“Then what is it?”
Stone had always thought of his mother as beautiful and vibrant. At fifty-six, she liked to tease that she was like wine, getting better with age. He agreed. Only she didn’t look young or vibrant at the moment, not with the wary expression or the lack of luster in her eyes as she stared at him.
“Zane called the Double J to get a reference.” Stone headed for the refrigerator, fearful he would crumble under the scrutiny. “Leah took that to mean she should swing by and check on me. That’s all.”
He wasn’t going to get into the absurd proposition that Leah had laid out. There was no chance in hell he would ever take her up on it, so it was pointless. Even if she wasn’t insisting on marriage down the line, Stone wasn’t leaving Coyote Ridge. He was happy right where he was. Maybe not ecstatic at the moment since his career dreams were going up in smoke, but there was a hell of a lot more to life than that.
Stone grabbed two beers from the refrigerator. “Reilly told me to get them,” he explained when he turned around to find his mother regarding him carefully. “Was Nico here?”
“He was.” She maintained eye contact. “We were going over the remodeling plans for the front yard.”
“Did he … uh…?” Stone nodded his head toward the window.
“Did he notice you had a visitor?” Deborah asked, her tone none too pleased. “Yes.”
Fuck.
“Did you say anything?”
His mother frowned. “What was I supposed to say, Stone? That it’s entirely possible you’re gearing up to leave town again?”
“I’m not, Mom.”
He could tell she didn’t believe him.
“I’m not,” he insisted. “I’m right where I wanna be.”
Her tone softened, but the fear in her eyes remained. “Are you sure?”
Stone set the beer bottles on the counter and walked around so he could hug her. It was obvious she needed it. And yeah, maybe he needed it, too.
“I’m not goin’ anywhere. Not today. Not tomorrow. I’m here to stay.”
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. She returned it with a relieved sigh.
When she finally pulled back, he looked her in the eye. “If I was plannin’ to go back to the Double J, do you think I would’ve left her alone with Reilly?”
Deborah smiled, and it almost reached her eyes. “Good point.”
There was a damn good chance Leah would be racing out of the house with tears streaming down her face before Stone ever made it back. Reilly wasn’t one for tact. Especially not when it came to defending the people she loved.
Ever hopeful, Stone stood at the sink and watched out the window, waiting for it.
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, and ten minutes later, he was left with no other choice but to have a difficult conversation with Leah.
***
Nico didn’t want to tell Stevie whathe’d witnessed at the Jamesons’ house.
He didn’t want her to think what he was thinking. That Stone was reverting to his old ways, and come morning, there was a good chance they’d have nothing more than the tread marks of the man on their souls.
Not only did he not want to tell Stevie, Nico didn’t want to believe it was a possibility. But how could it not be? Why else would Stone’s former employer drive two hundred miles from Houston? It wouldn’t surprise Nico in the least if they’d come to their senses and wanted Stone to come back to work for them. The reason they’d fired him had been petty. So what if he didn’t want to get serious with the owner’s daughter? No one should be expected to do that.
Or maybe it was the owner’s daughter who’d made the long-distance trek, and she was here to convince Stone—
Nico cut off that train of thought. He was not going there.
At least he was trying not to as he headed home. Stevie had texted to ask if Stone had agreed to join them for dinner, but Nico hadn’t responded. He didn’t want to relay anything in text because it could be misconstrued. Despite Stevie’s optimism, he knew there was still a boatload of doubt underneath. She claimed the past was the past—and he believed she was trying to believe that—but with Stevie, it would only take a little choppy water to capsize that boat.
