I don’t remember half of last night, and I’m wondering if that’s for the best since when I woke in my bed, Tessa was beside me, on top of the covers, her head buried in the crook of my arm.
I rolled over, downed the water that she must’ve put there, and then saw I had three missed calls from Liam. Now I’m here, wanting to know what had him adamant we needed to meet immediately and in person.
The fact that I haven’t heard a word from Tessa has me on edge.
When I woke up this morning, I knew that no matter what, I was ready to fight for her.
Her entire life, people have let her walk away or walked away from her, I’m not doing that.
Not when I love her.
Yes, Iloveher.
No matter how hard I fought against it, I fucking love her. I would do anything for her and now I need to prove it.
I know I said I would let her go, but I can’t.
Not when I know the life we can have together.
Letting her go isn’t an option.
I let Gary know where I was going, and to inform her, so I just hope that happened and she isn’t packing her shit before we can talk about whatwewant. Not about what Meredith wants. Not about Tessa’s job, but about what we actually want.
We can sort out the issues later.
I want her to stay, or hell, I’ll sell the fucking ranch and move to New York if that’s what it takes.
I’m not letting her go. Not ever.
The door opens, and Liam spots me, walking toward the booth, a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. I get up, we shake hands, and he motions for me to sit.
“Thanks for meeting me here.”
“I’m not sure I had a choice,” I joke as we settle into the booth.
He shrugs. “I thought this was something better done in person and quickly.”
“Neither of those gives me a comforting feeling.”
“This won’t either. I’ll be honest. I’ve learned a lot, but I’m not sure what it all means, so I’m going to let you see the information and hopefully you can shed some light on possible explanations. Then you can make some choices on what to do next.” Liam pulls out a folder from his messenger bag and places it down on the table between us. “I followed the one lead I thought was the most credible as to where Travis could be in the States. It was tricky at first because either he’s really smart or he has really smart people helping him. But I did end up finding him after a little bit more digging. Open it and let me know if that’s him.”
I open the file and see a photo of Travis. His hair is grown out, and he’s attempting to grow a beard, but it looks a little ridiculous. However, it’s very clearly him in the photo. “It is.”
“He was last seen in Maryland at a casino.” Liam points to the second photo. “I tracked him there two days ago. He behaved very…strangely. Most people don’t look over their shoulder every thirty seconds, but Travis did. I sat next to him at the tables so I could observe him closely. I’m usually able to get a pretty decent conversation out of most people. He was so tight-lipped it was really remarkable. I won’t lie, I was half impressed.”
What does any of that have to do with me?
“You think he was worried someone was following him?” I ask.
“It would make sense. Did Travis steal money from you?”
“We haven’t been able to find a few payments, but two of the sellers said they never sent anything. The thing I lost mostly from Travis were the sales that were promised.”
Liam nods. “So he wasn’t worried about you coming after him?”
“He could be, but at this point, he’s been gone for weeks. The damage to my ranch has already been done. If it’s about money, maybe he stole it from someone else. Maybe he crossed another rancher and is trying to win money so he can keep up with the debt. I really don’t think he’d be worried about me finding him. Even if I did, I just want to know what the fuck happened—not hurt him.”
All I wanted were answers to why he forged my signature and where the fuck he went. We had a business together, and to just take off? It’s bullshit.
