Page 66 of All in with the Maverick Montana

Amy looked up at her.

“You know exactly what to do when you get bucked off.”

“Get up, dust yourself off and get back on the horse,” her sisters chorused, making Amy chuckle.

“Advice from the great Hattie herself,” Tori said, raising her glass of sweet tea.

“I’m not sure that applies here,” Amy said.

“Of course it does,” Tori said. “Has Josh explicitly said he doesn’t want to be with you?”

“Well, no,” Amy said. “Not in so many words.”

“Not in any words,” Faith cut in.

“Has he stopped answering your texts?” Carly asked.

“No. He hasn’t really called much in the last week, but he’s messaged to check in. I’ve been trying to give him as much space as I can.”

“And did you ever think that maybe he’s trying to do the same thing?” Elizabeth suggested.

Carly nudged her under the table. “It sounds like he’s still interested, Amy.”

“I agree,” Tori said. “And as far as I’m concerned, you have to get back on the horse.”

Try again, Amy heard in Hattie’s voice. Don’t let fear stop you from reaching for something you love. Frankly, she knew Hattie had been talking about reaching for the reins, but maybe her sisters were right. She shouldn’t give up on her and Josh yet.

She just didn’t know how to reach for him. It felt unfair to dump this kind of news on Josh and expect a decision so quickly. If she was going to ask him to choose her and this baby, she felt like she needed to give him the appropriate amount of time to process. But how long was that? Weeks? A month?

Maybe she’d just put it off forever. That would be easier than getting rejected.

“I think you’re scared,” Elizabeth said, squeezing her hand again. “And that’s understandable.”

“What if he doesn’t choose me?” Amy blinked heavily. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“That’s what loving someone is,” Elizabeth said. “It’s giving them the ability to hurt you but trusting them not to. I know it’s terrifying, but I really think you need to put your faith in Josh now. You need to give him a chance.”

“Regardless of what happens,” Tori said. “You’ll always have your family. We’ll be here for you and this baby.”

“Trust me, Amy,” Elizabeth said. “If he’s the right man for you, it’ll work out. But it can’t work if you don’t fight for it.”

Chapter Nineteen

The morning had started off reasonably cool, but after a couple hours of standing under that Montana sun, lugging lumber back and forth, Josh was sweating. He took a swig from his water bottle, kneading his back. In an effort to take his mind off Amy, he’d decided to tackle the bridge repair on the eastern end of the property. It was the bridge the cattle used to cross the creek to reach the furthest pasture, and after the winter they’d had, Josh had noticed a couple of the boards rotting.

But once he’d pried up the first few, he figured he might as well just change them all, only that had turned into a bigger job than he’d anticipated. Now he was not only drenched in sweat, but his mind had started wandering, inevitably landing on Amy. All he wanted to do was call her, but something scared him off. He couldn’t shake the thought that he wasn’t good enough for her. And if she was only settling for him, then he’d always play second fiddle to Tru McCoy. Maybe these were ridiculous thoughts, but it’s what rattled through his brain with every strike of his hammer against wood.

Josh collected another board from his truck and carried it across the bridge. He carefully dropped it in place, then secured it with half a dozen nails. He was just hammering in the last one when he spotted a cloud of dust coming up the drive.

“About time!” he said as Shane drove up and parked next to the creek. He’d called in a favor when he realized the repair job had gotten away from him, and Shane had agreed to pop over to help. “I expected you an hour ago.”

“Sorry,” Shane said. “Thought we could use some more reinforcements.”

The truck doors opened, and Noah and Ryder climbed out.

“What’re you doing here?” Josh asked as they retrieved their tools from the bed of the truck.

“Heard you’d decided to remodel the property instead of dealing with your feelings,” Noah said, walking over and clapping him on the shoulder.