He thought back to Halloween night, when he hadn’t fucked this up.Why couldn’t he go back to that?Life was a little easier then.
Chapter Seven
Astrid didn’t cometo the bar to meet people.She came to have fun.Everyone who wanted to go to the bar always looked happy.That was what she was searching for, because back at the ranch was nothing more than a terrible reminder of the mistake she made.
She kept looking for work elsewhere, but no one was hiring, or at least no one was hiring her.She didn’t know what to do.
The saddest thing was, she actually loved working at the ranch.It was a dream job to her.She loved taking care of the ranch and being at the stove most of the day.Cooking lots of food for people.Handling care packages.The last few months had been the best of her life.She thought working at the library would be the best part of her life, it wasn’t.
The only part that sucked right now was the man sitting beside her.She hated the taste of beer but picked up her bottle and took a swig.It tasted disgusting.There were a couple of guys who came to ask her to dance or hang out.She wasn’t interested.
She was so hurt because even though Lord saw her as a convenience and didn’t truly want her, it had been one of the greatest nights of her life.How desperate was she?
Now he’d followed her to the bar, and her humiliation was complete.He got to see her sitting all alone, not waiting for anyone.Just alone with her thoughts.
“Why don’t you just admit you hate it?”Lord asked.
She glared at him, shook her head, and got to her feet.The beer had already been paid for.
“What I hate is that you’re here.You never come here and I don’t know why you’re here now.”
She turned on her heel and walked out of the bar.Enzo and a couple of the guys from the ranch waved their hands toward her, and she gave them a wave back.She liked that Enzo hadn’t taken her rejection badly.They were still friends.
Leaving the bar, it seemed that everywhere she turned, every couple was in the throes of making out.Was the world just mocking her, letting her see what she couldn’t have?She didn’t for a second think that was possible, yet it felt exactly like that, and it sucked.She didn’t know if the people were together, or just enjoying brief hookups.
Astrid was not pregnant.She didn’t know if she was happy about that or incredibly sad.It sucked.Big time sucked.
She took a deep breath as she passed Lord’s truck.She had walked to the bar, and she would walk right back to the ranch.
Her parents were still not home.After their cruise, they had decided to visit her two brothers.They would be back in a month, not that she was going to return home.If she went home, she would have failed, and she didn’t want that.
She was tempted to leave No Wolves Road for good.Even if she did, she knew she would not be allowed to speak of her life here.That was the deal.
Wrapping her jacket around her, she got to walking, but behind her she heard the sound of Lord’s truck.She had listened to it so many times from the kitchen that she could hear the rumble of the engine, the odd squeak of the metal, because it was old and he refused to do anything to it.Lord said it was a good, reliable truck, and to tinker would be to cause damage.She couldn’t argue with him so she listened as it rumbled right beside her.He’d wound the window down.
“Get in the truck,” Lord said.
