Page 28 of Somewhere We Belong

I drove back to the ranch to grab my tools so I could get started and be done by tonight. Hauling everything up onto the roof was the hardest part so I put my tool belt on. I noticed Nova’s car wasn’t in front. Had it been here when I was here this morning?

My arousal and shame must have made me miss her car, but where the hell would it be? As I laid out my supplies, I tried to remember if we had taken it to the house. After removing all of the bad shingles, I decided to shoot a text to Theo to ask about her car.

As I put my phone back into my pocket, I heard a car coming down the road and Nova was in it. She was on the phone oblivious to my car.

What the fuck was she doing? She shouldn’t be driving.

I walked to the edge of the roof, standing there until she noticed me, except she noticed my car first. She put her hand on the steering wheel for a minute before exiting the car, looking around for me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped, not patient enough for her to find me.

The vulnerability on her face morphed into anger.

“You aren’t supposed to be driving,” I growled, getting upset the longer I thought about her driving. “You should be at home resting, getting better, not fucking driving around town.”

She glared at me, pursing her lips together.

“I had errands to run,” she clipped, slamming her door shut, flinching.

“The doctor said no driving.” I turned away to climb down the roof.

“Well, this was something that couldn’t wait.” she yelled.

I rounded the house to see her trying to get in.

“All you had to do was ask.” I grabbed the keys from her, opening the door.

“Ask you? Yeah, that would go over well,” she snapped.

“I would have said yes or even Theo?—”

“You have work, I didn't want to disturb your work day.” She grabbed the keys from me.

“And it couldn’t wait till we finished work? How about you ask before you assume?” I growled.

“Like you?!” she snarled. “You know what, whatever, Colt.”

“It’s not whatever, Nova, you could have gotten into an accident, hurting yourself and someone else,” I said, trying to reign in my anger.

She clenched her jaw as she looked down.

“It was important, I needed to go?—”

“As important as paying a damn deposit to get your roof fixed?” I said as her gaze locked with mine.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I called Marv and he said he’s been waiting for a deposit to come and fix the roof,” I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“What?” She looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“I called Marv, and he told me he still hadn’t received a deposit which is why he hadn’t come out. This is a serious issue, and you can’t wait till the last minute to take care of this. The leak is right over Sol’s room.”

“Oh, is that what he said?” she scoffed, going into the cabin.

I followed her, thinking she was trying to get out of the argument that my irrational anger needed to finish.

“Are you talking about this deposit?” she slapped the receipt on my chest. “I paid him months ago.”

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