“Ryder…”
“You had flour on your cheek.”
“Oh. Okay.” She rubbed the spot he’d touched, not meeting his eyes.
“So, where’s the dog?”
“Dottie tied her up out back,” she responded and then pressed her lips together. “You tricked that out of me.”
“No trick, Shelby Ann. You’re exhausted and traumatized. Whether you want to admit it or not, you need a little help.”
She sighed. “Fine. Go get Mazy. I’ll meet you out front. My car is—”
“The big pink Cadillac.”
“How did you know?”
“It’s the only car that’s here every time you are.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll meet you out there in a couple of minutes. I just need to give my crew some instructions.” She hurried away. Ran, actually.
He walked out the back exit, freed the ungrateful Mazy and carried her to Shelby’s car. He waited there, holding the struggling dog as tightly as he could without squashing her. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. Twenty. He called work, rescheduled the meeting for later in the afternoon, tapped his fingers on the Caddie’s hood.
Where was she?
Probably mixing another batch of sweet bread or keeping Dottie from attacking a patron. What she needed to be doing was resting. He shoved Mazy into the Hummer and walked into the bakery.
Shelby stood at one of the small booths, talking to an elderly couple, her blue eyes widening with surprise as she met his gaze.
“Time to go.” He took her arm, tugging her away.
“But I was—”
“Going home to take a nap, remember?”
“I know, but Dottie, Zane and Rae—”
“Can handle things just fine.” He led her outside, grabbing Mazy from the back of his Hummer and waiting while Shelby climbed into the Cadillac.
“Come on, Old Blue. Give me a break this time and start, okay?” she muttered as she turned the key in the ignition.
“I hate to break the news to you, Shelby. But your car is pink, not blue.” He leaned in the open door and set Mazy in Shelby’s lap, caught a whiff of vanilla and berry, his muscles tightening in response.
“I know. Terrible, isn’t it? Beulah left it to me in her will with specific instructions to keep it pink. If I had my way, though, she’d be blue.”
“She?”
“Of course. She’s not just a car. Blue is an old lady with history. She’s been through a lot, but she’s still nice to have around. Most of the time.”
“Like Dottie?”
“Exactly. Thanks again for all your help this morning. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been at Maureen’s place.” Her eyes grew moist with tears at the mention of her friend, but she didn’t let them fall. Instead, she closed the door, offered a quick wave and drove away.
He watched until the pink Cadillac disappeared from view, something in him soft for Shelby, soft for her easy smile and compassionate nature. To keep a woman like Dottie around, to drive an old pink car in memory of a woman who’d been gone for years, to run a successful bakery with a ragtag group of teens and a crotchety old woman behind the counter took a special kind of person.
Shelby was definitely that.
Ryder had been attracted to women before.
He’d even thought he might love a few of them, but none of them had touched his heart so easily, so completely as Shelby seemed to.
He rubbed the knotted muscles in his thigh before he climbed into the Hummer. He needed to work the pain out, run until the muscles heated and loosened, but he had a meeting to attend, a client to impress. He had a company to run and his own set of problems to deal with. The last thing he needed or wanted was to be pulled into someone else’s life or drama.
But with Shelby, he wasn’t sure he’d have to be pulled.
With Shelby, he had a feeling he’d end up fighting his way into her life, and he had a feeling it would be worth it.
Drama and all.
He pulled away from Just Desserts, his mind humming with the million things he had to do before the day ended. Plenty to keep him occupied, but Shelby’s sweet smile and berry-and-vanilla scent lingered just below the surface of his thoughts, reminding him of cool summer breezes and sparkling blue waters.
Laughter and joy and home.
All the things he’d craved most when he’d been in the arid Afghanistan countryside. Everything he’d longed for when he’d been lying in a hospital bed, listening while doctors told him he’d never walk again.
Six years ago, God had given Ryder a second chance at life, and Ryder had promised to live better and love more. He’d followed through on that, honoring his fallen comrades by building a successful security business and setting up scholarship funds for their children.
But the one thing he’d longed for most since those dark, pain-filled days had remained out of reach.
Family.
Not just his parents and siblings, but that deeper, all- consuming connection built between husband and wife and children. He’d seen its power as wives and children crowded around the beds of his surviving team members, felt it in the air as he visited the widows of those he’d served with, and he’d wanted it in a way that he never had before the explosion in Afghanistan.
Wanted it.
Sought it.
Thought he might have found it in Danielle. After they’d broken up, he’d decided that family wasn’t part of God’s plan for his life. Maybe he’d been right, but Ryder wasn’t the kind who turned away from an opportunity, and when he looked at Shelby, that’s what he saw.
An opportunity.
To look one more time for forever.
Maybe he’d find it.
Maybe he wouldn’t.
Either way, he had a feeling he was in for a bumpy ride.
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