Page 96 of The Wedding Ranch
Familiar anger settled in Lorri’s chest. The kind that stole her breath. She’d lived through this emotion before.
What makes people so reckless?
It’s one thing to abuse yourself, but when you let that abuse drive irrational thinking that takes another life—unforgivable.
Her brother had well-greased this pipeline of emotion over the years.
She couldn’t imagine the pain Ryder experienced. Losing a spouse was hard; losing a child had to have been agony—especially without his spouse there to share the burden of that loss. She’d do anything to help him survive that sorrow.
A shiver ran through her.
She printed out a copy of the article, reading it one more time.
Only this time the similarities struck her in a different way. Her heart sunk and her hand began to tremble. She hopped up and ran upstairs to her studio where she’d tucked the personal box of Jeff’s things in the attic. Scrambling, she pushed the other things that had been shoved in front of it since then and dragged the box into the room.
She dug to the bottom where the court records were. Flipping through the papers she stopped and slowly reread the details of the accident. This time she was reading it with a new perspective.
Please don’t let it have been Valerie and Ronnie Dwayne.
Her heart pounded. A tear slipping down her cheek as she tried to focus on the words on the page.Where is it?
She found what she was looking for. Her hand to her mouth she whispered, “No.” She stared at it, reading the names over and over again.
“No. Please wake me up and tell me I’m dreaming. It can’t be. This isn’t fair.”
God be with Ryder, and help him live his life with their love in his heart.
She’d be no comfort now.My fault.Not directly, but by way of not finding a way to stop Jeff’s self-destructing behavior from destroying Ryder’s family.
She walked downstairs, numb with despair.
She tucked the article into the top drawer of her desk. She’dprobably never read it again, but it seemed only right that there be some sort of reminder of this woman and child who had meant so much to Ryder.
Ryder called the following morning, but she let it go to voice mail. He left a message inviting her out on a short trail ride. She couldn’t face him. Not yet, maybe never.
On Thursday night Lorri’s doorbell rang, but when she opened the door there was no one there. Puzzled, she started to close it when she noticed a tote bag on the mat.
She carried the bag inside. A delicious smell rose from the top. In the kitchen she unpacked three containers. Heaping servings of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and greens. She folded the bag, and a small card fluttered to the ground. She knelt down and picked it up.
The back of Ryder’s business card read,Hope you enjoy dinner. Call me when you’ve got some free time.—Ryder
Lorri stood there at her kitchen counter looking at all that food. Her stomach grumbled. She hadn’t eaten much the last few days.
She made a plate for herself and took it to the table. Mister sniffed the air. She poured a little gravy over his food, then sat back down. Sitting there eating alone, her mind drifted to her brother, Jeff.
Lorri brushed her hand against her damp skin as she remembered her mother clinging to her that day they got the news. She’d been frantic over his injuries, praying that this would be the catalyst that would set him straight. It wasn’t until the nextday that they learned of the full scope of the accident, and that there’d been fatalities.
I can’t keep this from Ryder.
She got in bed, and tossed and turned until sunrise. She took Mister out for his morning walk early, hoping to avoid interacting with anyone. She just wasn’t up to it.
They walked over to the farmers market through the shortcut in her back fence. The market was busy with commuters stopping for coffee. They gave the residents a discount on coffee in their neighborhood mugs. It looked like she must be the only one who didn’t take advantage of that deal on a regular basis.
She waited in line and ordered a cup of tea. She and Mister sat at a table and people-watched while she scanned her phone messages.
A post on social media caught her eye. She scrolled back up. The headline read, “Finding True Peace in Past Disappointments.” She clicked on it. Internet service this side of the building was spotty sometimes though, and the connection timed out.
Probably for the best. “Come on, Mister. I’ve got a meeting in twenty minutes anyway. We’d better hurry.”
