I point at him. “Don’t you dare call Poppy,” I warn him, not in the mood to talk to anyone. “If anyone asks, you didn’t see me.”
I saddle Cedar and walk him out of the stall.
Nash pretends not to be watching me, but as I climb up and move Cedar just outside the stables, he hollers, “He needed the exercise anyway.”
His laughter rings in the air as I get Cedar into a trot before unleashing both of our pent-up energy.
Cedar was restless the second I trotted him down the path, as though he felt all the wild emotions spiraling inside me. All the fury and hurt twisting me into a knot that I can’t pull apart.
Leia is mine.
We gallop past the south fence line, past the logic that tells me to slow down. I let him run. I let him get me as far away from the ranch as I can get.
I lean low into the rhythm, reins tight in my fists. The wind tears at my shirt and eyes, but I don’t stop. Not even when my thighs burn.
She kept her from me.
The words thud through my skull, over and over, thumping around with the thundering sound of hooves hitting earth.
Never would I have imagined Delaney betraying me, and certainly not to this extent. If her husband hadn’t gotten arrested, then what? Had she had somewhere else to disappear to, would I ever know the truth? Would she have always raised Leia without giving me the opportunity to know her?
Eventually, my mind and Cedar slow, both of us blowing hard, and I turn us back around. A while later, I drop the reins, my chest heaving, as I press my forehead to his damp neck, thanking him for giving me all he had.
“What am I supposed to do?” I whisper, my voice cracking. “How could she?”
Cedar leans into my touch as if he can understand and wants to soothe my pain.
I grip the saddle and stare at the creek, blinking back the sting of memories.
How many times did I come here over the years and wonder about my life choices or recall the moments I shared here with Delaney? Now I feel as if I don’t know her at all because the Delaney I knew would never have done this.
“I should hate her,” I say.
“You never will.” Emmett’s voice should startle me, but of course fucking Nash called him the minute he saw me take Cedar out.
“Go back.”
He trots over on Brutus, meeting me at the clearing by the creek. “You know I won’t.”
I watch the water moving over the rocks, not even sure how to confess it all. There’s more than just Delaney’s secret that’ll come out now. It’s possible that’s the reason for some of my anger.
He doesn’t say anything else but sits silently, running his hand over Brutus’s neck. It’s rare for Emmett not to call people out on their shit or feel comfortable in silence, but I’m thankful he’s not rushing me.
“Seven years ago, Kristie and I separated.” To my surprise, he doesn’t gasp and ask for more details. It should be the surprise of his life. “I found her in bed with Jon.”
“Bastard,” he whispers.
He only met Jon a few times when he’d come out to visit me at Berkeley, and they never liked one another. I think it might’ve been like a competition between them. Emmett felt left out when I went to college, and Jon would throw digs about how much fun we were having. He always was kind of a dick.
“She did it, but honestly, we just kind of grew apart. I think it started before we even got married. That year after I graduated, and she still had her senior year, I stayed back in California because she told me we’d come back here after graduation. Then she got that grant. I was young and pissed off and probably resented her for that. I started working, and she’d disappear when her muse spoke to her, and over time, the planned date nights turned into takeout. When I found her with Jon, I packed up and moved into a condo on the water, started the divorce proceedings.”
Still, Emmett doesn’t say anything. Not even to crack a joke.
“Then Delaney started at my company.”
His head whips toward me, and I feel his stare on the side of my face.
I nod to answer his unasked question. “We were put on a project together.”
