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“You’ve gotta go home,” he repeated. “Boone… there’s a fire at your ranch.”
Chapter 20
Janessa
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.
Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered anymore.
And okay, so maybe that was a little dramatic, but I was allowed to feel that way for at least a little while, right? The man of my dreams—one of them, anyway—had said he didn’t want me.
I’d heard him.
Maybe not with those exact words, but I’d still heard him say he wasn’t ready for love. He wasn’t ready for me.
But why? Yeah, maybe I was a little younger than the two of them, but was there something else? Something they wanted that I couldn’t give them?
I wished I knew.
Again, though, it didn’t really matter. I’d be lucky if either of them ever spoke to me again.
I turned my head and cried into my pillow, just like I’d been doing for the last… I didn’t even know how long. It felt like it had been forever. Judging by the dim orange light that was filtering in through my window, it was already evening.
Had it really been that long? And yet still not long enough for me to stop crying.
There was a faint knock on my bedroom door. Daisy Lynn or Becca. Maybe both of them. I almost yelled for them to go away like I’d done the last few times they’d knocked, but… no.
I needed to suck it up. I needed my friends.
“Come in,” I called, not bothering to raise my head as I heard the door open and footsteps come closer.
“Are you okay?” Daisy Lynn sat down on the bed next to me as Becca walked over to the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. God, had that really just been a few hours ago? It felt like days had passed since then.
“We were worried about you,” Becca said.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Are they gone?”
The last word came out as a whisper as another tear rolled down my cheek. Daisy Lynn reached out and wiped it away.
“They’re gone,” she said. “They left a few hours ago, right after you came in here and slammed the door.”
Ugh, God. I didn’t want to remember those particular moments, but they all came rushing back to me anyway. I remembered the sound of Boone’s voice and the look on his face when he saw me standing in the doorway, when he realized I’d heard everything.
I remember running to the house and almost knocking my uncle over as I raced up the stairs.
“Is my uncle here?” I asked, suddenly wanting to be near him, too. Or at least to apologize for nearly flattening him. And for having so little patience with him lately. I needed to be better at that.
“He’s out taking care of the cows,” Becca said. “Do you want me to go get him?”
She was already half-standing before I shook my head and motioned for her to sit back down again.
“Not right now,” I said. “Thank you, though. I just don’t want either of you to go anywhere yet.”
“We’ll stay right here as long as you need us,” Daisy Lynn said, reaching out to brush my hair back from my face.
They were good friends, and I was lucky to have them. I had so much in my life to be thankful for, and yet… it seemed like the worst moments always took up the most space in my head.
“We’ll stay as long as you need us, too,” another voice added.
