Autumn’s eyes had widened, but she remained in her seat. “Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
Reese took a deep breath, sat down once more. He pulled up his email, skimmed the couple of things that had come in. Nothing of any importance because the majority of his job functions had been transferred to Autumn already. No, scratch that. Everything had been transferred to Autumn. There was absolutely no reason for him to still be here. Reese knew the only reason he continued to come back was because he was hesitant to take the leap in the direction his life was headed. It was a stall tactic. The last one he could hold on to before he found himself right in the middle of what was starting to feel like an alternate reality.
He turned on the out of office in his email, which directed people to Autumn, then signed out of his account, looked up at Autumn. “You need me to go over that spreadsheet one more time?”
She paused her typing to look over. “Um. No. I spent some time on it this morning. I’ve got a knack for reading formulas, so it’s easy to navigate.”
“Anything else you have questions about?”
Her golden eyebrows lowered. “I don’t think so. You’ve been a really good trainer.”
Getting to his feet before he changed his mind, Reese walked over, held out his hand. “Then I’m officially passing the reins over to you.”
Autumn stood slowly, gripped his hand. “And I’m officially accepting them.”
“I will need to keep the truck for a couple of days,” he explained. “I’ll have somethin’ by the weekend.”
“No worries. I’ve got my truck. It’ll get me where I need to go.”
Because there was nothing more to say or do, Reese nodded. “Good luck, Autumn.”
“Hope to see you around.”
He offered another nod and headed out into the brilliant Texas sunshine.
Half an hour later, after swinging through the bakery on Main Street and grabbing a dozen donuts, Reese headed for Brantley’s.
When he got there, he parked the Walker Demo truck behind JJ’s SUV, grabbed the generic white box with the sugary crap inside, and made his way to the barn. After keying in his pass code—only briefly worried it wouldn’t work—he unlocked the doors and stepped inside.
Both Brantley and JJ turned to look at him. While Brantley’s eyes narrowed on his face, JJ’s darted to the box of donuts in his hand.
“Are those what I think they are?”
Clearly she didn’t need an answer, because she was directly in front of him, relieving him of the box before he could say a word.
“Reese Tavoularis, you are my new best friend,” she declared, going to her toes and kissing him on the cheek. “Want some coffee?”
“Would love some,” he told her, still not looking away from Brantley.
If eyes could shoot daggers, Brantley would’ve slayed Reese where he stood. There was so much anger flashing in that blue-gray gaze, Reese wondered if he might go up in flames.
“Here’s your coffee. Can I—” JJ came to a stop, eyes bouncing between them. “You know what? I actually forgot to add sugar. In fact, we’re out. None out here. No sugar. Need to go over to the house and grab some.”
Reese didn’t stop her. He doubted Brantley wanted to be alone with him, but he would take the opportunity presented.
The door opened and shut, sealing them alone inside.
“I know you’re pissed,” he began.
“Not pissed,” Brantley countered.
“Okay, upset.”
“Not upset, either.”
“Brantley…”
Brantley’s chin tilted up, his eyes going to the ceiling, fists landing on his hips. “Now is not the time for us to have this discussion.”
“So when will be?” He suspected never.
“Why are you here?”
“I work here.”
“Thought you weren’t startin’ until next week.”
“Things changed.”
“Tell me about it.”
Reese felt not only the words but the emotion behind them like a physical blow.
Rather than slink back into a corner and let Brantley continue to get riled up over something Reese couldn’t take back, he continued forward, not stopping until he was standing directly in front of the man.
“Look,” he said softly.
Brantley didn’t look at him, so Reese helped him along, reaching up and putting his hand on his cheek, guiding him so he would meet his gaze.
“I fucked up. I’m well aware of that.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s a damn big deal,” he bit out hotly. “Look. I get it, I do. You want to send me on my way, pretend there’s nothin’ between us. And I’m almost terrified enough to let you.”
Brantley’s eyes flared, likely surprised by his admission.
Reese stepped closer, eliminating the space between them. He lowered his voice when he said, “But I’m not goin’ anywhere, Brantley. I can’t. Not when I know that whatever this is, no matter how fucking terrifying… I’ve never felt like this before. Not for anyone. I don’t know what it means, don’t know where it’s going. And I shouldn’t have panicked, but I did. I’ll probably do it again. Maybe more than once.”
