Still not convinced his father was being entirely straight with him, and determined to get the truth later, Adam returned his attention to Leanne.
“I’ve been working on the ranch with Dad. That’s about it.”
“You didn’t go away to college?”
“I thought about it, but Louisa didn’t want to go, and I didn’t want to leave her for three years.”
He was glad he’d made that decision. At the time, it had been hard. But if he’d taken one of the football scholarships offered to him, he might have come home too late to marry Louisa at all....
“Do you like being a rancher?” Leanne asked.
“Yeah, I do.” Adam really thought about it for the first time. “I suppose it’s in my blood.”
“Then you’re in the right place.” She leaned over and patted his knee. “Jeff says you’re seeing Lizzie Taylor now . . . ?”
“Not exactly.” Adam shifted away from her touch. “She’s been having some issues with a family member. I’ve just been helping her out.”
“You were always good friends. She’s a sweet girl,” Leanne commented. “I hear she has a little boy now.”
“Yeah, Roman. He’s three or four I think. He’s a nice kid.”
“Do we know the father?”
“Lizzie knows, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?” Adam held his mother’s gaze for a moment. “She’s a great mother.”
“She is,” Jeff agreed. “She brought Roman up to the ranch last week. He had a great time running around.” He touched Leanne’s elbow. “You’ll have to come out and see the ranch tomorrow. Adam can pick you up.”
“We’ve got quite a lot on tomorrow, Dad—” Adam started to speak, and his father interrupted him.
“It can wait. Adam will pick you up around nine, if that’s okay?”
* * *
Lizzie checked her messages and found one from Gabby that she’d missed, which made her immediately pick up her phone.
“Hey, so what’s this about Coretta?” Lizzie got straight to the point.
“Well, she’s got some guy visiting her.”
“Like a boyfriend?”
“No, he turns up in his fancy gold car and then leaves again. He’s a youngish guy with a nice smile.”
Lizzie tensed. “Brown hair, brown eyes, wears chinos and golf logo shirts? Drives a gold Lexus?”
“That’s the one.”
“He came into the café today and kind of asked me out.”
“What?” Gabby whistled. “If he’s got something to do with Coretta, she must have told him about you. It’s all she ever talks about these days.”
“Exactly.” Lizzie thought for a moment. “He said he was staying at the Hayes tonight. Maybe I’ll drop Roman over to you a little bit earlier tomorrow morning and see if I can interrupt his breakfast.”
“It sure sounds like he has some explaining to do,” Gabby agreed. “I’ll see you around eight-fifteen, then.”
Lizzie ended the call and plugged her phone into the charger on the countertop. What did it say about her that her first instinct was to call Adam and ask for his advice? Why had she started to depend on him so quickly?
“Because despite everything, you trust him.” Lizzie spoke the words out loud into the quietness of her apartment. “You always have.”
Adam was meeting his mom tonight. He had enough to worry about without her dropping her unconfirmed suspicions on him. She lingered by the phone. If she just sent him a text asking how it had gone, that wouldn’t be overstepping any boundaries, would it?
She typed fast before her doubts overcame her.
Hope it all went okay with Leanne.
She stared hopefully at the phone but there was no sign of a reply. He was probably busy. She decided to get an early night and set the apartment to rights before changing into her pj’s and coming back into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
Her cell lit up as she went past it and she backed up fast.
It went okay. Might pop in with Leanne early tomorrow morning at the café if you’re around?
Lizzie considered.