That was complicated. How did she describe her relationship with Jace? At first it had been love/hate, more hate than love. Then it changed. There was electricity between them. She’d never been so attracted to a man, not even Zack.
When she met Zack, she was fifteen. They waited three years before they made love. When she looked back, it was hard to believe they had. It had been easy between them, natural. She hadn’t felt the same sexual charge with Zack that she felt with Jace.
She worried sometimes it was all they shared. They had so little in common, and what they did have, was based more on their families than themselves. If she’d met Jace at a coffee shop, or a bar, or somewhere else, if they’d come together initially as strangers, would anything have come of it?
“I don’t know. When we met, there was so much going on with our two families. We were sort of thrown together.”
“And now?”
“I can’t answer that. I like thinking about him. Part of my reason for wanting to come here was to figure out if Jace Rice was just my way of staying in denial about Zack.”
“Uh huh.”
“That’s all you’ve got? Come on, Red, just say it, for Christ’s sake. Whatever it is, come out with it.”
“It isn’t any of this old guy’s business. Like everything else, you gotta figure it out for yourself.”
“You’re starting to sound like a broken record.”
“How ’bout another trip up to Salmon? I was thinkin’ of headin’ there tomorrow.”
“Hardly a segue, but I’d like that. I spent some time with Annie and Dave while you were gone. It was…good. I mean, it was really hard, but then it got easier.”
“Life’s like that.” Red stood and walked toward the woods. He waved behind him. “See ya tomorrow.”
Her conversation with Red was unsettling. It was as though he saw something she didn’t. And whatever it was, should be obvious to her.
She had a lot to think about with Jace. The man was…hot. Not the kind of man who usually gave her a second look. Blythe maybe, but not her. And he wasn’t her type either.
Maybe things would work out on their own. Maybe she was over-thinking it. Soon she’d go back to Monument and start teaching at the Air Force Academy. The professor she was filling in for was due to have her baby near the end of August. The timing was perfect. Bree would simply fill in for an academic year, and then, the following year, the professor would return. Originally she’d applied for a two-year position, but this worked out better.
She hadn’t begun to think about what she might do when her stint was over, but maybe she should.
Jace, on the other hand, knew exactly what he’d be doing. Rough stock. She knew nothing of that life. She loved to ride horses, but that was the extent of it.
She used to go out to Billy Patterson’s ranch and watch Jace and Billy practice riding broncs. It was fun to watch, but after a while, she got bored. Rough stock was Jace’s entire life; he was raising bulls full-time. Could she feign enough interest in conversations about bull semen to make him think she cared? She doubted it.
“Change of plans, son,” Jace’s dad said when he came out the front door to where he and Blythe were still chatting.
“What’s that?” Jace asked.
“Tucker hasn’t had a chance to talk to you about this, Blythe, but what would you think about all of us going to Crested Butte?”
“I’d love it. I haven’t seen Renie in weeks.”
Blythe and Irene, who everyone but him called Renie, had been best friends since kindergarten. It was hard to remember sometimes; the two were so different.
“What about Lyric?” she asked Jace. “You saw her yesterday. Do you think we could talk her into going too?”
“Maybe. She was talking about getting her brother to come to Crested Butte. This might be a good opportunity.”
Blythe called her, and Lyric agreed it was a great idea. Instead of driving with them, she said she’d meet them there. She figured, the only way to get her brother to go would be if she went to Oklahoma and dragged him with her.
“You think this is smart? Putting me and Tuck in a truck, by ourselves, for five hours?” Jace asked his dad the next morning when they were getting ready to leave.
“You can kill each other as easily inside a truck or out,” he answered.
“Thanks. That doesn’t make me feel better at all.”