Ex, Why, and Me (15 page)

She nodded. “I was. And I would have regretted it. It was a good thing you were there. You finally got me on that horse and you looked after me.”

The harness guy interrupted. “Are you ready?”

Michelle paused and gave a sharp nod. “Ready.” She looked at Ryan. “All I can say is that I’m going to be there for you, no matter what you decide.”

He needed to hear that. But he didn’t know if it was true. He didn’t know if pride and respect were wrapped around that love and he didn’t know if he could fight through this choking fear to make her proud.

Michelle took a deep breath. “Now, are you going to give me a push?”

She screamed the whole way down. Michelle didn’t think she would do that, but the ride down the zip line went fast. Way too fast.

Everything was bumpy and shaky. She didn’t see the river below her. Her eyes were on the prize. The keys. She was going to get one if it meant defying the laws of nature.

The keys were suddenly coming up. The light hit her in the eyes and she automatically squinted. She panicked for a moment and made herself uncurl her fingers from the handle. She was going to get this, damn it.

Reaching out quickly, Michelle closed her hand into a fist. Her fingers fumbled and she missed one. She made a quick, desperate grab. She clenched her hand and felt the cold metal biting her palm.

Her stomach did a wild flip as the bluff came up fast. What if they miscalculated? What if—

The group of men caught her. The stop was abrupt and jarring. She wobbled and fought for her balance, but her mind was on the key, snug in her grip.

The cheer from the crowd came at her like a crashing wave. She had been so focused on the keys that she didn’t hear the onlookers at all on her ride down. Michelle gave a wave to let them know she was okay.

She clumsily stepped out of her harness, thankful for the men helping her out. Michelle turned around and faced the other bluff. The zip line was empty. She peered in the tower, but didn’t see Ryan’s familiar silhouette. She didn’t see anything.

He’ll come. Just give him a minute.

She unbuckled her helmet with shaky fingers and nervously fluffed out her hair.
Come on…come on…

Nothing.

Michelle dipped her head, determined to put on a brave, unconcerned face. She knew Ryan thought this was all about the winning. He didn’t get it, no matter how many times she tried to explain.

It wasn’t about the hunt. It was never about this stupid challenge. She had already gotten her prize. She had a second chance with Ryan.

But she had failed him. She wanted to tell him it was okay to give up and forfeit. It would have been the easy route. She had tried to be tough and strong for the both of them and it blew up in her face.

She thought she could help him work through his fears because she loved him. How arrogant was that? All he thought now was that her feelings were contingent on how he handled the challenge. He probably felt as if he had failed her. How was she going to convince him otherwise?

“Mojo!”

Michelle jerked her head up as she saw Ryan sailing along the wire. She slapped her hand over her mouth as tears burned her eyes. Her heart swelled at the sight of him racing down the wire.

“Is he saying Geronimo?” one of the men by her side asked while the crowd cheered.

“Nope. He’s saying”—she arched her back, threw her hands in the air, and screamed—“Mojo!”

Michelle launched in on Ryan the moment he touched the ground. His face was pale, his mouth pinched with tension. Guilt and relief slapped up against her so hard it knocked her silly.

“You did it!” She gave him a fierce hug that made him stumble back. “How do you feel?”

“I’m never doing that again.”

“You don’t have to. I promise.” She waited until he took off the harness and then she pulled him to the side, away from everyone. “Once is more than enough.”

She noticed he wasn’t smiling. Far from it. His eyes looked glassy. “Really, Ryan. Tell me the truth. How are you feeling? Are you okay?”

He nodded dumbly and looked straight ahead. “I’m okay.”

“I kept thinking I pushed you too hard.” She held her hand against her sternum. “That you would never forgive me. But we’re good now, right?”

“Ah, no.” Ryan turned and looked directly in her eyes. “I’m still pissed off at you, and nothing is going to make that change. Not even if you deep throat me again.” He paused and reconsidered. “Although you could try.”

Okay, Ryan was slowly coming back to his normal self. She exhaled a shaky sigh of relief.

