She closed her eyes for a second and then turned to him. The sun had moved in the sky so she didn’t have to shield her eyes in order to see his face.
“No. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Too bad. I think it might be.”
“I guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that.”
She climbed into her car, started it, and drove down the driveway without turning to look at Brody. She had no idea if he was watching her leave, but she suspected he might be.
It was best this way. Even though she sensed his disappointment, he’d done his best to keep it hidden. But it was best this way. As she drove back to town she repeated that over and over again, trying to convince herself it was true.
Sweet Montana Outlaw: Chapter Nine
It had been nearly a week since Tara had been out to the ranch and they’d spent the afternoon together. He’d scared her. He knew it. He could see it in her face as soon as he’d kissed her.
But he also knew that she’d kissed him back. She’d felt something. But she was scared.
Brody was a patient man. He’d wait. There was something special about Tara Mitchell that he’d never seen in another woman. In some ways, he felt like he was playing with fire. But the fire felt so good. It made him feel so alive. How could it be wrong?
He’d arrived in town and headed straight for the diner where he’d agreed to meet Hunter for breakfast. Things were going better than he’d expected at the ranch despite the little snafu with Tara nearly putting him in jail for something he didn’t do.
Maybe she’d done him a favor. If she hadn’t been so quick to blame him, he never would’ve seen the way Trip and the other ranch hands had rallied around him. It had been a long time since he felt like someone else had his back.
But it wasn’t just that. It was Tara. She had awakened something in him. He hadn’t known her much all those years ago when his sister was hooked up with Doug Mitchell. If they hadn’t had a history between them, Brody knew he’d move harder to pursue a relationship with Tara. She wasn’t just pretty. And yes, she was definitely that. She was amazing, and kindhearted, and hard on herself the way he was with himself.
He’d never seen that as strength before. He’d always imagined that one day he’d find a woman who balanced him out. And maybe that was it. Maybe her being hard on herself made it easy for him to see that same trait in himself. He’d expected it to quiet the beast in him. But now he wondered if that doubt was really a beast at all. He never would’ve questioned this if he hadn’t seen it in Tara.
The waitress brought over a coffee he’d ordered and set it on the table in front of him.
“Should I wait for your friend to arrive?” she asked with a smile.
“Yeah, this is good for now. We’ll both be eating pretty big breakfasts when Hunter arrives.”
The woman’s eyebrows stretched up on her forehead as she smiled. “Hunter Williams? The farrier?”
“You know him?”
She chuckled. “We all do. He eats here most mornings. He does have a big appetite. And he’s a good tipper. Oops I shouldn’t have said that.”
Brody smiled up at the waitress whose eyes twinkled as if she had a crush on Hunter.
“It’ll be our secret.”
She mouthed the words thank you, and then headed off to the back of the counter.
He’d gotten to the diner early just as the owner had unlocked the front door. He knew Tara opened the shop at six. As pathetic as he was, he wanted to catch a glimpse of her. She didn’t want to see him. Not the way they’d been together at the ranch. It didn’t seem right for him to just drop by her store with no reason at all.
She’d called once to say she’d commissioned some pieces for the house with Shana. But they wouldn’t be done for a few weeks. He’d have to wait until Shana was done making the new pieces to have a valid reason to go to her store to see her.
Only one other couple had come into the diner when he had, which left the waitresses waiting together behind the counter for more customers. Word had it that the rodeo was in town today. It had been years since he’d been to a rodeo. There’d be a lot of people from out of town here to attend the event, so these waitresses wouldn’t be waiting long for business.
He took a sip of black coffee and felt it burn as it made its way down his throat. When he set the coffee cup down on the table again, he saw Hunter fly through the diner’s front door, and then search for him. Brody lifted a hand to wave to Hunter and then saw the panicked expression on his face.
Hunter rushed over to the table. “We have to get out of here. Pay for the coffee and let’s go.”
“What’s going on?”
“Just do it.”
Brody quickly pulled his wallet from his pocket, sifted through it, and tossed a ten-dollar bill on the table to cover his coffee. Then he rushed out the door with Hunter, only vaguely aware of the bewildered expression on the waitress’s face as they ran.
* * *
She’d forgotten. On the one morning she hadn’t locked the back door after Norma made her delivery, Tara had forgotten to lock the back door. And someone had snuck in without her knowing. She’d been so busy in her office going over the insurance claim paperwork, to make sure she’d received everything she was supposed to get in order to re-order new stock, that she hadn’t seen him until she’d walked into the store and found him standing by the cash
