Page 68 of Cowboy and the Convict

Once the box was in place, she marched back inside, putting all her attention on the task at hand. She was moving. She had a new job in a new place all lined up. The pay was excellent. So were the benefits.

And if she didn’t go she would be quitting before she even started. A new record. Even for her.

Since most of her stuff was already packed, it only took another hour for her and Mariah to load everything into the truck. When it was done and her friend was gone, Janie stood at the front door, giving her little home one last look. “Bye, house.”

It was never this hard to move on. She was well-versed in leaving things behind. Hell. She’d practically made a career out of it.

Guess she had one after all.

After locking up the door, she slipped the key into the lock box Sharon’s realtor had secured over the knob. She turned to face the box truck and the trailer hauling her car behind it, hooked up and ready to carry her straight into her new life.

Taking a deep breath and straightening her shoulders, she lifted her chin, ready to tackle what was in front of her. “Here goes nothing.”

26

Devon

WALKING INTO A silent house did nothing for the anxiety making him restless and edgy. Leaving Janie standing there on her porch was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. All he wanted was to bring her home. Bring her back where she belonged.

But it had to be her choice. He could show her the truth, but he’d meant it when he told Riley he wouldn’t convince a woman to be with him. No matter how much he wanted to.

Pulling out his phone, he paced down the hall as he swiped across the screen, finding the text from Sharon letting him know she was taking the girls to a movie so he could have a little time to himself.

He didn’t know whether to thank her or throttle her. If Janie had run into his arms the way he was hoping she would, having the house to themselves would have been perfect. But she hadn’t jumped like he’d wanted, and it left him with too much silence. Too much room to doubt what he was trying so hard to believe would happen.

She had to pick him. Had to. She just needed to see herself the way he did.

The way his girls did.

But expecting someone to change their whole way of thinking after so many years was a big ask.

“Fuck.” Raking one hand through his hair he went for the garage, choosing not to get caught up in that way of thinking.

He was going to clean out the garage. So she would have room for anything that didn’t fit in the house. So she would have somewhere to park.

Swinging the door open, he stared down the half organized pile of shit he’d abandoned when Janie walked out of his life. He went straight for the biggest items, hanging bicycles from ceiling hooks screwed into the rafters, lining tools onto the bank of steel shelving running along the back wall. Folding up tarps and stacking unused bags of potting soil left from a school project Gwen did comparing GMO and non-GMO seeds.

He stopped every half hour to check his watch and his phone, jaw clenching tighter and tighter as more and more time passed.

She wasn’t coming. She was going to listen to all the dumbfucks in her past who told her she was a failure. That she was wrong for refusing to stay where she didn’t want to be.

All the motivation seeped out of his veins, replaced by a bone-deep exhaustion he’d probably feel for a long time. Pushing the last of the debris scattered across the floor to the edge of the space, he leaned the wooden handle of the broom against the unfinished drywall. Just as he flipped off the lights, a car pulled up on the other side of the door, engine shutting off.

Sharon and the girls were back. And now he had to explain to his daughters that Janie was gone.

He would never tell them her reasons for leaving. That would be another secret he kept, and this time there was no one else to leak the truth.

Closing the door, he walked through the kitchen, dread building in his gut as they unlocked the front door. He reached it just as it opened, girding his loins for the upset that was coming.

But it wasn’t his daughters staring at him with wide eyes.

Janie licked her lips, shifting on her feet. “Hey.” She cleared her throat. “I hope it’s okay that I used the key you gave me.”

He’d all but given up on seeing her here, and having her on his porch had stunned him into silence. Rendered him unable to string words together. All he could do was stare, a little worried he was hallucinating. That one of the gas cans in the garage was leaking and the fumes shorted out his brain.

She took a shaky breath, turning toward the driveway to motion at where the box truck was parked. “I just pulled in. I can try to back it—”

Her words cut off on a little yelp as he grabbed her by the front of her coat and dragged her inside, pulling her tight to him as he pulled in deep breaths against her hair, letting the rich, deep scent fill his lungs the same way it would soon fill his house.

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