Page 36 of Holden: Bucked By Love (Crawford Ridge Ranch #1)

"That's a long way from here. You must be bored out of your mind," Steph says with a sarcastic lilt that tells us it's her who's actually bored. "So many cows, so much snow, muddy roads, and nothing big to offer unless you're into dinosaur fossils."

"Maybe I love dinosaurs," Birdie cracks, and I grin at her.

"Liar. You're too put together to be a dinophile," Steph retorts playfully.

Birdie's brows drop and she looks to me. "Is that a thing?"

I nod and tilt my head. "Yep." I pop the P.

Birdie sucks in a breath. "This place gets weirder all the time."

Steph taps a fingertip on the table. "Which brings me back to my point.

What brings you here?" Birdie opens her mouth to answer, but Steph cuts her off.

"Wait, I want to guess. It'll give me some sort of challenge for today, other than running all the stop signs on my way to my really exciting job as an insurance adjuster.

You can take only so many statements on cases of kicks to the head before you start to get bored. "

Birdie follows all of this with her green eyes dancing, and I'm happy to see she has a sense of humor. "All right. "

Steph leans forward, her brown eyes raking over Birdie in a borderline serial killer way as she taps her fingertips against her lips. "I'm seeing rich only child escapes overbearing parents and regimented life by running away with a cowboy who came into town and swept her off her feet."

Birdie sighs. "You're close enough to freak me out—and make me feel even dumber if it's such a common thing."

"You're not dumb, that much I do know," Steph says, and it's an oddly kind thing to say.

"Are you comfortable telling us what happened?" I ask, hoping my gentleness will make her feel at ease. "We aren't judging. I'm married to a cowboy, you know. I understand the appeal."

Steph winks big. "I'm proud to say I've avoided them at all costs."

Birdie grimaces. "That's my plan moving forward."

"See, you're smart," Steph states.

"I didn't think my life was regimented, exactly," Birdie says, playing with her sandwich wrapper.

"I am an only child, and my parents are comfortable and mostly kind, but I've been on my own for a while and I guess maybe I was more lonely than I realized.

" Her nose scrunches as though she's embarrassed she said that much.

"I worked in event planning for a big company.

I, uh, was working a wedding and met a guy from this area.

He was there as a friend of the groom. We hit it off, and after a whirlwind month of long distance he convinced me to come for a visit.

Then, he spent that week wooing me into staying.

I quit my good job in Texas, moved into his spare bedroom, started working at The Two Step, arranged to have all my belongings shipped here, and a month later he was gone when I got home from work. So . . . "

Steph makes a sympathetic humming noise. "Wow. You really could not have gotten dumped in a worse location. Why didn't you go home? "

Birdie unwraps her sandwich and shrugs. "Embarrassed, I guess.

My things that I had shipped from home arrived two days after he left.

I couldn't bear to ship them straight back and have to deal with everyone telling me they saw it coming.

Plus, packing and shipping is expensive and I used up most of my savings getting it here. "

I think about Holden telling me how much he'd worried about what people would say—proving to the community and our families that he could be successful at marriage and parenthood, even as a late teen, and how it had become a burden that had weighed him down and nearly cost us our marriage.

I don't want that for Birdie. She seems sweet.

"We all do things to save face sometimes," I mumble, patting her arm again. "Would your parents not accept you back?"

Birdie smiles. "They would. They're not bad.

It's more like I burned some bridges in the community I work in, quitting with no notice and leaving some large events hanging.

It was a big deal. I'm blacklisted in my field.

" She shrugs. "Honestly, I'd be waiting tables there too.

I figure if I stay here long enough to make it look like I chose to come back, and wasn't dumped like they all warned me about, then maybe I won't have to grovel so much? "

"That's tight logic as far as I'm concerned." Steph nods.

I rest my hand on Birdie's arm briefly. "I'm so sorry that happened."

"What was this cowboy's name?" Steph asks.

