“How long is Rhett gone? Does that mean you’re short a cowboy?”
“Yeah, but it’s only for a couple days.”
“I’ll come over tomorrow to help out.”
“You don’t need to do that. You’ve helped a lot lately.”
“Iwantto. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I’m fighting between being thankful to have someone there for me and upset he’s going out of his way to help me when Jax swivels on his foot and calls over his shoulder, “And for the love of god, please stay out of trouble.”
I laugh. “I’m a perfect angel! Are you kidding me?”
“But you’re hanging out with the devil tonight.” He shifts his gaze to Callie.
“I heard that!” Callie scrunches her nose at him.
“I’m kidding…mostly.”
Callie sticks her tongue out at him before linking her arm in mine and spinning us toward the exit.
When we step out into the cool November air, a memory of Austin and me sneaking out to see each other pops into my mind. I physically shake my head, as if that will get rid of it.
Callie furrows her brow, holding back laughter as she watches me. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I was just thinking about when Austin and I used to sneak out to meet each other in high school. It was starting to get colder in the evenings, but I always pretended it didn’t bother me because I wanted to be with him. It took him a while to catch on that I was faking it.” I tip my head. “Well, he didn’t exactly figure it out on his own. I had to ask for his sweatshirt.”
“Did he give it to you?”
“Of course. Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know. He just didn’t strike me as the most attentive boyfriend in the world.” Silence washes over us for a moment as we step onto the sidewalk. It’s only a ten-minute trek to Callie’s, and, in a town like Roots, it’s plenty safe for two young women to walk alone in the dark.
She glances up at me again. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Were you two actually happy?”
On instinct, I answer, “Yeah! Of course. We wouldn’t have been together so long if we weren’t.”
A breeze whips Callie’s auburn locks into her face, but I don’t miss the knowing look she’s giving me.
Sighing, I relent. “I think we were both really happy for a while, at the start. Things slowed down after about a year and a half, but I figured that was normal for a couple. You know, you get used to being around each other and the excitement of every little touch feels a little more normal. You fall into a routine.” I glance both ways before we cross the street. “When we finally moved in together after college, things were exciting again for a couple weeks, but then the stress started to eat away at us. We didn’t have as much time to spend on our relationship, and I tried to latchon while he pulled away. That’s probably when I really lost myself.”
“Or maybe you were just starting to find yourself.” Callie leans into me, looking me in the eyes. “I always thought you deserved better than Austin. You have no idea what you’re worth.”
How I ever got so lucky to have a friend like Callie is beyond me.
She squeezes my arm as we trudge down Roots Road. “No more being sad. Tonight was about making you feel empowered and excited about your new life! Tell me something you didn’t like about Austin.” When I give her a surprised look, she adds, “Don’t hold back.”
“I guess it sort of bothered me that he never put his laundry away.” I shrug. “It’d just sit in the laundry room all week until I finally did it to make space for the next load. He never once said thank-you either. It made me feel a little used.”
“I would too. Give me another one,” she instructs as we enter the residential side of town.
“I didn’t like how obsessive he was about work. I understand work is important. I love the ranch, and we obviously need it to do well in order to afford our lifestyle, but it became everything to him. We didn’t go to bed or wake up together. He went on trips alone and used it as an excuse to miss out on family dinners or birthdays. It scared me a little that I was going to start my forever with someone who cared more about work than family or the rest of the people who cared about him.”
“That’s a really good one. Give me another.”
Suddenly fired up, every little thing that’s bothered me about Austin boils to the surface as we pass Mrs. Liens’s perfect home with its freshly painted white picket fence.
