“Has he hurt you, Shelby?”
She shook her head. “Just the opposite. Things are nice enough that if I stay in this pattern for six more months, I might stay for six more years. But, Uncle Walt, it’s never going to become all I’d like it to be. It won’t change. My clothes will hang in your closet and I’ll spend most of my nights at his house. In the long term, I’m looking for something more than that…”
Walt pursed his lips and shook his head. Under his breath he muttered, “That sorry son of a bitch…”
“Now stop,” she said firmly. “You’re surprised by this? Be fair—I had a big crush on Luke. He was always wonderful to me and it would probably be just fine with him if I didn’t move on. But it’s going nowhere. In the end, I’d be selling out. That’s not what I intend to do.”
He looked at the floor and shook his head. Then he took a slow sip of his coffee.
“Remember that song, Uncle Walt?” she asked him. “‘Me and Mrs. Jones, we got a thing going on…？’ Me and Mr. Riordan, we have a thing going on…and the next man in my life is going to be more than a thing. I want the whole deal. And Luke said from the start, if I was looking for something like that, I wouldn’t find it with him. Really, if I’m honest with myself, I never doubted that.”
“This is your decision, then?” he asked.
“Oh, absolutely. I haven’t even mentioned this to Luke yet. And you’re under strict orders—you are not to treat him like he’s done something wrong. Do you hear me? Because if you do, you’re going to be in big trouble with me. Are we clear?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want.” Then she laughed. “Give him a year, he’ll be so damn sorry he let me go.”
“You think so, huh?”
“Oh, you bet. He’ll manage to find women—he’s good-looking and can be real charming. But he won’t find one like me. And once I make a clean break and get myself in a new life, he’s gonna be shit outta luck.”
Walt chuckled. “You’re a lot tougher than you look.”
“Yeah, I know. You shouldn’t underestimate me so much. It’s your biggest mistake. And it’ll be Luke’s, too.”
“Honey, all I want is that you be happy. If these plans make you happy, then I’m on board. Just as long as he hasn’t hurt you.”
“He hasn’t. He’s been great to me. But I want more than he has to give. I want it all, Uncle Walt.”
“Then you go get it. And let me know what I can do to help.”
“Sure,” she said. She glanced around. “I can finish with these horses in five minutes. Go read your paper.”
“You sure? I could help you—”
“Nah, I’m almost done. Go,” she said with a laugh, taking the coffee cup out of his hand. “I got it.”
He kissed her brow. “You’re incredible, Shelby. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Uncle Walt,” she said. “That means a lot.”
He left the stable. She watched out the door as he trudged up the hill. When he was far enough away, when she was sure he wasn’t coming back, tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Then she went to Chico, clung to his neck and sobbed against his cheek.
Luke was just pulling a shepherd’s pie Preacher had made out of the oven when he saw the glow of headlights flash by the window. He took a bottle of merlot he thought Shelby would like from the rack and got the corkscrew out of the drawer, but the front door didn’t open. He stared at it expectantly and when she didn’t come in, he went to the door and opened it, stepping outside.
Her Jeep sat right in front of the porch, but she didn’t seem to be there. He was just thinking she must have gone to invite Art to dinner when he caught sight of her sitting in one of the chairs on the porch. She was bundled up in her suede jacket, a thick scarf around her neck and her hands tucked in her pockets. “What are you doing out here?” he asked, confused. “You must be half-frozen.”
“I was going to knock in a second,” she said.
“Knock?” He laughed. “Since when do you knock?”
“Luke, I’m not coming inside tonight.”
“What?” He stepped toward her. “Shelby, what’s going on? I have a fire—”
“Really, I knew this was coming, but when the bus went down the hill, full of kids, it was a defining moment for me. I’m going to do that—help to save lives. Oh, I hope I don’t see any more buses go down a mountainside, but if they do, they’ll need someone like me to help, and that’s what I want to do. Luke, I…” She took a breath. “I know you care about me a lot. Hard as you try to hide it, I know you do.”