Page 71 of Careless Hope
“Family’s there to call your bluff, Walker,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Besides, we Andersons, we’re made of tough stuff. You’ll get through this.”
“Yeah, I hope.”
“There’s somethin’ else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“Oh?”
“Your business plan. The one you gave Mason . . . ”
“What about it?” I felt too tired to get into an argument about it, but also fired up enough to throw some punches if I needed to.
Gray looked around, as if trying to figure out what to say. Fucker always had a flare for the dramatic when I really needed him to get to the point.
“I like it, Walk.”
I blinked, unsure I’d heard him right.
“Yeah?”
He nodded, a smile slowly stretching across his face. “Yeah, I do. In fact, I was real damn impressed by all the work you put into it.” He stepped forward, slapping a hand on my shoulder. “I’m in, brother. Let’s do it.”
“Shit, Gray, I didn’t think you’d ever agree.”
“I’m sorry I’m a stubborn son of a bitch when it comes to the ranch. But that’s why we need you here too. You’ll bring new ideas and new life into this place.”
“I just love this land. I want to do right by it, by all of us and the ones who came before us.”
“I know you do. And you are.”
With a promise to meet tomorrow with Mason to formalize the plan, Gray left me alone with my thoughts and the pile of hay. Things were coming together and I laughed in relief. But there was still a lead weight at the pit of my stomach as far as Caroline was concerned.
Things were finally falling into place in my life, and I needed her by my side for it. I felt stupid for getting upset at her dismissal of me when I was the one who couldn’t even admit my own damn feelings. How was she supposed to know I was in love with her? That every night since that first time we kissed, I’d been falling asleep with her on my mind? That I’d never in my life fallen for anyone the way I’d fallen for her?
Gray was right. I needed to man the fuck up and tell her everything. And once I did, I’d let fate take control.
24
Caroline
The setting sundidn’t even have the decency to offer a pretty glow as it peered through the slats of my office blinds, casting striped shadows that felt all too much like prison bars. I was trying to focus on the patient charts stacked on my desk, but my mind was a jumbled mess of sentences I couldn’t finish and diagnoses that wouldn’t come.
“Caroline?” Lisa’s voice, normally a beacon of cheer in our small clinic, pierced through the fog of my concentration. Her footsteps approached, soft but insistent. “You’ve been staring at Mr. Henderson’s chart for a solid ten minutes without turning a page.”
I blinked, noticing the lines of ink blurring before my eyes, and gave her a weak smile that I hoped would pass for reassurance.
“Sorry, just . . . got lost in thought, I guess,” I mumbled.
Lisa leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, her perceptive gaze searching my face. She’d always been more than just an assistant; she was a friend, one who could read me as easily as those medical journals I pretended to understand this morning.
“Lost in thoughts of a certain cowboy?” The gentle tease didn’t quite reach her eyes, which were clouded with concern.
“Something like that,” I admitted, dropping the chart onto the desk with a sigh. I could feel the tears welling up again, threatening to escape, no matter how hard I tried to dam them back.
“Hey,” Lisa stepped closer, her voice softer now. “It’s okay not to be okay, you know? You don’t have to put on a brave face for me.”
I pressed my lips together, fighting the wobble in my chin. It was one thing to fall apart in the privacy of my own home, surrounded by familiar comforts. It was another to break down in front of Lisa, here, where I was supposed to be the pillar of strength and healing.
“Things with Walker are over,” I finally let out in a barely audible whisper, a confession that seemed to suck the remaining warmth from the room. “And it hurts . . . more than I expected.”
