“Okay—”
“And I was disappointed you weren’t.” The way he looked at her, the message he was sending…
No, no. She wasn’t ready to receive it. She shook the note at him. “Do you realize how unfair this is? I went through everything alone, and I didn’t have to.” Then again, would he even have been there for her? She knew the man in the cabin. Not the sports agent.
“I do. It is unfair. When I walked into the cabin, I expected to see the Christmas tree and the pans in the sink…I expected to see you. But it was clean. Like we’d never happened. And that…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I didn’t like it. I hated it. But when I saw the note still sitting on the counter… I wasn’t sure if you’d left it intentionally as a fuck you, or if you hadn’t seen it.”
This man was such a contradiction. Most of the time, he was all business, all serious and stern, but then, in moments like this, he was so open and raw and real.
His vulnerability opened a valve, allowing the anger to leak out.
Leaving her with the dregs of sadness.
“Where did you go?” he asked. “Whendid you leave?”
“That same day. Christmas. After I figured out you’d left, it took me all of fifteen minutes to get my shit together. The way you’d reinvented yourself and came out swinging… It inspired me. I was ready to get back out there.”
“But then, you found out you were pregnant.”
“No, it wasn’t like that. That makes it sound like it was a terrible curveball.”
“But itwasa curveball.” He rested a boot on the bottom rung of the fence.
“It was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. My whole life was about me. I had an entire team working for my success. To the point that my mom hired people to do everything that took my attention off making money. I didn’t cook or clean or shop or drive. Well, you know that.” Briefly, she closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I didn’t know how to use a cheese grater.”
“Hey.” He tipped her chin. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You did what you were raised to do.”
That was nice to hear, but the woman who’d lain awake at night wondering why he’d bolted still lived inside her. “Part of me thought you left because I was such a knucklehead.”
“No. I didn’t think that at all. I saw the text from Beau and figured you had a lot of unfinished business. Maybe you’d get back with him.”
“With Beau? Slick, Beau’s mydad.”
His gaze shot toward the house, but of course, her parents were already inside. “That was your father?”
She laughed. “Yes. My ex is Landon, and I will never get back with him. He slept with my best friend for a year. Right under my nose. So, no, there will be no reconciliation.”
“He called you sweetheart. Said he wished you’d come home for Christmas.”
“Yep. My dad. And if you’d stayed and asked me, I could’ve told you that.”
“True. But I needed to get back anyway. Thanks to you, I decided to leave my agency and start one of my own.”
“Oh, wow. That’s huge.” This mess wasn’t his fault. She could see that. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was just unbearably sad. “I guess we have a lot to catch up on.”
“We do, but tell me more about your pregnancy. You said it wasn’t a curveball.”
This was why she’d gotten so attached to him. He wasn’t asking how much Stevie weighed at birth or what Lorelei expected of him. He wanted to know how she’d felt about everything she’d gone through.
How do you hold on to anger, resentment…fear when you have a man who genuinely cares?
She found herself wanting to tell him.“I mean, I was in no way prepared for it, but…I don’t know how to explain. It was like this calmness settled over me, and I just thought, well, that’s enough of this life. One chapter ended, and I was ready for the next. Over the next six months, I learned how to drive and cook and clean. I even grow my own vegetables now. And everything you see here…” She gestured around. “This is my project. All the renovations, the upgrades. I’m doing all of it.”
“You’ve done a great job. Well, except for the barn. That place is rank.”
Her smile surprised her—that he could get her there in such a weighted moment. “Hey. We built a new, modern facility about a mile away. I didn’t want those big animals and all the ranch hands and trucks around our home.”
“I’m sorry. Go on. You found your purpose.”
