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“So why do you look so sad?” Leia laughs.
“Because it doesn’t matter where Dan takes me, it’s not Dan who I want.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve made up your mind.” Leia has a clever grin on her face.
“I wish it were that easy, this isn’t a choice between Dan and Cole. Cole’s made it very clear that me and him aren’t an option. He’s so hell-bent on self-destruction he wouldn’t let himself have me even if he wanted to.”
“Savannah, Cole is difficult. He’s got a real harsh way about him, but he cares. He’s loved before and got real hurt and he’s scared to do that again. If he’s the one you want, you have to show him that he has no need to be afraid.”
“Evening, ladies, I will be your entertainment for this evening,” Dalton bursts through the front door and hangs up his hat. “Now I ain’t ruling out a chick flick so long as it has at least some action in it.”
“When you say entertainment, what you really mean is protection, right?” Leia calls him out. I swear, these Carson men insult our intelligence by thinking we don’t know that they have us on twenty-four-hour watch.
“Come on, Dalton, we're not idiots. Do you honestly think I believe Wade is playing poker with the River Boys tonight?”
“Please, girls, don’t make it hard.” Dalton sighs.
“So, you drew the short straw and got us on a Friday night?”
“Hey, I could have sat out on the porch like Finn and Tate do, but I happen to like ya company.” He gives us that charming grin of his.
“So I’m assuming Wade is on security with Cole at the charity Gala, waiting for something to go wrong.” Leia hands over Jacob to his uncle and takes a seat next to me and Breanna.
“Wade is there, Cole’s em…”
“Cole’s what?” I sit up a little straighter, suddenly curious when I see Dalton looking a little worried.
“Cole’s kinda AWOL, has been since last night. Well, we can’t really call it that. We know where he is. He’s just doin’ that thing he does when he needs to be alone. Ain't any of us gonna argue with him.” He screws up his nose and holds out the baby in his arms. “I think this one dropped summit.”
“So is Cole okay?” I ignore him and try to get more outta him.
“No, he’s bothered about somethin’.” His eyebrow raises at me. “But ain’t any of us that can do jack about it.”
Leia gives me a look, the kind of look that tells me maybe I could.
“You know what you want, Savannah.” She holds up her hands.
“I do but…”
“No buts, time for action. Me, Teresa, and Dalton have things covered here. You take Dalton’s truck, drive to line camp and tell that stubborn asshole how ya feel. If he still wants to play hardball after that, at least you can say you tried everything.”
“You’re right. I’m gonna go have this out with him once and for all. No one strips me down and fucks me in the middle of a farm yard without me having my say.” I realize I’ve said far too much when Dalton and Leia both look at each other in shock and quickly head over to Dalton, tapping over his pockets until I locate his keys.
“Wish me luck, and Dalton was right, you definitely have a code brown situation over here.” I wave my hand under my nose before leaving them still stunned and heading out the door.
There’s a warm glow coming from inside the cabin when I get to the line camp and before I lose all my confidence, I barge through the door without knocking. Cole is sitting in front of the wood burner staring into the flames. He looks shocked at the intrusion, which is odd because he must have heard the truck pull up, but then I realize it’s not shock at all, it’s disappointment.
“What ya doin’ out here, Red?” he growls at me impatiently as he looks back into the fire.
“I came out here to put stuff straight.”
“Things couldn’t be straighter.” He keeps his eyes focused on the bright flames flickering in front of him.
“No, there are things you don’t know and…”
“Yeah, Red, you’re just full of surprises.” He gets up from the chair and stalks toward me. “I don’t like surprises, especially ones that mean I’ve been sticking it into another man’s girl.”
The cold bite of his words has my palm slapping hard against his face, it stings me like a bitch, yet it doesn’t even make him flinch.
