engagement ring these days, courtesy of Jude, another of Toby’s brothers. The two had met after Gabi’s father, Orlando Mendoza, had been seriously injured in a plane crash.
Orlando had been a pilot for the Redmond Flight School when the accident happened. And Gabi had flown out from Miami to be with him as soon as she’d gotten the news.
“Hi there,” Gabi said. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Same here,” Angie said. “How’s your dad doing?”
“Much better. Thank you for asking.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.” Angie again stepped aside to let Gabi pass, then entered the kitchen, which was a bustle of activity as Stacey and Delaney laid out plates of appetizers to go outside.
“Your dad asked me to bring him a clean platter for the cooked meat,” Angie said.
“I’ll get that for you.” Stacey went to a side cupboard and pulled out a large, ceramic platter. “But before you go, I do have a question for you.”
Angie smiled. “Okay, shoot.”
“In high school you were Queen of the First Date and president of just about every club they offered.” Angie assumed Stacey was going to point out the obvious—that Angie couldn’t commit to anything—until she added, “At times I was a bit envious.”
No kidding? She hadn’t meant to insult her? Stacey had actually admired her?
“I’m curious,” Stacey said. “When you told Justin not to choose anything too soon, how did you come up with that strategy?”
It was a strategy, although no one had actually pegged it as such.
The other women in the kitchen—Julia and Gabi were now back—continued to move about, but their movements slowed and their side conversations stalled.
Angie had never tried to explain it to anyone before, but for some reason, she opted for candor now. “My dad used to tell me to be careful when making a choice, because once I made it, I couldn’t change my mind. So I took that to heart. I try everything once, knowing that when I find something I’m passionate about, I’ll stick to it.”
Trouble was, she wasn’t entirely convinced of that. If it turned out she was wrong, she could end up in some eternal revolving door of new beginnings and never find a happy ending.
“But you don’t believe that, do you?” Delaney said. “I mean, everyone makes mistakes. It’s not like you can’t start over and have a second chance.”
Angie had never talked about her childhood to anyone before, but being here with Toby’s family had a way of making her lower her guard.
“Yes, I know that—intellectually. However, I grew up in a household with parents who remained in an unhappy marriage for my sake. And they drilled it into me that once a commitment was made, you had to stick to it.”
“That’s kind of sad,” Delaney said.
“I know. My mom hated small-town life, so living in Horseback Hollow nearly sucked the life out of her. And as a result, her unhappiness nearly sucked the life out of my dad.”
“Is that why your mom eventually moved to Lubbock?” Delaney asked.
It was common knowledge that Doris acted as though she was better than everyone in town. And that she’d filed for a divorce and moved to Lubbock the day after Angie had graduated from high school.
Still, even when her mom had lived with them in Horseback Hollow, she’d commuted to work in Lubbock, which meant she was gone most of the time. And to be honest, she’d left Angie and her father emotionally even before that—or so it had seemed.
“My parents were mismatched from day one,” Angie said. “And, if anything, it’s made me not want to make any big decisions that I might regret for the rest of my life, especially when it came to a college degree or a lifelong profession.”
“C’mon, Angie,” Delaney said. “Don’t you think you’re taking your dad’s advice to an extreme?”
“Maybe,” Angie conceded. “But I’ve had a lot of cool jobs, tried a variety of things and learned a lot along the way. I can also handle just about anything thrown my way.”
“I’ve heard about some of your job experience,” Jeanne Marie said, as she entered the kitchen and breezed right into the conversation.
“What have you heard?” Angie asked.
“That you’re more than qualified to do my job.” Jeanne Marie laughed as she carried the big bowl of potato salad out the back door to the tables set up in the yard.
Angie looked at Toby’s sisters and whispered, “What’s your mom’s job?”
The girls both laughed, and Angie began to wonder whether any of them would answer. Finally, Delaney said, “She was a professional stay-at-home mom.”
Angie was at a loss. She could never be a stay-at-home mom. Not like Jeanne Marie.
When the girls finally got their giggles under control, Stacey asked, “Do you need any help deciding what to do with our brother?”
“No, not really. We never seem to have any time to talk about it. So I have no idea what he’s even thinking.”
Angie did, however, have a very memorable moment of waking in his arms—before the sprinklers ruined it all.
“You mean you’ve never had a proper date?” Stacey asked.
“I’m afraid not. The kids are always with us. And to tell you the truth, I don’t know if Toby wants to date me.”
“Oh, believe us,” Stacey said, “he wants to.”
Delaney beamed. “Just leave it to us. Stacey and I are just the ones who can make that happen.”
A date? With Toby Fortune Jones?
Angie didn’t know if she should run for the hills—or thank her lucky stars.
* * *
As the meat sizzled on the grill, setting off the aroma of barbecued burgers and hot dogs, Toby stood next to his father and Colton Foster, Stacey’s fiancé.
Deke had roped his future son-in-law into helping him man the grill, and the two ranchers had been discussing the rising cost of feed corn, as well as the new bull Deke intended to purchase.
But Toby couldn’t seem to focus on the discussion at hand. Instead he kept thinking about the one going on in the kitchen, where the women had gathered with Angie.
“Excuse me,” he said, as he stepped away from his dad and Colton.
The two men continued to talk while Toby strode across the patio to the insulated cooler that held a variety of drinks, including the ice-cold bottle of beer he snatched for himself.
So far, the family dinner at his parents’ house seemed
