Page 41 of Dust Storm

“Next time we go out on the property, I’ll put you on Dottie. She’s a big softie. You’ll be able to handle her on your own. She doesn’t spook easy.”

“So, is this little trail ride because everyone has an opinion about you carting me around on the ATV? Or about me being here in general?”

“No. I just figured you might want to do something to clear your head. Sometimes when I can’t sleep I’ll take Libby out and find a pasture to look at the stars.”

“I hadn’t even gone to bed yet.”

“You know what I mean, Cass.”

She stiffened, but didn’t correct me like she had every other time.

“Something’s off with Tripp,” she admitted.

She was trying so hard to spoon-feed me the palatable, sugar-laced version of her shitty relationship. She was probably justifying it in her mind, too.

“You mean it’s not normal for a man to dump his fiancé in an unfamiliar situation and bolt?” I asked with an air of amusement.

She huffed and whispered, “Fuck him.”

“Take us right when you hit the fork in the trail. It leads back to the house.”

“He used to at least act like he was invested in our relationship,” she blurted out in frustration.

I itched to wrap my arms around her, but I didn’t. “How long have you been with him?”

“Six years,” she admitted. “Dated for three years before he proposed. I will have been engaged to him for four years in a few months.”

“Be straight with me.”

“I am.”

I scoffed. “He proposed to youthreeyears ago?”

Her shoulders dropped. “He said he wasn’t in a rush to get the wedding over with.”

“Do you live with him?”

“No,” she said quickly. “I like my space and so does he.”

I worked my hand over my beard. “So. You don’t live with him. You have no plans to get married. And he’s allergic to commitment?”

“Well, when you put it that way?—”

“He gave you a ring as payment for sex.”

She wasn’t fazed by my candor. “That would be true if we were having sex.”

“You waiting for the big day or something?”

Cassandra peered over her shoulder, hitting me with those steel gray eyes. “Is this an appropriate conversation to have with your employee?”

“You’re also sleeping in my house and my kids think you’re a Barbie doll come to life.”

“Fair.” She sighed. “No, I’m not waiting or anything. We used to have sex. We just stopped when things got busy. And then…”

“And then what?”

“Then they stayed busy. Or at least he keeps making it out to be that way.”

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