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Scoffing, I sock him in the stomach. “Stop it. Who isthat?”
“Ruby,” he gruffs, a strange tenderness in his tone. “That’s Ruby.”
“Oh my god.” I stare at their adorable contrast. The tall, broody cowboy with the tiny slip of a girl beside him.
“Yeah.” A smile stains his voice. “They got married last year.”
“Oh mygod.”
A pleased grunt.
And I know why. Because Charlie Montgomery’s a different man than the one I knew six years ago. Gone is the scowl. The darkness. The drink.
Six years ago, Davis and I had taken charge of trying to coax Charlie out of a drunken stupor. I brought a pot of chicken noodle soup; we made him eat and then put him to bed. Davis and I sat in the hallway outside Charlie’s bedroom on opposite walls.
“Thank you,” Davis said raggedly.
“Food fixes everything.” I wiggled my bare toes at him. “Your brother will be okay, Hotshot.”
“I mean it, Dakota.” He looked across the hallway, wrapped a huge hand around my ankle, and gave it a squeeze. His very touch seared. “I couldn’t do this without you.”
Warmth in my stomach unfurled. I waited for him to stop touching me, but he didn’t. Instead, Davis traced coarse fingertips over my bare leg. Then he gripped my ankle and pulled me toward him like a slow lasso of want. And then I was there. In his arms. And he kissed me.
That night, we went from friends to lovers.
There was no stopping us. I thought he was the most handsome man I ever saw.
Still do.
My jaw drops even further when Charlie picks Ruby up to carry her over a puddle of melted snow. She’s glowing and laughing and Charlie can’t stop touching her.
“He’s obsessed.”
Davis snorts. “Doesn’t come close.”
He’s right.
Charlie Montgomery is a man long gone.
There’s barely enough time for me to close my mouth before Charlie’s stepping up to me. Snow and gravel crunch beneath his boots. “Hey, Dakota,” he says, wrapping me in a stranglehold of a hug.
“Careful of the arm,” Davis orders.
“Charlie, hi.” I squeeze him back, fully aware Davis is watching us with a guard-dog gaze. But I relish the hug. These cowboys are like brothers to me. They never have and never will scare me.
When I pull back, I take a second to study him. Dark hair mussed, beard trimmed and neat, expression tranquil instead of moody. I squeeze his shoulder. “You look good.”
“You too.” Charlie grins, but I don’t miss the way his gaze dips to my cast. The pity in his eyes.
The pretty girl steps up to me. A hat with a fuzzy pom covers her strawberry-blond hair. “Hi,” she chirps and pops out her hand. Her light blue eyes sparkle, a striking contrast to Charlie’s deeper blue. “I’m Ruby!”
“Hi, Ruby. Nice to meet you.” I shake her hand, already sucked in by her vivacious energy. Her infectious smile does something twisty to my insides.
The wave of sadness hits suddenly. Suffocating. I try to keep a smile on my face, but it feels wobbly.
I wish I looked like that. Iusedto look like that.
Charlie, Davis—everyone’s got their lives together. Everyone but me.
