taught her, and above all loved her without question.
There was no way she could say no to him.
“All right.I promise, I will read it.”
She stood, grabbed up the envelope and stuffed it into her back pocket.Then she headed for the door.
“Riley?”her father called out.
She half turned to look back at him.“I promised I’d read it.And I’ll keep that promise.But I didn’t promise when.”
The next day she and King were riding the fence line—carefully avoiding the section she and Miles had repaired—when she spotted a pair of riders in the distance, approaching from the other side.The Baylor side.She knew the one on the rangy appaloosa was Nic, because the newly broken in four-year-old would tolerate no one else yet.Which pretty much meant the taller figure on the big bay was Jackson.Obviously they were back from their honeymoon weekend.
And they were, she couldn’t help but notice as they got closer, holding hands as they rode.Sweet.She was so happy for Nic, and for Jackson too, and Jeremy.But that didn’t mean the sight didn’t give her a pang of longing.But she shoved it aside and rode over closer to the fence.
“We were hoping you’d be out here,” Nic called out, startling her.They’d been looking for her?
“I would think you two had better things to do,” she teased.
“Oh, we do,” came Jackson’s deep drawl as they reined in on the other side of the fence, so they were barely two feet away.“But even we have to come up for air now and then.Besides, we needed to talk to you.”
Uh-oh.
“To make sure you knew something critical,” Nic said.She paused, studied Riley for a moment, then said quietly, “You haven’t read his letter yet.”
It wasn’t a question, but it startled Riley into answering.“You know about that?”
“We know he spent hours on it,” Jackson said.“Jeremy wanted him to watch a movie marathon with him Saturday night after the wedding, but he told him he couldn’t—he had to work on the most important thing he’d ever written.Which, considering he wrote nearly the entire first season ofStonewallis saying something.”
And he’d hand-delivered it the next day.A handwritten letter, as if he’d somehow guessed she wouldn’t be there, or if she was, wouldn’t listen to him.
Because he knew how mad she was.How hurt.And it was his fault, so why would she listen?
“You need to read it, Riley,” Nic said, sounding more than a little urgent.
“I will.Eventually.I promised Dad.”
“You should read it now,” Nic urged.
She had started to shake her head when Jackson said, seemingly apropos of nothing, “He told me once you asked why he wasn’t an actor.”
That caught her off guard.And reminded her of the times early on when she’d wondered why Miles hadn’t planted that gorgeous face of his, those amazing hazel eyes, in front of the camera instead of behind the scenes.
“I did, yes.He said that wasn’t what interested him.”
“That’s true.But there’s another big reason he’s never wanted in front of the camera.Why is that, do you think?”
She looked at this man who had walked away from that exact role, that much coveted and envied position in life.“Why?”she finally said, almost reluctantly.
“Because he is who he is, and he can’t mask it, even temporarily.He’s no good at pretending to be someone he’s not,” Jackson said simply.“He’s one of the most honest, decent men in that business.If he wasn’t, he would be pressuring me to come back.But instead he’s paying a steep price for respecting my decision, for Jeremy’s sake.”
She hadn’t really thought of that aspect of theStonewallsituation.She’d kind of assumed they were all like that Swiffer guy they complained about, always pushing.
“And there’s one thing I’m sure is in that letter, but that I think you need to know right now,” Nic put in.
