And now that she’s gone?—
Fuck it.
She’d just walked away. She’d climbed into her truck and driven away as if our time together hadn’t meant anything.
As ifImeant nothing to her.
And maybe I don’t.
I’m just a grumpy old cowboy. What would a vibrant young woman want with a man like me?
Either way, I need to get over it.
I’m out in the yard, loading hay bales, when Travis, who’s been avoiding me for the last few days, catches up with me.
He’s humming some godawful country song about a cowboy losing the love of his life as he joins me, grabbing a bale.
“Can you shut the hell up?”
My old friend looks over with a grin. “I see you’re still not over it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I know I shouldn’t say anything. He’s only trying to get a rise out of me. And I know from experience that I’m not going to like whatever he has to say.
“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I heft another bale of hay onto the sled, forcing the muscles in my shoulders to burn, just to feelsomething besides the emptiness in my chest.
“There’s obviously something between the two of you,” he says when I don’t rise to his bait. “I thought maybe it was just a way to keep warm for a few days, but after watching the way you’ve been bashing around here for the last few days, it’s obvious to me that she’s more than just a warm?—”
“Careful.” I spin, my hands already in fists, daring him to finish what he was about to say.
Travis only laughs. “Exactly,” he says with a shake of his head. “The only thing I can’t figure out is if she’s got you this twisted up, grumpier than I’ve ever seen you. Which is sayin’ something by the way, then why the hell are you still up here on the ranch moping around instead of going after her?”
“Drop it.” I reach for another bale. “It was nothing.”
“Ah, so itwassomething then?” He leans on the rail, grinning obnoxiously. “I suppose you’re going to tell me she was just doing her job, or some other bullshit then.”
I shoot him a glare that should be enough warning to shut him up.
It isn’t.
“She’s good for this place,” he says after a moment, his tone shifting. The laughter is gone, replaced by a soft seriousness. “And you know it. From the moment she set foot on the ranch, things changed.Youchanged. You can deny it all you want, but whatever happened between the two of you during that storm, well…if youdokeep denying it. You’re a bigger damn fool than I thought.”
I don’t say anything because the truth of what he said hits hard.
He’s not wrong.
Things had changed when Anna got here. And it wasn’t just the ranch and the horses. It was the way she made me feel, too. The way she smiled at me, even when I was being a grouchy asshole. It was the way she opened up to me. The way she made me want to open up to her.
And those few days with her here, despite the storm clouds and the feet of snow piling up all around us, it felt lighter with Anna. The barns didn’t look so run-down. I hardly noticed thatthe house needed a coat of paint. The horses were calmer. Even the air felt more alive.
Just like the old days.
When everything was still good here. When Mama was alive.
Anna has the same energy. She brings the same life to the ranch. Andme.
And now she’s gone.
