Page 77 of The Rancher's Unrequited Love

"I see."

Mairi is clearly fighting back a smile, and I glower at her. "This is serious."

"I'm sure it is," the other woman is swift to say soothingly, "but what exactly is the problem?"

"Jack is good for me."

"And the other guy isn't?"

"Well..." I squirm in my seat.

"Did you at least give him a chance to prove if he is or isn't good for you?"

I slowly shake my head.

"So your problem is...whether you should give him that chance?"

"I guess—-"

"Then the answer is yes, naturally."

The speed of her reply has me smiling despite everything. "Just like that?"

"You do remember you're talking to the girl who flew all the way to Greece to nab herself a billionaire, right?"

I try not to laugh, but it's impossible. "And here I was, worrying over the little things like whether he'd think I might be desperate or something."

"As for that..." Mairi gives me a sympathetic look. "You don't actually have to do anything for a man to think such things about you. We can never control other people's thoughts, but what we can control is what we think and know about our own lives. If you don't give the other guy a chance, it's possible that you'll live the rest of your life wondering about what if..."

I feel like a load's suddenly been taken off my shoulders at Mairi's words, and before I know it I'm already dialing the number listed on the Hartland Police Department's website—-

Oh God.

The phone has only started to ring when someone picks up—-

"This is the Hartland Police—-"

The sound of Aidan's deep, gentle voice makes me close my eyes, and I cut him off, saying right away, "It's me." Whatever the outcome may be, I don't want to give myself the chance to chicken out, and right now...

The taut silence from the other end is killing me.

"Aidan?"

There's another painful moment of silence—-

"It took you long enough to call."

I burst into tears, and Mairi quickly gives me a tissue I can sniff and blow my nose into.

"You c-could've called m-me f-first."

"I wish that was true." Aidan's own voice is rough with emotion. "But it's not. The next move had to come from you."

"I hate you."

But Aidan being Aidan, he just lets this slide. "Tell me how you've been."

A sob claws up my throat at the question, and I can only clutch my phone more tightly.

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