“Ya know, she didn’t say and I didn’t ask.”
“Someone should call her.”
“I will.”
She was on the phone for a minute and then disconnected the call. “It went straight to voicemail,” she told him.
Jace wanted to tell Bree the story about Rosa himself. He didn’t want her to hear it from Tucker or from Blythe. He didn’t know why it was important that he be the one to tell her, but it was. After he did, he’d leave. There was no reason for him to stick around.
Billy was expecting him to start training in Crested Butte before rodeo season heated up. If he planned to make any progress as a competitive saddle bronc rider, he had to get out on the circuit.
“I’m starving,” Lyric said.
“Me, too. What time is it anyway?”
“After two. Mind if I go and get somethin’?”
“How bad do I look?”
Lyric motioned for Jace to move his hand away from his face. “The swelling’s gone down a lot, but you’re still black and blue. You look good enough to go with me, if you want.”
Jace couldn’t sit still, and he didn’t feel like drinking anymore. If Tucker wanted to talk to him, he didn’t want his brother thinking he had gotten drunk because he was feeling sorry for himself.
“Yeah, I’ll go with you.”
Jace saw Bree sitting alone at a table when he and Lyric walked into the restaurant. He touched Lyric’s arm and motioned in Bree’s direction.
“Hey, there, can we join you?” Lyric asked in her typical upbeat way.
“Uh, sure.”
“Hey,” said Jace.
“Hi.”
Lyric excused herself after they ordered a beer. “Be right back,” she winked.
“Where does she always go?” Bree asked.
“I don’t know. Listen, I wanted to talk to you. This isn’t easy.” He ran his hand over his face.
Bree stood and threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table. “Look, I know you’re in love with my sister. You don’t need to confess it to me. We can go back to not wanting to be in each other’s company, starting now.”
“Wait, where is this coming from?”
The pain meds, combined with the alcohol he’d consumed at Billy’s impaired his reflexes. Bree was gone before Jace realized what was happening.
“What happened?” Lyric asked when she came back to the table. “I saw Bree pulling out of the parking lot. Is Blythe okay?”
Jace’s head was still spinning. “I’m not sure what happened.”
“Why’d she leave?”
“I don’t know. She said something about me bein’ in love with her sister and not wanting to be around me.”
“She’s got it bad.”
“Who’s got it bad?”