AllFreeNovel
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“When I leave, you’ll need someone to post.” She giggles. “I don’t think it’s going to be Wyatt.” Her fingers fly over her keyboard. “Now I know you’re a tech-challenged cowboy, but I made a Dropbox account and uploaded a ton of photos for you to use. I think you have enough for the next two years ...”
She goes on, chattering in her sunny lilt, but the only phrase that makes sense isshe’s leaving.
A knife to the heart.
I want a drink, mind-numbing liquid to bring me back down to earth.
Summer ends in four weeks.
Another knife. Another realization.
How different my life will be without Ruby.
She fits here. Her creamer in my fridge. Her strawberry-scented shampoo in my bathroom. Her laughter in my kitchen. Her beautiful body in my bed.
She’s the heartbeat of the ranch.Myheartbeat. It’s like my pulse kicked in the second I met her. I’m alive because of her.
And that’s when I realize my mistake.
I’ve claimed her as mine, but not out loud.
Not in a way that means anything.
She’s moving on soon. She’ll find someone else, whisper another man’s name at night. Her blue eyes will light up when she finally sees her California sunset, getting that last check off her to-do list without me around to make sure she’s satisfied. She’ll have babies with someone else, a family, a forever.
Another man will get her sunshine and her kind heart and her smiles and it sure as hell won’t be me.
The thought nearly strangles me alive.
“Charlie? Are you okay?” Ruby’s soft voice upturns my thoughts. A pretty frown creases her brow. “Do you not like the calendar?”
“The calendar’s great.” Wrapping my hands around her waist, I lift her onto the counter. Move between her legs so she can’t get away. “Listen, baby ...”
My mouth goes dry, words fail me.
And it’s here, in my sunlit kitchen, Ruby’s bright blue eyes on mine, a sunshine smile on her face, that it hits me—I’ve never loved anyone so much in my entire life.
She giggles and tilts her head, almost in wonder. “Cowboy, you look nervous.”
Stay.Ask her to stay. Tell her you love her. And never let her go.
If I don’t tell her how I feel, she’s gone. Never seeing her again, never holding her again at night, it’s a bullet to the heart. No way will I let that happen.
Ruby’s as much a piece of me as the land I live on.
I hang my head, a ragged breath shaking out of me. “Sunflower.”
Playful smile falling from her face, she sobers. Her small hands palm my bearded cheek. “What? What is it?”
Say it. Tell her.
When I lift my face, we lock eyes, and it’s like she’s heard every word I’ve left unspoken.
She sucks in a breath, and her eyes get as big as saucers. She puts a palm out as if she can stop me. “Charlie.”
My hands slide up her hips to grip her by the waist. Heart slamming against my ribs, I clear my throat. “Ruby, baby, I—”
The screen door clatters open.
