“That’s not fair, Mom,” Skyler protested, but his voice sounded weak and pathetic to his own ears. It wasn’t fair. It was the furthest thing from fair. But at the same time, as much as Skyler hated it, she had the upper hand. She always had the upper hand, because that was how she arranged things.
“Well, if you don’t care about your own sister’s wedding …” She let her voice trail off, and Skyler shut his eyes and fought down the urge to scream. If this were just him, he would probably tell her to go straight to hell and stop taking her calls. This was absolutely unacceptable behavior. But this was Hannah, his little sister, and it was the first time that he had had even half a chance to see her since he’d left home. They’d been so close as kids growing up, but she had taken that from him.
“I’ll think about it,” he replied and then hung up the phone quickly before she could say a word. He didn’t want to hear whatever she would say.
What could he do in this situation? She was going to ask him something that he didn’t want to do. Probably something to do with a girl, since she had been, on a weekly basis, trying to set him up with someone, anyone, as long as she had breasts.
Well, she wasn’t going to force him into a decision. Maybe he could get the money together, hire a private investigator to find her. He didn’t have any of those skills himself, but some people did, right?
He had to think there was something he was missing, though, something that should be obvious. But he just shook his head and went back to his spreadsheets. He had time before he had to make up his mind to decide what to do.
And in the meantime, he had work to do before he went out with Craig. A lot of work. But she had, in her standard way, derailed his train of thought, and it took him a long time to get back into the spreadsheets.
It felt like he had just managed to do it when a knock came on the office door. But it was probably longer than he’d thought because when he raised his head, he saw that it was Craig, and they had agreed to meet at noon by the barn. He had lost two hours, nearly, since he had hung up on his mother just after ten.
Craig looked good. He had put on a pair of tight jeans, rather than the cargo shorts that he normally wore, and a flannel shirt. It was easy to forget that Craig had grown up on this ranch just as much as Malcolm had, but the man had even found a pair of leather boots and a Stetson hat that made him look every bit as much of a cowboy as his older brother did.
It was a good look on him. It suited his rugged, masculine features.
“Howdy, partner,” Craig drawled, his tone so over the top that Skyler couldn’t help but smile a little bit. “You didn’t forget, did you?”
“No,” Skyler said honestly. “I just got caught up in work.”
“Then I reckon it’s just about time for us to get out of here,” Craig replied, still in that exaggerated southern drawl that no one around here actually used. Actually, probably no one anywhere spoke with that thick of an accent, which was far more Texan than anything from Kansas.
“Yes,” Skyler agreed, and he rose from his chair, the smile still lingering on his lips. And that felt so good, after the morning he had had. It felt so incredible just to allow himself to smile.
Four
Craig
Was this some sort of sign that he should catch a clue?
Craig waited by the barn, where he and Skyler had agreed to meet. It was the hottest part of the day, but Craig had that covered. There was a spot right down by the creek, one where the Hart brothers had gone to play when they were growing, nicely shaded by a big old willow tree. It would be the perfect place to be on this scorching day.
But the minutes ticked by, each one feeling more like an hour. Five minutes, and then ten, and Skyler wasn’t there. Which brought him back to his original question, should he just accept that Skyler wasn’t interested? Had Skyler just agreed to come with him out of politeness, or feeling trapped, not because he actually wanted to hang out with Craig at all?
Probably. Only there was one little thing niggling at Craig, tugging at the edges of his consciousness until he acknowledged it.
Skyler, when Craig had pulled his attention back to him during their dance, hadn’t made some sort of polite excuse, as would be more socially acceptable. Skyler had, calmly but bluntly, told Craig exactly what was going on.
If Skyler really didn’t want to come with him, he would have just said that. He likely wouldn’t have been cruel about it, but he wouldn’t have agreed. Or was that Craig just trying to deny what was right in his face?
He didn’t think so. He really didn’t. Maybe it was a delusion, but that was what had him walking away from the barn and into the house. He knew where Skyler worked, and a smile touched his lips, one that he couldn’t help, when he saw the small, beautiful man intently leaning toward the screen, lost in a world of numbers that would largely be a blur of meaninglessness to Craig.
He’d been right. Skyler had just gotten lost in his work, and a tension that he hadn’t even realized was there relaxed from around his heart.
Maybe that was why he went over the top with the Southern drawl, one which was so extreme that it didn’t have any place even in the heartland of Texas. Relief had made him giddy, but the good thing about his personality type was that it was likely no one would even notice.
Only Skyler might. Skyler was looking at him, and when Skyler looked at someone, he seemed to see everything. It was a thought that both thrilled and terrified Craig. There were things that he felt that he wasn’t sure he wanted Skyler to see. Or was it what he wanted more than anything?
They walked together through the parched yellow grass, and it was a relief to reach the relative coolness of the huge, airy barn. It wasn’t more than a few degrees less in here, but it was still a nice change, and Craig sympathetically smiled when he saw the light sheen of sweat on Skyler’s face.
“You okay?” he asked, as he chose two horses and led them out to be saddled. He didn’t know these particular horses, but he was a decent judge of mounts. He had learned when he was a kid, and it was apparently one of those things like bike riding. It just came back to him. He picked the gentlest one, the one with the kindest eyes, for Skyler.
“I’m not used to this,” Skyler admitted. “It’s different in Seattle. Colder. And it rains all the time.”
“Don’t worry,” Craig replied. “I’m taking you somewhere you’ll be more comfortable. Do you know how to saddle a horse?”
