“Yeah, fine. Talk to you later. Bye.” He hangs up before I even get the chance to respond. I roll my eyes, turn off the light, and let sleep pull me under.
Chapter 16
Tristan
It’s been a week since Lana returned from England, and while we have talked, things have been tense between us. I don’t know if it’s the distance or the time apart that’s killing me. I know she can feel something’s wrong, too. She’s been different since we talked last week.
Construction will start on the new cabins in a few weeks, and I’ve asked Lana to come back out to oversee everything. She arrives at the beginning of the month and will be here for an undetermined amount of time. Her boss is allowing her to work remotely in the meantime, and I want everything to be perfect. I need this time with her. I need to show her that things can work between us. I still haven’t figured out how, but it has to.
I need her.
Mom is home from the hospital, and all of us, including Holden, have been waiting on her hand and foot. I need her to get better, and the medicine the doctors have put her on is making her weak. She hardly gets out of bed, and when she does, it’s because she needs to move around and Dad or I help her. She sleeps a lot, and I’m worried about her.
There’s a court date set up for the asshole that hit her, unless he pleads and takes a deal. Thank God he had insurance on his car, at least, and they are covering her medical expenses. It’s some guy from out of town, Aaron O’Keefe. He was here on a work trip and had one too many. It was still pretty early in the evening, so he drank a lot in a short while.
I dial Lana’s number, needing to hear her voice, and it goes to voicemail after only one ring. She ignored my call. Her beautiful voice floats through the phone, asking me to leave a message and she will call me back.
“Lana. I need to hear your voice, babe. Mom is doing okay, but I’m worried about her. Please, call me back.” I go to hang up and put the phone back to my ear. “Also, I miss that sexy ass of yours, and I can’t wait until you get here so I can fill you up. I miss you so damn much, Lana. Call me.”
I wonder how long I’ll have to wait for her to call me back this time?
* * *
Lana arrives today, and I am crawling out of my skin with excitement. The contracts have been drawn up with the construction company, and ground-breaking is tomorrow. I was even able to secure a small article in the local paper about the expansion, so people know what’s going on. Her flight should be here in another hour, and I don’t want to be late.
I pull on a nice pair of jeans and a button-down top. I match it with my cowboy hat and smile at my reflection. She’s always loved the cowboy hat. I plan on swinging by the florist to pick up some flowers for her, and then we can go to my apartment and get reunited. Everything is working out to plan.
Except, when she arrives, she’s not alone. And she didn’t tell me she wasn’t coming alone. There’s a man walking with her, and the two of them are laughing as they enter the baggage area. She sees me, and her eyes light up. I sheepishly look down at the flowers in my hand and back at her.
“Tristan.” She walks up to me and takes the flowers. “Are these for me?”
I nod and speak quietly. “I didn’t know you weren’t coming alone. I wouldn’t have brought flowers if I had known.”
She scrunches her face. “What are you talking about?” She looks at the man she was walking with and motions toward him. “Charlie? I met him on the plane. We didn’t come here together.”
Boy, do I feel like an idiot. I look at the ground and shake my head. “Sorry.” Ever since I found out she went to England for her job, and Russ was behind it, I’ve been paranoid. I feel like he’s trying to drive a wedge between us all over again. If I’m being honest with myself, I’m scared of losing her.
“It’s fine. Let me get my bag, and we can get on our way.”
The ride to my apartment is silent, and the air between us is thick with tension. I can’t stand it anymore. “What’s wrong? Things have been different between us since your trip to England.”
She shrugs. “Nothing’s wrong with me. You’re the one who’s been different.”
Have I? I think back to the conversations we’ve had over the past month. I’ve given her updates about Mom and the ranch. We’ve talked about Holden. We’ve had phone sex a few times. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except, almost every conversation we’ve had has been about me. I’ll ask her questions here and there about work, but whenever she tries to tell me about the Carringtons’ remodel, I shut her down.
“Shit.” She nods her head when I don’t add anything else. She knows I’ve figured it out. “Why not tell me sooner?”
She shrugs again but keeps looking straight ahead. “I tried. You shut me down, and then it was easier to not talk about it. This project and that one are consuming all my time. Simone’s remodel will be complete in another few weeks. I’m going to have to leave here to go there for the final bit and make sure she’s happy. I told her I would.”
“What?” I panic, knowing she’s going to leave sooner than I thought. I rub my chest and slow my racing heart, then I take a few deep breaths and gather my thoughts. “I was expecting you to stay a while. I didn’t know you had to leave early.”
“You would have if you ever let me talk about it,” she mumbles.
I know she’s right, but it doesn’t sting any less. I toss my hat in the back seat of my truck and rub my hand over my hair. I’m fucking this whole thing up. I have too much going on. I’m trying to balance everything, but I’m not doing well.
I pull into the parking lot at my complex and throw the truck in park. I turn to face her.
“Lana, I’m sorry. Russ is a sensitive subject with me, and with everything going on with my mom and the ranch, it’s been hard. It’s difficult for me to be away from you. Every time we take two steps forward, I feel we take three back. I take a lot of that responsibility, and I’m sorry. I miss you like crazy. I want to wrap you in my arms every night and wake up to your smiling face every day.
