I follow him out into the dawn. The porch light is still on. The ranch is quiet.
I don’t look back at the house. If I do, I won’t leave.
And right now, I need to. This space is necessary.
But I could never leave it. Hunter just needs to learn a little bit about me.
If anything, I’m stubborn. And I will do things to prove a point.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
Hunter
Fuck. Fuck. Fuckety. Fuck.
I messed that up. Completely. Spectacularly.
I watch from the kitchen window as Lola gets into Beau’s truck. She doesn’t look back. The door slams. The engine starts. They pull down the driveway and disappear through the ranch gates.
My heart sinks through the floor.
I have until tomorrow night to figure out how to make this right. Because she’s walking back through that door, and when she does, I’ll be a different man. I’ll never make her feel like that again.
I trust her. I love her more than anything on this earth. I don’t know what possessed me. Insecurities. Fear. The crushing helplessness of being a man who can’t leave his own town while the woman he loves walks back into a world full of people who want a piece of her.
Ace strolls through the kitchen door, whistling.
I can’t bring myself to smile.
“What did you do, bro?” he asks, reading my face in under a second.
“I said something I didn’t mean. She’s on her way to the airport without her wedding ring.”
His eyes go wide. “Shit. What did you say?”
“Doesn’t matter. I didn’t mean it.”
We head outside. And he passes me a cigarette. A welcome distraction from how shitty I feel.
“The second you stop trying, you’ll lose her, just text her,” he says.
“How did that work out with Harper?” I snap.
He blows out a ring of smoke right into my face. “Fantastic, clearly. Our story is different, Hunter,” he says with a sigh, and then turns to watch the sun appearing over the mountains.
He’s right, I guess. I just wish there was something I could do to help him. He’s still young; he could still find love. But I don’t think he ever will with anyone else.
We set up at the dining table. Laptops out. The murder case spread across every surface. I’m halfway through reviewing a list of names when I pull out my phone.
All I can think about is my wife. And all I can do now is try to find the right words to show her how much I love her.
I type out something from the heart. Something to remind her how much I love her. How much I always will, then I set my phone face down and get back to work.
I’ll say sorry until I’m blue in the face. And then I’ll work for my forgiveness.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
LOLA