Page 74 of What Remains True
“As a favor.” She crossed her arms, pressing them tight against her chest. “And you let me worry.”
“I’m sorry. I figured you were already here.” He tossed his hands in the air. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is I was doing you a favor and you took advantage of my good nature.”
“Well, I didn’t have a great night either. I didn’t even score in the high eighties. Not good enough to win. I was distracted.”
“I bet you were. Were all your little girlfriends hanging around afterward with the guys too?”Why did I throw that inhis face? I have no right.She hated jealousy. No one wore that well.
“No, not like that. My mind was here.”
“Then maybe you should’ve been here.”
“I don’t know what to do about this. Look, you might not know this about me yet, but I’m a responsible guy.”
“So it would seem.” The words pressed her lips.
“This is not my fault. I never knew she was pregnant.” He let out a huff and dropped his hands to his side. “I’m just trying to do the right thing here.”
“But you didn’t. You talkedmeinto doing the right thing for you. You need to be the one making this work.” She got up and snatched her purse from the table.
For all the cowboy reputations and warnings about how unattainable the most eligible guy in this town was, she had to go and fall for him. Maybe this was just a rebound thing and she’d get over it as quickly as she fell into it.
19
If the amount of angerwelled up in Merry Anna’s gut was any indicator of how deeply she’d fallen for Adam, she was in trouble.
Thank goodness it was Saturday and she had the weekend off. She stayed huddled down in her sheets, unwilling to face the day or her decisions.
Disappointed in herself for falling for the charms of a cowboy, she’d embarrassed herself by admitting as much to Krissy even after she’d said Adam couldn’t be settled down.
Who do I think I am?
She thought about how she’d dressed up for the rodeo that night. That wasn’t her style—at least not who she used to be. And although she’d come here hoping to discover who she really was or wanted to be, maybe she was trying too hard.
For a moment last Monday, it had been like playing house—the homemade dinner, tucking Zan into bed, and the flirtation in between the serious-life-decision talk.
All likely just his way to get her to be a free babysitter. He probably only asked her because she didn’t know everyone in town, so the scandal might stay dormant a little longer, until he ran out of favors and had to start hitting up other people for help.
I’m an idiot.
She didn’t care one way or the other if that little girl was his. It wasn’t her business anyway. For all she cared, he could just hit the road with Zan in his duffel bag.
Only that wasn’t true. She wished she could take the negative thought back.
That was a horrible thing to think.
She went back to sleep, not even bothering to get up and have something to eat.
The sun had set when she awoke with her phone ringing. She grabbed it from the nightstand and looked at the display. Adam.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Merry Anna. I wanted to apologize about last night. You’re right. It was unfair to leave you hanging like that. I’m really sorry.”
Her throat tightened. “Thank you.”
“Look, I’m just a cowboy doing what he loves. I don’t have the best track record with women, and I can be a selfish somebody, so I’ve been told on more than one occasion. I’m probably going to make some mistakes, and with everything that’s going on, I’m not even sure which way to lean.”
