Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,88

it.” She shook her head in disbelief. “It helps to have my friends holding me up.”

“Anytime you need it.” Madison gestured behind her. “Ryan okay?”

“I’m not sure. Part of that is my fault. We had a weird morning and then…” She gestured to the shambles of a floor. “Now, this.”

“If it helps, Ryan seems just as gutted.”

“It’s nice of you to stick up for her.” She smiled. “New, in fact.”

“Yeah, well, I’m working on it. So far, so good.”

They shared a smile, and it felt comfortable, and Gabriella needed comfortable desperately. She took note of it for examination later. Madison continued to orbit her thoughts, and she should pay attention to that, right?

She found Ryan outside, leaning against the tailgate of her truck. After a pretty uncomfortable bout of silence, Gabriella took the initiative. “I’m sorry I blamed you. I know you didn’t do this on purpose.”

“Just my irresponsibility.” Ryan smiled ruefully. “Seems to be a theme. You think I’m irresponsible in my personal life and now my job, too.” She straightened. “I get it. I’m no Madison, famous for her brilliance and rock-solid dependability. Put together and well respected.”

Gabriella closed her eyes for a moment, frustrated. “It’s not a comparison.”

“Isn’t it?” Ryan’s eyes flashed.

This wasn’t the time to have this conversation, and now Gabriella shifted to anger herself. “I can’t believe you’re taking the events of today and making them about Madison and me.”

Ryan sighed. “I don’t mean to. It’s probably better if we just—”

“Yeah. Respective corners.” She took a breath. “I’m gonna go clean up. Long morning and afternoon.”

“I’ll be here. Trying to turn all of this around.”

Gabriella walked the path home, amazed at what a difference a few hours could have on her day. She thought about waking up in Ryan’s arms that morning, laughing and deciding on canceling the day and losing themselves in each other. If only they had canceled today.

Then again, maybe everything happened for a reason. Was this the universe’s way of grabbing her by the shoulders and pointing her in the direction she should be heading? With her heart and head in a war for the ages, she walked the path to her cottage, searching for answers that simply weren’t there.

Chapter Eighteen

Ryan sat on her dock alone with her thoughts, a beer, and her dog, who’d already taken a lap through the lake and now lay spent on his side, wet and happy. She was so angry at herself and gutted over the huge misstep at Tangled. She planned to pull some really long days if she had to and call in a few favors, but she needed to be realistic. It might not happen. They had a little more than a week until Gabriella wanted to host the wine club members, so it would take a miracle to pull this off. Didn’t mean she wasn’t determined to make it happen.

What struck her most? Phone silence today from Gabriella. On a normal day, they would have lit up each other’s phones, chattering throughout the day. Yet other than a couple of back-and-forths about next steps for the fiasco, Gabriella had gone silent. Ryan blinked, numb, her gaze fixed on the horizon. The sky glowed purple and orange as the sun escaped this horrible day. In the midst of the turmoil, she’d learned a few things. Gabriella still thought of her the same way she had when they’d met, in spite of all Gabriella’d learned about her, in spite of all they’d shared. Her heart was crushed when Gabriella, her Gabriella, raced to Madison’s arms when things got hard. How was that possible? Ryan now knew one thing for certain—she wasn’t cut out for this, and the farther she let herself go down this path with Gabriella, the worse the damage was going to be when it was all ripped away from her.

Over the next few days, Ryan worked until her body cried out for relief. Some of the subs she needed weren’t available at the drop of a hat, so she filled in on drywall, floor patching, painting, trimming, anything and everything that put her ahead of schedule on her other jobs so she could step away for a couple of days on behalf of Tangle Valley. Finally, she hopped in her rental truck and hit the road east.

Four hours into her drive, her phone rang. Gabriella. Ryan clicked her phone on to speaker. “Hey.”

“Hey, you.” Gabriella’s voice was cheerful, almost as if nothing had changed. How was that possible? “Haven’t seen