Riley leaned close to her mom and whispered, "What's wrong with Daniel?"
Mom's gaze followed hers. "I don't know. He's been like that ever since he came home last fall. Always broody. Always closed off."
Closed off. That’s exactly what he is. But why?
Over the past three years Riley had only visited the ranch for an occasional weekend a dozen times or so. Except for during Jake and Emily’s wedding early last year, her encounters with Daniel had been brief and uncomfortable, but she'd noticed a change in him. Ever since he broke his leg a couple years ago, he'd been withdrawn and guarded.
She thought it was because she'd broken up with him, but there seemed to be something more bothering him. She did her best to listen to the pastor, but she wasn't very successful in keeping her gaze from repeatedly drifting to Daniel.
Later that afternoon, Riley found herself surrounded by her family again. Sunday was the only day Lottie took off. So Riley's mom, FaithWinters, came to the ranch and cooked for her family. Everyone gathered in the kitchen to help. It was one of Riley's favorite traditions.
There was always so much work to do on the ranch that it was rare for the family to be together for longer than the time it took to eat a meal. Riley enjoyed watching her brothers peel potatoes and toss a salad. It reminded her of how her dad used to help and steal kisses from their mom while they worked together in the kitchen on Sundays.
She missed her father terribly, but it was fun to have two adorable nephews to distract her. In fact, she spent most of the meal prep time in the living room playing with the babies, so it shouldn't have surprised her when her oldest brother Robert decided to grill her the moment they all gathered around the dinner table.
"Jake says you plan on working all summer on the ranch, Ri. What's up with that?"
Riley's defenses immediately rose, and she itched to go for a ride so she could avoid this conversation yet again. She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before giving the response she'd given everyone else. "I needed a change of scenery for a while. So, I took a leave of absence."
"But you have a full-time job with a doctor and patients who rely on you. You can't just walk away from that."
"I didn't walk away from it."
Except she had. She wasn't sure when or if she'd ever be able to go back. Certainly not as long as Collin was around. Would his obsession with her be gone by the time summer ended? As much as she no longer wished to be the target of his attention, she couldn't wish that on any other woman.
"Didn't you?" Robert's raised eyebrow lowered until he studied her through narrowed eyes. "Did something happen with Dr. Nelson, like misconduct?"
As the county sheriff, Robert was suspicious by nature, so naturally, he would jump to those conclusions.
"No. Nothing happened. Dr. Nelson is great to work with!"
"Then why did you come home?" Robert's voice rose in volume.
Their mom held up a hand at the same moment Robert's wife, Jessie, put a hand on his arm.
Jessie spoke first. "Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you need to take a breather."
Riley shot Jessie a look of gratitude. If anyone understood what Riley was going through it was Jessie, whose first husband had physically and mentally abused her. Not that Jessie knew exactly what Riley was going through, but judging by the sympathetic look her sister-in-law gave her, she understood a lot.
Riley's gaze jumped to Emily's next. Once again, the look on her psychologist sister-in-law's face was a combination of I-know-something-is-wrong and please-let-me-help. But Riley wasn't ready to talk yet. She wasn’t sure she ever would be.
Her gaze continued to travel around the table to find everyone's eyes on her, including her mom's, whose brows creased in a deep furrow.
Riley ducked her head and studied her mashed potatoes.
"Robert," Jessie said, "why don't you tell your family about your experience with Mrs. Silverstone this week?"
Riley shot Jessie another appreciative glance when Robert launched into his story about how he'd pulled over the ninety-year-old woman for driving on the wrong side of the road and the public dressing down she'd given him.
Having lost her appetite, Riley itched to go for a ride or even a long walk, but she dug into her meal instead. Her mother wouldn't approve of her excusing herself without even touching her food.
Gratefully, conversation continued around the table with little input from Riley. Once dinner wrapped up, Riley took her plate to the kitchen and quickly helped clean up, intending to break away as soon as she could to go for a ride. But her mom had other ideas.
She followed Riley to her room and stood in the open doorway, arms folded. "Are you okay, honey?"
Riley gave her mom a stiff smile. "I'm fine." When the doubt on her mother's face grew, she went on. "Really, I'm fine. I just needed a break and a change of scenery."
"But for the whole summer?" Mom stepped into the room. "This is so out of character for you. We all recognize that, so we know something's wrong."
