Page 1 of Back in the Saddle

CHAPTER ONE

Caroline

Apale, smooth circle around her ring finger was the only tangible proof that Caroline had, in fact, been married.

Her gaze lingered on her left hand. If she squinted hard enough in the whisky bar’s dim light, she could conjure the eighteen-carat white gold engagement ring with its clear-cut square two-carat diamond sitting on it next to the matching wedding band that completed the set.

A symbol of love and commitment to spending a life together.

Caroline and Finn against the world.

Shame that had only lasted four miserable years.

She laced her hands on top of the bar’s chrome surface, peering into the full crystal glass. She hadn’t touched her drink yet. Not that long ago, she’d have been petrified that someone might think she was weird, sitting on her own in a bar. But that wasbefore.

When she was married to her childhood sweetheart.

When she was still working as an emergency medicine doctor in Glasgow.

Now, across the ocean in Oklahoma, she was another person entirely. Or at least she desperately wanted to be.

So, when she had longed for a taste of home this evening, she’d simply searched for bars in Oklahoma City with reviews mentioning a decent selection of Scottish whisky. From the outside, The Rouge Scot hadn’t inspired much confidence. Its edgy interior with rough shapes lacked softness and comfort. It looked nothing like her favourite pubs in Glasgow or Edinburgh, or her native Aberdeen. She had peered inside, her eyebrow twitching as she scanned the outfits of the patrons.

There were men wearing crisp suits, but also those wearing faded jeans and cowboy hats. Some women were wearing tight dresses, others a casual combination of shorts and T-shirts. Those in suits and tight dresses were the type of crowd Caroline had expected to find in a place like this. But the atmosphere didn’t seem stiff, at least from the outside. People were chatting, laughing. The entire floor-to-ceiling wall of glass bottles, with many labels she recognised, had made up her mind.

This was the first time she had ever gone to a bar on her own. Not wanting to just sit there and look desperate, she had brought a book. Whisky and a book were always a good idea.

Divorced at thirty-one. Who would have thought …

There was no denying that she only had herself to blame. Well, herself and Disney for letting her believe in unrealistic expectations when it came to love. Based on the cartoons she had watched as a child, only one heroine didn’t end up with her first love – Pocahontas. Every other princess fell head overheels for pretty much the first man she set her eyes on, and he loved her back deeply. Then, they lived ‘happily ever after’.

Caroline knew now why that was the moment all the fairy tales ended. Because ‘happily ever after’ wasn’t so happy after all.

She blew out a breath, wiping her palms on her light denim skirt. She didn’t want to look at her bare finger. ‘Country’s Cool Again’ by Lainey Wilson came from the speakers, and Caroline smiled to herself, watching a couple in the corner of the room. The redhead woman giggled and took the man’s hat, putting it on her own head.

Her mind wandered back to Finn, the memory of his pinched expression when she had surprised him with tickets for the full three days of Country 2 Country music festival in Glasgow two years ago. She had loved the line up, and couldn’t pass up a chance to see Lainey Wilson live.

Isn’t country music kind of embarrassing?

He did go with her to the first day but huffed and complained the entire time. Caroline had taken a friend for the remaining two days.

Focusing on the background music and the hum of Friday night conversations, her lungs filled with the air of familiar loneliness. The kind that made you feel invisible in a room full of people.

She picked up her book, re-reading the first paragraph on the marked page for what must’ve been the third time since she’d taken her seat at the bar.

They’d tried talking. When that failed, they had tried marriage counselling. Months of biweekly sessions inching farther and farther away from each other on the velvet couch in the therapist’s office.

Nothing was written down, no papers were signed, but theymight as well have been. Neither of their families knew yet. There hadn’t been enough time to fly to Dublin to tell her family before she came to Oklahoma. Dropping a bomb like this was best done in person. So, they had only told their best friends and agreed to sort out all the ‘legal stuff’ once she got back.

‘Is the book good?’

Caroline blinked. As she turned to her right, her forearm knocked her glass. The whisky spilled onto the bar, pooling under her paperback.

It was a good book until you interrupted it, she thought asshe picked up a napkin and tried to scrub the wet stain off the cover. It was no use. The light amber liquid had already soaked through the pages. Her eyes pricked with tears again. She had bought this book at the airport on the way here, something to keep Finn out of her mind.

‘I don’t think that’s going to come off.’

She opened her mouth, gaping at the man perched on the bar stool next to her. She hadn’t noticed him sit down, concentrating too hard on dispersing her gloomy thoughts and pretend-concentrating on the words on the page. She’d been in Oklahoma City a week, and she’d seen her fair share of handsome men dressed like they’d just stepped out of a country music video. But this one momentarily took her breath away.

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