“And once I stop feeling like I’m going to puke, I’m going to let you have it.”

She playfully gave him a shove. “You are so full of it. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself. I can see it in your eyes.”

He curled his arm around her shoulders. “Whatever you say, Mojo.”

Michelle’s eyes widened. “Mojo?” Did he rattle his brain on the trip down?

“I decided you need a nickname.” His sly smile made her tingle. “Michelle is way too long.”

“You are
not
calling me Mojo. I
forbid
it. Mojo is what someone would call their pet dog. I—” She stopped and turned around when she heard a scream.

Brandy careened down the zip line. While her long red ponytail slapped against her face, her knees were ramrod straight and perpendicular. She made a wild grab for the keys and missed.

“Ooh.” Michelle flinched and bit her bottom lip. “That can’t be good for Clayton. It’s all up to him.”

“Pressure.” Ryan didn’t sound sympathetic at all.

“He’s going to feel horrible if he doesn’t get the key. Brandy will eat him alive. Chew him up one side and down the other.”

Ryan gave a sympathetic cluck of his tongue. “I know how he feels.”

Michelle looked at him, startled. She glared at him when she saw the unholy glow in his eyes. “Don’t compare me to Brandy!”

“Clayton has to know that she’s going to dump him right here and now if he doesn’t deliver.”

And he put her in the same category? The nerve! “I’m not dumping you. I never said I was dumping you.”

Ryan cupped her cheek with his hand and gazed into her eyes. “I know. I just wanted to hear you say it.”

Michelle stuck her tongue out at him. “Oh, you are not so easily forgiven. Comparing me with Brandy. I can’t believe it.”

“I like to live dangerously.” He held her close, but she refused to relax against him. She wasn’t going to sink into him. She folded her arms across her chest for good measure.

Ryan’s hold tightened around her as Clayton went down the zip line. As much as Ryan acted as if the other guy annoyed him, she felt the nerves grip him the moment Clayton grabbed for the keys.

“He got it.” Michelle let out a long breath. “It is really hard to get those keys.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Michelle!”

Michelle turned to see her best friend running toward them. “Vanessa!” She gave the blonde a hug. “Where have you been?”

“I have been running around like crazy from one event to the next.” She released Michelle and looked at her from top to toe. She then gave a covert glance to Ryan who stood back, but made his possessiveness clear. “You made it to the end. I knew you would,” she said with unshakeable confidence.

“Oh, sure you did.” Michelle made a face. “You have no idea what you’ve put me through. Have you tried
any
of these challenges your committee put together?”

“No,” Vanessa admitted. “We all got drunk one night and brainstormed.”

Michelle and Ryan looked at each other. His eyebrow quirked up as if to say,
That would explain a lot
. She had to agree.

“I’m kidding!” Vanessa swore.

“I don’t know about that,” Ryan said as they turned to watch Margaret swinging wildly from the zip line. Michelle was surprised at how the older woman grabbed the key from the air, making it look amazingly easy.

“By the way, the scavenger hunt has generated a great deal of business for the Horseradish Festival,” Vanessa informed them with great pride. “It’ll be a while before we get the final tally.”

“That’s great. You got this festival back on its feet,” Michelle exclaimed.

And it was great. Not only had her hard work paid off, but Vanessa had achieved her goal. Rising to power in Carbon Hill might not be Michelle’s dream for Vanessa, but it was important to her friend. That was important enough for her.

“I guess the hunt will be one of the festival’s new traditions,” Vanessa said. “Are you guys interested in doing it next year?”

“No!” they said in unison.

Vanessa’s smile widened. “Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say that, but I thought I’d check.” She looked in the direction of the river. “Here comes Dennis. I better get to the treasure chests. Good luck, you guys!”

Ryan watched Dennis safely hit the ground before he turned to Michelle. “Do you have the key?”

“Right here.” She jingled it from the brass ring. “I haven’t let go since I got it. I think it’s permanently imprinted on my palm.”

