Heart & Hope (Rosewood Ranch #2)

Chapter 33

REED

M a keeps calling my phone. I let it ring out, and then I let it go flat. I’m in no mood for chit chat and even less in the mood for her suggestions. Especially since each one of them ends with me in New York.

Ruby wants space.

She asked for it, straight up. And I am goin’ to give her as much as she needs. Even if it means she never comes home to R & R Ranch. It’s the one thing—scratch that, the only thing I have left to give her. Huddo’s truck rolls into the driveway. And he parks by Harry’s Chevy, which is still my loaner for the next few months while I sort out the insurance garbage. Fucking red tape paperwork shit. Who would have thought that because I wasn’t drivin’ it could make so much of a difference in claimant matters?

When Addy jumps out of the driver’s seat, I lean the rake against the doorframe of the stables.

“Hey, Reed.” She waves as she walks over to the stables. Charlie flies out of the truck and winds through her legs, sniffing the ground. Those two have been inseparable since Addy started her lessons with Huddo. Good for you, devil boy. Her brown eyes find mine, and I freeze. I know they’re not Ruby’s, but since every single damn thing insists on reminding me of the woman I’ve lost, it hits hard.

“Hi Adds, you needin’ something?”

She stops short of where I stand, and Charlie stalks into the stables, nose to the ground.

Her hands land on my shoulders as a grin blooms over her face. “Yup,” she says, tilting her face, “you.”

“I’m tied up here. Can’t Huddo or Harry help?”

She huffs a laugh and shakes her head. “No, Reed, they can’t.”

I sigh and lift the Yankees cap from my head and run a hand through my hair. “What can I do for you, then?”

Her eyes narrow. “You forget what day it is?”

“Friday?”

“Yeah, no. It’s Sunday. Your ma has been trying to call you for hours.”

And the sun is high in the sky, so I’m late as well as moody. “Fuck. Shit, sorry. I’m not really in a Sunday lunch mood, Adds.”

“That is exactly why you should be surrounded by people who love you, Reed.”

She grabs my hand and drags me toward the truck. Charlie flies out past us, giving me the stink eye, no doubt for being in close proximity to his favorite human. I toss a narrowed look back at him, every bit as ridiculous and petty as I feel right now. I slow against Addy’s grip, and she turns back. “Adds, I have guests, I can’t up and leave.”

“They’re grown men and women. You can let them be for an hour or two. Besides, your ma wants to see you.”

I’ve never been able to say no to Ma. Even as a little kid, she could always pry the truth outta me, make me feel better with one hug. Louisa Rawlins has always been my kryptonite. That was, until Ruby Robbins showed up. Or maybe I have two types of kryptonite now?

Urgh.

“Fine, let me grab my phone and change my shirt to somethin’ more respectable.”

“Sure, don’t take long.”

I jog into the house and pluck up my phone from the kitchen counter. I plug it into the power and take the stairs two at a time before swinging around the top of the banister knob and into my room. A minute later, I have a light blue checkered shirt and a fresh white t-shirt. Rolling up the sleeves, I lope down the stairs.

Swiping up the phone, I turn it on. Three more missed calls from Ma. Sliding it into the back pocket of my Wranglers, I readjust my cap and grab my coat from behind the door, walk through, and pull it shut. Charlie is sniffing around the front porch as Addy wanders the yard. She is taking in the fairy lights Ruby hung, staring into the canopy of the trees.

“Right, let’s go,” I utter, reaching the front gate.

Addy shoots me a smile and whistles for Charlie. He’s in her arms a heartbeat later. We pile into Huddo’s truck, and Addy fires her up. She doesn’t force small talk as we drive down the dirt road for Rosewood Ranch. Love her for that.

And when we pull up in front of Ma’s white gate, Addy kills the engine. But she doesn’t make a move to leave the truck.

“Ruby loves you, Reed. I know that for sure. The last few weeks haven’t been easy, I realize. But she does. So much.”

I can’t respond. The stone that has grown over my Adam’s apple is stuck tight. I nod and push the door open and climb out of the truck. Inside, Ma is fixing something in the kitchen, bent over a large steaming pot on the stove. She drops the wooden spoon to the counter when she sees me, rounding the counter to fold me into her arms.

“I was worried,” she whispers.

“Sorry, Ma.”

She hugs me tighter. Harry waltzes through the front door and I hear the words before they leave Ma’s mouth. “Boots.”

He waves her off and slips his boots off, dropping them onto the rack inside the door. The pair beside his dusty ones catches my eye. Tan bottoms, pink tops.

I push from Ma’s hold and scan the house, as if Ruby would be hiding in here somewhere. Did she leave them here last time we came over? My head is so full of running the last few weeks on repeat, I can’t even find the memory of what happened the last time Ruby and I were here.

Dumping his hat on the hook by the front table, Harry pads past. “Guests doin’ okay over there this week?”

“Fine. All three cabins booked for the entire week, trail rides and the likes scheduled for Monday and Wednesday.”

“Sounds like a well-oiled machine to me.” He winks and wanders to where Ma is now checking her whatever-it-is on the stove. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he sinks his face into her hair with a groan.

