It was the pity. The “I’m so sorry” and “I saw this coming” look I’d been dreading. My pulse kicked up. Hewas right. I’d known this was coming and I was still devastated.
I was a fool. The worst kind—a fool in love with a broken heart.
“No, no. It’s fine. I mean, we tried.” My voice caught. Had I tried? Gideon hadn’t. But what if I had tried harder?
Teller appeared by Tenor. “What’s going on?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tate making his way around the people at the bar to come our way. Scarlett’s gaze was on me, but she’d know having a crowd around me would only make me feel self-conscious. My sisters knew what was up.
I wiggled my ring finger and forced a smile. “The marriage will be officially over soon. Our lives are in different places.” I sounded scripted.
Now, I had three brothers with narrowed gazes on me.
“That asshole,” Teller growled.
I shook my head. I was disappointed in Gideon, but I couldn’t stand hearing them rage about my soon-to-be nonhusband. This had been both of our decisions. “No, it’s fine. I mean, everyone saw this coming.”
“Maybe that’s what we thought at first,” Tate said. “But not for long. I really thought he’d find a way to make it work.”
He had to want to first.
Teller pushed forward and wrapped me in a bear hug. “We’re here for you.”
I was crushed against him, and I couldn’t move. I also didn’t want to. Grief slipped past my wobbly mental barrier and washed over me. No matter how much I’d told myself the marriage wasn’t real, it had felt legit. Mytime with Gideon had been a dream, but I hadn’t been imagining it.
I let out a shuddering breath and soaked in the brotherly comfort. Junie’s visit had been needed. Now I leaned on my brothers’ strength. I needed them to baby me in the way that usually chafed. I was back to being an injured girl scared of her future. The wounds weren’t physical and my future wasn’t uncertain this time. It was just empty.
I opened my eyes. The other employees would soon hear about the divorce and word would spread. They’d do the work for me. Then it’d be officially over.
My face was still smashed sideways into Teller’s chest as Tate stroked a hand down his beard, his brows sewn together. The bell on the door tinkled. He glanced over and did a double take and straightened.
The din in the bar quieted down. Teller’s hold eased, and now Tenor frowned at the entrance. I couldn’t see around Teller, so I stepped to the side to peek at what kind of guest had made the bar quiet down.
Gideon prowled toward me. His gaze didn’t waver to my brothers or any of the other partygoers. He was focused on me.
NowI was dreaming. The divorce was messing with my head.
My brothers didn’t part for him. They had all turned to face Gideon and were barriers around me, blocking off the opening to get behind the bar. I tried to nudge Teller and Tenor out of the way, but I might as well have shoved at concrete walls.
“Gideon? What are you doing here?” I had to be hallucinating. But my brothers wouldn’t be on guard for some other tall man with broad shoulders, dark hair, andpiercing green eyes. Except if Gideon were really here, he’d look like a corporate god instead of dressing in the same clothing he’d moved cattle in and the coat he’d bought for his brief return to a Montana winter.
“I deleted that goddamn email.” His voice was smoother and richer than any bourbon we could produce. And it was real. He was here.
“What email?”
His gaze finally jumped to Teller, then Tate, and finally Tenor before swinging back to me. “You know which one.”
The only movement behind him were my sisters creeping closer. They were a lot shorter than the guys, but they’d still jump Gideon and hide his body if he hurt me.
Did he have any idea what he had walked into?
Wait—he’d deleted the email.Theemail. “Why? You weren’t sending those documents.”
Every day I’d cringe when I checked my inbox. Every day, I’d exhale a relieved sigh, then pass through hope to despair, only to fret about checking my email the next day. I couldn’t keep doing that. I couldn’t keep wondering if he was just too busy to even think about me enough to sever the weak tie between us.
“You’re my wife, Autumn. I want to keep it that way.”
I laughed. The sound just burst out of me. He wanted to keep me? To keep us? “You won’t leave your job.”
