She shoved her hands in her jeans pockets and rocked back on her heels. To her credit, she didn’t grin, even though she knew she’d won. “All right. But I’ll drive separately and meet you at the boutique. I want to spend as little time in a damned bridal shop as possible,” he grumbled.
“Okay.” Except for a little twitch in her bottom lip she remained deadpan.
He had to grin. “And, by the way, well played.”
“It was pretty easy.” Sara grinned back but then tilted her head in question. “Look, it’s obvious that you care about Addison. Why are you fighting it tooth and nail?”
“Addison is coming off a broken engagement and starting a new business. I’m trying to figure out whether I want to go back to investment finance or maybe move back to Cricket Creek. Not to mention that I’m a country boy and she’s from Cali. We are worlds apart.” He positioned his hands wide to demonstrate.
“So, you’re considering moving back?” she asked hopefully.
“The operative word here is
Sara walked over and hoisted herself up onto the open tailgate. “Keep going.”
Reid leaned one hip against the edge. “That’s not enough?”
“Nope.”
Reid sighed. “That so-called ivory tower I was living in wasn’t such a great place, Sara. Being in finance while the country was in a recession really sucked for me. I know I never came home all that much, but, Sara, I didn’t do much of anything but try to find ways to keep clients from losing their hard-earned money. And I pretty much failed.”
“None of that was your fault.”
“It sure as hell felt like it.”
“I’m sorry, Reid. I had no idea what you were going through.”
Reid grimaced. “That was my fault too. I should have reached out, but instead I sort of retreated into a shell like a damned turtle.”
“And here I thought you had turned your back on us when we needed you most.”
“I’m sure that’s how it appeared. But I worried every night about the fate of this farm. I worried about Jeff tossing everything away for a music career. I agreed with Mom that he should stay on the farm and help, and that Braden should stay in school. What I should have done was encouraged everyone to go after their dreams, but I didn’t. I’m doing the same damn thing to you now.” He swallowed hard and looked away.
Sara reached over and covered his hand with hers. “It’s because you care.”
Reid gave her a small smile. “After coming back here to the farm I’m not so sure that I want to go back to Lexington and work in an office. In other words, I don’t know which end is up anymore. I shouldn’t get involved with anyone until I get my own life straightened out.” He raised his eyebrows. “Enough now?”
“Look, I know that you want everything to fit into timelines, graphs, and charts. But life isn’t like that. Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself. I loved teaching and I love this farm. Now I get to combine those two things every day. Dad has a blast with the kids and it’s helped his health. You know that Mom preaches that everything happens for a reason. I’m not so sure I buy into that . . . more like when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” She grinned. “And add some vodka for good measure. Sometimes you just have to make life your own personal cocktail.”
Reid laughed. “Yeah, well, if you’d put my life on a timeline there are more valleys than peaks. My plan was to invest and make enough money to help Mom and Dad keep this place. For a while my plan was working really well. I invested my own money with more risk than I advise with clients, and the payoff was big . . . until the stock market crashed and I lost my ass. Then the loss was bigger.”
Sara frowned. “Are you in financial trouble, Reid?”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. This part was hard to admit. “No, but I was for a while. Over the past couple of years I’ve recouped most of my
Sara tilted her head and smiled. “Well, baby brother, the good news is that you have a lot of life left to live. It’s time to get out of the valley and start climbing that big ole mountain again.” Her smile faded a bit. “Hey, I reached rock bottom when Blake broke my heart by cheating on me. But Cody came along and he’s such a good man. I’m so much better off and I love him to pieces. Your time will come but you have to be open to it and keep that big head of yours poked out of your shell, because it might come when you least want it to or expect it. So toss your timeline out the window and take a leap of faith.”
He chuckled. “And what if I land on my ass with a big fat splat?”
“Are you referring to the time when I promised you the tree branch would hold you?”
“Yeah, to rescue that damned cat of yours. The branch broke.”
“But you saved the cat.”
“And your point, teacher?”
“You got a little bit bruised.”
“And scratched by the cat.”
Sara winced. “Maybe I shouldn’t have used that example.”
Reid gave her shoulder a brotherly shove. “I’m pulling your chain. I might have hated that cat, but you loved it and so a few scratches and bruises were worth it.”
“See, now we’re on the same page. Look, I don’t know if Addison is the right one for you. But don’t shut yourself off from the possibility. It’s obvious that you’re attracted to her and you care about her too. That’s a pretty good start.”
“Yeah . . .” He flicked his gaze away from her and fell silent.
“Okay, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Addison proposed this . . . thing.”
“What thing? Talk to me, Reid.”
Reid wasn’t sure he should tell Sara. After all, Addison seemed to have already reconsidered. Plus, it was kinda of weird talking about this with his sister. “Nothing. It was stupid, anyway.”
“Hey, it’s your twin you’re talking to. I won’t breathe a word to anyone. I promise. Not even Cody. I also won’t let up until you tell me, so you might as well save us some time and spill.”
Reid looked at Sara. “Addison wanted us to have this sort of no-strings-attached kind of deal. I told her I’d been off the market for a long time and was rusty at, well, the whole flirting or whatever bullshit. She wanted a sort-of pretend boyfriend, a rebound guy to keep her from making another big mistake. And she would be kind of my introduction back into dating.”
“And you said yes?”
“Sort of. But I haven’t heard a peep from her all week.”
“Did you call her?”
“Hell, no. I wanted to give her time to reconsider her stupid plan.”
“Wait. So you agreed but you think it’s stupid?”
“Hell, I don’t know, Sara. Yeah, sure it’s stupid, but I don’t know. It does have some merit, I guess.”
“Well, she probably thought you had backed out.”
“Oh crap. You think so?”
Sara nodded. “Um, yeah. Even in this day and age girls still wait for guys to call first.”
“So, what do
“I think both of you just need to quit being so scared. You don’t need any so-called plan. Just hang out. Get to know one another. It’s pretty simple when you get right down to it.”
Reid blew out a sigh. “What if she won’t do that? Should I agree? I mean, I don’t want to put my heart on the line for some game she wants to play so that no guys approach her.”
“Do you want other guys to approach her? It sure didn’t seem like you wanted her to hang out with Zack.”
“Zack is an ass.”
“You are avoiding the question even though I already know the answer.” She swung her legs back and forth while staring him down.
“So, what the hell do I do?”
