And Then You Kiss (Crested Butte Cowboys Series Book 3) by Heather A Buchman Read Free Book Online Page B

she murmured.
    “Me either,” she thought she heard him say, but he had cleaned his plate.
    It was as though the three of them were frozen in silence—trapped in an air pocket of stifling tension.
    When her dad looked at the three of them and said, “Jeez, look at the three of you. What happened, did somebody die?” The already overpowering tension spread around the table. He laughed, but it was too late, the words were already out there.
    Tucker mumbled, “excuse me,” and left the table.
    “What?” asked Mark. “I was joking.”
    “It’s okay,” said Carol, Jace and Tucker’s mom, who was sitting next to Mark. She patted his hand as she said it.
    “What do you mean? Somebody did die?”
    “Mark, drop it,” said Paige, giving her husband a stern look.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
    “Stop,” Paige said again.
    “Who’s ready for pie?” asked Liv. “Anybody?” She looked around the table trying to draw attention away from Mark, who wasn’t doing a very good job recovering his gaff.
     
    Blythe got up to look for Tucker. She hadn’t seen where he’d gone. She went downstairs, but he wasn’t down there. When she turned to go back upstairs, Jace stood in front of her.
    “He’s gone.”
    “What do you mean he’s gone? Where did he go?”
    “I’m not sure. He took the truck.”
    “What happened Jace?”
    Jace rubbed his hands over his face. “Blythe, I…it’s a long story. One I’d rather not get into right now.”
    Blythe didn’t know what to think. There was an ache in her chest that she couldn’t put a name to. Dread mixed with sorrow, was as close as she could get.
    ***
    Before Thanksgiving, Renie had talked Ben and the rest of the guys in CB Rice into playing at the Goat that night. The bar, owned by the Rice family, was an institution on the main drag in Crested Butte, Elk Avenue.
    With Tucker gone, the mood was subdued.
    Her dad sat in on a couple songs, and when he wasn’t, he danced with Blythe. She loved to dance with her dad; it was something they’d done since she was a little girl.
     
    “My turn,” said Jace, tapping her father on the shoulder. Mark stepped aside, and Jace wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close to him. He rested his cheek against her hair and breathed in the scent of her.
    “I’m sorry about today.”
    “Why are you sorry?”
    “Tucker…”
    “Again, why are you sorry? Tucker was the one who disappeared without so much as a goodbye.”
    He didn’t know what to say. He understood how Tucker was feeling, more than he wanted to. The guilt began to creep in again.
    “Jace, are you okay?”
    He knew she could feel the tension that was slowly spreading throughout his body. He’d hoped holding her would stop it from happening this time.
    “Yeah, I’m okay.”
    She pulled back so she could look in his eyes. He didn’t want her to look in his eyes. Not tonight.
    “Let me hold you Blythe.” He wrapped his arm around her waist a little tighter. Her breath caught, he felt it as much as he heard it.
    “It must be bad, whatever it is.”
    He couldn’t answer her, but yes, it was bad.
     
    The rest of the band took a break, but Ben stayed where he was, just him and his guitar. Every word he sang cut into Jace’s heart. It was as if Ben knew what had happened, but he knew that wasn’t possible. Nobody knew, but him. Not even Tucker.
    So don’t fall in love, there’s just too much to lose
If you’re given the choice, then I beg you to choose
To walk away, walk away, don’t let her get you.
I can’t bear to see the same happen to you.
    Please, don’t be sad now, I really believe,
She was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

Chapter 5
     
    It was January before Blythe heard from Jace again. She still hadn’t heard from Tucker.
    Jace rode back to Aspen with his parents the day after Thanksgiving. When they said goodbye, it was friendly, cordial, but lacking the heat that had been between them before Tucker