Randall Pride by Judy Christenberry

“Want me to drive or are you okay?”
    Elizabeth grimaced. “Don’t pull the Toby routine, Russ. He’s driven me crazy tonight.” She put the car in gear and pressed on the gas.
    Russ looked over his shoulder to see Toby pull in behind them. “Looks like he’s still doing it.”
    “I know. Did you and Abby—I mean, you sure talked a lot tonight.”
    “Haven’t seen her in a while,” he said casually, but Elizabeth noticed he stared out the window, averting his gaze.
    “We teach together, you know.”
    “Yeah, she told me all about the bachelor auction and how you came up with the idea.”
    “She looked pretty tonight,” Elizabeth added, watching him closely.
    “She always has.”
    Finally, she gave up the subtle approach. “Are you going to ask her out?”
    He appeared startled. “Look, I just came along with Toby to make sure he didn’t—he was upset that you went out.”
    Elizabeth’s eyebrows soared. “That’s ridiculous! There’s no reason I shouldn’t go to town.”
    Russ shrugged his shoulders. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
    She’d forgotten again. “No. No, but I promised Bill Johnson you’d call him.”
    “Bill Johnson? Why?”
    “You know Cleve was going to join his firm, only it didn’t work out. And—and I told him you might be interested.”
    Russ stared at her, confusion on his face.
    In the truck behind, Toby was trying to talk to his sister.
    “Caro, this was a crazy idea. Why did you suggest it?”
    “You’d prefer that she sat home and felt miserable?” Caroline asked, her eyebrows raised. “She didn’t love him, and I didn’t want him to make her feel bad.”
    “Of course not, but—I’ve tried to teach both of you to be on guard.”
    “She will be. But you’re not always going to be around. She has to learn to take care of herself. She was fighting last night. You saved her quickly, but I think she would’ve saved herself eventually.”
    Toby grunted, his gaze on the car in front of them.
    His sister’s next question caught him off guard.
    “Why did you decide to come home?”
    He shrugged his shoulders. “I was tired of the rodeo life.”
    “It didn’t have anything to do with Elizabeth’s engagement?”
    “Why would you ask that?”
    “I’ve always thought you were partial to Elizabeth.”
    Toby slowed down and stared at his sister. “You think I prefer her to you?”
    “Don’t be silly, Toby. Look, I’ve had a lot of psychology classes and I think—”
    Toby groaned. “I should’ve guessed. You can take your theories from psych class and write a novel or something. I don’t need your ridiculous ideas just because I want you girls safe.”
    “But, Toby—”
    “No, I don’t want to hear it. Now, tell me how your classes are going.”
    He kept a steady conversation going with his sister, his gaze steadily fixed on Elizabeth, until they reached home.
     
    E LIZABETH was still angry with Toby. When he’d protected her in the past, when she’d been a young girl, the threats had been real, if not life-threatening. But he hadn’t interfered in her choices. Last night, he’d tried to keep her from dancing with anyone! So, of course, she’d danced with everyone.
    She might have missed him, but she wasn’t going to encourage such macho behavior. She came down, dressed for church in a demure suit, prepared to snub him.
    He wasn’t there.
    “Is Toby sleeping in?” she asked after she was seated. At their age, most of the kids didn’t have acurfew on Saturday night. But they were expected to be at the breakfast table dressed for church on Sunday morning.
    “He’s gone,” Russ said as he served himself some eggs.
    “What?” Elizabeth demanded, her voice higher than she intended. “You mean he went back to the rodeo?”
    B.J. provided the answer. “Just for a few days. One of his friends called, wanted to buy Cocoa. Toby didn’t feel he could sell his horse, but he agreed to lend him to his friend for a few days.