"It's in the past, Daniel." Emily leaned forward in her seat. "Riley doesn't need to know, unless you want her to."
Daniel's dad rested a hand on his shoulder, and his mom studied his face a moment before speaking. "Did something happen between you two? Is that why she wouldn't look at you?" Her eyebrows inched up as she waited for an answer.
It wasn’t his place to tell them what was going on with Riley—not that he knew exactly what was going on with her—but maybe if they could make sense of her behavior, they could figure out how to help her.
He stared at his plate for several long moments before speaking.
"This afternoon...she got something in her eye while she was weed whacking. I stopped the mower and hurried over to see if I could help her." His grip on his fork tightened until the metal dug into his hand. "She...she got really defensive when I touched her. Then she..." Hedidn't want to admit how Riley had laid him out. "She shoved me away and shouted at me to never touch her again."
"Oh dear." Emily's quiet words only added to the puzzlement on everyone's faces. Her gaze shifted to the glass door again, and Daniel’s followed.
Riley had Misty tied to the hitching post and was working on saddling her.
Daniel looked back at Emily. Her frown had deepened along with the worry lines across her forehead.
She knew what Riley's problem was, Daniel was sure of it. But he also knew she'd never tell them unless Riley wanted her to. Emily was good at keeping confidences. He liked that about her.
Daniel looked out at the backyard again. He had no desire to ride with Riley, but a fast ride on Rebel sounded tempting.
His time would be better spent attending an AA meeting, though. Never mind that he went to one three days ago. Besides, after the way Riley assaulted him this afternoon, sitting in a saddle would be mighty uncomfortable.
Feeling overheateddespite the cool spring evening, Riley walked straight to the corral and whistled for Misty. She felt like an idiot for blowing up and storming out on dinner again, but she couldn’t help the agitation and defensiveness that consumed her. At least this time she'd had the foresight to go outside.
Her emotions were like a roller coaster repeatedly plummeting to new depths that left her head spinning every time she turned around. This was not her. She didn’t get angry and act irrationally. But she couldn't seem to stop feeling like she was under attack. Couldn't stop feeling like a victim. Couldn’t stop remembering the things Collin did to her.
She was halfway through saddling Misty when she stopped and considered how her actions affected everyone around her. She practically snapped at Jake every time he talked to her. Her stomachhardened, and she cringed as she recalled her panic attack this afternoon and the way she took out her fear on Daniel. She'd still been so embarrassed at dinner that she couldn't meet his eyes.
The poor man probably thinks I'm psychotic.
She felt like she was losing her mind, so if Daniel thought she was crazy, he wouldn't be far off. She needed to figure out how to stop taking her uncontrollable emotions out on her family though. It wasn’t fair to them, especially when she wasn’t ready to tell them why she was so upset.
A measure of peace settled over her much quicker than she expected as she rode, and she didn't feel the need to ride as long as she did on her first night home. She turned Misty around after only half an hour. Despite taking a nap this afternoon—for which she felt guilty because it left Daniel to finish all the work by himself—she was still exhausted.
She hadn't had a full night's sleep since Collin's attack, and it was taking a toll on her. Taking her frustration out on Daniel's punching bag helped, but she was beginning to think she might not ever be able to put the attack behind her.
A surge of guilt settled like a ten-pound weight in the pit of her stomach after she turned Misty back into the corral with the other stock horses. She owed Daniel an apology. But how did she give him a sincere one without explaining why she freaked out this afternoon?
Trying to formulate the words she needed to say in her head, she headed toward the tree-lined lane that led to the Hamilton's house. She'd walked this path almost daily when she was a child. Sometimes multiple times a day. Once she and Daniel were old enough that their moms didn't feel the need to keep a constant eye on them, they often went to Daniel's house to hang out because his mom spent the bulk of her day at the main house.
Feeling nostalgic, she stepped off the road and into the trees. She chuckled as she remembered how Daniel at eleven years old climbed up three different trees and tied a long rope high up in each. He planned to swing from tree to tree like Tarzan. However, with his firstswing, he couldn't find his footing on the second tree and ended up falling and severely spraining his ankle.
Halfway to Daniel's house, she looked up at the remnants of the tree house that their older brothers had built. Girls hadn’t been allowed inside until their older brothers were old enough to lose interest. Then Daniel and her cousin Damon had to share it with Paige and Riley.
She laughed out loud as she recalled the many arguments she and Paige had with the boys over calling the tree house their princess palace. The boys had stopped talking to them for a whole week after Riley convinced her mom to make pink curtains for their palace. Damon and Daniel's fortress and hideout had been sullied.
Riley was still smiling by the time she reached the Hamiltons' house. She had no idea what she would say to Daniel, but she decided to ask him to join her for a walk. Maybe that would give her time to find the right words.
She was about to step out of the trees when Daniel walked out the front door of the house. His damp hair glistened in the evening sun, and he looked especially attractive in a light-blue button down and dark jeans. Her smile faded when he jumped in his truck and drove down the lane with a squeal of rubber as though he was late for an important date.
Date.
Was Daniel seeing someone? The thought made her stomach sink faster than a rock and her heart hurt a little. She may have walked away from Daniel three years ago, but she'd never stopped loving him.
CHAPTER 8
The next morning, a knock sounded on Riley's bedroom door five minutes before her alarm was set to go off.
"Come in." Her voice came out muffled by her pillow because she lay on her stomach.
