Page 79 of All of Us

Jacob, what's going on? He means so much to me.

JACOB

Yeah. I have feelings too.

We are at the dude ranch tomorrow.

I’ll text again as soon as I can.

I promise to figure it out.

DUSTY

Okay. ILY

JACOB

ILY. Miss you. <3

Joe walked out of the bathroom, his hair damp, and he didn’t wear a shirt. I wanted to hold him, love on him, show him what he means to me. He went to the other bed, pulling the comforter down.

“Sleep in this bed with me? I’ll keep you warm.”

He continued to get the other bed ready for sleep. “I’m tired.” Then he climbed into bed and turned away from me.

I went to the bathroom and washed up. When I returned to the room, I turned off the light, but could still see Joe. Watching him for the longest time, my heart beat hard and then flip-flopped when I thought about how much I wanted him—needed him. How can I fix this?

Getting into my bed, I rolled so I looked at his back. I wanted to reach out. This sucked. Emotionally, I ached because losing him was the worst thing that could ever happen. At 2:00 a.m., I woke up to Joe standing between the beds looking at me. I lifted the covers and made room for him.

There was a huge sense of relief when he climbed into bed with me. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him tight against my chest, not planning to let him go. His hand slid up and linked with mine. Now I could sleep because this was how it was supposed to be.

The alarm woke us around 9:00 a.m. We didn’t have to be at the ranch until 11:00 a.m., and Joe would start by taking pictures of the guests as they arrived. I hoped that things would feel better today. This wasn’t the time or place to tell him how I felt, and I still had no idea how that would fit with my feelings for Dusty. We had the week to work and interact with each other, maybe we will find the words over that time.

The drive to the Apple Creek Dude Ranch was pleasant, but we only discussed what was happening over the next week. This ranch catered to the rich, and you could see that as soon as you pulled in. All the ranch hands were dressed in matching clothes and promptly waved me toward the stables. Joe got out of the truck and went to the front desk.

I unloaded Dusty and Amber and got them settled in a stall together. Tonight we would sleep in one of the guest rooms, and then be on the trail at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. After Joe met with the owner about the pictures they needed, we were handed a bag filled with BBQ to take to our room. As I set out our dinner, I missed Joe even though we had been together all day. He hadn’t talked to me, other than things absolutely necessary.

“Are you excited about tomorrow?” He looked up at me.

“It’s going to be amazing to go out there and get pictures. I’ll make sure to get some good shots of Dusty, you can frame them.”

I looked forward to that.

“Is there something I’ve done to upset you, Joe?”

He had too much of my heart for me to let what we had slip away, and it felt like I was going to have to have a heavy hand.

“I’m not upset.”

“Are you sure? I felt like we were building something between us, but something has changed, and I can’t help but point out again that it started after we spent time with Dusty.”

He looked at me for a long time as he finished his dinner.

“Dusty and you are a great part of my life. I’m really glad we could be together. It was fun.”

Fun? This was his response? It was fun? “You know how I feel about you.”

“I do. You also have feelings for Dusty.”