AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cash has worked for Maggie’s dad for a long time. It’s the same ranch where Sofie worked, and I met all three of them when I took riding lessons there. When Sofie and I became friends, she warned me that Cash was a player, but I didn’t listen. I don’t know when I started compartmentalizing all the times I saw him flirting with other women. He made me feel like I was imagining it or that it was just him being friendly.
That good ol’ boy with the Southern charm and the flashy smile worked me over and the next thing I knew, I was a floppin’ fish snared with a lure. He caught me and as much as I’ve struggled, he’s been slow to let me go.
By the time I got pregnant with Dakota and we got married right before I had her, I had so many reservations, but I tucked them away, hoping he would realize what a good woman he had right here.
I suspect he was cheating while I was pregnant, but I’ve never been able to prove it. And for a while now, he’s been drinking and staying out with his friends, which has made me wonder all over again, but I’ve been in survival mode. I work, take care of Dakota, pay the bills, and repeat. I’ve never known what it’s like to be happy in a relationship, so I’ve just been doing what I have to do to get by.
We haven’t had sex in so long that I don’t even know when the last time was. A year, maybe longer. I haven’t wanted him to touch me when he can’t even come home at night to see his daughter, smells like a bar when he does come home, and never makes an effort to know how either one of us is doing, but complains all the time about me not being in the mood.
I’ve thought about leaving him so many times. But more than wondering if he’s cheating, or the way he treats me, it’s the way he barely acknowledges Dakota that gets to me.
When we first had her, he’d say he wasn’t good with babies, so I kept thinking at some point, he’d get better with her, but she’s four now and the two of them still haven’t bonded.
“I like it here,” Dakota says, bringing me back to the present.
“You do? You’ve been so sick I haven’t been sure if you’d even noticed where we are yet.”
“I missed Auntie Sof.”
“I did too. So much. I like it here too,” I whisper.
Sofie has been telling us stories about Landmark for so long I feel like I’ve already been here. Despite the horrific things that happened to her when she lived here before, she always dreamed of coming back. And those months without her in Texas just reminded me of how alone I really was without her.
No more.
I’ll have to find a job and a place to live and file for divorce, but for the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful. And Cash has been trying to reach me since I left Texas, but not as much as I thought he would.
I think he knows we’ve reached our expiration date.
My only hope is that I’ve left in time to keep my little girl from being scarred any further from any of this.
Despite the run-ins (literally and figuratively) with Wyatt, it’s only been a positive experience since I got here. If I can just keep my distance from that broody jerk, I’ll be fine, but I have a feeling it’s hard to avoid anyone in this town…especially Wyatt Landmark.
CHAPTERFOUR
SMELLS AND SWEETS
WYATT
After working on the new stables at Theo’s place all morning, I volunteer to check on the horses so Sofie can oversee everything else.
My brother is building new stables for his love and her horses, and the whole town has come out to help at some time or another. At least that’s how it feels—it was getting a bit crowded with everyone trying to be helpful. Not to mention, I still haven’t recovered from learning that Marlow is the best friend from Texas that Sofie has told us about.
On my way to the pasture, I run into Grinny.
“You heading out?”
“I am. I’m worn out. And I’m missing you, my boy,” Grinny says. “You working too hard?”
“Trying not to, but you know…seems like I do anyway.”
She leans up to kiss my cheek. “Don’t forget you need to rest too.” She pats my chest and chuckles. “How do you manage to stay so pristine even while working outside?”
I grin and shrug. “Someone taught me to take care of myself and my things.”
“You give me far more credit than I deserve,” she says, laughing.
“Not possible,” I tell her and I mean it.