Right, I officially need to be anywhere else but here. I grab up the basket of cutlery and linen, my permanent assignment for Sunday lunches, and push through the back door.

Huddo and Addy are outside already, Addy on his lap. Hudson’s hands are in her hair as he pulls her down to him and her forehead rests against his.

Sweet Jesus, all this lovin’ could kill a heartbroken man without tryin’.

I dump the basket on the table harder than I need to. Addy jumps but chuckles as she stands to help me with the linen.

“You alright, bud?” Huddo asks.

Fuckin’ hell, not only do I feel like the world’s most heartbroken loser, now I’m back to the useless little brother.

Fuck my life.

“Fine,” I grind out, placing the cutlery around the table while Addy straightens the cloth.

“Smile, Reedsy,” Addy says. “Life is not that bad.”

“Says you, Adds.”

“Shoot, can you grab the beers for me?” Huddo says, bending down to inspect the underside of the table. What is it like broken, or something?

“Whatever. Adds, you want one?”

“Nah, just you two.”

I wander back inside, hoping to steer clear of the happy couples. The back door slams behind me as I pad down the hallway.

“Here, taste this?” Ma says from the kitchen. Someone is getting a sneak peek of whatever is bubbling in that enormous pot, I guess.

“Mmmm.” The soft sound sends electricity through my veins. I jerk to a halt in the hallway, out of sight.

“You like it? It’s a new recipe I’ve been working on.”

“It’s incredible,” the soft and all too familiar voice says.

Her words have me out of breath. My heart sinks into my gut. Leaning against the wall, I close my eyes and listen.

“I’m glad you like it. Maybe we can use it for the catering half our new venture.”

“It’s got my vote, Lou,” Ruby says.

My hands crawl through my hair.

“Brilliant! It’s so wonderful to have you home, hon. Gosh, we did miss you, sweetheart.”

I swallow, lungs burning.

Ruby came back, and nobody told me?

“Thanks for letting me come home, being here with you and Harry was the only place I felt I could sort all this out. You are—” Her voice cracks. Ma must have folded her into one of her famous hugs, because Ruby’s next words are muffled. The sniff that follows tells me Ma has let go.

“Tell me what to do, Lou. Will he ever forgive me?”

“Oh hon, you would have to ask Reed that.”

I push from the wall and wander back through the screen and out into the yard, dazed. She came back. She came to Ma to sort her life out. To have the support she needed to move forward. Part of me is so proud our family could be that for her. And part of me is devastated she didn’t come home first.

“Reed?”

I turn back.

Harry holds a bundle of cold beers and a bottle of whiskey, glass upturned on top. I close the distance and take the beers. “You wanna talk about it, son?”

I open my mouth to respond and close it again as the back door opens and slams.

Ma.

When she reaches me, she cups my face with her hands. “Someone is waitin’ for you inside.” Her smile is pure joy.

I can’t move.

I will move.

Ruby is waiting.

She needed space. And if she needed Louisa Rawlins to help her plan and execute the next stage of her life, then I am happy she has Ma. Sucking in a breath, I push through the screen and walk into the house. The kitchen is empty.

Dining table, also empty.

“Reed?”

I turn toward the soft sound of her voice. She stands by the crackling fireplace. Her wavy hair is around her beautiful face, dark jeans and a dark red checkered shirt, the sleeves rolled up. Her bottom lip slides through her teeth.

“Hey, beautiful,” I rasp over my thundering heart.

Her face breaks, and she presses the back of her hand to her mouth. I jump the sofa and close the distance, and she’s on my hips a moment later. Her hands are on my face, her lips smashed to mine. The scent of strawberries is everywhere. She opens her mouth for me, and I claim her with my tongue. Fingers crawling through my hair, her grip tightens, and she moves my head backward. “Sweet Jesus, I missed you, baby.”

I chuckle, heart so tight it could burst. But I take to studying her face before I say, “You sure this is what you want, Rubes?”

She nods. Her thumbs wander over my jaw. “I went back to the city, and it all felt so foreign. Every single rule I’d made and lived by doesn’t even fit anymore. And then I found something, well, a reminder of it, that is, and I realized I already had the one thing I want.”

“And what was that?”

“When I was ten, my dream was to have a home that I felt like I belonged in, and people who love me unconditionally. I know it soun?—”

“Nope, it sounds perfect.”

Her face lights up and she bites down hard on her bottom lip. The last of the blood supplying my brain floods south, my cock stretching my jeans.

“What are we doin’ here, baby?” I rasp.

“Well, I was making lunch for the love of my life.” She smiles, and it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I claw back the sob that is fighting its way up.

“I’m so sorry I left you,” Ruby whispers.

“Don’t apologize for taking care of yourself, Rubes. Ever.”

“As long as you do the same, okay?”

“Deal. You hungry?”

“A little, but . . .”

“But what, baby?”

“Reed, I don’t wanna fake it anymore.”

Stunned, I stare up at her, wide-eyed. I search her gorgeous brown eyes for any hint of mirth, for some sign that she is playing. But her face is dead serious.

And I find none.