Cole stepped back out into the cold and crossed the yard to the house, turning the question over as he walked. Should he tell her about Callie’s call? He already knew the answer. He sighed and climbed the porch steps, wiped his boots on the mat, and pushed inside.
He hung up his coat and hat and sat on the bench to pull off his boots. The house was quiet. He padded to the bedroom and stopped in the doorway.
Aftyn was packing her case.
His stomach dropped. “Packed already?”
“I heard there’s snow coming. I thought I’d better get ahead of it.”
“It’s only drizzling right now. Supposed to warm back up tomorrow.” But even as he said it he picked up her case and nodded toward the door.
In the kitchen she pulled on her coat and tugged her beanie down, and he watched her without saying what was sitting in his chest. He put his own coat on, picked up the case, and held the door open.
Outside, the cold settled around them.
“We didn’t get to spend Sunday together,” she said quietly.
“There’ll be others.”
She stopped and looked at him and shook her head. “Will there?”
“What does that mean?”
“We both know I’m leaving once Avery is arrested, Cole.”
He held her gaze for a moment. “I’ll follow you to your apartment, then I need to stop at the Feed Store.”
He pulled the door shut behind them and set his jaw. He didn’t want her to go. But this had always been the arrangement, and there was nothing in Clifton to keep her. Not even him.
He followed her vehicle through town, eyes on the black Enclave ahead of him, his hands tight on the wheel. The weekend had gone too fast. Intense and easy all at once, the kind of time that made you aware of its edges while you were still inside it. He wanted more of it, and he knew better than to say so. He’d asked someone to stay once before. The memory of how that had ended still sat in his throat like something he couldn’t quite swallow down. He wasn’t doing that again. Not ever.
He pulled into the diner lot and parked beside the metal stairs leading up to the apartment. The engine ticked as it cooled. He stepped out and watched Aftyn slide down from the driver’s seat, her hair catching what little light the grey morning had to offer and reach into the back for her things.
“You don’t need to walk me up,” she said, herbreath clouding in the cold air.
“I know.” He took the case from her and caught her hand, and led her up the stairs, which groaned under their weight.
At the door she fumbled with the keys, then shouldered it open and turned to face him, taking her case back without quite meeting his eyes.
“I had a good time.” Her smile was there but it didn’t reach anything deeper.
“Could I come in for a minute? There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Of course.” She stepped back to let him through.
He helped her off with her coat and hung it on the rack, then took off his Stetson and turned it slowly in his hands. He kept his sheepskin on. He wasn’t staying.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“No, thank you.” He exhaled. “While I was in the barn this morning, Callie called me.”
The line that appeared between her brows was small, but he caught it. “Why?”
“Because of you, I imagine.”
“She doesn’t know me.”
“No, but someone told her I was seeing someone and she didn’t care for that.” The bitterness in his voice came out before he could measure it. “I suppose she expected me to still be sitting here torn up over her leaving.”
