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“Yes, but who knows why?” Tessa asked.
“At least give him the chance to explain.”
“I will—if I ever hear from him again.” She drank one sip of juice and her stomach revolted. Carefully, she set her cup on the counter.
“Oh, bah!” Milly started chopping onions. “Say what you want, that man loves you. Any fool could see it when he was here.”
“That’s just the point. He’s not here anymore, is he?”
“He’ll be back.”
“When?”
“Hasn’t anyone told you patience is a virtue?”
“Over and over again,” Tessa mumbled, unconvinced that Milly knew what she was talking about. “As soon as I’m finished around here, I’m going over to the Edwards ranch. If Denver calls—” Mentally kicking herself, she snapped her mouth shut. Denver wouldn’t call. Nor would he return. He was gone again. Tears threatened her eyes and clogged her throat.
“I’ll give him the number,” Milly said, “right after I give him a piece of my mind!”
“I thought you were just singing his praises, telling me to be patient.”
Milly’s eyes glimmered. “Haven’t you ever heard the old expression, ‘Do as I say, not as I do’?”
“Too many times to count. But I always thought it was a crock,” Tessa said, forcing a wan smile despite the stone-cold feeling that she’d lost Denver forever.
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She went through the motions of doing the chores, but her mind was on Denver. Where was he? Why hadn’t he called? If he loved her, and that was looking like a bigger “if” as each second passed, why had he left her? “It’s over—face it!” she told herself, feeling positively wretched as she tossed hay into the manger. And now you might be pregnant. What will you do? How will you tell him? “I won’t,” she said aloud. She couldn’t. Denver would twist things around, think she’d tried to trap him into a marriage he didn’t want.
It hit her then with the force of a northern gale. Denver had used her, hurt her intentionally, lied to her. And he was probably now enjoying the fact—he’d gotten back at the family that had ruined his.
Dropping onto a bale of hay and drawing her knees to her chest, she let the tears that had been building for weeks fill her eyes. “No,” she whispered, denying even now what was so evident.
Trust him. Give him time, one part of her argued.
Why? So he can drag out your heart and stomp all over it again? another part screamed.
Dropping her head to her arms, she cried from the depths of her soul. Deep racking sobs convulsed her small frame, and she sat rocking alone in the dark barn, the musty smell of hay mingling with the moist, fresh scent of her tears. Desperation ripped through her heart, and all her faith in love died as quickly as the flame of a candle in the rain. “Never again,” she whispered, the words strangled, her voice raw with pain. “Never again.”
“Tess? Is that you?” her brother called as the barn door creaked open.
Not now, she thought wildly. I can’t let him see me like this—not again!
“I—I’m just leaving,” she said, wiping her eyes and ignoring her quivering insides.
“Where’re you go—” Mitchell rounded the corner, took one look at Tessa and groaned. “Oh, no, Tess. Don’t tell me—”
“I’m not telling you anything.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. I, uh, just decided you were right about Denver.” Refusing to meet the pity in his eyes, she swept past him. “But it’s okay,” she lied, “I’m going to straighten things out right now.”
“How?”
I don’t know! “I—I’m going to start with Nate Edwards,” she said, then, before he could ask any more questions, she raced out of the barn, climbed into the pickup and shoved the old rig into gear. The truck lumbered out of the drive, lurching through potholes, kicking up dust and roaring loudly because of a hole in the muffler. Tessa didn’t mind. Setting her jaw, she slid a pair of sunglasses on her nose and decided just how she was going to get her life back on track—without Denver McLean!
She drove to the Edwards ranch as if her life depended upon it. Knowing that Denver had left her as he had before—without a word or explanation—clarified things. The fact that he had called once didn’t change things. He’d stripped her of her most precious possessions, then abandoned her. Well, she wasn’t going to lie down and die! And maybe she’d get back at him. She’d never tell him about the baby—if, indeed, she was pregnant.
