Page 35 of The Cowboy's Home
Skyler wouldn’t fight, and Craig had wanted him to. Had wanted him to demand that they give this another shot. If Skyler had, maybe, just maybe, Craig would have been willing to give it a try.
And that would have been a horrible mistake. Skyler had saved them both from something that was just never going to be what Craig wanted it to be. From the moment he had seen Skyler, he had been utterly fascinated, but Skyler hadn’t returned that. Never.
Because Skyler’s fascination, Craig knew suddenly, was with Matthew. And Matthew had come back. It was probably the case that Skyler always would have picked Matthew.
If Craig were a better person, he would let himself hope that Skyler and Matthew were happy together. He still did love the man, and that was the hell of it. But he wasn’t quite a selfless enough person to wish him well. Not just yet, when the wound was still so new.
Craig made his way not for the barn, but for his truck, and he never looked back. If he looked at Skyler, even at the other man’s retreating back, he would do something stupid. In this case, the absolute best thing that he could do was just walk away.
Someone stepped in front of him, dark eyes judging him, and Craig knew that his brother, Wyatt, had seen everything. There was something written on his face, and Craig braced himself for something biting. Some sort of homophobic comment, since Craig had forgotten to be careful about hiding their relationship. He had been too caught up in the ending of it.
“You’re a complete jackass,” Wyatt informed him, his arms crossed over his chest, standing firm and strong against his brother, even though Craig could probably bench press the other man.
“You’re one to talk,” Craig replied back, a trifle foolishly. His retorts weren’t at their best right now, though, and he was happy to indulge that a little. He thought he was probably pretty entitled to it.
“What the hell are you doing? Skyler loves you, you fucking idiot,” Wyatt said, and the injustice of that burned through him. Of course, Wyatt would take Skyler’s side. Skyler and Wyatt had been pretty much inseparable over the past few months, as far as Craig could tell. Not that he had been around much himself, but from what he had seen when he was.
“No, he doesn’t,” Craig snapped back. “I just caught him kissing someone else, okay? His ex. So why don’t you back the fuck off.”
“I’m sure there was some explanation for …” Wyatt started, but Craig held up a hand, and, for a wonder, his brother actually shut up. He would remember that later, just for how unusual it was. Even as a kid, Wyatt had not been much of one for letting other people talk, even when they needed to.
“It doesn’t matter if there was,” Craig said. “Because I have been the only one in this relationship for a long time. Skyler has never been willing to put in even the slightest bit of effort. It was all me.”
Wyatt sighed softly, and there was an odd look on his face, strangely pensive. Something about it, even through Craig’s anger, snagged at his attention and held it.
“I messed my own life up through being too selfish, Craig,” Wyatt replied, and he gave a smile that, if Craig didn’t know better, he would have sworn was sincere. “Don’t do the same.”
Craig’s brain, just for a minute, considered the words. He even thought, for a moment, about going after Skyler, hearing his side of the story, as hard as it was to imagine how there could possibly be a side that made any sense at all. But, in the end, his distrust of his brother, who had done everything in his power, once upon a time, to ruin the ranch, made him doubt it all too much.
“Just fuck off. I’m out of here.” Craig sighed, and then, just as he had turned his back on Skyler, he turned it now on Wyatt. He walked to the truck, swinging up inside, but as he did, he heard Wyatt’s voice and, for whatever reason, it caught him again.
“Where are you going?”
It was almost like Wyatt cared, though, of course, he didn’t. Not about anyone but himself, anyway.
“I think I might go re-enlist,” Craig replied, even while he wasn’t entirely sure why he was bothering. He went to swing the door of his truck closed, but Wyatt was suddenly standing right there, blocking him, and even in the midst of all of his anger, Craig didn’t actually have it in him to crush a family member like that.
“You think you might, or you will?” Wyatt asked, and Craig could almost swear that there was panic in his eyes. Why? What was in it for him? These were questions that flickered quickly through his mind but were just as quickly dismissed. His brother’s motivations were really not his problem.
“I will,” he replied, his tone indifferent. He had been putting off this decision for far too long, waiting for Skyler to really love him back. But that was never going to happen, and what else did he have to do with his life?
“Give it a day or two, think about it. Please.” That please caught Craig again, and he sighed softly. He couldn’t do it. But Wyatt wasn’t done. “Think about Dad before you do something final.”
It was a low blow, but even coming from his brother, Craig did need to think about that. He had come to be here in his father’s final days. Was he really going to leave right when the doctors had said that those days were here? Even coming from an unwelcome source, he had to admit that Wyatt had a point. He hated to say it, even to himself, and he found that he couldn’t quite form the words, but he did give a slight, terse little nod.
“I’ll think about it,” he agreed, and that seemed to be enough because Wyatt stepped away from the car and left Craig free to go, which he did. But he would come back. He knew it already. He would come back because it was the right thing to do.
Maybe Skyler didn’t know right from wrong since he apparently thought it was acceptable to go around kissing other guys, but Craig did.
Twenty Three
Skyler
Even though Skyler stood on the front porch, and even though he kept his gaze fixed firmly on Craig, the other man never turned around. Not even once. He didn’t so much as glance over his shoulder, and that seemed like a pretty clear sign to Skyler that he really had lost everything.
Craig spoke briefly with Wyatt, and Skyler had no idea what they were saying. He was too far away for that. But he did know that, whatever Wyatt had said, Craig still left. He didn’t even seem to hesitate.
The engine of the truck roared, and then Craig was gone.
