Dare took a bite of the biscuit. “What are you talking about?”
“I think he means the bruise on your cheek,” Sasha said. “It looks like you got in a fight.”
Shit, he hadn’t even noticed it. “It’s nothing. I need someone to give me a ride to get my truck.”
“You left your truck somewhere? How’d you get home?” Doc asked.
“I drove my truck home, but someone took it.” He wasn’t about to tell them who and listen to them give him shit about Billie stealing his truck.
Kenny threw his hands up. “It wasn’t me. I swear it.”
Dare smiled. “I know. Don’t worry. Hey, Doc, can you spare a few minutes to give me a ride?”
“I can, honey,” his mother said. “I’ve already eaten, and I’m on my way into town anyway.”
Great. He didn’t really want his mother to know who had stolen his truck, but he needed the ride. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Do you know who stole your truck?” his father asked.
“Yes, I do.”
His father grinned. “What’s the sweetheart’s name?”
Chuckles rang out around the table.
“A girl stole your truck?” Kenny asked.
“She’s got big ones to steal your truck,” Sasha said.
“She must be one hell of a woman to have laid you out so bad you didn’t wake up when she left.” Hyde eyed Dare. “I’ll take her number.”
Dare glowered at him and then at their father. “Thanks, old man.” His father laughed, and Dare shook his head. “Mom, are you ready to get out of here?”
“I think that’s a good idea.” His mother patted Kenny’s shoulder. “I hope you have a great morning working with Cowboy. I put a hat with your boots to keep the sun off your face.”
When Kenny remained silent, their father said, “Son, that’s my wife speaking to you. She went out of her way to make sure you were taken care of, and I’d like you to show her some respect.”
Kenny looked at Wynnie, his expression hovering somewhere between reluctance and regret. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, honey. I hope everyone has a great morning.” As his mother walked around the table to his father, there was a round of You too.
Dare was glad to hear Kenny’s voice in the mix.
“I left a few contracts on your desk for you to look over.” His mother ran her hand over their father’s shoulder and kissed his cheek.
“You’ve got it, darlin’. Drive safe.” He peered around her at Dare. “Anything in that truck or on your key chain we need to worry about? Do we need to change any locks?”
“No, Pop. She’s not a hardened criminal. She just took my truck,” Dare said.
“In the state of Colorado, that’s a felony,” Kenny reminded him.
Another round of chuckles rang out, and his mother gave him the from the mouth of babes look she’d seen him give his father a million times.
“Maybe you should bring her to the ranch and teach her a lesson,” Kenny suggested.
“I’m planning on it,” Dare said, and followed his mother out the door.
Once they were in the parking lot, she said, “You want to talk about it?”
“I’d rather gouge my eyes out with a spoon.”
“Oh, honey. Don’t be so dramatic.” They climbed into the car. “Where did you take off to yesterday? We missed you at dinner.”
“Out with a friend.”
“The same friend who stole your truck?” she asked with more than a hint of amusement.
He took off his hat and scrubbed a hand down his face, jaw clenching.
She smiled coyly. “Want to tell me where I’m taking you?”
“Billie’s house.”
Her brows shot up.
“I took her to the thrill park, and one thing led to another.”
Her expression turned thoughtful. “And she snuck out while you were still asleep?”
“That’s about the size of it, I guess.”
“I’m sorry, honey. That hurts, doesn’t it?”
“It’s definitely not a cause for celebration.”
She reached over and gently squeezed his forearm. “Sweet darlin’, you know dealing with emotions has never been easy for Billie, and I think she’s been running from her feelings for you since you were kids. Maybe you should give her a little time before you go in demanding answers.”
“What makes you think she’s been into me for so long?”
“Mothers know these things. The same way I know seeing her with Eddie tore you up inside.”
His jaw clenched. He and his mother had talked many times about Eddie’s death and Billie shutting him out of her life, but he’d never told her about his real feelings for Billie.
“I loved Eddie. You know that. I wanted him to be happy.” He looked out the window. “Just not with my girl.”
“She wasn’t your girl, sweetheart, and please don’t think I’m minimizing your loss when I say this, but while you lost one of your nearest and dearest friends, Billie lost a best friend and a lover. It’s more complicated for her.”
“I know. I get it,” he said too sharply. “I wish you could have talked to her after Eddie’s accident. I wish someone could have gotten through to her.”
“We all wish that would have been the case. You weren’t the only one begging me to talk to her back then. Alice is one of my closest friends. She and Manny would have given anything to see Billie open up to someone. I can’t tell you how many times Bobbie came to me asking the same thing. I tried so many times, and I know you did, too.”
“I never stopped.”
“Clearly.” She smiled as she turned down Billie’s street. “You and Billie are cut from the same cloth. When you went through that rebellious stage in college, you wouldn’t listen or talk to anyone, either.”
She pulled up to the curb behind Dare’s truck, and his chest constricted, thinking of Billie wanting to take off so badly, she’d snuck out. “Thanks for the ride.”
As he opened the door, his mother touched his hand. “Dare, go easy on her. It took a long time for you to figure out how to take a step back from your feelings and try to understand them. Considering that Billie let you back into her life, even if for only a night, she might be standing on a pretty scary precipice right now. She needs you to help her figure out how to climb down, not scare her into jumping.”
He’d lost Billie as a teenager by taking her at her word, and he’d spent the last few years letting her try to figure things out on her own. If he’d learned one thing from her confessions, it was that Billie Mancini’s heart was at risk of drowning in a sea of guilt and love—because of him and for him. There was no way he’d let her try to find her way to the surface on her own.
But his mother didn’t need to hear that. He nodded curtly and headed up to the house to set things straight.
The door was ajar, and when he knocked, it opened. Bobbie looked over from where she sat at the kitchen table in a pretty floral dress, hair and makeup freshly done. She’d probably be leaving soon for work, which suited him just fine.