His hard stare met mine. “I told you not to.”
“Youtextedit.”
The sound of his sharp inhale cut between us. “You didn’t come to my dad’s funeral hoping to rekindle something, did you? Because I have to say that was a waste of a plane ticket.”
I sucked in cold air. Hurt ignited a blaze in my stomach. How could he go from the love of my life to a jackass?The last four years had to have been hard, but the old Rhys would’ve never been harsh like this. “I came to pay my respects. I didn’t mean...” I let out a long exhale. “I didn’t mean to bring any of this up. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” He relaxed only slightly. “But you have to know that whatever we had, we were just kids, and I’m not a kid anymore. I have responsibilities, and I can’t just leave.”
“Your text made that clear.”
His wince was subtle. “At least it got you to listen.”
My gasp slipped out.
Regret flashed through his eyes and he opened his mouth. But then resolve filled his features once again and he pressed his lips into a line. He yanked his gaze off me, pivoted on a heel, and stalked away.
I swallowed and my raw throat burned. I blinked back tears. I hadn’t gotten any answers, but I had gotten clarification. Rhys had never planned to leave Bourbon Canyon.Never. I was the fool who’d ignored his words and held on.
Wynter veered away from the group around Wren, her gaze jumping from Rhys’s rigid back to me.
“Are you okay?” she asked, searching my eyes.
No. I was wrecked. For only a moment, I’d seen the boy I’d been madly in love with. But he was gone. In his place was a hard man who wanted nothing to do with me. I hadn’t been ready to hear him years ago, but I was now. He’d get his wish. “I’m done here. Can we leave?”
Surprise flitted through her eyes, but she nodded. “You can send Mama a message and let her know you’re coming with me.”
We walked in the opposite direction of the dispersing crowd. Cars lined the narrow roadway thatcut through the headstones. I didn’t bother to look back.
“Are you leaving tonight?” she asked.
I hugged my arms around myself. “Yes.” There was no reason to stay in Bourbon Canyon anymore.
CHAPTER TWO
Rhys
Present day . . .
Darkness had fallen. Big, juicy raindrops splattered the windshield. I turned the wipers up a notch and squinted out the window. I wasn’t usually out this late, but Bethany and Hannah had each been in the school play. Afterward, Wren had invited us to her house for ice cream.
The treat was innocuous enough, but Wren loved to indulge the girls. Whipped cream, caramel, fudge, sprinkles, cherries. They’d wanted to plan all the activities for their annual school’s-out Grandma visit too. Wren took the girls for two weeks each summer, starting the weekend after the last day of school. It had started with an overnight, and the length grew each year, especially after my divorce.
“Dad, my tummy’s upset,” nine-year-old Bethany groaned.
Shit. “Is there a bag or something back there?” I glanced at the back seat of my pickup. She was pale and grimacing. “Why don’t you have your glasses on?”
“I don’t need them,” she said with the weakness of someone on their deathbed.
I suppressed my heavy sigh. “It’s dark, Bethany. No one can see you.”
“Here they are.” Hannah yanked out the motion sickness goggles. The opaque white frames were filled with blue liquid. Giant circles on the sides gave her four googly eyes. She looked cute in them, but she’d rather puke up copious amounts of ice cream than be caught with them on her face.
“Put ’em back. I’m already sick.” But not too sick to argue with her younger sister, apparently.
“Can you just wear them and see if they’ll help?” We lived out of town, and I was still on the highway.
“But it’s raining,” she argued. “Isn’t that liquid enough?”
