Page 97 of The Wedding Ranch
As soon as they walked through the gate, Mister sat waiting to be unleashed. She unhooked the leash and let him take off on his own.
She got back to her desk just in time to dial in to the meeting. Feeling restless today, she spun her chair to one side then the other. She jotted down a few notes, then marked off the completed sections of the itinerary as the call progressed. She didn’teven have a report out for this meeting. She was simply listening in case she needed to participate.
She grabbed a green colored pencil and started scribbling on the desk pad.
Pam texted her during the meeting.
Pam: Checking in.
Lorri: Busy with conf calls today. Ugh.
Pam: Hate those days.
Lorri: Me too. Plus I was up all night.
Pam: What the heck?
Lorri: A bunch of things. Ryder. Jeff.
Pam: Anniversary of Jeff’s death is next Tuesday. I was wondering if you were okay.
Lorri: I’ll call you. You good?
Pam: Great.
The conference call droned on for another twenty minutes. By the time she hung up she had several drafts branding the Lisa Scholarship. Some of them were pretty good.
She got up and fixed another cup of tea, then sat down and worked all day on her favorite designs. She put together a full packet, just like she would for a paying customer. There were four different designs and color layouts, but she had a clear favorite.
She wondered which ones Reece, Ross, and Diane would like best. She’d become so close to all of them. To think she was falling for the one man that it would be impossible to have a relationship with weighed on her.
She emailed the whole package to Ross at The Wedding Ranch email from their website, wishing them well on the project with a note that said they were welcome to use any or all of the designs gratis, but not to feel bad if they had something else in mind.
That weekend Mother Nature delivered true fall-like temperatures. She’d missed several calls from Ryder that week, and he had to be wondering why she was avoiding him.
The next time he called, she forced herself to answer.
“How’s my friend Lorri this morning?”
“Hi, thank you for the dinner. That was so thoughtful.”
“Didn’t wake you, did I?” he asked.
“No.”
“You don’t sound good. Are you okay?”
How was she supposed to respond to that? “Not feeling so great lately.”
“I’m sorry about that. I wanted to see if you’d spend the day with me over here at the house? We can exercise the horses and enjoy the change of season. I’ll cook something if you’re up to it.”
“I’d love that, but I don’t think I should.”
“Have you been outside? It’s a brisk morning.” He seemed delighted by the cooler temperatures. “I love this time of year. Can’t wait to experience fall with you.”
With me? You won’t be thinking that when I tell you what I know.Things in her life were changing. She’d never had anyone ask her to enjoy the change of season before. If only she could unknow what she knew about the accident.
“Please come. I bet you’ll feel better after being out in the fresh air.”
