Page 135 of Opposites (Never) Attract
“I’m sure you’ll be happy to be out of those primitive clothes as soon as we arrive in New York.”
I reached up to take my cowboy hat off and placed it in my lap. The cowboy hat I’d risked my life to get, because it felt that important to have.
“Yes, it will be good to get back to…normal.”
Mr. Berkley nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what you need to recover from your loss. Normalcy. And what’s normal for Berkley and Brothers?”
“Making money,” I answered, like I knew he expected.
“That’s right. Making money. Once you’re doing that again you’ll forget all about your little hometown.”
There had been a time in my life when that’s all I’d wanted to do.
But I didn’t think it would be true anymore.
Tag
I watchedthe two SUVs drive away from the Lodge, back to the main road that would lead them to the local airstrip where I was sure there was a fancy, private jet waiting for them to whisk Sunshine away.
“Wow,” Ethan said, walking toward me, only to stand there and watch the same scene I was seeing.
Sunshine leaving.
“What?”
“I just didn’t realize how incredibly stupid you are.”
I looked at Ethan and told myself I could not kill one of the town’s few doctors.
“Kids,” Carter barked at them. “Get back in the minivan. And let this be a lesson to you, this is exactly what youdon’twant to do once you’ve found the person you’re supposed to be with. Your Uncle Tag is a dumb-dumb.”
“Uncle Tag is a dumb-dumb,” Luke sang, even as the kid climbed back into his seat. “Uncle Tag is a dumb-dumb!”
“I don’t think we’re allowed to call adults dumb-dumb, Dad,” Taylor, Carter’s oldest, scolded her father. “You’re not setting a very good example.”
“I never am, Pea,” Carter admitted. “But I’m right aboutthis one.” He slid the minivan door closed and gave me a wave.
I countered with the bird.
Mac clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t listen to them. You did the right thing.”
“You think so?”
“Love is fleeting. One minute, you have this thing in your chest…pretty sure it’s called a heart. The next thing you know, the person you love is ripping it out, stomping on it with her cowboy boots, and you’ll never eat her mac & cheese again. Best to avoid the whole situation altogether.”
“Thanks for the perspective, Mac,” I said dryly.
He patted my shoulder a few more times, then nodded. “Happy to help. Whelp, I’m off to the bunk house. Nice to know things will get back to normal around here. Won’t miss her at all. Can you imagine? She wanted to givemedating advice. As if I needed an older sister.”
Mac walked off and Ethan and I were left standing in front of the Lodge.
“I thought you were coming up with a plan to keep her here,” Ethan said.
“There was no plan. She doesn’t belong here. Everyone’s feeling sad right now, including her, but they’ll come to see we were both right. Her place is back in the city.”
“Or, you’re wrong. And you just let the best thing that ever entered your life walk away without a fight. Sorry, but I’m with Carter on this. What a dumb-dumb.”
Ethan went inside, and with nothing else to do, I got back in my truck and headed to my cabin. When I walked through the door, I thought all I could see was her. All I could smell was her.
