“I know it doesn’t help, but Marcus was wrong.” Rose tugged the pillow from her face, forcing Wynter to meet her eyes. “You had every right to turn him down, especially since this came out of nowhere. That’s a manipulation tactic if I ever saw one.”
Wynter opened her mouth to argue that Marcus wouldn’t manipulate her like that. She truly believed he thought he wanted to get married. He lived his life with his whole heart. It wouldn’t surprise her that he was all in—for now. But Rose continued before Wynter could say any of that.
“That being said, you really shouldn’t have hidden the job offer.”
Wynter straightened, staring hard at her friend. “How did…”
Rose didn’t seem apologetic at all, but Morgan winced. The latter was softspoken when she said, “We heard him tellingsomeone at the party. He was really torn up about all of this. He’s blaming himself.”
“And rightfully so.” Rose nodded. “This fiasco is his doing.”
Morgan gave Rose a pained look. “But maybe he wouldn’t have felt inclined to make a big show of things if she’d come to him and told him why she didn’t want to take the job.” Morgan turned to Wynter. “You don’t, right? Want to stay?”
Did she? Wynter was torn about all of it. She still loved it here. She still wanted to be close to Grams, who was more stubborn than she was when it came to moving. But to see Marcus around town and know what had happened? She wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with that.
And then there were more reasons why she didn’t want to stick around. And all of them revolved around her beliefs that nothing was forever. Her friends would tell her she was being ridiculous. Fear of commitment wasn’t something everyone could relate to. Fear that she’d lose him forever if they crossed that line officially wasn’t a worthy excuse. And reliving the pain of knowing Marcus hadn’t fought to keep her in his life was the cherry on top.
Selfish. She was selfish, and she couldn’t figure out a way around it. Anytime she thought about fighting her basic instincts, her anxiety spiked. Today had been the first time in her life that she could remember being willing to give it a try.
And Marcus had scared her to death by moving too fast.
Wynter fought the burning sensation behind her eyes and avoided looking directly at her friends. She shot up a little prayer right then and there that God would help calm her anxiety about this.
“Enough about the crazy that was tonight,” Rose said with a matter-of-fact tone. “We’re not here to talk about mistakes. We’re here to support our girl. And if that means we binge-watchChristmas movies while chowing down on peppermint brownies and hot chocolate, then so be it.”
Wynter opened her eyes and gave Rose a grateful smile. They’d support her no matter how crazy she felt. She also knew God would take care of her, though sometimes that was hard to remember.
Nothing had changed. She was going to leave when her term was up. She’d deal with seeing Marcus until that time. And she’d do her best to ignore the gossip that would certainly follow her wherever she went in town.
The one thing she wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle was the looks she’d be getting from Grams. That woman never hid her true feelings when it came to Marcus. And something told Wynter that Grams would give her an earful when she got the chance.
Nodding, Wynter reached for the brownies closest to her. “Sounds perfect to me. What movie are we going to watch first?”
Morgan held up a couple DVDs in a fan. “The question is, do you want to cry, laugh, or fall in love?”
Wynter scrunched up her nose at the last one. “I think I need a break from love.”
Rose plucked the movie in the middle. “Tonight definitely calls for laughter. I vote we watchElf. Any objections?”
Wynter shook her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
Morgan reached for the movie. “Elfit is.”
25
MARCUS
Marcus grunted as he dug the shovel against the walkway at the ranch and tossed the snow to the side. It had snowed a lot more than he’d expected. Right now, the snow came up to his shins, and it wasn’t the light and fluffy stuff anymore; it was heavy.
Each time he bent down to scoop up more snow, his muscles screamed. It had only taken a few weeks for his body to get out of shape. He’d been so focused on helping with maintenance work that he hadn’t continued his resistance training. Come spring, he’d be in bad shape when it came to roping and dealing with the larger livestock.
The sun was shining. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since he’d seen Wynter and made the biggest mistake of his life. She hadn’t returned his calls or texts, and he was tempted to head over to Nora’s place to track Wynter down and demand she talk to him. The conversation they’d had wasn’t good enough.
Yes, he’d made a mistake, but he didn’t regret asking Wynter to marry him. He wanted her. He still did, in fact. Even after he’d been embarrassed by her refusal. This wasn’t a roadblock. It was a speed bump, and he’d get to his destination eventually.
Something hard slammed into his shoulder, and he yelped. Spinning around, he found a very angry Isabelle glowering at him. She shook out her hand, making it clear that she was the one who’d slugged him in the upper arm.
Marcus shot her a flat look as he rubbed his arm. “Geez, Izzie. What was that for?”
