I take a deep breath, paste a friendly, yet detached smile on my face and go to face the consequences of my actions. Whatever they might be.
I find the men outside standing next to the plow.
“Good morning.” I hope my greeting sounds cheerful and natural. “I see you came to save us,” I say to Travis, studiously ignoring Wyatt’s gaze on me. “Thank you!”
The ranch hand lifts his cowboy hat and bends into a deep, exaggerated bow. “It’s my pleasure, little lady. I made it up here as soon as I could. After all, I can imagine what kind of toll being stranded up here alone with this grump would take on a young lady. Especially one as lovely as you.”
I can’t help the blush that flashes over my features. I try to laugh it off and reach for the big hood of my parka, lifting it up over my head to cover my face as best as I can. “Oh, it wasn’t so bad,” I say. “And it gave me a chance to keep an eye on Oatmeal. You should see her beautiful foal. She did so great.”
We quickly shift the conversation to the horse and her new baby as I fill Travis in on all the details. Next to us, Wyatt is suspiciously quiet. I still can’t look at him, but I can feel his gaze hot on me as he watches me.
My body instinctively wants to reach for him and have him pull me close against his hard chest, but I hold myself firmly at a distance.
I must stay as professional as possible now. I can’t give Travis any indication that there was anything going on between the two of us. We were simply two people snowed in for a few days. It’s sure to be a semi-regular occurrence working up in the mountains. And I am nothing if not professional.
“Okay,” I say after a moment. “I should get going back to my office and check in with my uncle. Hopefully I haven’t missed anything too major while I’ve been gone.”
Finally, I turn to Wyatt. His face is a blank mask. Completely unreadable.
“Oatmeal did great,” I say. “She and the foal look perfect. Of course, call me if anything changes. But otherwise, you can book your next appointment with the office whenever you need to.”
Is it my imagination, or did I see a flicker of something in his eyes just then? I wait a beat for him to say something. Or tell me he’ll give me a call later, but Wyatt has gone right back to the grumpy, cowboy he’d been. As if the last few days hadn’t happened. As ifwehadn’t happened.
“Drive safe, Doc,” he says finally.
“Thanks for being such a big help with Oatmeal,” Travis adds when Wyatt doesn’t say anything more. “We’ll give you a call if we need anything else.”
I give Travis my brightest smile and turn away from Wyatt, avoiding his cold, unfeeling gaze, afraid that if I look at him again, I might just break in two.
Because all I can see when I look at him is indifference, and I feel it with a lump in my chest. The last few days were nothing to him. Just a way to pass the time. A warm body to curl up with through the cold nights.
Somehow, I make it down the drive, onto the main, freshly plowed road, before the tears spill down my cheeks.
Chapter Seven
WYATT
It’s been four days since the storm cleared.
Four days since Anna drove away.
And four days since I haven’t slept. Have hardly eaten. And have done every chore on the ranch that I can think of.
Work is easier than thinking.
And it’s a fuck of a lot easier thanfeeling.
Ever since Anna’s truck drove away. The crunch of her tires on the gravel and snow fading away down the road, the ranch has been quiet.
Too quiet.
Everywhere I look, I can see her. She’s everywhere.
Her hand on the mare’s flank. Her laugh cutting through the wind. Her bare legs dangling when she sits on the counter, wearing only my flannel.
I need to lose myself in some physical labor if I have any hope in hell in making it through another day without her.
The ranch is lonely now with just me and Travis. It’s as if Anna breathed fresh life into the place just by being…just by being herself.
