Yes, she did. Riley fit into his arms as if made for him. And he planned on keeping her there forever.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
When they returned to the cabin, Riley’s phone rang. Not knowing the number, she answered it cautiously. “Hello?”
“Hi, Riley. It’s Rachel. Rebecca, Delaney, and I decided to have tea. Why don’t you come join us?”
She crinkled her nose. Unable to picture the two women she knew sitting at a tea table, sipping daintily from teacups. The third one she didn’t know well enough to imagine. “Ummm. I’m sorry. I don’t know. Tara has to finish her essay, and I need to make dinner,” she made the excuse.
“You can’t stay in the cabin forever. Come join us,” Rachel insisted.
Garrett motioned for her to wait, and she said, “Can you hold on for a moment?”
“Sure,” Rachel replied.
“I have paperwork to finish. Go join them. It’s time you made friends,” he encouraged.
But she didn’t plan on staying. She bit her lip and decided one time wouldn’t hurt. She put the phone to her ear. “All right, when?”
“There’s our girl,” Rachel said smugly. “Be here at three. Don’t worry. Delaney insisted I don’t make anything and brought tons of snacks. Rebecca’s returning from shopping with Megan. Julio will pick you up and swing by to take his daughter home.”
“If you think of anything I can bring, please let me know,” she said before hanging up. She turned to Garrett. “They invited me for tea.”
“You’ll have a great time. What’s the issue?”
“I need to wash the dress Rachel gave me. It’s the best one I own,” she told him, rushing to her laundry basket and grabbing the item. She loaded it into the machine and put it on quick wash. “She said not to bring anything, but I don’t want to come empty-handed.” Riley opened the fridge, searching for something to take.
Garrett closed the fridge while Riley bit her nails, agonizing over choices.
“They invited you. One day, you can extend the invitation,” he suggested. “Let people do things for you, Riley. Not everything has a string attached or a motive.”
“I’m not fancy. Did you see the way Rachel wears her makeup? It’s like she has a makeup artist on call,” she said nervously.
“She only dresses up when she has meetings. When I met her, she didn’t have any makeup on, not even lip gloss. Do you see Rebecca wearing much?” he reminded her.
“What about this Delaney?” she asked.
“She’s the head ranch cook. She rarely wears it in the kitchen, and I haven’t seen her outside of it,” Garrett answered honestly.
“I have hay in my hair,” she exclaimed as she picked out a straw.
Garrett chuckled as he wrapped his arms around herwaist and kissed her forehead. “It happens when you play in the hay.”
“Shhh, Tara may hear you,” she said, covering his mouth.
“Will it be the worst thing if we tell her?” he asked, searching her eyes.
“Please give me some time. It’s a big step, and I don’t want her to get it in her head we’re staying here.”
Garrett stiffened, and his forehead crinkled in worry. “You’re not staying?”
“I never intended to stay in Embers or fall in love. Dad will remain a problem until I figure out how to legally get custody of Tara. Luckily, in his drunken state, he hasn’t managed to report me for kidnapping. Yeah, sure, I can claim he’s abusive and a drunk, but she’s still underage. I can’t risk Tara returning to him while the state investigates my accusations,” she said, thoughtfully.
“What if you hired a lawyer and petitioned the courts?” he asked.
“Ha,” she shrugged. “They’ll take one glance at my financial state and laugh. Plus, I can barely afford to keep us in a decent apartment and fed. Tara needs counseling. My dad has taken away her self-esteem.”
“What if you found a way to solve it all?” he asked, staring at her.
