Heart & Hope (Rosewood Ranch #2)

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

RUBY

A ddy and I are on either side of Lawson, dragging him in from the cold a heartbeat later, under the adoring smiles of his three brothers.

“Laws,” Hudson says, pulling him in for a one-armed hug.

“Huddo.”

Mack fist bumps his older brother, and Reed slaps him on the back with a quick hug before casting his arms wide. “You like?”

“Reed, this is incredible. Didn’t know you had a flair for decorating.” A shit-eating grin splits his face as he turns to me. “You done good, Ruby. Awesome work.”

“Thanks,” I mutter as heat flushes my cheeks under the weight of all four Rawlins brothers grinning at me. But the excitement is marred by the fact that I messed up. I forgot to check the guest list. It wasn’t Reed’s responsibility, it was mine. And it was missed. I missed it.

I was distracted .

A real-life, real-time consequence brought about by ditching the rules I have lived by for the last ten years. Excusing myself, I do a round to triple-check the run sheet on my phone that I practically have memorized at this point. The catering is rolling out on time. The music is setting the tone and atmosphere as planned, the barn is exquisite, and every guest has arrived, according to the tablet at the bar. Reed must have dropped it off here after seeing everyone inside.

I tap the screen and scroll through the list.

Morley and his two bottom-feeders have a red line through their names. I huff a small laugh. Nice one, Reed.

“Can I get you something?” a deep voice asks from behind the bar.

I glance up to find the bartender from the bar in town. Guess I have a face to the name we hired now.

Tanner Lewis.

“Sure, Merlot, top-shelf.”

He grins at me and nods, walking back as he slides a wine glass from the rack over his head. Mack built that. Reed and Harry built the bar.

Hudson worked on the internal structures and the beams that flank the high ceiling that needed replacing and updated joinery.

It was a team effort. A family effort.

And it came out perfectly.

“You want it on the Rawlins tab?” Tanner says, handing me the glass.

I nod and smile, taking a sip. The heat winds its way down my insides, warming me up. “Lovely, thank you.”

I turn back to find Harry.

“Another whiskey?” I ask.

“Actually, soda water; this old man is driving tonight.”

I turn back to Tanner and order Harry’s drink.

“Well, we oughta get this bird stuck, I reckon’,” Harry says, taking the drink from the bar as it appears.

“We should.”

We wander through the tables, stopping en route to chat with guests before finding our seats. Harry sits by Lou, and she whispers something in his ear. A half smile cracks over his face. Reed has a chair empty beside him at the head table. I slide into it, and he dots a kiss to my cheek and stands, whiskey glass in one hand, fork in the other. He taps the fork to the crystal with a tink tink , and the music softens. Every guest turns, all eyes on him.

He stills, swallowing hard.

His mouth opens, then closes. Shoulders lifting higher than before with each breath.

No. Not tonight . . .

I squeeze his arm and lift the glass from his hand, setting it on the table. He tracks his gaze down. Eyes wide and jaw set.

“Pretend you’re talking to me,” I whisper.

A few breaths later, he sets his focus back to the waiting guests and squares his shoulders back.

One Mississippi.

Two Mississippi.

Three—

“Welcome to R never expected fancy footwork.”

“Thinkin’ about trading up a generation to the old man, Robbins?”

I choke on a laugh. Mack nudges my shoulder with his. But the smile that rose falls, and I shiver, hunkering back inside my coat.

“Come inside, Rubes.”

“Reed’s okay? Getting around to the guests?”

“Come see for yourself.” He jumps down off the truck and extends a hand. I slip my ice-cold one into his. It’s warm and wraps around mine. There isn’t one person in this family who doesn’t seem to have my back. The feeling is so unfamiliar, it aches its way through my heart.

Safely on the ground, Mack wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his warmth. Glancing up at him, tears fill my stupid eyes.

Shit.

“Sorry,” I whisper, wiping them away with the back of my hands.

“Hey, it’s been a long few weeks. It’s okay, Robbins.”

“Yeah,” I utter.

That’s it, a long week. Filled with these amazing people, in this stunning place. And I am set to leave in a few days’ time back to the lonely city. All by myself.

God, I’m a fucking Celine Dion song.

Good Lord.

I roll my eyes, hoping Mack doesn’t catch it, as we walk back into the bright warmth of the barn.

“Hey, sweetheart. You alright?” Lou meets me within a few feet inside. I nod, and she winks at me before turning to study the room. When she looks to Reed, who is standing talking to guests, she says, “What an incredible night.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

“In more ways than one, darlin’.” She squeezes my arm and walks away toward Harry.

“You should be over there. This is your accomplishment, too,” Mack says, retracting his arm from my shoulders and waving at Reed. As if he senses I was looking at him, he turns and smiles at me. And that one look breaks my heart and patches it back together all at once.

“When do you leave?” I turn and ask Mack.

The happiness fades from his face. “Sunday morning.”

Only tonight and tomorrow left. I wrap my arms around him, and he folds me into a hug. “Please be safe.”

“Always am, Rubes.”

When I break the hug, he messes up my hair like the little sister I feel like right now. The one who would do anything to keep him from going back on tour. To save Reed from having to say goodbye to his big brother again. To make sure Louisa’s heart is safe.

But I set my shoulders back, tip up my chin, and dot a kiss to his cheek before striding through the tables and sidling up to Reed. His fingers automatically lace with my own. The couple he is talking to is our first guests from earlier this afternoon, Tim and Denise.

“Oh, love, I am parched. We should grab another drink,” Denise says, meeting my gaze.

“Sure, let’s hit the bar.”

We leave the men to the farm talk and wander to Tanner and order drinks.

“You are one lucky woman, Ruby, he’s gorgeous.”

I chuckle a laugh, dipping my head. “Ah, thanks.”

“No, I’m serious. Nail that down quick. You don’t get that look twice in a lifetime, trust me.” She’s nodding.

I don’t understand.

“What look?”

“The way he looks at you. Babe, that man is a goner. Sorry about my Aussie slang. How do I say this? You’re it for him. That bloke is head over heels for you. Deep .”

She nods, her eyes widening even further on the word deep. I take a long, burning draw of the Merlot that Tanner set beside me. Swallowing, I glance at Reed. He’s moving his hands in the air, describing something to Tim. My heart races, banging on my ribs faster with every beat. I down the rest of the wine and return the glass to the bar a little too hard.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice, love?” She’s studying my face with lowered brows now.

I meet her gaze, sucking in a breath. “We were fooling around, and things got... but—” I choke on the next inhale.

I did tell him I love him. And I meant it. He is the best person I have ever met. I do love Reed, but loving someone isn’t the same as giving up everything for them.

And this is the one thing I can’t reconcile.

Struggling with how to fit both our lives together, I order another glass. Tanner raises an eyebrow.

“Tanner,” I growl.

He holds his hands up, as in okay don’t shoot, and I am sipping on Merlot a minute later, grappling for anything to change the subject, because Ruby Jane Robbins doesn’t settle down, and she sure as hell doesn’t abandon her ten-year plan because of a love hiccup.

But this is Reed .

I don’t know what life will be like without him now.

But I can’t give up on everything I have worked for, every dream I still want. I grew up believing that nothing good comes from choices made on emotion. Let alone love...

Logic over all else.

Achievement over life balance.

I can’t bring Reed down with that way of living. He’s not built like that. It wouldn’t end well for us, for him.

And now, I have an impossible choice to make.