Letting Go (Triple Eight Ranch) - By Mary Beth Lee Page 0,22

ago.” Mrs. Norene told that story on a regular basis, but since Clarissa had been working at Pete’s she’d never seen the woman give Lester any reason to think he had a chance.

Today though, before they left the hospital, Clarissa thought maybe she’d seen a spark of something between the two. She hoped Lester got his happy ending.

Being around the Dillons was changing her, making her soft. Not exactly what she needed.

Now Clarissa was tired, and, strangely, she was happy. She wasn't exactly sure, but she thought the lightness in her heart might actually be contentment.

"You want to stop and eat?" Jed asked, and she almost laughed because right now, in the midst of mass chaos, this felt so normal. Normal was a fairy tale of sorts, and she was living it.

Part of her brain screamed to stop, to get away now. But she pushed that away, decided to enjoy the moment. Reality would smack her around plenty soon, but for now, she could pretend.

A few minutes into lunch, Clarissa knew she’d made a mistake.

She needed to tell Jed the truth. He wasn't her kind of people. He wasn't her kind of anything. Not that she'd lied to him. But sometimes silence was the biggest lie of all.

She put down her tea, took a deep breath and told herself this was for the best.

"You know I've been thinking," Jed said before she could speak, and silently she groaned.

"Yeah, me too."

He put his burger down and indicated for her to go first.

She couldn't do it.

"You go ahead. Mine can definitely wait."

He gave her a long questioning look before continuing.

"You were really good with the kids today. You get them. You understand kid stuff, make them laugh, don't get frustrated when they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

She laughed at the wonder in his voice.

"They're not aliens. They're people only little. And their world shifted yesterday. They need to be able to express themselves."

"See, that's what I'm saying. You laugh with them and hug them, and if they need reproof, you gently steer them in a new direction. When that one little boy went running into the pile of debris near Pete’s, you didn't yell at him, you asked him to come over and play Red Rover. You have a gift."

His words warmed her, made her hurt so bad she almost couldn't breathe. But she couldn't tell him that. Instead she tried to tease. "So what you're saying is I'm childish?"

He surprised her by agreeing. "Maybe there is some of that. When you're with them it's like you miss being a kid."

She bit her tongue to keep from saying I Never Got The Chance. It hurt so bad. How had he seen that in her? His astuteness scared her.

She didn't say any of that.

"I definitely don't miss being a kid. Not one little bit." She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice even though she’d thought she was over the darkness of the past. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from. I just..." she trailed off and then sent the conversation back to him, praying he wouldn't go all deep, prying, talk show host on her.

"Sooooo, you see all these great qualities in me and...."

He studied her face for a long time before answering.

"And that makes me wonder if you'd be willing to help out long-term with the kids at the church while it's being used as a shelter."

Maybe he saw her objections, or maybe, like his mother, he just liked to get his way, but he kept talking, offering reasons why she couldn't say no.

"You can't work at Pete's now. No telling when he'll open up again, and if you stick around the ranch every day, you'll be interrogated by my mom eventually, and I'm going to bring Mack into town tomorrow so she can do her part."

"Her part?" The town was dangerous and devastated, and people's whole lives were lost. Was he crazy? "She's five. What can she do?"

He didn't seem a bit concerned, just ate a fry and kept talking like it was no big deal.

"She can be Mack. Have fun, play, pray with kids, just be herself. Those kids we saw in town today need someone other than the prettiest waitress in Stearns playing with them."

Color suffused her cheeks at his compliment. She was ridiculous. Like a stupid kid. Why did Jed Dillon have to be so nice?

"So back to what I was thinking," he said, not even realizing there was an awkward