AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The chime of a cellphone cut the mood like a knife.
It was Thomas’ phone. Duke texted the trucks would be arriving in about an hour.
I got up and turned, extending my hand to Alex. “I hate that you have to go, but I understand you have responsibilities to get back to.”
Alex accepted my hand, and I helped her up. “Thank you so much for letting me stay here during the storm.” Her eyes glistened when I caught her gaze. It seemed like she didn’t want to go as much as we didn’t want her to.
We made our way around the house, helping Alex pack up everything she needed. Which honestly wasn’t much, considering she hadn’t planned on staying here. With a little persuading, she ended up taking home a few pieces of clothes, including my flannel shirt.
Thomas and I had talked last night after Alex had fallen asleep. We needed to make our feelings clear before she left today.
Thomas took her chin between his fingers. “Don’t think for one bit this is over. Go home and take care of things and get back to the clinic. We’ll call you around dinner.”
Her jaw dropped, and her mouth formed a perfect o.
Her expression confirmed everything I suspected. She thought this was just a snowed in fling when that was the farthest thing from our minds. We should have stated our intentions well before now.
“You want to continue seeing me?” Her eyebrows knitted together.
“Yes, babydoll. Go home and let that settle in. Let us know when you’re done for the day, and we’ll call you.” I pulled her away from Thomas and into my arms.
“Are you su—”
I cut her off the best way I knew how. I claimed her mouth and kissed her like my life depended on it. “Yes, we’ve known from the beginning how much we cared about you.” I knew she was the one for us, but she wasn’t ready to hear about my undying love for her. We needed to ease her in to it.
Thomas took her and gave her a searing kiss of his own.
Reluctantly, we untangled ourselves from each other when Duke messaged they were ready to leave. I ran my finger down the side of Alex’s flushed cheek when we got to the door. I had to fight the instinct to grab her, toss her over my shoulder, and declare she couldn’t leave us. Every step we took to the truck was painful.
Duke and Gavin sat patiently inside her truck, giving us a few more seconds of privacy.
Thomas opened the passenger door, and Duke held out his palm. Alex handed her keys to him, no questions asked.
“I wish I didn’t have to leave.” Tears welled in her eyes and threatened to spill over.
“It won’t be for long. We’ll see you soon.” Thomas placed a kiss on her forehead. I grasped her hand and brought it to my lips, kissing the inside of her wrist. Alex climbed into the passenger seat, and Thomas closed the door.
I felt some relief knowing Duke was driving. Not that it really mattered. I was most likely going to be pacing until I heard she was home safe.
With Alex waving to us from the window, Duke pulled out, and we watched them leave until the truck was out of sight. One of the plows followed them while the other kept going down.
We both headed to the barn to check on the horses before it got too dark. Bullseye, my trusty bay gelding, was munching on his hay when I walked in. He nickered at me when I looked over the stall door but didn’t come over to say hi. Stardust appeared to be happy as well, curled up on the floor, lazily eating her grains. Thomas’ new horse, Cody, was pacing back and forth in his stall. The stallion had too much energy to be cooped up for so many days.
Travis, Blake, Thomas, and I met up just outside the barn to discuss at length how to handle the horses now that the snow had abated. We decided we would let the horses into their outdoor areas tomorrow and let them stretch their legs. Hopefully, the grounds weren’t too icy under the snow.
My phone pinged a few hours later.
Alex: I made it home. It was slow going. Had to pick up the dogs from Dad’s and then drop the guys off.
Declan: Good. How is everything?
Alex: Fine, though I think Martin is torn about leaving.
Declan: He’ll be fine. They see each other once a week.
Alex: LOL.
Declan: We’ll call you in a little while. Get settled in.
