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“And she lied to me.”
“About what?”
“You getting Charlie pregnant.”
He looked at me like I was nuts. “You mean she was loyal to her friend and kept a secret Charlie asked her to?”
He shook his head. “I’d ask what the fuck is wrong with you, but I know. Brother, both of us created this story where you were the one of the two of us who had their shit together, but that was a lie. You were just better at shoving it down deep. I think I was the healthier one all along because I could react to shit. I could show my emotions. You just shoved it all down so fucking deep and never let anyone else in. But it’s not better. You aren’t some fucking paragon. I’m sorry, brother, but you aren’t. You were always just as fucked up as me.”
I stood there, in the uncomfortable situation of being the one schooled.
I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself.
But all I really wanted was to go find Ruth, grab her to me tight, and never fucking let go.
Come to think of it, that was a great fucking idea.
I clapped my brother on the shoulder. “Good talk. Congratulations on the coming kid. You married an amazing woman and I think you just might be a great dad.”
He looked surprised. “So… we’re good?”
I nodded. “We’re good.”
“Oh. Well, great.”
Then I turned and went to find my own woman. God knew I hated to admit when I was wrong, but I wasn’t so much of a jackass that I couldn’t see it when I was being hit in the face with the truth. And Reece was always excellent for that.
So, yes, I was an ass and it was time to find my woman, tell her that, and beg for her forgiveness.
Except she was nowhere to be found.
I caught up with Olivia near the bar, flirting with some hick looking motherfucker. “Hey, Liv, you seen Ruth?”
She shook her head. “But I can call her.” She pulled out her phone from her purse. Right. I shoulda thought of that.
But her brows furrowed at something she saw on the phone.
The band started up some song that had the crowd cheering so that I missed what Olivia said next.
“What?” I shouted and she turned the phone so that I could see a message. It was from Ruth.
Ruth: borrowing your car to get check from the winstons. Buck stalled them on way to airport so I could catch up. Be back soon!
My eyes searched out the time tag. It had been sent almost two hours ago. I messaged back from Olivia’s phone in case Ruth was still mad at me and blocking my calls. How long till you’re back?
And then waited impatiently. No response.
I looked back at Olivia. “She should be back by now, yeah?”
Olivia shrugged, leaning close to shout over the music. “Yeah, it’s less than an hour to the airport from here, so even if she went all the way there and back…”
I frowned and handed her the phone. “Find me if she texts back.”
I pulled out my own phone as I walked away toward my truck, dialing Ruth’s number. Why the hell would Buck of all people have offered to drive Charlie’s parents back to the airport. Well, if they offered to pay him, I bet he would. But if they were paying, then why would he be stalling so Ruth could catch up?
I wish she’d offered more damn information in the text. I saw Reece and Charlie rejoining the guests. Good. At least they could recoup the rest of the wedding and get memories of their special day that wouldn’t be tainted by that witch of a mother-in-law.
I hoped she wasn’t giving my Ruth trouble now.
My Ruth.
Dammit, it was true. I’d thought of her as mine for…a while now. I was jealous of that fucking job because it took her away from me. Even having her live all the way in Austin was interminable because she wasn’t under the same roof as me. And now she was going to move to Fort Worth?
Not if I could help it.
I didn’t bother telling Reece where I was going. He’d had enough of me for one day. He had his bride to look after and I still wanted him to be able to salvage some of his wedding day without thinking an iota more about his in-laws. If they were giving Ruth any trouble, I’d deal with it without ever involving him.
And I’d tell Ruth what a giant fucking idiot I was. I hurried around to where all the vehicles were parked, pulled out my keys, and hopped in the truck.
Before I pulled out onto the gravel road leading to the side trail that led to town, I looked at my phone and clicked on the GPS app.
