Page 33 of Love for the Cowboy
“You’ve helped me, Garrett. You’ve done the biggest thing I’ve ever asked for without a word of complaint. You don’t have to keep trying to do that.”
“Doing what?”
“I don’t know, just trying to, you know, do everything for me.”
“I’m not trying to do everything for you. But I’m trying to be helpful because we’re together now. I told you I made a commitment, and I would follow through. That means helping you however I can. Besides, what would my parents think if I didn’t take care of you?”
“Maybe the same thing your mom thinks of me for not making you breakfast.” Elise gave him a pointed look.
“Touche,” Garrett said, playfully pointing his index finger at her. “So what kinds of things will you fix me for breakfast?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll ask your mom if I can come to breakfast for a while to learn from her,” Elise grinned slightly wickedly.
Garrett smiled back at her. “Sounds like a great idea.”
* * *
Garrett couldn’t believehow he was enjoying himself. He and Elise hadn’t spent this long just talking since they were in high school. Every once in a while he saw glimpses of the girl he had known back then. She looked the same, but so much had changed since then.
“Do you remember the summer before our senior year when we all took that trip to the lake?” Garrett asked.
“Absolutely, I do. Wasn’t that when Jordan and Luke decided everyone should jump off that bridge?”
“Oh yeah, that was amazing. But you didn’t jump, did you?” Garrett asked.
“No, I was the responsible one who stayed behind to watch the boat” Elise said, lifting her chin in the air.
“Even though you didn’t have a boat license or know how to get back to the marina?”
“Well, yeah.”
Garrett laughed. “Super responsible to help out by planning to drive without a license.”
“I wasn’t exactly planning to drive. I was going to call for help.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense. I’m glad someone thought of that, even though we didn’t need it. We were a little crazy.”
“I was used to all of those crazy ideas by then. You and your friends were always coming up with those things to try.”
Garrett rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I guess we were.”
“Honestly, I was so used to your jokes and stunts, that’s what I thought you were doing when you asked me to prom.”
Garrett sucked in a breath as he cut his eyes at her. She bit her lip and looked down as if she hadn’t really meant to say that.
She waved a hand in the air. “We don’t have to talk about that, though.”
“What do you mean? You didn’t really think it was a joke, did you?”
“Um, well, yes. Kind of. I mean, I knew we were friends, and we could go together as friends. But you said it in front of the other guys, and I didn’t think you were serious. When they egged you on, I thought maybe they put you up to it as a prank to see what I would say.”
“I would never do that,” Garrett said, feeling sick to his stomach.
“I didn’t think you did it to be mean, just a little joke since you had never asked a date to any of the dances before.”
“I’m sorry you thought that even for a second. I considered you a good friend, and I didn’t want to miss out on my Senior Prom. My mom would die if I didn’t go or if I went alone. I just thought it would be fun for us to go together since you weren’t part of a couple either.”
Elise tucked a hair behind her ear as she looked out the window. “I know. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
