Page 33 of Take Me Please, Cowboy
“I’ll be working six days a week in construction, getting those roofs on before the snow comes.”
“And roofs can’t wait.”She forced a smile, if only to hold back the sting of tears wanting to fill her eyes.
His head inclined, the briefest nod.“I hate the circumstances—”
“It’s okay.”
“If things were different—”
“I get it.”
He smiled, but he wasn’t smiling.He couldn’t even look at her, his gaze fixed on a point beyond her shoulder.“It’s not because I’m not into you,” he said lowly.“Believe me.”
And she did.
She couldn’t see him lying to her.What would be the point?What would he achieve by deceiving her?He wasn’t that kind of man.
Salt of the earth.
The words whispered through her, making her long for a different version of this story, one that ended happily.One where there would be more romance and more slow dancing and more long desperate kisses.That would be a story she’d tell her children and grandchildren.I met your dad at the Marietta rodeo…
Instead, he’d go to Eureka and become the construction worker, putting on work boots and a hardhat.
“Ansley?”His voice had dropped, the huskiness of it stealing her breath.
“Yes?”She blinked hard and smiled because that was what they were doing now.Being mature.Keeping it together.This would not be a dramatic tortured goodbye.
“I’m probably not going to be very good about staying in touch.”His brown eyes locked with hers.“It’s not personal.”
Oh, she wasn’t going to keep this up much longer, not with the pain building inside of her, the sadness huge and hot.“I know.”She forced a smile.“And I know if we lived in the same place, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”She lifted her chin, her smile wider, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.“Now give me a hug and go.You’ve got a lot of driving to do tonight.”
His arms wrapped around her in a tight hug that let her feel the things he wouldn’t, couldn’t say.
He was so him—so solid and real and good.She understood his strength, understood that he had to be strong for those who needed him.Fortunately, God had made her strong, too.So, she could take care of herself and not be one more anchor on a man.On Rye.
As he held her tight, she squeezed him back.I love you.The words were silent but that didn’t make them any less real.
She pulled away first, taking a big, and necessary step backward.“Good luck next weekend.”She exhaled, still smiling, still fighting the gritty burn in her eyes and throat.“Where in Oregon?”
“Pendleton,” he said, drawing out his truck key.
“Good luck.Be safe.”
“Always.”Then he was climbing into his truck, starting the engine, and driving away.
She waved as he drove and just before he disappeared from view, his window opened and his arm came out, hand high in a final goodbye.
Goodbye.
Ansley crouched down in the driveway, ducked her head, trying to stop the tears but it didn’t work.The tears wouldn’t stop.
How impossible the last three days had been.
The best weekend of her life had just become one of the worst.And for reasons she didn’t understand, she’d never felt even half this pain when she and Clark broke up.And they’d had three years together, not three days.
Chapter Six
The next fewdays passed so slowly that Ansley thought she was losing her mind.Since returning home Sunday afternoon, Uncle Clyde had been demanding, irritable, and a bewildering mixture of lucidity and confusion.Although he was supposed to get out of bed and walk every day, getting some exercise, he only left bed to use the bathroom before he’d return to bed.Ansley overheard him talking to someone on the phone that he didn’t need help and he wasn’t going to be going to any physical therapy appointments.
