Ruby
Tenor had insisted on cooking—roast and fried potatoes—likely to prove he could after he had shared that he’d been criticized for subsisting on his mom’s food. Growing up eating plain pastameals and heat-n-serve food, I gave zero fucks if he subsisted solely on Mae’s meals. I would too if I could.
After we finished eating, I didn’t let him ban me from the kitchen to help clean up. We worked alongside each other, casually chatting about what he’d done that day. Tenor and his brothers had worked cattle, something to do with vaccinations for the calves.
“How ’bout you?” he asked, hanging a dish towel up.
I wiped off the island. He’d revealed that he ate at the island instead of the table most of the time, so I’d insisted we sit there. “I sent myself some post ideas for the fall.” Waking up in a cabin by the mountains filled me with all sorts of inspiration. “Junie sent me some images. I made some edits for her.” I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “I’m brainstorming what to do when she’s done with her tour.”
“Fewer pictures?”
I nodded. “It’ll be more important than ever to keep her connected with her audience. We’ll work on making her seem like she’s around when she’s not around, you know.”
“I’m actually glad I don’t know.”
I chuckled. “Exactly. I would not want her life. Then I called my mom.”
“She doing okay?”
“Better than okay.” I folded my arms and leaned against the counter opposite him. I’d much rather be chatting Tenor up in his house than trying to get free drinks at the bar. “She finished her hiking trip with Dave—Daniel. This one’s Daniel.”
“This one?”
I pursed my lips. “Mom’s a player.”
His brows shot up. “Not how I expected you to describe her.”
“I think she’s always been hung up on my dad, but one of the good things he did when he was younger was not lead her on.” I fiddled with the end of a lock of hair that had slipped free. “Hesaid he wasn’t ready to settle down, but he’d work to give her child support and take me for a weekend a month.”
“You’re not close with him?”
“Yes and no. We have a decent relationship, but I made the mistake of crying to him when I got dumped for the first time.” I held in my wince.First time.Tenor would wish he could take back that smoldering kiss last weekend. “He said I should quit feeling sorry for myself. ‘Suck it up and move on, kiddo.’” I mimicked Dad’s rough voice.
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, it didn’t feel so good at the time. I think he thought the guy probably had a point when he said that I should broaden my horizons so we had more interests in common.”
“No, the guy was an idiot.”
“Some people just don’t work out.” I didn’t want to defend the men who’d shattered my hopes and insulted me a little in the process, but we just hadn’t been compatible. That was what it came down to. I just wished they’d have told me right away. That particular ex had sulked for two months before he’d finally broken up with me.
I should’ve dumped him after a month.
“My dad told me to suck it up once.” Tenor got a faraway look in his eye. “After... After my last breakup felt like a long line of failures with me as the common denominator,” he finished, using my description.
“Ouch.”
“Nah, it wasn’t quite like that. He mostly meant that I had to come to terms with the reason for the breakup, which was that she didn’t like me for who I really was. He told me to own it. Own everything about me, and that’s what I did.”
“Your dad was a smart man.” I’d never known Darin Bailey, but someone like Mae wouldn’t put up with a douche.
“He was.” Tenor gripped the edge of the island. “He encouraged me to wait before I built this place. To make it something I wanted versus a knee-jerk reaction to Katrina’s words.”
“Katrina?”
His jaw turned to stone. “My last ex. She moved away shortly after we broke up.”
His tone said it all. It was her who’d convinced him he wasn’t what women wanted. It was her who’d made him take himself off the market. What a damn tragedy. I hated her.
