“She told me it’s time to start prioritizin’ my own happiness.”
“Always knew she was a smart woman,” he says, an unreadable expression appearing on his face. “What else did she say?”
I’d love to know what’s going through his head right now because he’s the type of man who takes anythin’ spiritual with a grain of salt.
“She told me to keep my eyes open because you never know when the universe might throw a curveball of its own my way.”
Red starts choking then coughing, hitting his chest with his fist as he tries to catch his breath. Thankfully he finds a parking spot quickly.
“You OK there?” I ask, frowning as I hand him a bottle of water from my purse.
He takes a few sips of water but his eyes never leave mine as he does it, and once again, the air between us crackles withsomething. It’s like we’re in a force field and there’s a spring between us coiling tighter and tighter. I felt the same thing when we were up on that knoll the other day too.
After a long moment of silence where we just stare at one another, Red clears his throat and hands the half-empty bottle of water back to me. "Thanks," he murmurs, his voice rough and thick.
I nod, my heart still thudding in my chest as I try to gather my thoughts. The silence between us stretches on and for the first time, I wonder if there’s something he’s not telling me.
Finally, Red breaks the quiet, his gaze intense as he meets my eyes. "Mags, I..."
It’s then that the truck jolts and there’s a thud on the hood. We both snap our eyes forward and I gasp when I see no other than Duck Norris standing on his one leg right in front of us.
“What that f—” I start to say.
“Dammit. Not now,” Red spits out.
"Quack! Quack! Quack!" Then, as quick as he arrived, he’s gone, and it's as if he was never there. He just vanishes. Well,fliesaway. But it's definitely a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of moment.
I turn to Red just as his head swivels my way. “Was that…?”
“I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen him with my own eyes.”
“But we’resofar away from home. How—I mean…how?”
Red leans forward to look out the windshield, then turns to do the same out of the driver’s window. “If itwashim, he’s well gone.”
A startled laugh bursts out of me. “I think we need a drink.”
“I think you’re right,” he replies. He palms his Stetson from the seat between us and nods my way before he hops out of the truck, coming around to my door and opening it for me. I jump down without his help, earning a tell-tale frown that he always shoots me when I do that.
“Careful, darlin’,” he warns deep and low, sending a different kind of shiver down my spine at the sound.
I grin up at him, earning twitching lips for my troubles. Lively chatter and laughter from inside the bar mixes with the low twang of country music that seeps through the walls as we make our way toward the front doors. Red pushes open the swinging door, the smell of beer and barbecue like a rodeo welcome home party.
I lift up on my toes, bringing my mouth to his ear. “So, is this when us oldies let loose and show these young ‘uns how it’s done?”
He wraps a strong arm around my waist, steadying me as we’re bumped and jostled by the crowd. He curls me into him, holding me close, and my mind goes completely blank.
When he looks down at me, his smile is so warm—sosomething—that I realize I don't have a clue what’s happening. "I'm game if you are," he says with a twinkle in his eye. “But first, you’re goin’ to need this.” Then he takes his cowboy hat off his head and plops it down on mine.
I scrunch my nose, confused as all get out. He’s never given me his hat before. He’s never doneanythinglike that before.
The only time I’ve ever seen him give his hat up was the very first night Anna and I met him...
Staring up at him, I open my mouth to ask him what's going on but he beats me to the punch. “C’mon, darlin’. Let’s go.”
Unable to do anything else, I follow him.
But it doesn’t escape my notice that Red sticks by my side like a bee to honey for the rest of the night. And wouldn’t you know it, not a single randy, drunk, looking-for-fun cowboy comes near me.
