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Chapter One
Brett Watkins tossed the pencil onto the drawing table with a disgruntled sigh. He was struggling to focus, but he needed to finish with the plans. Being behind on this wasn’t beneficial for him or his client.
He pushed the chair back, stood, and stretched. He was passionate about flying, but since Riley Madison had moved back to his hometown of Clifton, Montana, Brett didn’t fly as much. Creating as an architect was something he loved doing.
He sauntered to the window and stared out into the bright sunshine. He had to leave this house for a while.
As he cruised through town, he shook his head. There was nothing here for him except his parents, who were always on the road in their RV.
So, why stay? Brett mumbled as he twisted his hands around the steering wheel until the pain stopped him. He had no game plan in mind as he drove along the road. He had to clear his thoughts and stop thinking about how Diane had abandoned him.
“That’s some tough shit there, Diane. You’re supposed to fight for your marriage. If anything was off, then you needed to talk to me. Not just walk out.” He was sure there was someone else, but he couldn’t prove it, and she always denied it.
When he filed for divorce, Diane called him and chewed him a new one…
“You filed quickly, Brett. Are you that eager to end this marriage?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?Youwalked out, Diane, not me. You didn’t want to stay married, and I’d like to know why.”
“I never intended to hurt you, Brett, but it’s not the same anymore. All you did was work—all the damn time. I got bored. When Riley moved back to Clifton, I’d been hoping you wouldn’t work as much.”
“Well, pardon the hell out of me. I was working, so we’d have a good life. So we could have children and be able to care for them. Diane, I was home every weekend, and we took two vacations a year. When I worked late, I wanted to get to where we didn’t worry about money.”
Diane laughed. “Brett, as long as we’d been together, we did not worry about money. You love making it, but you ignored me—”
“Bullshit! I never,not once, ignored you. I loved you, and I thought you felt the same about me. All the times we spent talking about raising a family—”
“I didn’t want a family—”
“You lied to me? The entire time we were married, you lied.”
“I wanted you.”
“You had me,” he shouted into the phone.
“It wasn’t enough,” she hissed.
“Nothing is ever enough for you. Sign the damn papers.” He disconnected.
He sighed, knowing he needed to get as far away from her as possible, so he moved to Helena after the divorce. He’d call Riley and see how life was treating him and hoped it was better than his because Brett’s had gone down the toilet.
Later, as he sat on the sofa in his house, he lifted a glass of whiskey to his lips and sipped. He squeezed his fingers tight around the glass and almost threw it into the empty hearth. They’d been together for eight years, and she pulled this stunt, and he never understood why. The only thing he could think of was that she had an affair, but she denied it whenever he brought it up. He thought he had a good marriage.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw it was only nine. He reached for his cellphone on the coffee table, scrolled through the numbers until he found Riley’s number, and pressedSend.
“Brett?” Riley answered in a surprised voice.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
Riley laughed. “No. Katie and I were getting ready to watch a movie since we finally got the kids to bed. What’s up? Are you doing okay?”
Brett huffed. Riley knew what had happened to his marriage, and Brett knew he’d been worried about him.
“I’m good. Really. I’m thinking of moving… somewhere.”
“Well, you liked Clifton. Come here and find a place. I know a great realtor.”
“I did like it there…”
