Page 8 of The Forever Rule

Good to know. Have a good day and I’ll remove myself.

I looked at the chat and saw the notification that she had indeed removed herself from the chat. I didn’t know why I felt a little sad about it. But I ignored it, and ignored the rest of the group chat as the brothers continued to talk now that they felt a bit safer after she left. Instead, I went back to work, my gaze looking at my phone every once in a while.

I didn’t want her to text back. I didn’t even know this person. I was just a little too tired.

I had been working too many long hours and knew the chaos was because I was trying to clean up a few messes my father had set to the side when he’d decided to retire. He was good at that. Making big promises andworking on a few of them so they shone, and then letting everything else fall by the wayside. And I cleaned them up. Along with Flynn and the others, but it was mostly me.

And it wasn’t as if Mom wanted anything to do with the company, or anything that came along with owning the town.

Because the Cages didn’t just work in downtowns and across the world in high rises. No, we owned a whole town.

One in the mountains of Colorado, that was just for the Cages.

I had always thought as a child it was fun to have a town named after us, the one that held our legacy.

I just hadn’t realized how much paperwork came with such an accolade.

Because we were not small town people. At least I didn’t think so. My brothers on the other hand, they fit in a little bit more. Me though? I needed my suit and tie and martini. I wanted my Mercedes, and not the off-roader. I didn’t want to deal with snow where we also had to be the ones who plowed.

I had too many other things on my mind.

Didn’t that make me sound like a pompous ass.

I picked up my phone again, knowing I was distracted.

Me:

So do you think it’s going to snow tomorrow?

I set down the phone again, wondering why I was even asking. It was ridiculous. But I couldn’t get those eyes out of my head.

Blakely:

Probably. And then it’ll be eighty degrees by the end of the day. It’s Colorado. It’s how we do weather.

Me:

So are you from here then?

I paused, wondering how to word it.

Me:

You have a Colorado number, so I just assumed you were local. But that doesn’t mean anything anymore because we all have cell phones all over the world.

Blakely:

As soon as I typed my response, I realized the same thing. I don’t even know why I replied.

Blakely:

But no, I’m from here. Born and bred. I wouldn’t know where west is if I left. I need the mountains.

As the Rocky Mountains in Denver were always on the west, you always knew where north was. It did help with directions.

Me:

I got lost when I was in Central Pennsylvania once. We were in a valley, and I couldn’t figure out where north was. It didn’t help that it was overcast, and I couldn’t see the sun.

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