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“What are you talkin’ about?”
“She’s not happy,” he says. “Talking about stepping down from her position on the Slammers and going back to her orthopedic practice after this season is over. Which, to be honest, is a real fucking pain in my ass because my number one doctor is probably going to have to retire soon. He’s getting old and dealing with some medical shit. It’s why I had to have Leah come back to Salt Lake a few days early.”
“Well, shit.”
“What do you mean, well shit? Did something happen out there?”
“Pretty sure a lot happened out here, Frank,” I answer honestly. “But none of that shit is my business to tell.”
“You can’t be fucking serious.”
“Don’t ask me, Frank. I’m not telling.”
“Son of a bitch.”
Yeah, son of a bitch is right. Pretty sure I gotta do some investigatin’ to figure out what happened. Careful investigatin’, though. Not pushy. Not pryin’. But enough to get an idea of what really went down between Rhett and Leah.
“Hey, Frank, I gotta go.”
“Of course you do.”
I chuckle. “See ya around, bud.”
The instant I hang up the phone, I walk into the bedroom, open the drawer of my nightstand, and pull out a little black box that Jenny made me get out of the lodge safe about a month ago.
Well, I’ll be damned. I think my Jenny was right.
And now it’s making sense why Tiny’s been saying Rhett’s been a real asshole the past two days.
Pretty sure my son is in love.
“Jenny!” I call out from the bedroom. “You heard from Rhett today?”
“Yeah,” she shouts back. “He’s gonna drop Joe off in about an hour before he has to go do something over in one of the pastures.”
Looks like I have a little time to figure out how in the hell I’m gonna broach this subject without pissing off my son.
The instant Rhett steps through my door, the facts are written all over his goddamn face.
Pain. Misery.
Fucking heartbreak.
Shit.
Once I say a quick hello to my Joey, I revert my focus to Rhett.
“You got a minute, son?”
He nods. “I can give you about five minutes.”
“Perfect.”
He follows my lead into the office, and the second we’re both in there, I gently shut the door.
He furrows his brow, and I try my best to go at this with the kind of finesse my Jenny is skilled at employing.
“Have you talked to Leah since she went back to Salt Lake?”
His jaw clenches. “Nope.”
Yep. Now it’s making sense why he’s been such a fucking grouch to Tiny and the rest of the ranch staff.
I’m real tempted to tell him just that, but I bite my tongue and keep my restraint.
The restraint I told him I wanted to have when I was in the hospital.
Thankfully, while I’m mentally bumbling around trying to find the right words, he offers up a bit more information.
“Pops, whatever you’re trying to find out about Leah, I’m not gonna know,” he adds. “Haven’t spoken with her since before she left. Hell, she didn’t even say goodbye to me when she did leave. She just left some fuckin’ notes for me and Joey.”
“What did they say?”
“I don’t fuckin’ know. I didn’t read them.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“Now, this is just me talking,” I begin to say, carefully trying to tiptoe around this land mine. “Not me getting in your business, all right?”
Rhett nods.
“But have you considered, maybe, reading the notes?”
His jaw clenches again. “Why are you asking me this?”
“Well, because Frank Kaminsky called me this afternoon and proceeded to ask me why his doctor came back from our ranch looking all miserable and shit.”
That stops him in his prideful tracks. “What?”
“Leah isn’t happy,” I continue. “She’s already told Frank she’s probably going to step down from her position with the Slammers.”
“S-she’s not stayin’ with the team?”
I shake my head. “Doesn’t sound like it. Sounds like she’s mostly just hanging around because the top team physician is having some health problems. It’s why Frank had her leave the ranch earlier than she’d planned.”
Rhett blinks several times and just kind of stands in my office, staring straight ahead at the wall, but mostly, nothing at all.
I know that look.
It’s the look of a man who thought he knew what was going on, but in reality, he didn’t know shit.
And I’m hopin’ and prayin’ it’s also the look of a man who’s going to get his head out of his ass and go after the woman he so obviously loves.
Rhett
I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience as I walk out of my parents’ house and get into my truck.
I’m supposed to meet Rodney over in the pastures to look at some of the fences, but after talking to my dad about his conversation with Frank Kaminsky and hearing shit about Leah, I can’t find the focus to do anything but sit there, staring at the center console of my truck.
