Page 34 of Rain or Shine
“No buts about it,” he grunts, interrupting me.
“You know it’s rude to interrupt someone when they’re speaking, right?” I ask, using the tone I reserve for the children in my class who act up. “It’s not nice and sets a precedent over others to think it’s okay to do.”
“Sweetheart, it might be rude, but it’s a necessity at times. We’re not in a classroom, and if I’ve got something to say thatneeds to saying over something that doesn’t matter, I’m gonna say it.”
“You should always let whoever is talking finish what they are going to say,” I point out.
“Maybe, but I think right now you’ve got enough going on in that head of yours to be worrying about me interrupting you. I understand you’re scared and probably trying to pick a fight with me, but I’m not going to be baited into it. So here you go, yes, I got back to your room. We might not be together, but you were still pregnant and scared. I wasn’t letting you handle that shit on your own.”
Okay, so that was kind of sweet of him. Still . . . “Where are you taking me?”
“We’re going to my place, like I said,” he answers, taking a turn outside of town. “This might be good for us. You and I seem to have some things we need to get straight.”
“We don’t have anything to get straight,” I grumble and look out the side window.
“We got a hell of a lot to get straight, Delaney. However, that’s gonna wait until after I get you to my place and you have time to process what happened today. Once you’ve had some rest and gotten something to eat, then we’ll talk.”
Again, I find myself speechless when I should speak my mind.
“We’re gonna need to take some time to get to know each other. I’ll put you up in my room and sleep on the couch,” he grunts, glancing in my direction before adding, “We’ll also be talking about what happened this morning.”
“I’m not talking about what happened.” My heart races at the thought of speaking about it. This morning was humiliating enough, topping it off with the fire this evening, it’s too much for me to deal with right now.
“Sweetheart, we’ll be talking about it, along with everything else. You can count on our conversation being a rough one, but we’ll get through it and figure things out.”
Figure what out? There’s nothing for us to work out. It’s not like we’re together. We’re just two people who ended up in a situation neither of us wanted. The only connection we share is the two children I carry in my body.
“There’s nothing to figure out between us. At least not for now,” I mutter more to myself than him.
Assuming no harm comes to the babies I’m carrying. The doctor might have been able to reassure me at my appointment and at the ER, but that doesn’t mean something won’t happen down the road.
Before long, Tyler’s turning off the road, pulls up to a gate that opens for him, and starts at a slower speed down the very same driveway that I’d been down over a week ago. The sign at the front of the driveway had caught my attention the first time I saw it, though I hadn’t taken the time to admire it. Dustin had told me it was crafted by one of his brothers, who has a gift with wooden carving. Granted, he hadn’t used those words exactly.
Instead of going straight back to where I followed the road to the barn, Tyler makes another turn.
“Do you live on the ranch?” I ask.
“Yeah, makes getting to work easy enough,” he answers, glancing at me with a sly grin. “Being the ranch manager, I need to be around for any emergencies that could pop up. And they happen more than you think they do.”
“What animals are on the ranch?” I’d seenhorses, but nothing else.
“We’ve got cattle and bison right now. A few barn cats, horses, including my horse, Onyx. There’s also a chicken coop and a few goats. Judy likes to have fresh eggs as often as possible and goat milk.”
I stare out toward the house he parks in front of. It’s a quaint two-story farmhouse. You could tell that he’s put work into it. The front porch has white beams and a bench swing.
“The little barn over there,” Tyler says, pointing past the house and off to the side. “It used to be where we kept all the equipment before we were able to build an equipment shed that has a shop attached to it. Now, this one is where I store my toys, not that I have a lot of time to enjoy them.”
“Toys?” I turn to him in confusion.
“Yeah. ATV, dirt bike. Dash is supposed to keep his bike in there, but it usually finds its way parked against the house. I keep the mower in there and anything else I need, so it’s out of the way, along with my tools for working on it all.”
I nod, not really knowing what he’s talking about. I mean, I knew what it all was, but my brothers refused to let me play on any of those things. However, they didn’t have an issue with teaching me to work on my own truck. That was something they figured everyone needed to know how to do at all times.
Tyler parks, turns the truck off, and gets out. I watch him move around the front as I push open the passenger door and start to get out myself.
“You were supposed to wait for me,” he grumbles, helping me the rest of the way, keeping an arm around my shoulders when both feet are on the ground.
“I’m a big girl, I can manage to get out of a vehicle on my own,” I mutter.
