Cal tilted his head. “How about I pick you up at the ranch? That way, if I’m too tired to drive back, I might be able to make use of that couch you’ve spoken so highly of.”
I liked the sound of that even more than the pizza and readily said yes. He waited in his truck until I walked inside, and then drove off with a wave.
We definitely needed to talk about whether there was an us and what that looked like because every moment I spent with Cal Pierce, I found that I was falling for him a bit more. As much as I’ve been concerned about Henry’s feelings, I also had to face the fact that it was my heart in jeopardy of breaking if things didn’t work out.
TWENTY-FOUR
CAL
Ispent the afternoon approving the photos from the photoshoot to be printed for the autograph sales. A couple of the images were on the embarrassing side, especially the ones with the stick pony, but I was in a good mood, and what the hell, it was for a good cause. With his permission, I snapped some pics of the proofs and texted them to my mom and sister, figuring they’d get a good laugh out of them. Then I sent the funniest one to Amy, asking if she thought it would be good for Christmas cards.
I’d spent another night with Amy, though I had to wonder how many more times I could get away with the “slept on the couch” excuse. Laura seemed to accept it but Jake clearly didn’t. I tried to ignore his frowns. Amy was family to them and while I was as well—biologically—that didn’t give me any sort of pass, since we’d only just met.
Truth be told, no matter who disapproved, I wasn’t sure I could stay away from her. We clicked in a way I’d never experienced before. The sex was great. Phenomenal, in fact. And the emotional connection only seemed to grow. But I kept getting the sense that she was conflicted about something. Several times I’d thought that she was onthe verge of saying something, then she would abruptly change the subject or start kissing me. I hadn’t minded that, but what wasn’t being said nagged at me.
While Amy was uppermost in my thoughts, the entire Thorne household was on my mind all the time. I liked my biological mother and half brothers. They were good people and despite the initial shock at my appearance, they’d welcomed me into their lives. And then there was my nephew, Henry. He was a great kid, lively and eager to learn everything I could teach him about riding. He was also easy to love.
Spending so much time around them, I felt like I was being sucked into a comfortable and happy vortex, which made me uneasy since I knew it couldn’t possibly last. I worried that they would get too used to me being around and that they’d be disappointed when they discovered I started to feel trapped whenever I stayed too long. So what options did that leave us for a relationship going forward? I wasn’t sure, but I knew I had to figure it out, especially when it came to Amy.
I needed some perspective.
Me:Yo man, what are you up to?
Rafe:My own version of hell.Rafe included a photo of a stack of student papers, many of which were already marked up with his scrawl.
Me:Bit harsh, if all that red ink is any indicator.
Rafe:Deserved. All of it.
I shook my head at that. While Rafe had been a great mentor for me when I’d first started out on the rodeo circuit, he’d been what my mom would’ve called “a harsh taskmaster,” and it was clear that that carried over to his teaching style He held all his students to high standards and had almost gotten into some tussles with angry fathersdemanding he change their sons’ grades so they won’t get suspended from sports teams or other extracurriculars.
Me:Well I thought I’d invite you to dinner, but since you’re busy…
Rafe:When and where?
“Howdy, friend.” Rafael clamped his hand on my shoulder when we met up at the Roundup. “I’m not feeling the bar tonight. Let’s get a table.”
We made our way through the tavern, stopping to talk with a few other patrons before taking a seat at a booth toward the back where it was quieter.
“How goes the battle with the textbook company?” I asked after we’d placed orders. Rafael gave a casual shrug and I thought I saw a flush come to his face. “Any luck?”
“I’ve been talking with Gail,” Rafael said, and I didn’t miss the first name usage. “She’s intelligent, knowledgeable, but her perspective is different from mine.”
“How so?” I took a sip of the beer the server brought me.
“I want history unvarnished, if you know what I mean,” Rafael said, his fingers tightly gripped around his beer bottle. “If it’s good, show it. And if it’s ugly, show that, too.”
“And that massacre is an ugly piece of history?” I had looked up some of the details since we’d last spoken about it. There was even a monument to it.
“Yeah, but it’s also an important example of some of the soldiers’ moral resistance to what they were ordered to do. People have this limited viewpoint that the US military is filled with people whoblindly follow orders, and that isn’t true. The most notable example was the reactions to the Vietnam War, but it goes back centuries and if you keep glossing over it, the truth gets buried. That’s a travesty,” Rafael said, and I had to admire my friend’s attitude.
“Did you tell her that?” I asked.
“Sure, and she reminded me that textbooks are a multi-million-dollar business. She has to walk a fine line between representing history accurately and avoiding angering school boards that might decide to go with a different publisher entirely. She made some good points, which I have to respect,” Rafael said the last grudgingly. “But I’m not giving up. Don’t think that for a second. I want to talk with her in person. Maybe if I do that…”
Rafael seemed too reserved, too accommodating considering how angry he’d been. “What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.
The flush returned to Rafael’s tanned skin. “She’s distractingly gorgeous. Here, see for yourself.” He pulled his phone out and passed it to me, showing an Instagram profile of a woman in her early thirties with long ebony hair and a killer body. I took the phone and flipped through several images before passing it back.
