I reach for a napkin from the center of the table, handing it to her.
“Thank you.” She accepts it with a self-conscious smile. “Anyway, I know this is silly, but I really do think it’s good for River to have someone else around. He’s been alone over there in that great big house for the last five years. You showing up out of the blue? It’s almost like it was meant to be. It’s like … I don’t know … like someone sent you.”
I’m quiet, unsure of what to say.
Molly laughs, dabbing her eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, and I agree. It sounds insane. But I’ve always felt like everything happens for a reason. And I’ve got to believe things are going to turn around for River.”
“I don’t think he feels that way.”
“Of course he doesn’t,” Molly chuckles. “But he will eventually. If you stick around a little while longer, things are going to change for him. I just know it.”
“You’re putting a lot of pressure on me here,” I half-tease.
“Please just stay a little bit longer?” Molly clasps her hands together. “I’m a grown woman, but I’m not above getting on my knees and begging until you say yes.”
I wave my hand. “Stop, stop. Even if I wanted to stay, I don’t think he’d want me to. I already feel like I’m imposing.”
“He’s not going to say no,” Molly says. “He may be cold as ice on the outside, but the man’s got a heart bigger than the state of South Dakota.”
“I don’t know …”
“Just think about it,” Molly says, walking me to the door. When I go to protest, she shushes me. “See you Wednesday.”
Chapter Fifteen
River
“Heading into town for a few things. Thought I’d grab lunch,” I say when Leighton returns from Molly’s.
“Are you inviting me to tag along or just giving me a head’s up?” She closes the car door and tilts her head, squinting at the midday sun. Her hands slide into the back pockets of her jeans.
“I suppose it’s an invitation,” I say. “Of sorts.”
“A girl’s got to eat.” She makes her way to my truck, climbing into the passenger seat and flipping the visor down like she owns the damn thing. In the strangest way, I find it somewhat endearing how comfortable she is around me. I know, as of recent years, I’m not the kind of guy who makes anyone too comfortable. Messing with her hair, she stops to look my way. “Are you just going to stand there or are you coming?”
Saying nothing, I climb in and start it up, heading toward town.
“Did you get much done this morning?” she asks.
“Yep.”
“What’s on the docket for this afternoon?”
“Stuff.”
She reaches across the cab, smacking my arm. “Smartass.”
I don’t flinch or smile or play along. I don’t have time for cutesy games, and if she’s trying to flirt, she’s barking up the wrong tree.
“Can I tell you something?” she asks.
“Sure.” It’s not like I can say no. I’m basically confined.
“When I was fifteen, my dad was killed.” She pauses, like she’s gathering her thoughts. “I don’t talk about this often. I don’t talk about it ever, really. But he was killed unexpectedly. My mom was devastated. She was destroyed. She started drinking. She stopped taking care of herself … of the farm … of us kids. That’s why we left. We all moved in with my grandma. Mom was there, but she was never really the same after that. It was almost like we didn’t just lose our dad—we lost our mom too.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” she says, the top of her head pressed against the glass of the passenger window. “Anyway, growing up and watching my mom fall apart made me realize that I couldn’t allow a tragedy to define my life. My father wouldn’t have wanted that for her, and he sure as hell wouldn’t have wanted that for me. So I decided that I could miss him. I could miss the hell out of him. But I had to keep on going, even when it felt like it was impossible—especially when it felt like it was impossible.”
My hand grips the steering wheel.
“I was with Grant for seven years,” she continues. “And we literally went to bed one night, engaged to be married, and by the next morning it had all gone up in flames.” Leighton shakes her head, turning to me. “I refuse to let what Grant did define me in any way. I refuse to let him steal my hope for the future or make me question my trust in every man who comes into my life from here on out.”
I’m not sure where she’s going with this. Glancing at the clock, I see we’ve still got a good ten minutes before we’re in town.
“My point is, River,” she says. “We can’t allow tragedy to rob us of our God-given right to live a happy, fulfilled life.”
“Are you done?” I ask, eyes on the road. Her little lecture is random. And completely unnecessary.
Leighton sinks back in her seat, quiet for a moment. “Yeah.”
“Good.”
Chapter Sixteen
Leighton
“We should go to the drive-in theater before I leave.” I drag a French fry through a blob of ketchup, sitting across from River at the Old Home Diner. “When was the last time you went? You know those things are relics now.”
“Haven’t gone in years. Wouldn’t even know what’s playing.”
Whipping out my phone, I perform a lightning fast Google search and rattle off the double feature: a superhero flick paired with a romantic comedy. Must be a his-and-hers special.
“Never heard of either one,” he says, his hands wrapped around a half-pound burger that’s apparently more interesting to him than this conversation.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I say. “But we should go. You want to go?”
“No.”
I stop eating, giving him a hard stare across the table. “No? Just … no?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Is this where you’re going to nag and nag and nag and then five minutes later apologize for pushing too far?” he asks.
Sighing, I rest my chin in my hands. Yes, I’m nagging. Yes, I’m pushing. But after talking to Molly this morning, I kind of think he needs that. He needs someone to get him to open up again, to live life again. Even if I’m only going to be here five more days, maybe I can be that someone who makes him think twice about wallowing in guilt for the rest of his life.
“I don’t mean to be annoying, I’d just really love it if you’d join me,” I say. “I think it would be fun. I haven’t gone since I was in junior high.”
He glances up from his burger, our eyes locking long enough that I think he might be considering it.
“I’ll even let you put your arm around me.” I wink. I don’t know where that came from, and I’m teasing, but I swear his mouth turned up at one corner for a fraction of a millisecond. Pointing, I say, “You smiled. I totally got you to smile.”
“Did not.”
“I saw it with my own eyes, River.” I bring a fry to my mouth, biting off the end. “You can’t deny it. It happened.”
He shakes his head, pretending to be annoyed with me.
At least I think he’s pretending.