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“Call your parents, Chloe. If you explain, they won’t be mad. Plus, now you have an excuse as to why you’re late.”
“No, I don’t. Running out of gas doesn’t account for two hours and you know it.”
“Well, if you tell them what we were doing for two hours…” Wyatt wiggles his eyebrows at me until I swat him in the chest.
“Not a chance. My father would kill you.”
“No, he wouldn’t. He doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He might pay to have someone kill me, though.”
He’s right. I’ve never seen my father gets his hands dirty. He’s great at bossing people around, though. With more than fifty people working the land for him, making sure he has the most pristine cattle in the entire state, he has plenty to keep him busy without actually doing any work.
My father’s made a name for himself in Fairview. He’s worth as much as the rest of the town combined. He’s been known to employ anyone who needs a job, generously helping people in need. A kind man until you cross him, everyone wants to stay on his good side.
Joseph Warren. From farmhand to the owner of the largest cattle farm in two-hundred miles. A man who’s worked hard for everything he has. Just ask him, he’ll tell you all about it. Because the one thing my father is not is humble.
He’s also not forgiving.
And when it comes to his only daughter, he’s overprotective and irrational.
As we wait for Willy, the darkness of night surrounding us, I pray no one drives by and sees us sitting here. The last thing I want is for him to hear about this. When he finds out about my relationship with Wyatt, I want it to come from me.
“You know,Miss Chloe, things have changed around here since you’ve been gone. Not just the town either.”
“I’m sure they have,” I reply. I don't want to hear how things have changed. I don't want to hear about Wyatt. I don't think my heart will be able to handle it.
“When Kent died—”
“What?” I ask, my head whipping in Willy’s direction at the mention of Kent. The man who showed me nothing but genuine kindness. He accepted me for who I was and was happy his son had found someone that loved him the way I did.
“You didn’t know?”
No, I didn’t know. How would I? I left his place and didn’t look back. I was forced to focus on my future, and this place and everyone in it were part of my past.
“I’m so sorry, Willy.”
“It’s been almost five years now.” There’s a sadness in his voice as it trails off, the pain still real for him after all this time.
He lets the conversation drop, finishes filling my tank, and after one long hug, sends me on my way.
Five years. It must have happened right after I left.
The guilt creeps in as I pull back on the road. Guilt over not being here for him. Over leaving him when I should have stayed.
Why didn’t I fight harder? I should have, I could have, but I didn’t.
Before the guilt can pass, shame rushes in. The shame of listening to my parents. Of letting them dictate my life for the last five years. Mostly, the shame of not being here when he needed me.
