Page 35 of Love Me Again

Shane started heading up to the house. Boone didn’t follow right away. He watched Josie dismount, and Molly and Josie put their heads together about something as they lead the horses back in the stable. Hopefully Molly would get her to come up to the house for lunch and then…

What? What are you really doing?

“We all make mistakes.”

Boone eyed Gavin, then couldn’t help a look over his shoulder at Shane’s retreating form. In the past, he would have said something snarky about his saintly brother never making mistakes.

But Boone had seen a few cracks in Shane’s perfect armor. Thanks to Cora. Thanks to Micah.

Even Shane Tyler made mistakes sometimes. So Boone supposed he couldn’t argue with Gavin.

“It’s the fixing them that matters.”

Fixing. When had he ever fixed a damn thing? “And if you can’t?”

“At least you can say you tried. Better than wallowing in being a fucking coward.”

A few years ago, Gavin saying something like that would have pissed him off. But Boone had now seen Gavin be said coward when it came to his wife. So it felt less like an accusation and more like commiseration.

Boone blew out a slow breath, endured the curious look from his brother. “What?” he muttered.

Gavin considered. “Sometimes life hands you lessons. But you’ve got to be willing to learn them. You’ve had a lot of lessons handed to you, Boone.”

“Felt more like ass kickings.”

“That’s because you got that hard head.” Gavin reached over, tried to knock on it like he used to, but Boone managed to shove his hand out of the way first.

Gavin laughed and they started to walk back up to the house. Boone tried not to let on just how much his leg hurt, because Gavin was eyeing him speculatively as they walked.

“I just don’t get it,” Gavin finally said when they made it to the porch.

“What?”

“You left her. A long ass time ago. She shows up and you’re… Different. More at ease. You want to fix things, but… You could have. All this time.”

Boone stiffened. Gavin wasn’t wrong, but… How did he explain it? He wasn’t sure he understood it himself.

Just that she’d always been the person who’d put him at ease. He didn’t deserve that ease now, but her being here was like taking the first deep breath in that long twenty months.

He’d convinced himself that she was better off without him. He’d known that. He had been so absolutely, positively sure.

Now she was here and he couldn’t pretend that was true. She was here and he couldn’t pretend he was the same fuck up who’d left her.

He was slow as shit when it came to learning a lesson—and like he’d told Gavin, they didn’t tend to take until he got his ass kicked.

That bull hadn’t just kicked his ass. It had pulverized it. And for the past twenty-months or so he’d been climbing out of that. He’d thought he was just surviving.

But his family had given him more than a soft place to land and lick his wounds. They’d made it absolutely impossible for him to do that and stay the same old Boone. Permanent fuckup.

He was someone else now.

Or wanted to be.

CHAPTER 11

Josie refused to eat lunch and dinner up at the house, and she considered that a great act of restraint. She tried to enjoy the cabin—it was really nice. Much nicer than the RV she was used to living in, or the apartment she’d shared with Boone or Dad at the end there.

But it was quiet and just her and she longed for someone’s company, even if they didn’t talk. Just the feeling that someone else was here and hers.