Page 54 of Barbed Wire Fences
She winces at my words, just the slightest flicker of pain crossing her face. Damn it. I didn’t mean to throw that back at her, to dig at old wounds like that, but here I am—being an asshole. Again. For the second time today.
No, scratch that. It’s probably closer to the fifth time today. I’ve lost count.
“You really still think that, Rhett?” Her voice is sharp, but there’s something in it that cuts deeper. It’s disappointment and maybe a touch of sadness, too. She shakes her head, and I can’t even blame her. It’s always been an insecurity of mine that I wasn’t good enough for Jael.
How the hell did we get here? How did Jael and I go from friends to enemies to lovers, then back to enemies again? Somewhere along the way, trust shattered, hearts broke, and she pushed me away.
When she called me from Virginia and told me that she was pregnant, I thought my whole life was over. And then when I asked if the baby was mine and she couldn’t say with confidence either way, I was still set on driving to Richmond to see her.
Because no matter what, I knew for sure that Owen would never take care of her or any child that he might father.
But she ignored me. She pushed me away, and before I could make it up there to visit, to hold her and tell her it didn’t matter and that I’d be there for her, she texted me that she’d lost the baby and then ghosted me.
Forever.
Now she’s back, and maybe I’m the one doing the pushing this time, because that fucked me up. The way that she ignored me and shut me down. It tore out my heart and broke me in a way I didn’t think was ever possible.
I don’t care about her sleeping with Owen after me, we weren’t together then. We weren’t dating. I don’t care if she let Owen believe that he’d been the one to take her virginity. Virginity is a trivial thing in the grand scheme of life. But what I do care about is that she never saw me as her friend when she needed one the most. Someone who would be there for her through everything.
And instead, she discarded me just like she discarded everyone else and everything else in our hometown. That’s why I’ve held onto my anger for all these years. And maybe she’s felt the same way which is why she’s clung to hers.
“Just... please,” she says, her voice quieter now, but no less firm. “Don’t get involved in my life anymore. I don’t know what went down between you two, but it’s embarrassing to hear you’re starting fights with him over me again. I don’t need that.”
Her words are a blow, but she doesn’t stop at that.
“I’m just trying to spend these last three weeks working, keeping my head down, and then get out of here unscathed. Back to my old life in Virginia.” And with that, she turns on her heel and leaves, closing the door gently behind her.
I sit there, staring at the door long after she’s gone, the silence in the room heavy and suffocating.
If I ever needed a reminder that Jael isn’t here to stay, that Whitewood Creek is just a stop along the timeline of her life, that she hasn’t missed me the way that I’ve missed her, she just gave it to me.
She’s always put me in the past.
And maybe this time I should leave her there, too.
Chapter 16 – Jael
It’s been a week since I barged into Rhett’s office and told him to leave me alone. And to his credit, he’s better at following instructions now than he was when we were kids.
Communication has been radio silent, and even Molly said she hasn’t seen or heard from him in days.
Since then, I’ve thrown myself into work at the Whitewood Creek Emergency Department, tending to burn victims who couldn’t wait for the Fourth of July to set off fireworks, and catching up with Molly, Regan, and Lainey.
I’ve spent hours at the Marshalls’ egg farm, hanging out with the chicks, the fresh air a much-needed reprieve from the chaos at work and in my life as I prepare for the big meeting with my mom and my father’s lawyer.
The town’s chief of medicine, Doctor Hayes Walker, an ex-professional bull rider and Regan’s husband and I have been making improvements to the new wing of the hospital that’ll house the ICU. He’s skilled, kind, and has that rugged charm that seems almost mandatory in these parts. Especially when he’s talking about his wife and their baby girl.
I can already tell his presence will smooth over the ICU’s grand opening when it’s ready because all the nurses and other personnel at the hospital respect him.
“You sure I can’t convince you to stay on permanently?” he asks me when my shifts starting to run down.
“I don’t think you could pay men enough.”
Doctor Walker nods kindly. “We might be able to change that once the ICU is functional. I think everyone would like to have you stick around.” I can see in his expression that he’s talked to his wife which means he knows about me and Rhett’s past and our abrasive run-in last week.
And what I want to tell him is that he’s got it all wrong. Everyone has it wrong. Rhett and I are like oil and water. We don’t mix. He wants me to stay in town as much as I want to.
I just smile and nod. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for Whitewood Creek long term.”
