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“Hello?”
“Soph?”
My heart stopped before doing a triple backflip. “Ben?”
“Hey, gorgeous.”
My tongue tripped over itself as my brain struggled to string words together.
“Are you ok? Sophie?”
Finally, my mouth cooperated with my mind. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I needed to speak to you. I...I miss you.”
“Leave me alone, Ben. I came here to get away from you for a bit, not be harassed by you. What the hell are you doing on my works phone? Who let you in the office?”
“Tania. Look, please come home, baby. I didn’t mean what I said, it was just a heat of the moment thing. I think jetting off somewhere for weeks was a bit of an extreme reaction to a silly argument.”
My body began shaking. My hands trembled as a mix of anger and sadness swamped me. “A silly argument? Are you kidding me? You had a three-month affair with my sister!”
“But we got past that, baby. Come home, please?”
My voice crept up another ten decibels as I erupted into a fit of fury. “Got past it? Are you kidding me, Ben? How am I ever going to get past the sight of you and her in our bed? Let alone deal with a living, breathing reminder of you both?” I stopped as a laugh came from nowhere. “I’d be its Aunt, but also its Step-mum. How messed up is that? It would be a daily reminder that she gave you something I can’t. I can’t...I can’t do it. I’m sorry, but I can’t.” I slapped myself on the forehead. “What the hell am I apologising for? I need some space and I need some time. Don’t call me again.”
“But I love you, Soph. Please.”
“Well, I loved you. Perhaps I should get pregnant by another guy and see how you feel about that. What would you do then?”
He paused for a moment. When he spoke, he sounded like he’d just swallowed a bunch of lemons. “I’d forgive you.”
I laughed. “Of course you would. Coming from the guy who became jealous of the bond I had with a horse. Ahorse.” I clutched at the side of my head, desperate to make him understand, make himseewhat he’d done to me. “Just leave me alone. If I want to speak to you, I’ll be in touch.”
I hung up and sat for a few seconds, processing the brief conversation. In nothing but sheer frustration, I let out a scream and hurled my phone across the room. How dare he call me when I asked for space?
All the unbridled emotions charging around me had my head in a spin. I didn’t know what to do except dissolve into a thousand tears. How could he not see it from my perspective? He’d torn my heart from my chest, stamped on it, and shredded it into millions of pieces. There was nothing he could do to fix the deep wound inside me.
A gentle knock at the door ceased my sobs. I dabbed at my face in an effort to look half respectable. Opening the door, I was surprised to see Brady stood there. He held his hat in his hands, and his handsome face wore a nervous smile.
“Evening.”
I faked a smile, squirming as I realised he was seeing me at one of my worst moments. “Hi.”
“Are you ok?”
I nodded.
“I err...I heard you shouting...”
My heart thudded with a dead beat. Had I really been that loud? “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb people.”
“No, you didn’t disturb anyone. I was just walking past and heard you. Just thought I’d check if you were ok.”
His thoughtful gesture had more tears springing to the surface. “Thank you. I’m honestly ok.”
He fidgeted from foot to foot. “You err...” He lifted his arm, making a tentative move with his hand towards my face. “You have some mascara on your cheek.”
I wiped at it straight away, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “Thanks.”
He placed his hat back on his head and nodded to me. “I better let you get some sleep.”
I said nothing and started to close the door.
“Don’t cry over him. He’s not worth it.”
My face burned to a hundred degrees in less than second. My heart raced its own record sprint. Was his attitude towards me changing? Or was this just pity?
I bid him good night and headed back to bed. I hung on to the possibility that perhaps the hot cowboy might actually care about my pain. That thought alone issued a smile on my face. It had been a long time since I last went to bed smiling.
