I sat up and watched her sleep for a few minutes. I was going to do everything in my power to figure out who in the hell this Noah was, and once I did, I would hunt his ass down and kill him.
I stood up and looked at the two dogs lying near the side of the bed. “Y’all stay with her and watch over her,” I whispered. I turned and
made my way out of the room. This time, I kept the door open.
By the time I got back to the kitchen, I was sweating, and my hands were shaking. “What in the hell is going on?” I leaned against the counter and tried to calm my beating heart. It felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest.
I stood there for a few minutes, trying to work it out in my head. What in the hell was Courtney talking about? I pushed away from the counter and turned the flame down on the stew. I stepped outside onto the back porch, and I pulled out my phone before hitting my mother’s name.
“Reed, darling! To what do I owe this honor? I just saw you last night at the wedding. Miss me already?” my mother said with a chuckle.
I smiled and let out a small laugh. Just the sound of my mother’s voice calmed me down, and my heart finally felt like it was starting to beat normally again.
“Just wanted to hear your voice.”
She let out a small sigh. “What’s wrong? I hear it in your voice. Is everyone okay?”
I slowly took in a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah, Mom, everyone is fine. Just been a long morning.”
“I ran into Anna this morning, and she was not very happy. I wasn’t really sure what to say when she told me my son was a son of a bitch who had led her on and wasted her time because he’d been in love with another woman the whole time. Care to explain?”
I sank down onto the wood chair and looked out over the west pasture. How in the fuck am I going to explain this? “Mom, can we maybe talk about that another time?” I asked, hoping she would just let it go.
“Reed Nickolas Moore, did you lead that girl on? She said you’d asked her to move in with you, and y’all had been talking marriage, and then you just broke up with her last night.”
I sat up straight, and I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. “What in the fuck?” I practically shouted.
“Excuse me? I don’t think so. I don’t care how old you are. You do not talk that way to me.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed my hand through my hair. “Mom, I didn’t ask her to move in. She was pressuring me to move in with her, and I had no intentions whatsoever to ask her to marry me. I mean, I really liked her, but I didn’t love her, and she was just jealous of—” I quickly stopped talking and held my breath, hoping that my mom had missed that last part.
“Jealous of Courtney?” she asked quietly.
I felt the heat building in my whole body. If Anna had talked about Courtney to my mother, I wasn’t sure what I would do to Anna. “What did Anna tell you about Courtney?”
“Nothing.”
“Mom, what did she tell you?” I asked very slowly, trying to keep calm.
“Reed, she just said you’d told her that it wasn’t fair to her that you were in love with another woman and that you thought it was best if y’all broke up. I’m proud of you by the way. I appreciate the fact that you didn’t lead her on any more than you already had.”
What? What in the hell does that mean? “Wait, what does that mean, Mom? What do you mean, lead her on any more?”
She let out a sigh and then chuckled. “Honestly, Reed, anyone can see you’re head over heels in love with Courtney. I noticed it months ago when you couldn’t keep your eyes off of her while your girlfriend was standing next to you. I noticed it last night when the two of you were dancing. You could practically see how smitten the both of you were with each other. Now, stop being so damn stubborn, and for once in your life, take a chance on love.”
“Um…” I didn’t even know what to say. If my own mother can see how much I’m in love with Courtney, then why can’t Court see it?
I heard the back door open, and I glanced up to see Courtney standing there. She looked absolutely breathtaking. Her blonde hair was up in a messy ponytail, and she had on yoga pants with a Texas A&M T-shirt. I couldn’t help but smile as she gave me a weak smile.
“Hey, Mom, I’ve got to let you go.”
“Oh, sure, the talk gets heavy, and you need to what? Go feed the dogs?”
I let out a laugh and shook my head. “I’m cow-sitting, Mom. I need to go feed the cows. I love you. Talk to you later.” I hit End before she could say anything else.
Courtney walked up and sat down next to me. She had her ever-present Kindle in her hand, and she leaned her head back and took in a deep breath. “God, I must have needed that sleep,” she said as she dropped her head and looked out over the pasture.
I sat there, waiting to see if she would say anything about her dream. Does she even remember it? Does she remember being in my arms, terrified and shaking? I cleared my throat. “How did you sleep, angel?”