few kernels, she said, “Is the boy here?”
My cheeks immediately flushed at the mere mention of Ray, and she hadn’t even said his name. “My parents told you what happened last Friday?”
With a cringe, she nodded. “I think your mom was just caught a little off guard. I bet she’ll come around.”
I reached over and pulled some of her smooth red hair back from over her ear.
“What are you doing?” she asked, leaning away.
“Checking to see where your marbles are! You’ve obviously lost them.”
She batted her hand at me, laughing. “Come on, she was a teenager once. She snuck out our bedroom window to see your father her fair share of times.”
My eyebrows flew up. “My mother?”
She nodded. “Mhmm.”
“Snuck out?” Rosie had to be kidding.
Again, she nodded. “If anyone knows what you’re going through, it’s me. Our parents were the picture of strict.”
“Apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” I muttered.
“So what about the guy?” she asked. “Was he totally overwhelmed?”
“Actually...” I paused. “Promise you won’t tell Mom?”
She wiped her hands off, then took my own. “As long as you’re not hurt or in danger, it stays between us. Okay?”
My chest already felt lighter. “In that case, he asked me to see him at his family’s ranch this weekend.” I cringed, bracing myself for an answer I didn’t want to hear. “Can I go?”
“Of course!” she cried. “I’m so excited for you! Honestly, I keep telling your mom she keeps you too locked up. You need to get out! Live a little. Be a teenager before you go to college and go wild because you’ve never been able to test your limits in a safe way.”
I took in her face, so like my mom’s, but the words coming out were so different I almost couldn’t believe them. “Really? You mean it?”
She nodded, then leaned in conspiratorially. “But only if you’re back before dark and tell me everything after.”
I promised her I would, and for the rest of halftime, she asked me about him. I told her everything that made it so hard to stay away. How kind he was, how he kept the other boys from picking on me, his dry sense of humor, and finally how big his heart was for his family.
That was how I found myself driving to the Sadler Ranch Saturday morning with two soy lattes and muffins from Seaton Bakery and murder mysteries playing through the speakers.
My heart beat faster the closer I got to his house. The second the brown home came into view, my heart practically vibrated in my chest. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic, but then he stepped out ‘the front door, and I was a goner.
He had on the Wranglers I loved so much, and a cowboy hat rested low over his eyes. He belonged on the cover of a country music album. Or in my arms. Immediately.
I parked my car, trying to play it cool, and turned it off. The hot air from the heater stalled, but I still felt warm with his blue eyes on me.
I grabbed the muffins and coffee and got out of the car. “Thought you might like some breakfast,” I said as he approached.
He nodded and took one. “Thank you. Let’s eat it in the truck while I check cattle?”
My lips quirked. “Of course.”
He walked beside me to the truck and opened the door for me. He even held my hand as I got in.
The cold leached through my coat, and I shivered as he walked around to the driver’s side. He got in and fired it up. “Sorry it’s cold,” he said. “Should warm up quick, though.”
“This should help.” I lifted my latte to my lips.
“What is it?” He indicated our drinks.
“Only the best soy latte you’ll ever have in your life.”
“Do you mean the only one?” He sampled it and lifted his eyebrows. “Not bad.”
“Wait,” I said. “That’s your first soy latte?”
“Guilty,” he said, resting it in the cup holder.
Shaking my head, I said, “You have so much to learn.”
“So do you.”
“Like what?”
“Have you ever driven a tractor?”
My heart bottomed out thinking of the giant piece of machinery I’d seen him drive last time we were here. I could only imagine the amount of damage I could do. “No, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He grinned. “Good. Bad ideas are the best kind.”
The way his lips moved around his words made me realize I was going to do anything he suggested, bad idea or