Page 54 of Against All Odds

“No wonder Falkner is banging—” Gray button-down stopped talking when he spotted me. I finally recognized him. He was Craig, Brian, or…. He owned a couple of ski rental stores around town.

“Hey, Heath.”

“Brian.”

“How are things?” the guy who wasn’t Brian said, his hands on his fly.

“Good. Excuse me.”

I walked out then, irritated that Sable and I were still being talked about. Damn it! Maybe Alexa was right, and I should’ve been more discerning about who I dated in a town like Aspen. A woman with Sable’s reputation would always be part of a scandal, whether she liked it or not.

Yeah, this thing with Sable had run its course, and I’d just have to accept that. I’d arrange a time to meet with her and end it face-to-face.

“What’s wrong?” Alexa asked when I came back.

“Why?”

“You look pale.”

“Yeah, Daddy, all okay?”

I forced a smile. “Junebug, I’m good.”

When I got home, I called Sable, but she didn’t pick up. I texted her, asking her to call me when she woke up so we could meet at her place.

It wasn’t until the middle of the next day that I realized Sable had neither texted me back nor had she called. When she finally did, suggesting I come over to her place after she closed the Wildflower, I was so relieved that I put ending us on the back burner. I wasn’t ready. Knowing I was going to see her made me feel good, no matter all the complicated stuff. It wasn’t sustainable, this yo-yo I was on. I knew that. But for now, I didn’t want to give Sable up. I didn’t want to hurt my daughter. I didn’t want to have Alexa lose her shit. And I was aware that all my wants were in conflict.

CHAPTER 18

sable

“Iknow you don’t want to hear this,” Natasha sat across from me at the bar an hour before opening, “but Alexa’s not going to stop. She’s angry, and she’s using every weapon she has.”

“The bitch,” Hillary muttered. She was sitting on a bar stool next to Natasha.

I leaned against the counter, my arms crossed tightly over my chest. “Why? What did I do to her? I didn’t ruin her marriage.”

Natasha gave me a sad smile. “Doesn’t matter. In her mind, you’re the reason she’s not getting her happy ending. And she’s decided to make you pay for it.”

“The bitch,” Hillary repeated.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Should I just end it with Heath? Will that stop her or….” I trailed off, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“Hey, you can’t let thatbitchdictate your life,” Hillary protested.

“But is all this even worth it?” I mused.

“What do you mean, Sable?” Natasha asked gently.

For some weird reason, Natasha had become my friend, and now she, along with Hillary, were my confidantes. Hillary and Natasha had also become friends. It was the weirdest thing ever.

I looked away, out the window where the summer sun blazed too brightly, mocking my mood. “Every time I try to talk to Heath about this, he brushes me off. Tells me I’m overreacting.”

Hillary reached out and rested her hand on mine. “Well, fuck him.”

“I do regularly, but it isn’t helping,” I joked.

Both Hillary and Natasha laughed.

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