I catch a glimpse of Wilder as he holds his sleeping daughter. Tears disappear into his beard, and he rocks her back and forth. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, if he didn’t have Emmy, he’d jump after Jess into that hole. We lost Wilder the day she took her last breath, and I don’t know if we’ll ever get him back.
As the funeral comes to an end, I spot Angie walking alone. She pulls her jacket tighter around her body and stares at the ground as she gets farther and farther away. She flew all the way here on her own, and she doesn’t have anybody to lean on. My family is a mess, but at least we have each other.
I jog to catch up with her, intent to be that person for her, even if it only lasts as long as she’s here. I want to ask her why she gave me the wrong number, but the timing isn’t right. If I’m honest, I’m not sure there will ever be a time for us.
“Angie. Wait up.”
She stops.
I catch up with her in a few short strides. “Where are you headed?”
“I don’t know,” she whispers. “Home, I guess. My flight leaves tomorrow morning.”
I open my arms, and she steps into them without hesitation. She smells the same as she did the night we met. It sends my mind spiraling back to a time before all of this pain and heartache. If only I’d had the foresight to cancel my flight and stay in bed with her that day, maybe she wouldn’t have become this fleeting moment in my life—a moment I revisit often. There was the me before Angelina Rossi, and the me after. Whatever happens next, I am irrevocably changed.
I pull out my business card and slide it into her palm. “If you need anything, I’m here. Even if you just need to talk.”
Her hand lingers in mine, and her eyes turn glassy. “Goodbye, Griffin.”
The words hit me like a stab to the heart. Whatever hope I had fades.
She’ll never dial the number on that card.
I bring her knuckles up to my lips. “Goodbye, Angel.”
Chapter 9
The Heart Wants What It Wants
? Cowboy Kind of Love - The Castellos
Griffin
Present Day
Girls, Hayes, and Neighs
Me: Anybody up for a ride tonight?
Wilder: I’m in.
Jaxon: Me too.
Olivia: I’m kidnapping Callie, then.
Callie: Fuck yes! Girls night!
Olivia: Ruby are you in?
Ruby: I’m actually gonna hang with the guys this time. Rain check?
Callie: Ugh. Fine.
Jaxon: Hell yeah. Hayes night!
Olivia: Technically we’re all Hayes now.
Jaxon: O.G. Hayes night!
