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Smirking, Ford crosses his arms and leans back in his seat. “Then what are you gonna do about it, asshole?”
I open my mouth to tell him I’m going to beat the everloving shit out of his smug ass when we get back to the ranch, and then tell Ruby I love her, but the buzzing of my phone breaks our hard stare down.
Glaring at Ford, I put it on speakerphone. “What?” I bark.
“Hey, uh, Charlie?” Wyatt’s voice crackles. “You almost home?”
“Yeah, why?”
A long pause. Then—“I think Ruby’s leaving.”
I punch the gas.
“What?”
“She’s cleaning out her cottage. Packing her car.”
“Fuck,” Ford says.
My stomach lurches. “Keep her there. Don’t let her go,” I rasp, my hands throttling the wheel.
Everything in my mind empties.
Ford’s warnings. The boundaries I put up. Ruby’s secrets. All I can think isI’m too late.
I’ve been so set on living in the past, I couldn’t pull myself together to see the future I have right in front of me.
I increase my speed, the old truck fishtailing on the winding road.
I’m keeping this woman. Fuck letting her go.
And fuck me for not giving her what she deserves.
The shrill screech of tires cut the evening air and my head jerks up from the trunk.
Shit. Oh shit.
A furious cowboy stomps his way toward me. I’ve never seen a man move so fast in my entire life; sparks could shoot out of his boots. I slam my suitcase into the trunk and back away, eyes wide.
This isn’t what I wanted. I wanted to get out clean. No cuts.
On the cabin porch, Wyatt watches with arms crossed. “If you’re trying to get away, Fairy Tale, you gotta be faster than that,” he calls out.
I shoot him a glare.
Because he’s right. I should have moved faster, but I spent the day packing, saying goodbye to the horses, crying in Arrow’s velvet coat and telling him how much I loved him and Charlie.
“Get outta here,” Charlie shouts at his brothers.
Wyatt promptly heads to the pasture, and Ford gives me a long look of concern before heading down to the lodge.
And then Charlie’s in front of me, legs braced apart like he’s ready to go into combat.
“You’re leaving,” Charlie grits out.
I stare up at his stiff posture, his jaw set in a tight line, and I’ve never seen a cowboy look so damn sexy. So pissed off.
My chin comes up in defiance. “Summer’s almost over.”
