AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Riley looked down at the table and began chewing on her bottom lip. Was she about to tell me the rest of the truth? The time investment into her relationship with Chad part and the wedding financial part that my brother, Rachel, and Macie were fully aware of and had told me about?
I hoped Riley was about to get all of that out of herself. If she did, then I was going to tell her that I understood every one of her reasons for not running fast and far away from Chad-fucking-Nolan after he abused her the first time. I was also going to remind her that she was human. But then she looked back up at me and shook her head no.
Why wouldn’t she tell me the whole truth? She’d already shared so much. Then it hit me: Riley was embarrassed to admit to feeling stuck with Chad, just like she was embarrassed about how much her parents had spent on her wedding. What Riley didn’t realize, though, was that she was never stuck and didn’t have one damn thing to be embarrassed about.
She wiped her nose with her hand, and I held up a finger.
“Be right back,” I said.
After grabbing some napkins from my storage bench, I rejoined Riley and gave them to her.
“Thanks,” she said, wiping her nose again.
I knew a change of subject was needed to lighten the mood, so I asked, “When are you planning to return to Fort Worth?”
“On Sunday. I’ve got to be back at work on Monday.”
“Do you like your job?”
“I love it, and all of my coworkers too. They’re wonderful.”
“That’s great. How do you like Fort Worth?”
“I like it a whole lot.”
“What’s the best part of living there?”
“Starbucks are everywhere.”
I chuckled. Riley had always been a java junkie.
“I’ve never asked you that about living in Cypress Hills,” she said. “Tell me what the best part is for you.”
“There are two of them. Everything is easy-going around here. It’s also peaceful.”
“Fort Worth isn’t either of those. It’s fast-paced and noisy because there are so many people and so much traffic.”
“But you like it a whole lot there,” I said, grinning and making Riley do the same.
“I like certain aspects of it.” Her stomach started growling, and she placed her hand on it. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”
“It shouldn’t be. It’s just me sitting here with you.”
“I didn’t eat breakfast because my stomach was in knots.”
“Is it still knotted up?”
“Not like it was.”
“Then let’s go back inside. I’ll make you one of my cheese omelets with sour cream and Herdez salsa.”
“Rhys, you don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. Besides, you need to eat.”
“Did you eat breakfast?”
“Yep, but I can always eat again.”
