Any breath I have left is knocked out of me. “She left?”
Wes nods. “Three hours ago.”
“You let her go?” I shout.
He dusts his hands with an exasperated sigh. “No.Youlet her go.”
I run a hand down my damp face, glancing down the hall as if she’d magically appear. “I mixed up my days. I missed her.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what that means, but I’ll come back and clean up here later. I need to get back to work.”
“Don’t touch any of it,” I growl, my heart pounding like I’ve just lost everything.
Relief rolls through me when I find the familiar yellow envelope still tucked inside the tin trashcan. Bending, I lift it up and shake off the excess trash.
From the corner of my eye, I see Wes lingering by the door. “You put these in?”
I turn to him in a daze. “What?”
“The locks. You do this?”
I swallow, having no clue if Rose told him yet—like I hoped she would. “Yeah.”
Another nod. “Thank you.”
I slide the envelope safely into a drawer and cross to the living room. “You don’t think she’s nuts for needing them?” I ask.
And it’s almost accusatory and defensive.
“I think she’s my sister and I love her. And because I am the way I am, she didn’t tell me about the one thing in her life that scared her half to death.” He looks at me. “But she told you.”
I wait for the blow. The claims of betrayal. “Why are you here?” he asks.
I swipe at my brow. “I asked her for a day. I took six.”
He frowns like this means nothing to him. “Why are you here?”
I look around the small house. It’s not Millie’s anymore. It’s hers. And hell, some nights, it felt like ours. The bed, the showers, the cooking, the painting, the chocolate shavings.
My eyes fall to the canvas resting up against the back wall. With the cowboy lifting up the city girl into his arms like I’m her damn hero.
I swallow hard. “I’m here because I fell in love with your sister.”
He stares at me for a long moment, then breaks with a scoff. “Unbelievable.”
“Wes. You know I’d never do anything to hurt our friendship again otherwise.”
“I feel abutcoming on .?.?.”
“But I need to go find her.”
His eyes drop for a moment, like he’s rememberingsomething. Maybe something she told him? He lifts his gaze to mine. “You don’t get another chance here, Wild. You screw this up .?.?. you hurt her .?.?. we’re through too.”
I swallow at the thought, even if I know I’d never let it happen. I manage an easy grin. “This a ‘three-strikes and you’re out’ kind of thing?”
He deadpans me. “This is a ‘hurt her again and you’re dead to me’ thing.”
34
