Page 2 of Love Me Again

One—the Tylers had a ranch outside of a town called Gracely in Colorado. She thought it had sounded cute, but she’d certainly never been invited.

Two—his dad had died when he’d been little.

Three—he had an older brother he resented, and Josie was pretty sure his name was Shaun or maybe Shane. Sh—something. She’d certainly never met the man, so it was hard to remember.

Four—the resentment didn’t just end at the older brother. Boone had been mostly no contact with his family for as long as she’d known him.

And that was it.

So it was very possible she made it to the Tyler Ranch and she had the wrong one, or no one in his family knew where he was, or any other dead-end disaster, but Josie had to find out.

What the hell else was there to do?

So she followed the directions she’d gotten in town from a very curious woman in a bakery. The cupcake Josie had bought had been heavenly.

The speculation about what she wanted with Boone Tyler less so.

Josie sighed and slowed her vehicle to a stop when she saw a big, wooden archway carved to announce this was the Tyler Ranch. Snow fell softly and prettily from a grey sky.

If this was the right place, he’d downplayed it. It was huge. The rolling lane that led her through snow-covered fields as she started driving was long and winding. Eventually, she turned a curve and saw a large, beautiful, expensive looking house was nothing like where or how she’d grown up.

When he’d always acted like they were the same.

She shouldn’t be shocked. What hadn’t Boone Tyler downplayed? Ignored? Pushed aside? Maybe even flat out lied about.

Granted, he’d admitted it was beautiful. There’d even been a wistful note to his voice when he’d said it.

Of course, he used that same wistful note when he called her beautiful. Like she’d been something he’d already lost.

She should have known it then. That he would lose her. That he would walk away.

Tears threatened again but she refused. She was just going to go straight up to the front door of the beautiful house, knock on the door on which a giant, gorgeous Christmas wreath hung, ask to see Boone, and then ask him what the hell he thought he was doing.

Easy enough.

The lane came to a fork, and Josie eased on the brake. She should go down the one that went toward the house, but a pair of people to the right caught her attention. They stood outside a beautiful stable—all red against the white snow.

She recognized the man right away. It was Boone. There was no doubt. She was pretty sure she’d recognize him from space. The part she couldn’t quite reconcile was that he was not alone. He was smiling at a gorgeous red-haired woman. Who had her hand on his arm.

And her other on a very pregnant belly.

They were laughing.

Laughing.

Josie wasn’t even cognizant of shoving the vehicle into park. She had no real awareness of getting out of her old, struggling truck. She didn’t remember stalking across the yard once she arrived. She hadn’t felt the snow quickly making her shoes and socks wet. There was just this boiling over explosion inside of her and a red haze over her vision.

Sense and rationality were gone. Everything that had happened over the past two years seemed to finally break through the last ounces of strength she’d been carrying them with.

The woman looked over at her fist, something curious and confused in her pretty blue eyes. Then Boone glanced her way. Looked back at the woman and then whipped his gaze back to Josie.

It might have been a humorous double take, but she was too busy launching herself at him, curling her hands into fists and beating them against him as hard as she could. So that he stumbled back into the snow—her on top of him.

It was jarring, that fall, but not jarring enough to stop. If anything, it spurred her on.

Whatever he was saying didn’t penetrate. She punched him. Wherever she could. However she could. He tried to grab her arms, but pain twisted in his expression and he couldn’t manage it.

Good. Good. Good.