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I grabbed my cell phone off the night table where it buzzed. Marj. Of course. I couldn’t believe she had waited this long to call, but she had been in Grand Junction last night and most of today in a cooking class. I inhaled. How was I going to explain to her what had happened? We had to have this conversation sooner or later. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too angry with me for keeping my relationship with Talon a secret from her.
“Hi there,” I said to the phone.
“Don’t ‘hi there’ me. Where the hell are you?”
“I’m in a hotel in Grand Junction. I just got back from the Carlton, where I had dinner with my mother and her current boyfriend.”
“Brooke’s in town? How in the world— Oh, no, you don’t. I won’t be sidetracked by Brooke Bailey or anyone else. What the hell is going on, Jade?”
“How was your first cooking class? Is it worth giving up Friday night and Saturday for?” Okay, cheap shot, but Marj was a bit spoiled and might take the chance to talk about herself.
“Nice try.”
“Yeah, well…” I had no idea what to say to her. She was my best friend in the world, and we never had secrets. Until now.
“Jade, this isn’t funny. Why did you leave?”
“Why don’t you ask Talon?”
“I have asked Talon. All he would tell me is that you had to leave.”
“He demanded that I leave.”
“What the hell is going on? Why would Talon ask you leave? I don’t get it. Why would he care one way or another whether you’re at the ranch?”
I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t want to have this conversation with Marj over the phone. This talk would be best served with a pizza, a bottle of dry red, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. “Can you come to the city?” I asked.
“Jade, I just got back from the city.”
“I don’t want to have this conversation on the phone.”
“Frankly, neither do I, but we don’t have any choice because we are going to have this conversation now. I need to know what’s going on with you and my brother.”
If only I knew. What I didn’t know about what was going on between Talon and me could fill up a tome. We were attracted to each other. No, that was way too tame. We had wicked sexual chemistry. No, again. It was more than that, even for Talon. I was sure of it. We had unbridled passion and need for each other. Still not enough. So why not drop a bomb?
“I’m in love with him.”
Silence on the other end of the line. An entire minute passed, according to the second hand on my watch. “Marj?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“You should be sorry.” Her voice was rough, strained. “I thought we didn’t have secrets.”
A lump clogged my throat. “I know. I’m so, so sorry. I just didn’t know how to tell you. The thing between Talon and me kind of came out of nowhere.”
“Jade, you lived at the ranch for over a month. You don’t really expect me to believe that there was no way you could find a minute to tell me in that amount of time.”
I bit my lip. Marj had every right to be furious with me. I was furious with myself. I owed her more than secrecy. “I know. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what you’d think of your brother and me…”
“You didn’t give me the chance to think anything about it.” Her voice was tight, as if the words were strangling her.
Worry choked me. Talon had been more than his usual “off” last night. He’d gone crazy, yelling at me to “make it stop.” Make what stop? I still didn’t know. “I… I think Talon needs help, Marj. I think he needs to see a psychiatrist or therapist or something.”
“Jade, you have to help me out here. Which conversation are we having? Are we having a conversation about my brother’s mental health, or are we having a conversation about the fact that you and my brother have been falling in love for the last month and I didn’t even know about it?” Her voice shook, anger lacing through her words.
You and my brother falling in love, she’d said. The truth was, I had no idea if Talon was in love with me. He’d told me from the beginning that he’d never love me, and my desire for him had been so great that I hadn’t cared at the time. I’d told Marj that I was in love with Talon. I hadn’t told her he was in love with me.
