Page 59 of Promise Me Never

My first impulse is to put it back on. After ten years I don’t recognize my hand without it, but maybe it’s time. To push through the discomfort. She’s not coming back. No matter how disloyal it feels, it doesn’t mean I don’t still love her. I’ll always love her.

It’s just time.

I open the medicine cabinet and set it on the top shelf, right at eye level. Another visual reminder of her, but one I don’t have to look at all day, every day. I grab the closest clean t-shirt and pair of jeans to put on. I still need to check all the stalls in the stable and make sure the horses are taken care of before I even think of clocking out.

My head stays on a swivel as I walk across the property, looking for any sign of Eli. Her car is right where she left it. Jo’s car is also here, so they can’t be anywhere together. As soon as I walk into the barn, I can tell she’s been in here. The scent of her body wash lingers in the air, and as I walk down the rows of stalls, I see fresh hay and happy horses.

I’m impressed.

I have guys who have worked here for years who don’t do as good a job as she has. Especially when you take into consideration that she’s only been here for about a month. As I walk down to the doors at the opposite end of the barn, I don’t see any sign of her now.

I’m just about to head over to check on the sheep when I hear her laughter mixed with Colt and Sam’s voices. I run my sweaty palms down my jeans as I approach. She tosses her head back and laughs, punching Colt’s arm. It makes me irrationally angry.

She looks good. Too good. She’s wearing the tiny shorts again and a white tank top; her wild waves are pulled back in a ponytail. The smile she had on her face drops as soon as she sees me out of her periphery. I can’t see her eyes because they’re hidden behind an oversize pair of sunglasses.

It fucking guts me.

“Can I have a minute?” I ask her.

“About the ranch?” she asks, ice in her tone.

“No.”

“Then there’s your answer.” She brushes me off and says goodbye to the guys, stalking off toward the house.

Sam and Colt look from her to me and then at each other, confusion all over their faces. I sure as fuck am not explaining a damn thing to them, friends or not. Before they can say anything, I start to follow her.

“Wait.” Colt stops me with a hand on my arm.

I turn ready to tear into him.

“Calm down,” he says to me as my irritated scowl turns on him. “I need to talk to you two about the fourth. Cole won’t be going up to Jackson, so we can go up there for the long weekend.” He holds his hands up. “I just wanted you to know. It’s the perfect weekend for it with the fourth falling on a Saturday.”

You wouldn’t know it by looking at them, but he and his brother, Cole, are both heirs to an oil company. They have the kind of money you could live off without ever lifting a finger, but their dad moved here when they were kids and raised them like everyone else. His brother went into the family business and moved down to Oklahoma, but Colt wanted to stay here and ranch. Eventually he wants to buy his own land, but for now he’s happy working for the Harts and learning the ins and outs of the business.

They bought a house in Jackson, Wyoming, that they use as an investment property. Occasionally they rent it out, but mostly it’s kept as a vacation home for them to use. It’s a big property—seven bedrooms with a pool, hot tub, and sauna. There’s a full-size bar and billiards room in the basement.

Normally I’d jump at the opportunity to go over the vacation that Paul always gives us around the fourth, a five-day weekend usually. But I need to make things right with Eli. I can’t even see her when I look over my shoulder.

“Eli said she’d come, and Sam invited Janey.”

I do a double take at Sam. “Did she say yes?”

He nods and then looks back in the direction Eli took off in. “What’d you do?”

“I was an asshole.”

“So the usual?”

I grimace. “Probably worse.”

“Well, I’m team Eli,” Colt says with a grin.

“Same,” Sam adds. “It takes skill to piss someone that nice off.”

“Thanks. That’s helpful.” I turn to go hunt her down. If she thinks she can just walk away, she has another think coming.

I see Jo out on the deck watering her flowers and call out asking if Eli is in the house. She points toward the goat pasture, and I see the shed door open and hay flying out. She must be cleaning it out. I call out her name as I open the gate, but she doesn’t answer. Blanche comes running as soon as she sees me.

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