Eric had never felt so much an outsider, especially with Jericho glaring his way. It helped a little that the man shot the same hard look to his younger brother, the cad with a woman on each side, coddling him.
Jericho finally focused on Eric, his voice stern but no longer shouting. "You'd best leave now. I understand you want to see your daughter, but you need a level head to do so. Come back tomorrow noon." His hard edge softened a little. "We'll work this out, but make sure you bring your patience."
Eric's heart still pounded, but he could breathe better. As much as he'd like to finish this with Coulter here and now, Jericho was right. He didn’t need a fight. He’d come all this way to get to know his daughter. Brawling would only drive a wedge between himself and Naomi. He’d not come with the intention of trying to win her back, not after she’d spurned all his attempts to contact her and was now to be married to another man, but they needed to be amicable. They shared a daughter, after all.
He nodded, but the pain that shot up from the base of his neck made him immediately regret the motion. "Tomorrow then." His voice didn't come out as strong as he would have liked, but he didn’t try to say more.
He slid one last look at Naomi before turning away. She was staring at him with a stricken look in those wide brown eyes. A new stab of pain twisted inside him. He’d not meant to hurt her. Even if she wanted nothing to do with him, he didn’t wish to hurt her.
He turned away and started down the hill. His gelding grazed at the edge of the trees, so he aimed toward it. Theanimal let him grab the reins without having to chase him, thank goodness. He wouldn’t attempt to mount where the others could see him. The way his body already ached, his climbing on the horse might not be a pleasant sight. His middle burned, and he feared Coulter had cracked a rib or two.
When he'd led the horse far enough for the woods to shield him, he positioned the animal downhill from him and raised his left foot to the stirrup. The burning in his chest heated, and when he pulled himself into the saddle, the pain lit to an open flame, searing his insides.
He bent forward, forcing air into his lungs, though it felt like he was inhaling flame.
The horse started forward, and Eric managed to make sure they aimed away from the house. Where should he go?
Pain fogged his mind. Hadn’t Jude said the nearest town was a full day's ride? He couldn’t go that far. He’d expected there would at least be other houses near the ranch.
Yet he'd not seen a single person during their ride that day. Maybe if his horse kept walking, they'd stumble onto a homestead.
As the gelding maneuvered down the slope at an angle, Eric had to take a more active role in the ride, guiding the animal around low-hanging tree limbs and keeping him to a walk when the horse tried to trot down the steeper sections.
Time stretched at a painful pace as they rode to the base of the hill and along the creek that ran between two slopes. Should he follow the creek or start up the other incline? They'd ridden beside a stream like this one during the first part of their travel that morning, but as far as he could remember, they’d not crossed to the opposite side at all. Maybe he should head that way in search of neighbors. Someone might let him sleep in their barn.
Would he be able to find his way back to the ranch tomorrow ifhe went too far?
No matter what, he had to be there at noon to see his daughter. Perhaps he'd ignore Naomi and the Coulter men completely so he didn’t accidentally get himself in trouble. He didn't need to talk to them, at least not yet. He could keep his focus and his words aimed at Mary Ellen.
As the sun slid beyond the peak of the hill they climbed, he reached a spot where the trees opened to a small clearing and the ground leveled off a little. Maybe he should just sleep here tonight. He had his bedding and a bit of food in the packs tied onto his saddle, enough to make it through one night anyway.
He allowed the gelding to stop in the grassy area, and the animal immediately lowered its head to graze. Eric tensed for the fresh surge of pain that would come when he dismounted. As he clenched his middle to lift his leg over the horse's back, the fire inside stole his breath and most of the strength from his bones.
He made it to the ground, then sank to his knees and toppled onto his side. He gripped his arms around his middle. Every breath hurt, yet his lungs craved the air. His jaw ached. His belly churned.
Maybe he should stay like this all night, curled on his side. The horse could graze as long as it wanted, though it would be kinder to the animal if he could at least remove the bit and loosen the girth.
And Eric should get his blankets. The late afternoon air was already chilled. Who knew how cold it would get that night?
For now, he would lie here. He could get the blanket in a minute. At least the pain in his body could distract his mind from the stronger ache of knowing how messed up his life had become.
He had a daughter. Adaughter. And she didn't even know him.
He'd worked so hard in his father's business. He always took the right path. Healwaysdid the right thing, no matter howhard it was. That one night when he'd let himself go too far with Naomi had been his only moral breach.
Well, the only one since he was a kid.
And look where it had brought him. Even with all the other good Eric had worked so hard to do, look what had become of him.
He was lying on the side of a mountain, curled up in pain. His daughter lived in another man's home, and the woman he still loved—had always loved and would always love—planned to marry that man.
The love of his life and the daughter they'd created were both in the arms of another man while he lay out here in the cold.
No one in this wilderness cared enough to come check on him.
How had his life come to this?
And the bigger question...
