Well, great. News had spread. Of course it had. Hallie might have acted like she was fine after he’d turned her down, but she most definitely wasn’t. “I just want to talk to her, even things out,” he said under his breath.
Another shake of Brent’s head. “I get it, but that’s not going to happen. She doesn’t want to talk to you right now. Just… give her some time.”
Jacob’s jaw tightened as he shifted his attention to Brent. He couldn’t tell if Brent was upset or not. He was being protective, but he wasn’t throwing fists or insults. That had to be a good sign, right? Of course it did.
Hallie hadn’t slandered his name to her family. She just needed some space so she didn’t have to be embarrassed. He could understand that.
And yet that split second of seeing her tugged at something inside him. It had only been a couple days since her confession, and he missed her. His text messages had gone unanswered and she hadn’t been hanging around.
“She’ll be fine,” Brent’s words drew his attention. “Don’t worry about her. She’s resilient.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know.” And even though he could tell himself that none of this was his fault, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was.
He missed her. Why did he miss her so freaking much?
Not because he had feelings for her.
Jacob refused to believe that.
He’d been honest. Upfront.
And yet, the truth remained.
He. Missed. Her.
After saying his goodbyes to his friends, he threw all his belongings into the back of his truck and climbed behind the wheel. He shoved his key into the ignition and turned over the engine but before he could pull out of his parking space, his phone buzzed.
Relief pooled in his gut, but it immediately drained when he saw who the sender was.
Ryker:You can’t keep ignoring my calls.
Ryker:Mackenzie just had the baby. A healthy girl. You’re an uncle again.
There weretwo missed calls before his brother had texted. Jacob fought the urge to tap on his contact and reply. But ultimately, his pride won out and he tossed his phone to the side. It had been six years since he last spoke to his brother. Six yearsof silence and he wasn’t going to start speaking just because his brother had another kid.
Was he petty?
Probably.
But their argument went deeper than even his brother wanted to admit. It hadn’t mattered back then, so why would it matter now? Ryker made his decisions, and he could live with them just as Jacob was living with his.
Right about now, Jacob could use a friend. He could use Hallie’s sunny disposition to drag him from the cloudy mood he’d found himself in. He just wanted his friend back. She was as close to a best friend as he had.
The guys were great, but they were all focused on different things in their lives. Not only that, but since they were also rodeo competitors, it was hard to develop a meaningful friendship with them that wasn’t based on their careers. The rodeo seemed to be the only thing they had in common. Without it, would they even be friends?
With a huff, Jacob put the truck into gear and headed home. The drive up the mountain wasn’t so bad especially with his four-wheel-drive. Up there, he could see the whole town. He’d found the cabin-style home one of the first times he’d visited Rocky Ridge, and he’d loved it the second he saw it.
The cabin was situated on the hill with two bedrooms, a large entertaining space and two bathrooms. There was a decent amount of land surrounding the house but no yard to speak of. It was the perfect getaway when he decided to come home to train for an upcoming event. He’d left his hometown in Tennessee after his brother had met Mackenzie. At the time he’d probablyjumped the gun and acted rashly, but once he’d let things settle and he’d found this place, he knew it was where he was meant to be.
It was his escape from the world. Not many people were invited up this way because he opted to spend time with his friends in the valley. Lately, he’d been spending a great deal more time at one ranch specifically—at least when he was in town.
The beam from his headlights bathed the cabin in their bright glow. Home sweet home. At least for the next week or so. Then he’d be on the road for a few more weeks.
He glanced over to the right where a small stable had been constructed. And beside it was a corral where his horse could stretch her legs. The rest of the terrain was covered in shrubs or trees. One day he could probably clear some of it away and expand the house. Or that was what the realtor had suggested.
Little did the realtor know that Jacob didn’t have an interest in becoming a family man. He wasn’t even sure he’d make a good father. Heaven knew his wasn’t the greatest. The man was aloof at best. Jacob and his brother were raised more by their mother than the man who had sired them. When their father was present, he was overbearing and hard to get along with.
He wasn’t abusive, and yet Jacob never got the feeling that he was meant to be a father, either. Perhaps that was where Jacob’s aversion to a relationship stemmed from. Where his desire came from to find a career that didn’t lock him down in one place only to be forced to raise children who didn’t deserve to have a father like him.
