“Sounds like a personal problem.” She bit down on her tongue, wishing the words back with a wince. “Sorry, I bite …”
He shrugged easily. “Doesn’t bother me, no apology needed. Ranch life starts early. It doesn’t even register that everybody else doesn’t. You headed up to the house?”
Talia nodded. “First group therapy session. Care to give me some pointers?”
“Can’t, I’m afraid. Kells doesn’t let outsiders in.” He tilted his head. “Can I walk you?”
“Sure, yeah.” She turned and started in that direction, Ryan falling into step beside her. “I’m not really a touchy-feely person,” she admitted as almost another apology. “This might all blow up.”
“Well, that happens,” Ryan told her, not seeming concerned. “Just try not to actually blow up the house, I’m kind of fond of it.”
Talia snorted softly, shaking her head. “Again with those jokes, Ryan. Gotta work on those.”
“What do you call this? I’m trying to practice!” He laughed again, then sighed. “Don’t worry about it—the session. Kells is great at what she does, and nobody gets a push they can’t handle.”
“I’ve heard that.” At his curious look, she explained, “My cousin’s wife knows someone who was here once. That’s how I found out about it. They thought it would be the perfect solution to get me unstuck from my life, but I don’t know.” She looked over at him in hesitation. “Maybe don’t tell your sister that?”
He shook his head slowly. “Not a peep. And I’m pretty sure you don’t have to spill your secrets in the first five minutes.”
Talia exhaled heavily, her eyes falling down to the gravel beneath her feet. “It’s not that, I don’t really have secrets. It’s more being open with strangers, you know?”
“Sure do.” He didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “Why not practice with me?”
“What?” She laughed in surprise, her eyes flying over to him. “I thought your sister was the therapist.”
His crooked grin reappeared and made her chest tighten. “She is, but you said there’s no secrets. Just a thing with strangers. So, start with me. It won’t go anywhere, and might warm you up before facing the group.”
If she had been in Chicago, Talia would have told him off for being nosy and interfering. She’d have shut down and ignored him, probably striding into the house in a temper or something. But being here was different, had a more genuine feel to it, and Ryan was …
Well, he was comfortable. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body, as far as she could tell, and his idea didn’t seem like such a bad one.
She bit her lip slightly, then nodded. “Okay. Um … I’m Talia James, I’m from Chicago, and … my son died last year.”
Ryan winced audibly beside her. “Oh, shoot, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you to say anything, I’m an idiot.”
“It’s okay,” Talia told him softly, managing a sad smile. “You didn’t know, and I need to work on saying this.” She took a deep breath, then let it out quickly. “I’m stuck because Austin was all I had. I got pregnant my senior year of high school, and decided to keep the baby, which didn’t interest his dad, so it was just us. Had Austin three weeks after graduation, and that’s all I’ve done ever since.”
“Wow.” Ryan cleared his throat, looking away. “I can’t even imagine.” He waited a beat. “Well, I’m Ryan Prosper, born and raised here, and I used to do rodeo.”
“What are you doing?” Talia asked, stopping to look at him. “You don’t have to share anything.”
He raised a brow at her. “Do, too. Group therapy is group sharing. Part of that is listening, I think. So if we’re gonna have this trust between us, we gotta walk the two-way street. You share, I listen; I share, you listen. Builds trust, or something.”
“Or something,” Talia murmured, her smile turning less sad. “Okay. So you used to do rodeo. Why’d you stop?”
Ryan started walking again, Talia joining him, their trip to the house almost done. “Bad injury. Super bad. All recovered now, but bad enough that I can’t compete anymore. Huh.”
Talia caught that. “Huh?” she repeated. “Huh, what?”
“I think that’s the first time I’ve said I used to do rodeo. Everybody else already knew that, so I never had to use the past tense before.” He glanced over at her, something different in his eyes. “Thanks, Talia.”
The use of her name in his particular voice and twang was magical, way more than when he said “ma’am,” and sounded way more like a country song she would have on repeat and never get sick of.
“You’re welcome, I guess,” she replied, uncertain how she felt about something that momentous happening while he had offered to help her. But she knew she liked it.
A lot, potentially.
“Ryan, can you teach me to ride a horse?” she asked before she lost her nerve. “Like, really ride?”
“Of course, yeah.” He nodded repeatedly. “What are you doing this afternoon?”
“I’m on the irrigation team.”
“Perfect,” he told her as they reached the porch, leaning on the post while she started up the stairs. “That doesn’t take long, so I’ll switch to riding out with y’all and take you over to the stables when it’s done.”
Talia turned on the second step, sliding her hands into her back pockets. “It doesn’t have to be today, I know you’ve got to be super busy.”
He shrugged again, his crooked grin in place. “Might as well be today, and I’m not that busy. It’s fine.” He squinted as his grin spread. “Maybe we’ll even get some whistle practice in.”
He was ridiculously cute when he was teasing like this, and a little, baby dimple appeared on his left cheek when he smiled this big, visible even amongst his dark scruff. He probably hadn’t shaved this morning, but it couldn’t be more than a day old. She’d always been a fan of scruff, though she hadn’t thought about that in years. Hadn’t dated for years.
And she would not be thinking about dating Ryan Prosper while she was here to work on her grief over Austin.
Besides, he might just be a nice guy, and not interested in her at all. It could be part of his job to take care of her like this.
“Okay,” she murmured, smiling almost shyly. Her eyes traced his shoulders, and her smile faded. “Oh my gosh, Ryan, I got dirt all over your shoulders from picking up rocks. I am so sorry.”
He glanced at his shoulders, then made a face. “Nah, it’s fine. Dirt happens on a ranch. It’s good for me, kinda like our own special moisturizer.”
Talia burst out laughing and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Ryan’s almost painfully blue eyes fixed on her then, his smile softening. “You’ve got a beautiful laugh, Talia. Hope that Kellie can help you do it more.” He tipped the brim of his hat in her direction, then pushed off the post and turned to head back toward the barn.
She watched him go, then went up the rest of the stairs and headed into the house.