Page 53 of For Always
“But you were involved with her. She was your girlfriend.”
“I was sixteen and she was putting out on a very regular basis,” he replied. “She does not represent me, my thoughts, or most of the people around Hobbs Creek. I mean, look at Dessie and Clyde. They’re an interracial couple and they’ve been married forever. I don’t know of anyone ever giving them a hard time about it.”
She sighed. “I’m sure they have. But you know what? That’s not even the biggest part of it. I knew Hannah was a bitch the first night I met her. So I’m really not surprised by her behavior.”
“Then why didn’t you stay with me last night?”
She slipped her hands out of his. “Because I don’t know what we’re doing, Tyler. What is this? We’re from two different worlds. Different states. And when this assignment is over, so are we.”
“Is that so?” he asked. “I didn’t know we’d decided on that.”
“We haven’t decided on anything because we don’t talk about it.”
When he didn’t reply right away, she sighed.
“This might be the part where it stops being fun. I didn’t want it to stop. I’m just trying to be realistic.”
She ran her fingers through her hair and tilted her head back. “I’m making such a mess of this. I always make a mess.”
“And I always run,” he said, quietly admitting something he’d always known about himself. “What if we both try something different this time?”
“You’ve been different,” she whispered. “From anything I ever imagined, Tyler West. But honestly, I don’t know.”
His watch beeped and Tyler frowned.
“Gotta go down to help Stephen and the others move the cattle. We’re walking the horses past the corrals today and we want to make sure there’s lots of distance between them.”
“Go,” she said with another sigh. “I understand.”
“I want to finish this,” he told her. “I don’t want to just walk away this time.”
He didn’t know what else he wanted to do where she was concerned. The words weren’t forming, plans weren’t instantly appearing in his mind. All he knew for certain was that he didn’t want it to end.
“I want to do the right thing, for once in my life,” she said and Tyler knew she was talking about more than just being with him.
“How about we get away for a few days? We could drive over to Oklahoma and let you get a taste of their barbeque since you weren’t impressed with my efforts,” he said.
She smiled and that simple action reached deep inside of Tyler, touching every part of him with warmth.
“Barbeque sauce cannot be healthy. If it is, it doesn’t taste good,” she said.
His watch beeped again.
“Go,” she said. “I can get a couple more hours sleep before the crew gets here and I need to get to work.”
“Think about the road trip. We could both use a couple of days away from the ranch and all that’s been going on here.”
She nodded. “I’ll think about it.”
“And I’ll see you around,” he said. Tyler leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. “You’ve become a part of this ranch for me, Gabriella Bennett. I look for you everywhere I turn.”
He rested his forehead against hers and they both sighed.
A few minutes later, Tyler was closing the door to Gabriella’s room. He’d just took the first step when he heard the beeping of the security system signaling that a door or window in the house had been opened. He jogged down the steps and walked into the foyer just in time to see Stephen and two other ranch hands come through the front door.
“What is it?” Tyler asked.
“It’s bad, Tyler. It’s real bad.”
