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Addressing both letters, she walked to the mailbox and dropped them inside. Then she returned to her room and thought about a man so many would miss.
Imagining Gage mourning his father’s loss with the extensive family a good man left behind pushed her into painful tears.
A few months after losing his father, Gage wrote that he’d taken over the cattle business for his dad.
His mom moved out of the house she’d lived in throughout her marriage because the memories were too painful.
I’m living in this big old house alone now. It’s strange not to have someone down the hall or upstairs. Noise, movement, breathing...something. I never realized how big it was until there was no one living here but me.
Nina secured the lead in a play and had decided to take some fashion design classes in her spare time.
Rowan started writing them every few weeks but never told them anything personal about her life or asked them personal questions about themselves.
The five years since that night had given her some much needed perspective. Youth, lust, loneliness, and desperation could create an environment ripe for mistakes.
She didn’t hurt as much as she once did: when recalling a memory of Gage or Nina could bring on unexpected tears that didn’t stop.
Every year it got better.
Sometimes she dreamed about Gage and woke aching so badly that she wanted to kick herself.
* * *
College was made for a driven woman like Rowan. She bent all her focus, all her will, to getting her education. She had no intention of abusing the opportunity she’d been given.
She was officially done with classes and would be graduating at the top of her class. Technically, she was already a graduate and it felt incredible.
She could finally start searching for a job that paid more than retail, move out of a dorm filled with spoiled children, and get on with what came next.
Her world was hers to command.
That was just the way she liked it.
She jogged from the campus bookstore along the huge box hedge that lined much of the property.
She’d just sold back the last of her textbooks and was calculating her finances happily.
As frugal as she was with every penny, her job at the bookstore had provided a little nest egg that would allow her to get an efficiency apartment while she hunted for a permanent job.
Leaving chaotic dorm life behind was going to be heavenly. She valued her privacy and quiet.
Running along the hedge, she approached a hidden drive. A limo pulled out directly in front of her. She was going too fast to stop and didn’t want to take the hit in her legs.
Twisting with a small jump, she slid over the hood on her butt and landed in a hard crouch on the other side. She could tell right away that she’d sprained her ankle and gritted her teeth against the sharp pain.
Car doors opened and then two people stood over her.
“I’m fine, honestly. Please, I’m fine.” Showing weakness -ever- was humiliating and grated against her fierce independence.
There was a small chuckle followed by a cultured voice saying, “Well, you just went over the hood of the car like a stunt woman. James, help her up please.”
A very large golden man bent and lifted her the rest of the way to her feet as if Rowan was no bigger than a toddler. He supported her when she put all her weight on her injured foot. Both men watched as she tried to play off the sprain.
James was almost a foot taller than she was and his coloring reminded her of Nina. “Your ankle is injured,” the driver pointed out.
Rather unnecessarily in Rowan’s opinion.
She took a deep breath. “It’s probably just acramp. Really,noreason to worry.”
