Page 31 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

Finn said nothing, as she’d requested, though the pause made him feel like he should at least hum or say, “Okay.” But he refrained, because she was talking about another man. And she didn’t have to say more—he knew she’d been in love with him.

“We—were—engaged,” she said, her voice laboring over every word. “I loved him so much, Finn,” and in that moment, Finn realized how past-tense everything she said was. His heart pounded, because he wasn’t sure what had happened or how this had led Edith here.

If she’d gone through a painful break-up, wouldn’t she want to be with her mother in Florida? Why Three Rivers, with Alex?

He squeezed her hand and murmured, “I’m sorry, Edith.”

She shook her head, her lovely blonde hair swinging. Her eyes and voice held tears, but none trailed down her face. “He got diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer one benign day in March, after he hadn’t been feeling well for a few months. He’d been acting really weird, and not at all like himself, and well, the brain tumor explained a lot, actually.”

Finn wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting her to say, but it wasn’t that her fiancé had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

“So we decided to move here,” she said. “Alex had just bought Coyote Pass, and they gave Levi thirty days to live.” She sniffled then, and she started to weep. Finn wanted to take the pain right from her and put it on himself. He put his arm around her and brought her close to his chest, where the heat from her breath and tears touched his skin through his shirt.

“We started making plans to move, expecting that I would do it after he passed away in the city. But he didn’t.”

Finn stroked her hair, wondering how he’d feel if someone he loved enough to marry had been suddenly diagnosed with something terrible enough to take them from the earth in only thirty days.

“We moved here in May, and he was able to see this town where I grew up. He loved the wide open fields and the fresh air. He’d never been to Texas before, and he lived with Alex and I in that farmhouse, in the guest bedroom where you saw those photos.”

Ah, of course, Finn thought. “Did you marry him?”

Edith sat up straight and shook her head. “No, because the move took up so much energy, and then we were focused on providing him with the best experiences possible. I started to plan a wedding, especially because Levi made it to thirty days, and then sixty, and then ninety. He survived a cross-country move.”

Finn sensed a “but,” but he didn’t say it. Edith cried softly and quietly for several long moments, and Finn wanted to console her. Tell her everything was okay. But how could he? What words would make this okay?

She’d asked him to let her tell the story before he said anything, and he now knew that was one of the hardest things he’d ever agreed to do. He fought against the words in his throat, and he prayed for the right reaction. He didn’t know what it would be for Edith, and he didn’t want to hurt her more than she’d already been hurt.

“He died in September,” she whispered. “Coming up on three years at the end of this summer.”

“I’m so sorry,” Finn said. Why had God given the human race those words when they weren’t anywhere near adequate enough?

“He’s buried here in town,” she said. “His parents came, but he was an only-child, and they said he should be near me.”

Finn’s stomach hollowed, and he had no idea how to respond to that. She didn’t say anything else, and Finn’s questions piled on top of one another. Did she go visit Levi every day? Did she confide in him still, the way his Daddy sometimes went to the cemetery to talk to his father?

Could she ever fall in love with someone else? Had she dated since Levi’s death? Did she regret coming to Three Rivers, especially now that it had some negative memories attached to it? Would she ever leave with Levi buried here?

His throat felt like he’d stuffed a sock down it, and none of his questions came out.

“I do love it here,” Edith said next. “It’s so peaceful. So quaint. There’s nowhere like Three Rivers.”

“So I guess you’ll be staying.”

“I have nowhere else to go.”

Finn nodded, though she wasn’t looking at him. She cuddled into his side, and he kept a good grip on her body to keep her close. “Have you dated anyone since…since he—?” Finn couldn’t even say the words.

“No,” Edith said quietly. “You’re the first.”

He wasn’t sure if he liked that or not. She’d had time to grieve somewhat, but Finn knew from the experience of losing his grandfather that loss was loss, and it could sneak up on a person at any time. Time didn’t always dull it, and the human brain could hold so many memories.

After several minutes of the two of them sitting quietly together, Edith had calmed and Finn took a breath. “Well, the good news is that my break-up stories aren’t anything compared to this.”

Edith managed a laugh, and that got Finn to smile. She looked at him, and even with her smudged eyeliner, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. She laughed harder, and then harder, and Finn was sure what he’d said wasn’t so funny.

“Edith,” he said.

A horrified look crossed her face, and her demeanor started to fall. “I’m sorry,” she said just before she started weeping again. This wasn’t exactly how Finn had hoped tonight’s first date would go, but he’d known she had something to tell him.

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