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He met my gaze and shrugged. “I don’t pretend to understand women.”
“Neither do I.”
It was another thirty minutes or so before I saw Avery again, this time talking to her mother. She looked serious, and her mother nodded before heading over to Stella.
“So do you?” Josh’s voice pulled me from my runaway thoughts.
I focused back on him and asked, “Do I what?”
He rolled his eyes. “Like baseball?”
With a slight laugh, I replied, “Doesn’t everyone?”
He leaned in and said, “Believe it or not, no. It’s hard to believe, but a lot of my friends like football and aren’t the least bit interested in baseball.”
“Why can’t you like both?” I asked.
“You can and I do, but according to my baseball coach, you can only be passionate about one.”
“Your baseball coach is an idiot, and you can tell him I said so.”
Josh drew his head back and regarded me for a moment. “Bryson said the same thing, and I thought for sure that he of all people would agree. He helped teach the select baseball team that Nate and I were on, but he ended up having to step away. Took up too much of his time, and with Rose having a baby soon, he wanted to be home with her more.”
“Makes sense.”
“If you ever decide to move onto the ranch and take Uncle Beck’s spot—well, I guess it’s your spot now—my sister’s an amazing designer. She designed Blayze’s house and has redecorated a ton of homes. She’ll help you out.”
My chest warmed at how even the youngest Shaw was welcoming me into the fold as if he’d known me his entire life.
“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Dirk walked over and mussed Josh’s perfectly styled hair.
“Uncle Dirk!” Josh said, trying to fix it with his fingers, but he had so much product in it that his fingers hardly got through.
“You get into your mother’s hair spray there, Josh?”
Josh shot him a dirty look before heading out of the room. My guess was that he was going to the bathroom.
“The girls are ready to head home. You’re more than welcome to stay and head home with Stella and Ty Senior, but I wanted to remind you that your rental is at our place. Bradly and Mackenzie left just a few minutes ago.”
My eyes scanned the room. “Where’s Avery?”
Dirk glanced over his shoulder. “I believe she’s in the kitchen saying goodbye to Stella.”
I nodded. “I’ll say my goodbyes really quick.”
“Let me show you how that’s done here at the Shaws’.” He put his finger and thumb into his mouth and let out a whistle so piercing, I was positive the dogs in the next county heard.
“Beck is leaving with us, say your goodbyes!”
He motioned for me to speak, and my mouth fell open.
“You’re not going to hold their attention for long, son, hurry it up.”
“Um.” I lifted my hand. “It was wonderful to meet everyone, and I hope I get to see you again before I leave.”
Goodbyes and nice to meet yous filled the room as I followed Dirk to the front. Merit and Avery were already putting their coats on. I smiled when Avery’s eyes met mine and noticed she barely returned the expression.
Once we got into Dirk’s truck, I reached for her hand and brought it to my mouth, kissing it gently. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I think I’m just tired.”
No. Something wasn’t right, and I wasn’t about to let her walk into her house without telling me what it was.
The ride to Dirk and Merit’s place was quiet. I was pretty sure Merit was nursing a headache like I was and wasn’t in the mood to talk. Dirk had the radio on low, and it was on some kind of classical-sounding music. It wasn’t at all what I would expect him to listen to. I finally decided that it was to help with Merit’s headache.
He pulled up and parked in front of the garage, opened it and told Merit to hold on, that he’d get her door. By the time I got around the truck, Dirk had opened both his wife’s door and Avery’s.
“You coming in, Beck?” Dirk asked, a wicked smile on his face. “I’ve got more whiskey.”
I nearly gagged. “No, I think I’ll pass, but, Avery, may I speak to you quickly? I know it’s cold outside.”
As Dirk escorted Merit inside, Avery bundled her coat closer to her body and looked at me. “What’s up?”
“You tell me.”
Looking away, she said, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re acting distant with me. Will you tell me why?”
She exhaled and said, “I don’t know, Beck. I think hearing you tell Blayze that you have a whole other life in Texas just reminded me how very short term we are. I know I said I wasn’t going to think about it or let it bother me, but…it does. I can only be honest with you about that.”
