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“I’m not going to call him. I’m going to Texas.”
Harper looks stunned for a second, and then she smiles. “Need a ride to the airport?”
* * *
I yawn, the potholes I keep hitting and the espresso I chugged when I landed the only two things keeping me awake. I’m back in the same black sedan I returned a week ago, bouncing along a country road on the same journey that feels like another lifetime.
The last time I passed theWelcome to Oak Grove, Texassign, I was arriving with luggage, wearing makeup and a cute dress. This time, I’m driving an empty car and sporting a coffee stain on the clothes I’ve been wearing since yesterday morning. The only similarity between the two trips is, I’m once again anxious and not sure what to expect as I turn up the long dirt driveway.
There’s a comforting flash of familiarity when I take in the fencing and open fields.
A feeling I didn’t experience when I landed in New York and yet another sign that what I consider home might have shifted.
Kyle’s truck is parked in its usual spot, and I exhale a sigh of relief. Hopefully, that means he’s home. This would have been a wasted effort if he had skipped the after-party but stayed in New York. Or had flown somewhere else.
I stop the sedan in the same spot as I parked it before and turn off the ignition, letting out a long exhale before I climb out of the car to face whatever comes next.
There’s no sign of activity in the house or in the barn. I knock on the screen door, and no one answers. I head for the barn next.
Kyle appears with the group of young guys who helped mow the fields when I’m halfway across the yard. All the dirt patches are gone, filled in with fresh growth from the seed he planted.
Whatever he’s saying, they’re all listening attentively. At least until they hear my approach. One, then two turn their heads. Then all of them.
And finally, Kyle looks over.
There’s a flash of obvious shock on his face as I stop a few feet away. “What are you doing here?”
“Funny.” I spin my keys around one finger, injecting my voice with a jovialness I’m not experiencing. “I was going to ask you the same thing since you’d told me you’d booked a one-way ticket. I thought that meant you’d stay in New York for more than a day and a half.”
Kyle’s jaw works as he stares at me. I can’t read anything in his expression. “Could you guys give us a minute?”
The group of guys disperses quickly, leaving us in the barn’s big shadow, standing alone.
“I knocked at the house,” I explain unnecessarily. “No one answered.”
“They’re at church.”
“Oh.” I’ve been up most of the night, so I forgot it’s Sunday. I suck in a deep breath. “You left.”
“I had to get back.”
“Bullshit.”
He flinches before his mask reappears.
“You said you were staying for a few days.”
“Yeah, that was back when I thought there was something to stay for.”
This time, I’m the one who winces. But I press ahead because I didn’t come all this way not to. “I don’t count?”
Kyle exhales. “We both know where we stand, okay? No reason to delay the inevitable.”
“And you didn’t think I deserved to hear that from you? You just…left?”
“You left first!”
“I wasworkingyesterday, Kyle. I had to go back to the office for something Linda had forgotten. When I got back, Harper told me you were gone.”
