Blame it on Texas by Amie Louellen

figuratively and literally as she tried to deal on her own.
    Maybe her coming back was a good thing. Maybe now they could heal some of these past hurts. Maybe…
    “I’m okay.” She pulled away from him, sending another jagged crack through his heart.
    He stood and pushed his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching for her again. Pulling her close and never letting her go.
    “Everything happens for a reason, right?” She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of one hand.
    He didn’t answer, couldn’t find the reason why they lost the baby, unless it was to get Shelby out of Texas. If she had never left, then she wouldn’t have started her bakery. She wouldn’t be getting the respectability and acclaim that she deserved.
    “I think I’ll take a shower.”
    He nodded, still not trusting his voice. He should let her make her escape, allow the moment to pass. No sense dwelling in the past and things that could never be.
     
     
    The sun had truly set as Shelby finally made her way out of the bathroom. She performed every grooming ritual she could think of in order to waste as much time as possible. Being held in Ritt’s arms was almost more than she could bear. But she had kept herself together out of self-preservation alone. Only Ritt held the power to break her heart with a look, a whisper and a touch.
    She had come back to Texas for one reason and one reason only: to divorce him. Allowing herself to linger in his arms was not part of that plan.
    She pulled the peach-colored T-shirt over her head and slipped into the gray pair of yoga pants she had picked up along with all the baking supplies. Hopefully she had sequestered herself long enough that Ritt had gone to bed. There would be no sneaking into his room, into his bed to tease him. Truth was, her little charade was a sweet torture to her as well. Nope, that plan had definitely backfired. She grabbed her clothes from the bathroom floor and tiptoed down the hall. The flicker of the television met her before she turned the corner back into the living room.
    Ritt slouched on the sofa, bare feet propped on the coffee table, a beer in one hand. Shelby stopped in her tracks, the sight of him taking her breath away. It was too domestic, too familiar, him lounging on the couch, T-shirt riding up to reveal a tantalizing peek of rock-hard abs. Clyde’s chin propped on one denim-clad thigh.
    That teenaged girl hidden inside her wanted to nudge the dog aside and curl up next to her husband. If only there was some way to turn back time, go back to when everything was right between them, those early spring months before graduation, before it all fell to pieces.
    “I’m done in the bathroom.”
    He gave a quick nod then raised the beer bottle to his lips, never once taking his eyes from ESPN.
    She couldn’t stop her feet. They carried her to the couch. Then her traitorous knees bent and before she knew what she had done, she was sitting a hair’s breadth from him. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything, just continued to watch the scores as they rolled across the bottom. Braves, Royals, Rangers, Cardinals. He should have played for one of those, maybe even be playing for them still.
    “Why didn’t you play baseball after I left?”
    He stopped, beer halfway to his lips, then shrugged. “That time was over, Shel.”
    She shook her head. “How could that be? Baseball was everything to you.”
    Something she didn’t recognize flashed through his dark eyes, then as quickly as it came, it was gone. “I had to give up my scholarship.”
    “You could have been a free agent.”
    “Not in August. The professional season was winding down.”
    “But what about the next year? You could have gone pro then, right?”
    “A year without playing? No one would pick me up then.” His voice had turned flat, hiding whatever he was feeling inside. Regret swamped around her. She had left, gone away to California so he could get the life he deserved. But it didn’t