Page 58 of Things Left Unsaid

And Colton Korhonen and I could be divorced by the following Thanksgiving.

“No way I’m going to sleep thinking stuff like that,” I grumble as I give myself permission to do something I never permitted in the past… “Colton Korhonen images,” I ask Siri.

His face pops up almost immediately. Though his younger brother, Cole, populates a good chunk of the search results, there’s plenty for me to see of my future husband.

Blowing up one of the shots, I stroke my thumb down his cheek.

He’s a handsome man, make no mistake. Like the best whiskies, he’s gotten better with age.

But his eyes…

I recognize something in them that I know is in mine.

The past is more than memories for us. Wistful wisps of times gone by, old laughs, and happy occasions that cover up the sadder ones.

No, ours come with chains.

Pain.

Grief.

Loss.

I’m reminded of the fact he doesn’t smile much from picture after picture of him staring somberly into the camera.

I can see it in my mind’s eye, though.

Lost to our mutual histories, I fall asleep.

Staring into eyes that don’t see me back.

It’s the first time I share a pillow with Colton Korhonen, and it’s nothing like how my teenage self hoped it’d be.

Colton

“What the hell kind of game do you think you’re playing?” I growl, hours after my call with Zee because it’s taken this damn long for him to answer.

“Is that any way for a son to greet his father?”

“Leave her alone, Pops.”

“She told you.”

“Of course she did.”

“Damn,” he mutters.

Irritation flares inside me, hot and wild in its fury. “How dare you ask my fiancée to spy on me?”

“Like that, is it? Told you she was a tasty piece of ass.”

Fuse well and truly lit, I snarl, “Don’t contact her. Don’t try to see her. Don’t talk to her?—”

“She’s going to be my daughter-in-law! Of course, I’m going to see her. At Christmas and?—”

“No. You’re not welcome at the ranch anymore.”

“What?!”

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