Ryan reached for her hand and slowly uncurled her fingers. He looked at the key and glanced up at her. Energy crackled from him. “Mojo, I think we’re going to win.”

“It doesn’t matter, and stop calling me Mojo.”

“Whatever you say.” Ryan lifted her hand and kissed her palm. “But I still think we’re going to win.”

“Contestants,” Vanessa called out, her voice loud and clear without the aid of a microphone. “If you would please gather around the treasure chests, we will find out who is the big winner of Carbon Hill’s First Annual Horseradish Festival Scavenger Hunt.”

“She’s getting a little ahead of herself, isn’t she?” Ryan asked as she strolled over to the treasure chests.

“There’s no such thing as advertising too early,” Michelle said loyally as they approached the chests that were lined up in a row facing the bluff’s edge.

“Each key has a colored handle,” Vanessa told everyone. “This color matches with the lock on the treasure chest. Find your treasure chest, but don’t open it yet.”

The warning was loud and clear. Ryan looked at the key clenched in Michelle’s hand. The green tip matched the lock to the treasure chest in the middle. “Over there.” He pointed it out and escorted Michelle to the chest.

He noticed that the Aschenbrenners were crouched in front of the chest to the left of him. Clayton and Brandy were to the right. The crowd stood in an arc in front of them, impatient to discover the winner.

Michelle knelt down in front of the chest and Ryan followed her example. He was surprised by the jitters. He watched Michelle wiping her palms against her jeans. Didn’t matter if they won, huh?

Why was he nervous? He got his wish. He got to say sorry. He got a do-over. He had everything he wanted.

But he wanted more, he finally admitted to himself. Ryan wanted Michelle by his side and in his life. He had to come up with a plan to make that happen.

No matter whether they won or lost, he was going to pursue her after this hunt. He would make Michelle his. The way he should have done it years ago.

“Ready?” Vanessa called out to the contestants. “One…two…three! Open your treasure chest!”

Michelle shoved the key in the lock and gave it a firm twist. It mirrored the twist in his heart.

No matter what happens…

Michelle stared at the contents in the box. She blinked. She blinked again. She couldn’t believe what was sitting in front of her.

And then the disappointment hit her like a fist. A big, fast one. She rocked back on her knees and her shoulder bumped against Ryan.

“That’s a lot of horseradish,” Ryan said beside her.

A shriek pierced the silence. Michelle turned in time to see Margaret tossing her arms around her husband. One quick glance at the gold and glitter in the Aschenbrenners’ treasure chest and she knew they had won.

“Okay, so we got a lifetime supply of all the horseradish you can eat,” Ryan said as he helped Michelle up to her feet. “That doesn’t erase the fact that we did pretty well on this hunt.”

“You’re right. We were a great team.” Her eyes wandered back to the box. “And all we have to show for it is a bunch of roots.”

“That’s all we got out of the hunt?” His eyes twinkled mischievously. “I wouldn’t say that.”

Michelle felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “Let’s go congratulate the Aschenbrenners,” she suggested primly.

She waited until Margaret and Dennis stopped jumping up and down to give them a warm hug. She found herself truly happy for them. “It was a well-deserved victory.”

“Thank you,” Dennis said as he shook Ryan’s hand. “We needed this win.”

“Is the ring in there?” Michelle asked.

“The ring!” Margaret wiped the tears from her eyes and peered into the chest. “I forgot to look.”

“Here it is.” Dennis reached in and picked up the velvet jewel case. He reverently removed the ring and slid it on his wife’s finger. “I promised I’d get you diamonds some day, didn’t I?”

Michelle felt the tears clawing up her throat. She wiggled her nose and blinked. She wasn’t going to cry. Nope, wasn’t going to.

“Excuse me,” Vanessa said to the Aschenbrenners as she placed her hand on Dennis’s arm. “The
Herald
would love to get a picture of you for the front page.”

Michelle sighed and sniffed as she watched the older couple get their picture taken. She couldn’t stop smiling at the joy stamped on the winners’ faces.

