Page 76 of All For You
We said goodbye to her family, her father arguing with her the entire time. He knew, just as I did, that Aspen was going to take too much on. Whatever progress she and I had made in giving her any sort of social life was about to wither away to nothing.
I could even sense the apprehension in Andrew as he hugged his sister goodbye. He knew now that this wasn’t the life Aspen wanted for herself, but she was going to run herself ragged trying to prove to everyone she could handle it.
I was afraid it was going to cost her more than just her free time. There was always the chance she could be the one lying in that bed.
Our drive back to the ranch was quiet. Only the sound of the radio and the purr of the car engine could be heard. When we arrived at the farm, Aspen nearly jumped out of my car in an attempt to get away from me. Something had changed during the long drive.
She was pushing me away, and I refused to allow our last bit of time together to end like this.
“Aspen!” I shouted as I flew from my car, running to catch up with her. For someone so short, she was incredibly fast. I repeated her name again, but from a quick glance over hershoulder, I noticed the tears on her cheeks, shimmering in the sunshine.
“Baby, wait.”
Her steps didn’t falter as she made her way toward the barn, where the Easterlys stored their equipment.
“Come on, cricket. Don’t do this.”
Finally, she turned around. Her cheeks were ruddy and wet, but she was still one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen.
“Owen, I can’t.”
“Can’t what?” I asked as I stepped closer.
“I… I don’t know. I just can’t be anything but what my family needs right now. I’m it. I need to run the farm while my dad heals.” Her breath hitched as she spoke of her father.
“They don’t expect you to do everything all at once, Aspen.”
“But they do. They’re all relying on me. Not just my family, but the workers, the town, all the contracted companies. They all need me. I’m… I’m sorry. I need to see what needs to be done today.”
“Can I see you tonight?”
“I don’t think that’s—”
“Please. I need to talk to you about something.”
Aspen’s eyes grew heavy with the weight of my words. We both knew the time was coming, but now that I had an actual date, it made it all the more real.
“Okay. I… um… need to grab my car anyway.”
She turned on her heel, and I reached out for her wrist in an attempt to stop her.
“I’ll be waiting for you, Aspen. Please try not to overdo it.”
The moment I released her arm, she walked away, and my heart thundered in my chest. I wondered what she’d do if I told her I loved her.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out I’d probably been in love with Aspen Easterly since the day I met her when we were kids. But it wasn’t until I saw her dad lying in that hospital bed that it hit me like a ton of bricks. I wouldn’t want anyone at my bedside but her.
Back at my rental, I tossed around a baseball in a makeshift booth I set up in the backyard. The netting kept the pitches from soaring into the neighbor’s yard.
A cool breeze brushed across my sweat soaked back, and I shivered. I imagined Aspen riding around the property, with the devil cow, Carrie, chasing after her. Wounding herself in the process… again. I shook out my arms, trying to rid myself of the memory of Aspen all cut up and bleeding.
In my pocket, my phone buzzed, and I found a thousand unread messages from Vanessa and a new one from Marc. I considered changing my number, but I knew Vanessa would somehow figure it out. Either through my lawyer, who was still working to remove her items from my house, or from my agent. Vanessa had a way of getting what she wanted.
Marc: She’s at it again. Check her socials.
My best friend had been playing private investigator for me while I was gone and keeping me updated on Vanessa’s shenanigans.
Pulling up the various social media pages Vanessa owned, I rolled my eyes. Pictures of us from our rehearsal dinner plagued her pages, with a post stating that we were happily planning our nuptials in a new location.
