“I’m just glad he’s okay.”
“Me, too,” I murmur as I kiss the top of her head. “Thanks for staying with me.”
“Where else would I be?”
“I know I haven’t…exactly been really good at any of this.”
“Now isn’t the time, Wade.”
“I know, but…I need to say this.”
She blows out a breath before she nods her head. “Go ahead then.”
“I love you, and I haven’t been good at any of this. Okay, maybe some of it. I make mistakes because…I don’t know what I don’t know, but I want to know.”
She giggles and shakes her head. “I haven’t been good at any of this, either. I’ve been overwhelmed and so convinced that you’re only interested in a rescue project. I reacted when I thought you were treating me like my dad does and…I…I can’t live like that.”
“I was so scared about losing you that I didn’t think about how I sounded or how I was treating you, and I’m sorry for that.”
“I was so focused on how this couldn’t work and I haven’t been looking at the positives. I’m only seeing everything as a negative.”
“Well, that’s the best part of all of this,” I chuckle as I tip her chin up. “We can learn it together.”
“I don’t know if any of this is a good idea. We’re…”
“A good team. We have a connection like I’ve never felt before. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t think it’s a good idea. Your dad isn’t going to lose the ranch and…I hear Doc Lucy is thinking about retiring, which means that…”
“Is that why you paid off the balloon payment?” she hisses as she pulls away from me. “Because you thought it would force me to stay here?”
“What?”
“You heard me,” she says softly, her eyes darting to Caleb before she stands up.
She crosses her arms in front of her chest before she turns her back to me. I can see her trying to steady her breathing before she turns back around.
“I can’t…you shouldn’t have paid it without talking to me. I am not a rescue project. You can’t be a partner to someone if you do big things like this without so much as a conversation.”
“You would have told me no. You wouldn’t have taken the help.”
“You’re damn right. I wouldn’t have. Especially now. Now, it feels like the only reason you did it was so that you could hold it over my head and make me stay.”
“You can’t really believe that.”
“I don’t know what to believe,” she murmurs. “You’re over here talking about staying and Doc Lucy’s practice. Not once have you asked what I want to do with my life. Why is it that I have to be the one making the sacrifices?”
“I didn’t—” I start.
She shakes her head and holds up her hand to stop me. “I need some fresh air.”
She walks away, and I let her. She needs room to breathe, and so do I. I close my eyes and inhale slowly.
I can see where she’s coming from. I also know that she’s scared, and I have to give her a minute to process all of it. I shouldn’t have dumped it the way I did. Again.
I also know she’s right; I should have talked to her about it all.
There’s a vibration beside me, and I look down to see that Ronnie has sent her a text message.
“House is all set up for you. Double the salary, Sutton. I need to know ASAP when your start date is going to be and when you’ll arrive in Wyoming.”
