Page 17 of A Little More Forgiveness

The expression on his face nearly broke me, but I steeled myself not to react to his feelings, resorting to anger instead. “He now owns half my property. Half, Leo. Do you understand how much that affects me?” Leo shook his head. “My parents lived in this cabin all their married lives. As did my father’s parents before him. I was born here, and after Dad died intended to live here with my wife for the rest of mine.” I turned away, no longer able to look at him at the mention of Katie. “When I decided not to sell, he didn’t give up.” I planted my feet and crossed my arms, needing to feel on solid ground, needing to feel strong. “What did he do? He went behind my back to my brother and coerced him into selling instead.” Okay, while that statement might not strictly be true, I had no proof otherwise, except Gabe’s verbal confirmation.

I walked over and stood in front of Leo, staring directly into his eyes. “Next, he waltzed in here and told me he owns fifty percent of what I put my blood, sweat, and tears into for the last five years. He owns fifty percent of my memories; fifty percent of my fucking life, and you wonder why I get angry? Why I resent the fact he’s here on my land and in my home?” My chest rose and fell rapidly as emotion threatened to take hold. But Leo had asked, and I was damn well going to answer. “Isn’t that enough?” He didn’t move, didn’t respond. “Well, isn’t it?” I shouted at him, making him flinch. His slight tilt of the head signified he might finally have got the message.

He tentatively placed his hand on my arm, his touch warm and comforting. “I’m sorry I didn’t take the time to fully understand.” He rubbed my forearm. “It won’t happen again.” He stepped away, leaving me feeling cold all over when he released me. “I’ll go speak to Gabe, somehow figure out a way to get us out of here tomorrow morning and leave you in peace.”

He went to walk away but halted at my “Wait a second.” I had to stop from taking a step toward him, the instinct to be close so strong. I scrubbed a hand over my hair. “I’ll go and bring him inside.”

“You sure? I don’t mind.”

I shook my head. “It’s my mess. I should clean it up.”

He gave a small nod. “Okay,” he replied, before returning to washing the dishes.

Moving past him, I stopped when I drew level with him. “Thank you,” I said softly, “for listening.”

He glanced over his shoulder at me, his sweet smile making my breath hitch unexpectedly.

“You’re welcome.”

Chapter Seven

Gabe

Not willing to face being stuck in a damn tin can yet again, I decided to check out the stable instead. Never having had the chance to get close to any livestock, I fancied the idea of stroking a horse for the first time in my life.

A row of light switches sat on the wall by the entrance, so I flicked a couple and waited as a long strip of them flickered to life, illuminating the large space. Toward the end of the run, a couple of the horses appeared over the top of their stall gate, waiting expectantly as I made my way down to greet them. The calm air held barely any warmth, but I didn’t regret the fact in my annoyance and haste to get out of the cabin, I’d forgotten my coat.

“Hey, horsey,” I murmured softly to the first one, as I tentatively extended my hand to stroke the side of its cream-colored head and down its neck a few times, the hairs sliding under my fingers not as prickly as I imagined they’d be. I received a gentle snicker as my reward. “At least you’re pleased to see me. Unlike the rest of them.”

The horse nudged my hand, making me chuckle. “Sorry, boy or girl, I don’t have anything for you to eat right now.” If a horse could look disappointed in me, I’m pretty sure the expression it gave was it. “You’re not the only one, buddy. You’re not the only one.”

My hands dropped to rest on top of the gate, and eyes closed, I tried to let go of the residual anger still coursing through my veins at the fucking nerve of the guy getting off on two people, but especially me, being stuck with him for the next three days.

I’d lied when I told Leo I was okay with staying a few days because of how nervous he’d been to tell me, and I didn’t want him to blame himself, which he tended to do for some reason. Why shoulder something you were unable to prevent, especially since I’m the one who insisted we come here in the first place. A huge fucking error on my part I now readily acknowledged.

A knock on the side of the stable surprised me, and thank goodness I had hold of the top of the gate, or I’d have collapsed on the spot when the last person I expected to see appeared around the corner and strolled down the length of the stable until he stopped beside me.

Mitchell confidently rubbed his hand down the front of the horse’s face. He had a thick blanket with him, which he placed on top of the gate, smoothing down the wool with his hand. Had he brought that for me? I deliberately didn’t ask. The fact I’d started to feel chilly made no difference. It was probably a trap of some kind, and I wasn’t falling for it.

“You lost?” I asked.

“Nope.”

Fan-fucking-tastic. “I’m really not up for any more of your cozy chitchat, so why don’t you do us both a favor and go back inside your home.”

He stiffened beside me. “I’m so not in the mood for this,” he grumbled.

“Me neither.” He stood far too close to me, the heat from his body a temptation I did not want to succumb to, so I moved away to go pet another horse.

He took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m here to ask you to come back inside.”

I was kinda shocked. “Why?”

He shuffled around a bit, moving awkwardly from foot to foot, refusing to face me. “And to apologize.”

Well, damn, this felt surreal. “Again, why?” I wanted to see his face when he answered to make sure this wasn’t a trick of some kind so turned to him head-on. “You don’t like me. You’ve made yourself pretty clear on that, so why the hell are you apologizing?”

He didn’t answer me, and I sure as shit wasn't going to say any more so stood and waited for him to reply. He continued stroking the horse for a while, and despite my anger at him, my gaze followed his long fingers as they lovingly grazed along the animal’s coat. I was slightly jealous they were getting his hands on them instead of me. Totally fucked up but what could I do?

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