“I think you know the answer to that,” he said, pointedly. “That little shit ripped through my prime hunting ground one morning on that dirt bike of his and scared off a prize buck. Never even apologized for it.”
Figured. Beau had always been selfish and unable to take responsibilities for anything he did. Maybe this was Royce’s way of telling me I was already a leg up by admitting my faults and telling him, and Nora, how sorry I was. He wouldn’t say it, but when he asked me to come inside and say hello to his wife, I had a good feeling about winning him over again.
“Well, my Lord,” Becky Bennett had wrapped her arms around me tight enough to press the air from my lungs. “Reid Travers. Look how much you’ve grown up.” She smiled as she ushered me over to the kitchen table. As soon as I sat down, she cradled my face in her hands and just stared. “You sure look different. In a good way,” she added with a wink.
“Thanks, Becky,” I felt myself blushing like a teenager. “You haven’t aged a day.” I knew how to sweet talk a mom, especially Nora’s mom. She and I had always had a great relationship and I wasn’t lying when I said she looked the same as I’d remembered. She’d always been a pretty lady and I remembered my dad suggesting that I hold on to Nora because if her future was looking like her mama then I’d be a lucky man. Her sweet, dimpled smile made it even harder to apologize for hurting her girl.
“Reid, I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t want to take a switch to you when my baby came home crying the day you left, but over the years I’ve realized that what you did wasn’t to hurt her. You were both kids. It would have been hard to make a relationship work. Especially, with everything you had going on in your life”
“Try explaining that to her.” I hung my head.
“I’ve tried, honey,” she confessed. “But you know her. You know how stubborn she is.”
“Don’t we all,” Royce added. Laughing for the first time since I’d showed up. I had a lot of good memories with this family, and I’m sure Nora had many with mine. We had both been blessed with fantastic role models when it came to making relationships work and being parents. Seeing Becky and Royce again, and thinking about my own parents, made me want what they had. And, I wanted it with Nora.
“Now how about I get you a drink and something to eat and you tell us what you’ve been up to,” Becky suggested.
“That sounds fantastic,” I agreed.
We sat there catching up for about an hour before I heard the voice of the girl whose photographs I’d been looking at. Becky had pulled an album from the bookshelf in the living room and was pointing out some of her favorite memories of my time with her daughter. It was nice to see photographic proof that we’d been happy and together at one point. Each time I saw Nora and she shut me down I was starting to believe that it had all been a dream.
When she didn’t immediately run out the door upon seeing me, I had to think that I was at least making progress with her. A little bit more time and I’d have her remembering exactly why we were perfect for each other.
Want to know what it’s like to have your thoughts hijacked by a guy you swore you’d never think about again? It’s ridiculously fucking frustrating.
Reid had managed to not only infiltrate my thoughts, dreams, and my office, but he’d went and shown up at my parents’ house. He had to stop his relentless pursuit and I had to tell him.
When I pulled onto the lane and drove back to the cabin I knew he and his brother were sharing during their visit, I felt the anxiety bubbling inside of me. Could I really look him in the eye and lay it all on the line without letting him get to me with his sweet words and arrogantly, sexy ways?