“That sucks, Cassidy.” I tried to imagine that happening to me. Amos would never do something like that to me. If I told him I was serious about someone he’d back off.
“So that’s why I left,” she continued. “Every time I saw them around town, holding hands and planning their wedding… I felt like I was suffocating. Like everyone was looking at me with pity.Poor Cassidy. Couldn’t keep her man. Lost him to her own best friend.”
“That’s not on you,” I said firmly. “That’s on them.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But I needed to get out and start fresh where no one knew my history. My parents had inherited this old farmhouse years ago and never did anything with it. When I asked if I could have it, they said yes.” She gestured vaguely at the mountains around us. “I needed something that wasmine. Something that didn’t have Rodney’s stamp on it, or Marcy’s.”
“And then it caught fire.”
“Yeah. I blew that up, didn’t I?” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Story of my life.”
Then her voice dropped to a whisper, “I’ve never datedanyonebut Rodney before.”
I wasn’t much for talking about emotions, but there was a question burning inside me that I had to know. “You still in love with him?”
Cassidy blew out a deep breath. “No. Ican’tbe.Mydream man doesn’t fall for my best friend. He’s only got eyes forme.”
I grunted. The woman knew her worth.
Then she finished quietly, “The worst part is wondering if they had feelings for each other while he was still with me.”
We drove in silence for a minute. I wanted to say something to fix it somehow, but words had never been my strong suit. Instead, I found myself telling her a secret, pulling it out from somewhere deep inside me. Where it came from, I had no idea.
“I live alone because I don’t fit anywhere else.”
Cassidy turned to look at me, surprise flickering across her face.
I kept my eyes on the road, feeling exposed. “Never been good with people. It takes me too long to warm up, and by then, most folks have moved on. I’m not quick. Not charming.Definitelynot good with women.”
My eyes drifted to her when I said that last part and lingered longer than they should have.
“I think you’re very good with women,” Cassidy said, her voice dropping to something husky that made my blood heat. “At least with me. And last time I checked,I’ma woman.”
My hands tightened on the wheel. The air in the truck felt thick suddenly, charged with something electric.
While I was still figuring out what to say, the logging camp came into view, and I was almost grateful for the distraction.
“We’re here,” I grunted in response.
The camp looked the same as always.
It was just a basic cluster of wooden buildings scattered across a cleared patch of mountain.
There was the shared bunkhouse where Amos and most of the other loggers slept, its wooden walls weathered to gray. Then a mess hall with smoke curling from its chimney. And a communal bathroom off to one side, like you’d see at a campground.
Set apart from the rest was a nicer cabin where the boss, Colt, lived.
I’d been coming here every day for years. But seeing it through Cassidy’s eyes made me notice how rough it all was.
“This is where you work,” she said, looking around with obvious curiosity.
“Yeah,” I pulled the truck to a stop near the bunkhouse and grabbed the wrench. “It’s rough and tumble up here on Red Oak Mountain. Not much to look at.”
“I think it’s fascinating.” She was already climbing out of the truck, taking in the heavy equipment, the stacks of timber, and the muddy paths between the buildings.
Most of the crew was out on the mountain right now, but a few guys lingered around camp. I saw them notice Cassidy, their eyes tracking over her curves in those too-tight jeans.
Heat flared in my chest.
