LOL: Laugh Out Loud (After Oscar, #2)(45)

14





Roman





Roman Horsemanship Throughout The Ages



Scotty’s entire body was shaking, and I was sure I’d misheard him.

“You don’t mean that,” I said into his hair. It was still chilled from the outside and smelled of woodsmoke and winter air.

“I do,” he said on a watery breath.

The pain in his voice caused my chest to tighten. I tightened my arms around him for a moment before finally relenting. “Let’s sit down and you can tell me what happened.”

I pulled his face out of my chest and noticed his tired eyes. Gone were the sparkling baby blues I’d come to appreciate in such a short time. In their place were limpid pools of murky blue gray. I leaned in to kiss his lips softly in comfort and reassurance. Scotty’s hands clutched at my shirt as I kissed him longer and deeper than I’d planned.

“Come on,” I said, forcing myself to pull away. “I started a fire in the other room.”

I led him down a hallway to a small den with wood paneling and a stone fireplace. A dark leather love seat and chair sat in front of the blazing fire. I pulled him down next to me on the love seat and sat facing him. “Tell me.”

Scotty sat with his back against the arm of the couch, his knees pulled tight against his chest and his arms clasped tight around them. His bottom teeth scraped at his top lip enough to make me want to soothe it with another kiss. But I knew that would only lead to more fooling around, and he was clearly upset. I knew how much he loved Nugget, so if he was considering selling her, he was truly desperate, which really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me considering his situation.

“The, ah, the kid who…” Scotty cleared his throat. I noticed his knuckles were white where he clasped his shins. “The kid who’s taking care of Nugget says his dad might want to buy her. They run a sleigh ride company here in Stowe, and… ah, well… it would be a great situation for Nugget.”

I frowned. “But you told him no. You didn’t want to sell.”

He just looked at me with those sad eyes until I thought I wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. “I have to.”

I stared at him and saw every bit of raw emotion just under the surface. He was trying so fucking hard to be brave. “But… Nugget is your—”

His blue eyes were bottomless pools of sadness. “Please, don’t,” he whispered. “Please, Roman.”

My heart felt like it was one of the clementines from earlier, being pulled apart and swatted across the room. “But why? What happened between then and now?”

Scotty’s chin trembled when he spoke. “A reality check. I already tried to get another carriage-driving job in the city, Roman. And there was nothing. If I can’t find a job with Nugget, that means I have to find one without her. And I don’t have a degree. I can’t afford to keep her on a dishwasher’s salary. And even if I could, she’d be trapped in a barn most of the day without anyone to give her the attention she deserves. It’s part of the reason I came to Vermont. If I can sell her here, she’ll have a better life, you know?”

“But why now?” I asked, still struggling to understand. “Why all of a sudden? Who was on the phone?”

“Um, it’s…” Scotty took a breath. “It’s my mom. She…” His eyes closed for a minute, and when they opened, he looked everywhere but at me.

I reached out and took one of his hands, scooting closer so I could hold it in both of mine. “Tell me,” I said again softly.

“You’re going to hate me,” he spoke so quietly, I almost didn’t hear him.

My immediate inclination was to reassure him that he was wrong, but I stopped myself. I hadn’t known Scotty long enough to have any idea if he was right or not. It seemed impossible to imagine him doing something that could make me think so ill of him, but I’d been burned before. All I could do was hear him out.

“What about your mom?” I urged.

He slipped his hand out of my grip. It was the only time I could remember him not wanting to be touched. A part of me wanted to hold on to him tighter, to reach for him and pull him closer, but I didn’t want to push. Even though we sat next to each other, in that moment he felt impossibly out of reach.

He cleared his throat and kept his eyes downcast. “She’s been in jail, and um… she gets out tomorrow.”

I blinked, taking in the information. It hadn’t been at all what I’d been expecting.

“I should have told you earlier,” Scotty continued quickly, not making eye contact with me. “I’m sorry. And it wasn’t for anything bad. I mean, not that there are really any great ways to end up in jail. But she didn’t hurt or kill anyone—it was a money scam and she got caught. I mean, obviously she got caught since she ended up in jail. But that’s not the point. Or rather it is the point since I’m telling you my mom is a convicted felon.”

He cut himself off, clenching his teeth together before continuing. “I know the last thing you need is for the tabloids to find out you’ve been hanging out with the son of a convicted felon, but I just figured since we were so far in the country and there was no one around…” He blew out a breath and added another “I’m sorry” in a soft voice.