Page 45 of The One Who Never Left: Colter

“I would never think that,” she said and the knot in his chest loosened, relief washing through him so strong it almost felt dizzying, like he was finally been allowed to breathe again. “It’s no secret around town that you enjoy time with women, but I think I get you well enough by now to know that you’d never string a woman along.”

She wasn’t judging him, but the fact that his after-hours activities were the talk of the town didn’t settle right. Which made him question what had changed.

A month ago, he wouldn’t have given two shits about what anyone thought of his dating life. Now, there he was, twisting himself into knots over what his intern might be thinking.

Reel it in, man.

“Between the ranch, the clinic, and the fundraising I do for the animal shelter, I am stretched so thin that I can barely breathe, let alone have time to date,” he said wondering what the hell just happened. He’d never said those words out loud to a living soul, but there was something about Sutton that made him feel safe.

“Yet, you had a date with Cheryl the other night.”

“It didn’t happen. I had a last-minute walk in that I couldn’t say no to.”

That was a lie. A clean one, but still a lie. He’d taken the walk-in because it gave him an out—because facing a stranger over dinner felt easier than pretending interest he didn’t have.

“Uh huh,” she said letting him know she thought he was full of shit. “The rest of it sounds like a lot,” she said, her voice then filled with compassion. “Have you thought about backing off one thing or another?”

“The clinic is my passion. The shelter is my heart. And my family is everything. We’re expanding the ranch to include a breeding program for quarter horses.”

“That’s amazing,” she said.

“It is. It’s something my dad and grandpa both dreamed of. Fulfilling that dream would feel amazing. It would feel like one more way to keep my parents’ memory alive.”

“Vivi told me about the crash, I’m so sorry. That must have been hard losing them like that.”

“It was. My mom was the glue that held us all together. We’re a close-knit family, but with Eli being deployed most of the year, Boone getting sucked into the grief from the loss, and me taking over the clinic at the worst possible time, I feel the distance coming between us.”

“And you miss the closeness?”

“I crave it,” he admitted. “I just don’t know how to get it back.”

He heard what he’d just said and suddenly he felt like a total jerk. There he was, sitting there venting about his petty, fixable family problems to a woman who didn’t even have a childhood memory with her own parents.

He was wrapped up in minor domestic chaos, when she had no one to fight over the thermostat or argue about leftovers with. It was absurd and selfish.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t trauma dump on you,” he said.

“I don’t mind.”

“The responsibilities you carry make mine seem like child’s play,” Colter said, his voice a low mix of awe and guilt threading through each word. “And here I am, whining about schedules and achieving my dream.”

“Just because my responsibilities are different, that doesn’t mean yours aren’t valid.”

He gave a single nod, then said, "Bridlewood is a hell of a lot different than San Francisco. What made you leave?”

“Dirty word,” Lynlee said with the smile of a kid who just met Santa. He held out her hand and wiggled her fingers in a pay up motion. “That’s a dollar.”

“Lynlee,” Sutton said with a laugh. “That only applies to our family.”

“But he said a dirty word.”

“I said it, I’ll pay up.” Colter reached into his wallet and pulled out a dollar and handed it over. Lynlee snatched it so fast he barely felt it leave his hands.

“It goes in the fun jar,” Lynlee explained. “When the jar’s full we dos something fun. Since yous added to the jar yous gets to come with us next time.”

“Count me in,” he said and then looked at Sutton. “That is, if it’s okay with your mom.”

“We’d love to have you. And thank you for asking,” she said in a tone that told a different story.