A series of knocks sounded from her front door, pulling Andie from her thoughts. The sound nearly made her heart stop completely. She froze mid-stride, barely breathing as she considered who it might be.
Trenton?Could it possibly be him? Had he realized what a jerk he’d been? If he was anything like she thought he was, it would be only a matter of time before the realization struck. But after he’d been so cruel, would Andie even take him back?
She could think of that if it actually happened, for now she had a guest to let in. Even as she hurried to the door in her stretch pants and crumpled sweater, Andie felt almost certain it wasn’t Trenton. But who else would it be?
She smoothed a hand down the front of her sweater, then reached for the door while checking her hair with the other hand. The messy flop of her half-ponytailed hair stopped Andie in her tracks. She hadn’t done anything with it for days. She flung her hand off the doorknob.
“Umm…just a second.” A quick dash to the nearby mirror said it would take more than a second to look decent. A swarm of butterflies flapped wildly in her tummy as she tugged the hair band free and reached for the brush.
“Andie?” a voice came. But it wasnotthe voice she’d hoped for.
She dropped the brush and shot a scowl to the closed door. “Go home,Richard.” Sure, she used his new name like a curse word when she was angry, but he did the same thing. And besides, why had it taken him so long to come and check on her? Emmitt had beat him by two days. And worst of all, if Richard was the one on the other side of that door, it meant that Trenton most definitely was not.
“Iamhome,” he said.
Andie hadn’t even noticed the amount of hope that entered her heart at the sound of that door. But now that it was eking out of her, she felt like a sad, deflating balloon. Empty and limp. Void of the energy she’d summoned just moments ago.
“No,” she said, moving over to the door and pulling it open at last. “This ismycabin. Yours is over there.” She pointed in the general direction and moved to slam the door shut again.
“Wait,” Richard said, blocking it with his hand. His eyes were wide and pleading. “Please, Andie. Let’s talk for a minute.”
Something about the look in his eye had Andie recalling the millions of times her friends raved about how handsome her older brother was. Sure, they admitted that Emmitt was too, but Richard was the older and ornerier one that eluded their company every time they came. Emmitt on the other hand, he’d hang around as long as he could, flashing his flirtatious smile between daring comments about hot tub parties and pillow fights.
“Come on in,” Andie said, her shoulders falling flat once more. “But if you’re here to lecture me about falling in love or letting myself go or…or not stepping up and—”
“I’m not here to lecture you, Andie,” he said as he followed her inside.
She plopped onto the couch, grabbed a nearby throw pillow, and hugged it against her chest.
Richard glanced about the room, eyes darting from an abandoned wrapper on the floor to the stack of dishes and crumpled napkins on the coffee table. She could already hear the thoughts in his head.Looks like Emmitt’s place in here.
“Ioverheard someone talking at lunch. That older couple that’s staying in the nicest cabin we’ve got. They said they made a bid on Trenton’s ranch.”
Andie crumpled the pillow tighter against her chest while smashing the fluff in her fists. It was like an extra heart-stab, one that nothing could protect her from. “It’s only beenfourdays.”
Richard’s brow furrowed. “I know. But it sounds like he had it for sale not long ago. The couple has had their eyes on it for a while now.”
She groaned through the pain, feeling even more angry at Trenton for leaving. She wanted to scream or throw something or both. But the truth was, Andie was too depleted. She couldn’t remember the last thing she ate and when, and the torment from losing Trenton was making her muscles shrivel up and die. At least, it felt like that’s what was happening.
“Well?” Richard blurted.
Andie furrowed her brow in confusion. “Well,what?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Whatcanwe do? I already tried to stop him from leaving in the first place.”
“Yeah, but now he’s not going to be able to come back if he changes his mind. He probably just needs time.”
“If he thought he might come back, he wouldn’t have put it up for sale in the first place,” Andie said. She turned her gaze to the lifeless fireplace, replaying the many times they sat before it and soaked up the heat. And hadn’t they been in this very room less than a week ago when Trenton had said he was in love with her?
Andie didn’t think she had any moisture left, but suddenly there were tears pooling down her cheeks. She smeared them with her hands as the sobs threatened to surface once more.
It took great focus to control the trembling of her bottom lip as she took it all in. Trenton’s ranch would soon belong to someone else. She’d been praying that it wouldn’t sell. Praying that Trenton would see reason and come back to it. Come back to her. But that wasn’t going to happen.
A new spark of anger struck her as she turned a look on her older brother. Mr. Stickler. Mr. Make-sure-everyone-listens-to-what-I-have-to-say.
“Welovedeach other, Richard,” she said, new tears streaming down her face. “Whether you believe it or not, we did. If you hadn’t been such a maniac over keeping everything secret…I might not have lost him.”