“I never would have guessed it,” Ryan said as he laced his fingers with hers.

“What?” She looked up at him. It felt good to have him beside her. She didn’t realize she’d been missing that.

“You haven’t pointed out the negative,” Ryan said, his mouth twitching with a smile. “Not one snarky comment about their win.”

She thought about it and realized she didn’t have anything snarky to say about it. “Mmm, nope. Nothing comes to mind.”

“Nothing like, ‘I’d hate to see the taxes on that prize.’ Or ‘There’s no place to wear that ring in Carbon Hill.’”

“Okay.” She nodded reluctantly. “I would have gotten around to that eventually.”

“Glad to hear it.” His hand tightened against hers. “It’s not like you to get mushy and sentimental about a bunch of diamonds.”

“I don’t get mushy. Especially over diamonds.” She glanced at their treasure. “Or horseradish.”

He stared at their box for a long moment. “That is a lot of horseradish.”

“You want my share?” Michelle asked out of the corner of her mouth.

Ryan chuckled. “No, thanks. Hey, what did Clayton and Brandy win?”

“I don’t know.” She turned to the other treasure chest, but it was closed shut. Brandy and Clayton weren’t nearby.

“Where did they go?” Michelle searched the crowd. Brandy was nowhere to be found. Clayton had broken away from the crowd and was walking toward the parked cars. From his slumped posture and slow gait, he looked like the poster child for defeat and dejection.

“Oh, poor Clayton. We should go check on him.” She didn’t get far when Ryan’s hand held her back.

“Leave him be.” His tone held a hint of steel.

Now was not the time to get all jealous and territorial. Clayton had tutored her in history and nothing else. “But look at him.”

Ryan shook his head. “He wants to lick his wounds in private.”

Michelle tilted her head and winced at the sadness radiating from Clayton. “I don’t know…”

“Take my word on this.”

Michelle sighed. He was probably right. Men were a strange breed. “Okay, okay. But Brandy’s timing sucks.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ryan disagreed. “Had they won, Brandy would have fleeced him for the whole prize and then dumped him.”

He had a point, but it didn’t make her feel any better. “She is evil.” Her eyes narrowed as the anger flashed through her. “Are you sure you don’t want to share the dirt you have on Brandy?”

“There’s dirt on Brandy?” Vanessa said, popping up next to Michelle, and grabbed her arm. “Brandy Rasmussen? Tell me everything.”

“I wish I could, but no one”—she darted a meaningful look at Ryan—“is telling it to me.”

“Well, probably because they know better.” Vanessa ruffled her friend’s hair and grimaced. “You’re lucky your mom isn’t here to see you.”

Michelle swatted her friend’s hands away. “It’s not that bad.”

Vanessa’s expression said otherwise, but she immediately changed the subject. “I’m done here, but I have a few more events to hit. Do you guys need a ride?”

“Yes, because now I get to judge the horseradish recipe contest.”

“Oh, yeah.” Vanessa smiled sheepishly and checked her watch. “Well, you can rant all you want while I drop you off at your parents’ house to clean up. What a deal, huh?”

“Make it the bed and breakfast,” Michelle said. “I still have my overnight bag there. If I go back to my parents’ house, I’ll come out dressed as my mother.”

A look of horror flashed across Vanessa’s face. “Bed and breakfast it is.”

“Of course,” Michelle said in a wheedling tone, “if you accidentally make a detour and I can’t get to the fair-grounds on time…”

“Now, Michelle,” Ryan interrupted. “You’re tired of living afraid, remember?”

She cast him a dark look. “Shut up, Ryan.”

“You need to face your fears.” He pumped his fist in the air. “Conquer them.”

“I don’t believe this,” she muttered to no one in particular.

“And I’ll be there to see you through each bite of horse-radish…”

Michelle’s jaw tightened. “What did I do to deserve this?”

The fairgrounds was still packed with people during the final hours of the Horseradish Festival. Ryan couldn’t remember the last time he attended the annual event, but he was surprised at seeing it so crowded. When did the horse-radish become so popular?