“Be good,” I warn my cow before following after Lawson. He’s shoving my pants into a duffel bag now. “And what about my house?”
“You have a house in Darling.”
My eyebrow pops up. “Oh, do I? ’Cause last I knew, I sold that years ago.”
Lawson is quiet for a beat before he says, “The newest renters left a couple weeks back. I…asked your parents to hold it. It’s ready and waiting for you.”
I go still, stunned. “And when the hell were you planning on telling me this?”
“I’m telling you now.”
I can’t stop the laughter that rolls out of me. “You’ve got some serious nerve, you know that? Are you even going to say hello? I haven’t seen you in three damn years and—”
Lawson’s arms come around me tight before I can even finish my sentence. He hugs me so forcefully I swear my ribs creak. I hug him back just as hard.
“Hey,” he says, voice choked.
I huff another laugh. “Long time.”
“Yeah. It has been.”
It’s a good minute before Lawson and I part. I look him over. Truly look him over. There’s a tension around his eyes he doesn’t normally carry, different from the faint lines that have popped up with age. A slight frown causing his mouth to pinch. He looks tired. Worn in a way that has my worry resurfacing.
“What’s going on, Law? Is it the divorce?”
He grunts, dismissing that as he goes back to shoving my pants into the duffel. I leave him to it for now. “It’s fine. Laura and I have been separated for a while.”
“Sure, but—”
“This isn’t about me.”
I highly doubt that. “Tell me what it’s about, then.”
He stops packing, looking up to meet my eye. “There’s nothing here for you, Oak. And don’t try to tell me there is. The only reason you came out here was because of Stevie’s job.”
“I like it here well enough,” I defend.
“Well enough.” He scoffs. “That’s notgoodenough. What the hell is tethering you here? Give me one thing.”
I rack my brain.
“We already covered your job and housing situation,” he goes on, as if it’s that simple. “I’ve got a trailer for Bell. We canfit the rest of what you want to bring in our trucks. Name one good reason for you not to come home.”
I can’t name a single thing. Except it’s not that simple. It feels like admitting defeat. My relationship crashed and burned. My reason for moving, as Lawson pointed out, is no longer a reason to stay gone.
But what does moving back to Darling accomplish besides broadcasting my failed attempt at creating a life for myself?
I’m forty-three. I thought I’d be settled down by now, and I was on track for that. Up until Stevie decided this life—our life—wasn’t what they wanted. And I can’t fault them for that. I wouldn’t have wanted them to stay if it meant unhappiness for either of us.
But it still hurts. To know how much I was willing to give, only to learn it wasn’t enough in the end.
Lawson makes a soft sound that draws my attention, his words unerringly piercing the heart of me, as they so often do. “We miss you, Oak. I do. Your parents. Wendy.”
“Aw, come on, Law. That’s not fair.”
He smirks, knowing damn well his daughter is my weak point. I love Wendy to death, and leaving her and Lawson to come to Kansas was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
“Come back to us,” Lawson pleads.
