Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(49)

Cammie expertly wove through tables, and I kept my gaze pointed directly at her back, not taking anyone else in.

“Here you go. Can I get you a drink while you look at the menu?” Cammie asked.

I shook my head as I slid into the booth.

Hadley’s gaze swept over my face, concern filling her expression. As soon as Cammie left, my sister leaned forward. “We can get our food to go and head back to my place.”

God, she was the best. I didn’t deserve her, but I was grateful for her just the same. “No. I—I want to get better at this stuff.”

Hadley arched a brow in question.

“At being normal,” I explained.

She scoffed. “Who gives a crap about normal?”

My mouth curved. “I wouldn’t mind having their french fries hot out of the fryer for a change.”

I only ever got takeout. I didn’t stick around at restaurants or anywhere in town, really. I got in, got out, and hightailed it back to my solitude.

Hadley grinned. “They are delicious.”

“How are the girls?” I asked, trying to focus on something other than the feeling of being uncomfortable in my skin.

“Birdie is raising hell like always and turning Calder’s hair gray. Sage is still obsessing over wildflowers and counting down the days until she can start hunting for them again.”

Hadley was the mother the girls had always deserved, and it warmed my heart to see them getting that. “It’s been warming up. I bet things will sprout before she knows it.”

“It’s going to be a gorgeous spring.”

I nodded and took a sip of my water.

“So, fill me in. What’s the latest with the new place?”

I traced a circle in the condensation on the glass. I didn’t have the first clue how to answer that. Yet, I wanted to explain it to my sister, and have her help me sort out the feelings I was struggling with. “It feels like home.”

Hadley’s ice-blue eyes brightened. “I can’t imagine anything better.”

“Me, neither.” I toyed with the straw wrapper, shredding it into tiny pieces.

“But?” Hadley prodded.

I kept my eyes trained on the tiny bits of paper as if they could give me the words. “I like him.”

The words came out as barely a whisper.

Hadley laughed. “Of course, you do. Ramsey’s hot as hell. He’s got that tortured, broody thing going on. And, he obviously cares about you a great deal.”

My head snapped up. “Obviously?”

Hadley sighed. “The man only lets people onto his property under great duress. Yet, he jumped all over himself to let you stay.”

“He let Aidan and Elliott onto his property.”

“Two kids who needed help.”

A wave of nausea rolled through me. “I needed help. He’s a good man.”

“Shy.” Hadley ducked her head so her eyes met mine. “I see the way he looks at you. It’s not with pity.”

My stomach twisted. That was what I’d gotten my whole life: pity and morbid fascination. I was so damn sick of it. “I want to hope it’s not. I think we’re becoming friends. I just…”

“You don’t look at him like a friend.”

Ramsey’s words echoed in my head. “He told me he isn’t built for relationships.”

A huge grin stretched across Hadley’s face.

“Why are you smiling? I just told you he doesn’t want to be with me like that.”

She shook her head. “Shy, if he’s telling you that he’s not built for relationships, that means he very much wants to be with you. He’s just scared.”

I didn’t think scared was something Ramsey was often—and certainly not of me. “I’m not so sure.”

“Be bold. Show him what he’s missing. A shirt that shows a little cleavage wouldn’t hurt…”

I choked on the sip of water I’d just taken. “Are you crazy?”

Hadley laughed. “Calder would say yes. But I think I’m also incredibly smart. What do you have to lose by flirting a little? If he’s not interested, you can cut your losses and move on.”

“I could lose everything. He could ask me to move out and not help around the ranch anymore—”

“Shy, Ramsey doesn’t strike me as an asshole. I don’t think he’d do any of that. At the very worst, he might pull back for a while.”

The idea of losing the intimacy I had with Ramsey right now—the brushes of his fingers, the pressure of his arms around me—nearly ripped me to shreds.

“Would you really rather not know?” Hadley prodded.

“I’d rather have these little pieces of him than an entirety of anyone else.”

Hadley’s eyes glistened in the overhead lights. “Well, maybe all he needs to give you everything is a little push in the right direction.”





“How about when Hayes got that M&M stuck up his nose?” Hadley asked through her laughter as we stepped out of the restaurant and into the cool night air.

I couldn’t help my snort of laughter. “The M&M had nothing on the time Beckett broke his wrist climbing up to Sally Crenshaw’s window.”

Hadley’s eyes widened. “I completely forgot about that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dad so mad at one of us before.”