***
The memory crashed over her like a wave, and she was suddenly caught in the undertow. “Wait!” Willow cried, and Ash froze where he knelt before her, where his lips had been kissing a trail from her breasts down the length of her torso.
Ash pushed himself up to standing and immediately backed away, his hands raised. “I’m sorry, Wills,” he told her, and she heard a crack in his deep voice.
She sat up, pulling her tank top down fromwhere he’d pushed it up to her collarbone so he could cover her with kisses like he used to do all those years ago.
“Youdon’treally forgive me, do you?” he asked.
Willow grabbed a pillow and hugged it against her torso as she shook her head.
“I thought I did,” she told him. “I really thought I was past it but, Ash, you didn’t just hurt me. You humiliated me…and youbrokemy heart.”
He nodded. “I know. But…” He cleared his throat. “Did you ever once think of unblocking my number and reading my texts? Or replying to even one of my emails to at least let me know you were okay? Did it really mean nothing to know that everything that happened that day broke my heart too?”
She furrowed her brows and stared at him.
“Ash, I didn’t—”
“It doesn’t matter,” he added before she could finish. “I realize the bulk of the blame is on me and that I probably don’t deserve credit for trying to fix what I never meant to break. But I did try, Willow. And I did love you.”
She shook her head, too stunned to speak. Only after Ash had backed out of her door and closed it behind him did she hear herself whisper, “What texts? What emails?”
She didn’t sleep the rest of the night, and when daylight finally broke, she called Colt.
“I need to borrow your truck,” she told him.“And I need you to apologize to Jenna for me for missing her at the market today. I promise I’ll be there next week, but something came up that I have to take care of today.”
“You can have the truck, Wills, but you’re kind of freaking me out. Do you need me to come with you wherever you’re going?”
“No,” she assured him. “I promise I’m okay, but I need to deal with this on my own.”
“Okay,” he told her. “I’ll have one of the ranch hands on duty meet me at your place and drive me back home after I drop the truck. And whatever it is, Jenna will understand. How long will you be gone?”
She opened the map app on her phone to double-check the distance. “I’ll be back by early afternoon,” she assured him. “Thank you, big bro,” she added. “You are the best.”
He let out a short laugh. “I know, but I still like to hear you say it.”
Willow smiled, grateful for the levity. Because however today went, her heart was bound to break all over again, but at least she’d have some semblance of the truth. Then, hopefully, she’d finally be able to move on.
Chapter 11
Ash jumped barrel after barrel, he and Midnight leaving Boone in the dust every time. He wanted to jump the fence and ride as far and as fast from here as possible, but at the same time, he was afraid to leave the property in case Willow came back.
He brought Midnight to a halt after two more laps, finding Boone and Cirrus already resting near the place where the gate opened back toward the barn.
“Are we racing each other?” Boone asked. “Or are you trying to turn back time Superman style?”
Ash was sweating, his heart pounding even after he and Midnight stopped.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I…” He blew out a breath. “Have you ever wondered if maybe you made the biggest mistake of your life, and even though you regretted every second of it, you still didn’t know how to fix it or if you ever even could?”
Boone let out a soft laugh. “You want to be a little more specific about that?” he asked. “Because it’s really hard to help with hypotheticals.”
Ash sighed. “I don’t know if it even matters anymore.” But it did matter. To him, at least. He couldstill feel Willow’s soft skin against his lips. Even now, the thrum of his heart had nothing to do with how hard he’d been riding. It was her.Allher. But he’d been foolish enough to believe that Colt was right and she had actually forgiven him.
Both brothers pulled their phones out of their pockets at the same time.
“It’s Eli,” Boone said, and Ash nodded, opening the group text.
