He dips his head in shame before admitting, “I went to Montana to find Daisy.”
My stomach drops.
My voice is unrecognisable when I ask, “when?”
My hands shake at my sides as I wait for his answer. I can almost see the wheels turning in his head. The question on how honest he should be right now circling his brain.
“When,Noah?” I hiss through gritted teeth.
“About a year and a half after she left.”
A disbelieving laugh escapes me. “You knew?”
“Killian,” Daisy whispers from behind me, but I ignore her as I storm toward Noah and grip him by the front of his t-shirt.
“You knew where she was all that time, and you didn’t fucking tell me?” I scream in his face.
The filly behind him becomes unsettled and Daisy quickly moves past us, taking the reins from Noah and escorting the horse back to her stall.
Once both of his hands are free, Noah pushes against my chest, forcing me back a few steps. “I didn’t tell you to protect you, man.”
A steady pounding forms in my temples as I shake my head at the stranger impersonating my best friend. “Toprotect me? How was that youprotectingme, Noah? You fucking knew I was looking for her. You saw the shit I went through. Why the fuck would you do that, Noah?”
I feel unhinged. I barely recognise the man in front of me as he opens and closes his mouth, devastation marring his every feature.
“Because I told him I didn’t love you anymore,” Daisy’s shaky voice echoes in the silence around us.
It’s funny, isn’t it? How you can feel the moment your heart sinks. How it drops right into your stomach without the organ ever actually moving at all.
I didn’t love you anymore.
Those five little words crumble the remaining pieces of my heart.
But she doesn’t stop there.
Tears fall down her face in a steady stream as she steps closer to me. “He begged me to come home with him. I couldn’t.”
My chest heaves with broken breaths as I look at her, my eyes pleading. “Why?”
“I just told you why.”
My eyes burn and I squeeze them closed. “You didn’t love me anymore,” I whisper, more to myself than anyone else.
When I open them again, she nods.
I stare at her, watching silently as she tries to convince herself she’s doing the right thing by being honest.
Except she isn’t being honest.
“You’re a goddamn liar,” I point at her before spinning on my heel and taking off in the direction of my truck.
She may not love me now, but I don’t believe for one goddamn second that’s the reason she left.
Noah may have been able to fool me for almost three years, but Daisy has never been capable of lying. Running from the truth? Yes. But lying, no.
One way or another, I willfind out what she’s hiding.
CHAPTER 14
