“No. I hid it well. From myself, as much as anyone. Sometimes the status quo feels easier in the moment.” The corner of her lips turned up in a fishhook grin, but the humor it held was dark.
He glanced to Lincoln. To Ryder and Claire. “I know the feeling. Risks are exactly that. And I haven’t taken nearly enough of them.”
“Exactly.”
He glanced to Patricia and back to Haley. “Ready?”
“It’s well past time.”
Decked out in a midnight blue gown with a sharply square neckline, she had her arm linked with Bill’s and was laughing with her friends at some clever comment. Didn’t matter what it was, she knew how to play the game. Grady handed her a beer as they reached her, and she turned to smile at him. “Hello, Grady. Haley,” she said, a hint of warmth in her smile.
“Mother.” He nodded and took a slow sip, watching her over the rim of his glass. “You have turned what could have been a disastrous evening into a magical event. The atmosphere is somewhere between a glamorous nineteen-forties film and a calm evening in a mountain cabin.”
“Thank you.” She beamed, the shock evident in her squinty expression. “Are you able to relax after your ordeal?”
“Absolutely,” he said, a fire brewing in his gut that had nothing to do with the octane of the IPA.
Bill rubbed a hand over his bearded chin and laughed as he spoke. “We had some excitement around here.” He nodded to Grady and flashed him a twinkly eyed grin. “Our Grady is quite the hero.”
As only the most loyal, capable, and easygoing of Patricia and Bill’s friends had braved the roads to appear, most of the guests actually seemed to be likeable people, which probably said something decent about his mother and stepfather. Actively avoiding their social events, Grady couldn’t say what his parents were actually like around others.
Grady shrugged, not knowing how to respond without risking Claire’s comfort by giving something away. Even armed for battle, he wouldn’t risk her.
He didn’t have to. Bill laughed every few sentences, describing how the blizzard had turned treacherous. “Sweet girl, but a desert flower through and through. She’d never driven in the snow and had taken a rear-wheel drive out hiking. Well, she called within two hours of the snow hitting, and it was already so thick you couldn’t see ten feet in front of you—”
Patricia tensed and added, “And, well, we were all so worried about her. Our boys didn’t hesitate.”
Mrs. Olsen from the school board asked, her cheeks puffed with a dimply grin. “I thought I heard a rumor she was engaged to Ryder. Did he rescue her?”
Bill shook his head and powered on. “He was about to, but Grady’s got a good rig and was on the road in a flash.”
All eyes landed on Grady. Mrs. Olsen beamed. “So brave, driving in that storm to rescue your brother’s fiancée. I would imagine the visibility made the drive quite dangerous.”
Before he could talk, he caught Claire heading over, Ryder at her side. Oh boy. He cringed, imagining the epic awkwardness if the subject didn’t change. Fast.
Bill chortled over his beer and said, “I’ll say. But a little danger never stopped Grady. Now, Lenore, I didn’t say she was engaged to Ryder. I’ve heard that rumor as well, but...”
Grady cringed, dreading the next words from his stepfather’s mouth.
Patricia’s head whipped from Grady to Claire to Ryder. And back to Grady. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw so tight he risked the integrity of his molars.
Ryder started talking before reaching them, his voice merry and raised as he said, “Mrs. Olsen. It has been too long since I saw you last. Staying out of trouble, I hope?”
“Oh, you know me.” She giggled in response, another sucker for Ryder’s famous dimples and dashing smile.
“Have you all met Claire yet?” he asked the crowd. “Doc Parson just hired her on.”
Pia, an equestrienne friend of Patricia’s, equally tall and ramrod postured, marveled with what looked to be a genuine smile. “I heard about that and am so thrilled. Claire, we are regulars. I am sure we’ll be seeing you out in the stables often.”
“I will look forward to it,” Claire said as she shook her hand. “This is such a beautiful area. I’m so lucky to be able to settle here.”
Mrs. Olsen introduced herself to Claire and held firm with both hands wrapped around Claire’s one. “We are lucky to have you join our community.” She shifted one hand to Ryder, so she held both and beamed. “And to have you convince our Ryder to come home.”
Awkward didn’t begin to describe the cavernous pause. Ryder opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to change his mind and closed it again. Claire’s smile suspended on her expression as if she’d frozen in the blizzard after all. Grady feared Patricia would collapse straight over backward if he so much as nudged her.
Still amused with every word he spoke, Bill cleared his throat and chuckled. “I’m not sure anyone could convince Ryder to give up his career and come home to our little town.” Bill glanced to Grady and winked, his smile jolly and eyes lit up.
Haley patted Bill on the shoulder and laughed out loud. “I told Ryder he was going to confuse everyone. It would certainly be an intriguing mystery for those that don’t know Ryder very well. Claire and Ryder are roommates down in Phoenix. And, naturally, excellent friends, but nothing more.”