"Steven," Birdie responds. "Steven Herbert."

"Can't say I know him. He must be transient."

"His lease was only for six months," Birdie nods. "Which I found out courtesy of the eviction notice taped to the door when I got home from work."

I gasp. "No. "

"Yeah. So, I found a cheaper place here in Pinehaven, and moved to this job, and I'm figuring it out. And that's the story of how I used up the rest of my savings. Don't even get me started on having to sell my car."

"Was it nice?" Steph asks with a grimace.

"Yes, but not nicer than having groceries and rent money."

We fall into silence and I'm not sure how to get us back to a more cheerful topic.

Not that I can't be a listening ear, but this got depressing really fast. I finish off the last of my now-chilly chai, Steph does the same with her coffee, and Birdie takes a bite of her sandwich, and I think about a lot of things.

Like how maybe having a stable and steady husband who worked too hard for us isn't all that bad, and that I should have helped redirect things long before it got to the point of me kicking him out to the camper.

A swell of emotion for Holden and his goodness and commitment to caring for me and our kids washes over me.

Why did I fall into a rut of resentment rather than pushing for communication?

I'm snapped out of my thoughts by a low voice breaking into the silence at our table. I glance up to see a stocky man with sun-tanned skin and bright blue eyes looking down at Birdie with avid interest.

"You new around here?" he asks, tipping his hat back to look directly at Birdie.

Birdie doesn't bother to look up, which doesn't really surprise me when I think about how she reacted to Walker at The Two Step.

"Nope," she says.

I don't recognize him, but Steph apparently does because her voice rings bored when she speaks. "Paul. Move along, cowboy. She's not interested, and even if she were I'd tell her all your dirty secrets and scare her off. I have access to your insurance records. "

Paul shoots Steph a look but doesn't back off. "There are privacy laws, Stephanie, and I wasn't talking to you. I'm asking this little lady a question."

"A question she already answered." Steph shakes her head.

"Come on, stop busting my chops." Paul's voice isn't as deep now and he tosses Steph an eye roll. He gestures at Birdie. "I'm interested in this pretty lady, not your sour face."

Steph huffs and Birdie looks up at Paul with an expression that's practiced in its bored nonchalance.

It's chilly without being rude. "Paul, right?

I'm going to give you something to think on as you walk out that door.

Women don't like being addressed as little lady and pretty lady .

We're more than the size of our bodies or the way our faces happen to be shaped.

You'll have better luck when you figure that out.

" She looks back down at her food and essentially dismisses him.

Me and Steph both lose our composure, snorting and raising our eyebrows at each other. Who is this woman? I want to be her.

Paul frowns and then shrugs like he doesn't care either way and tips his hat to her. "Maybe I'll see you around."

"Probably not," Steph replies, and Paul shakes his head as he weaves out the front door.

"I want my daughter to learn from you," I say to Birdie, laughing openly now.

Birdie sips her water and offers a little tip of her head that says she's not bothered.

"You'd be surprised how often women in event planning get hit on at the events we're running.

I used to try to be lighter on the rejection, but honestly, some men do not take a hint.

Paul seems like one of those." Her face softens and she looks between Steph and me.

"I understand that I'm a fresh face in a place where everyone grew up together.

I'm trying to keep my head down and offer no encouragement.

The last thing I need is another guy messing up my life.

Figures that the one guy I didn't brush off ended up taking me for a ride. "

"Why can't it go the other way for once? You finally give in to a guy's advances and it turns out he's a secret billionaire and all he wants to do is worship the ground you walk on for the rest of your life?" Steph jokes.

"You finally admitted you like Ryan," I tease her. "Is this how you tell us he’s a secret billionaire?"

"Sadly, no. But he does know the proper amount of aftershave to wear, and he's never called me little lady," she grins.

We all laugh and move on to talking about other things until Birdie's break is over and I've got a few ideas of my own brewing. Maybe Birdie and I can help each other out.