AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’d been so frightened of going to jail forever. She’d been so foolishly superstitious. She hadn’t wanted to be overconfident that this arrest and court appearance was all just a big mistake and justice would prevail. Truthfully, she hadn’t wanted to stick both of her middle fingers into the face of fate and plan for an afterward if there wasn’t going to be one. Now there was no plan in place and it was her own stupid fault.
Zane had looked a little bit uncomfortable during the one “almost” talk regarding anything after the two weeks they’d already agreed to. At the time, she’d figured he didn’t want to think of a way to tell her he didn’t want her to stay anymore after the already mentioned two-week period they’d happily frolicked in.
From the beginning they’d only discussed two weeks. Now she wanted more and didn’t know how to ask for it. Or perhaps she didn’t truly believe she deserved more time with them was the more apt description of her current feelings.
Getting her job back, which she hadn’t even dared to dream as being possible, was a huge surprise. A shock she was grateful for, but now she would be two hours away from them. They didn’t want a long-distance relationship, did they?
Perhaps she should have asked. Now it felt too late to go back to discuss anything. More tears fell. Too many to wipe away. Abby rummaged around and found a single linty, beat-up Kleenex in her purse. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, trying to get herself under control.
The single thought in her head was that if they’d wanted her to stay longer than the two weeks, they would have already told her. At the time she’d used the incredible sexual experiences along the way to distract her from the impending court hearing. Their short-lived relationship had culminated in the amazingly indescribable double-penetration sex from the special evening before.
Last night had been remarkable. She’d wanted to scream that she loved them, but also feared her bleak future as the court issue came to a head. What seemed like a misunderstanding might well be just the way it was. Perhaps there was no good answer for her.
Weary from too much thinking about that which she had no immediate answers for, Abby straightened her backbone and drew up her lagging strength from within. The strength she’d always depended on to get her as far as she’d gotten. Just like she had when she’d left home. No one had helped her or supported her back then. She certainly didn’t need a man to take care of her now. She didn’t need anyone. However, she found that she still wanted them.
Heart sinking fast at the idea she’d never see Zane or Cooper again, Abby shook off her melancholy, put her car in gear, and drove back into traffic. She headed for a hotel near the bank and checked in.
Sadly, there wasn’t anything she’d left back at their place that couldn’t be replaced quickly and easily by a trip to a clothing store and another to a drug store.
Abby decided to put her emotions on hold until she could go back to Zane and Cooper’s home and retrieve her personal things with a detached air she wasn’t currently able to pull off. She already missed them terribly. However, time would give her distance. Time would give her perspective. Time would hopefully heal her wounded heart and mend her broken spirit, just in case the two men she loved to distraction were already through with her.
* * * *
Two weeks later
Abby marched resolutely down the streets of Old West Town looking for Zane or Cooper or both. The last two weeks without them had been beyond difficult. Coward that she was, Abby had used Jack to communicate with them to get her unimportant stuff back over a week ago, instead of just calling them on her own.
She’d been so ashamed of herself for leaving them in the first place, she could hardly hold her head up, and looking at herself in the mirror had proved to be a useless endeavor when seeking confidence. She’d fucked up, and she knew it. And she’d fucked up in more ways than just the one unresolved issue with two amazing cowboys.
Going back to the bank and trying to prove that she was worthy had been a vastly horrid mistake. She had been the one wronged, but everyone acted as though she’d gotten one over on the system and been released from jail due to a mere technicality.
