AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He nodded. “I’m sure you will.”
“Will you?”
He stared at her for a few seconds and shook his head.
“No. We need to head back.” He walked away from her.
Eden wrapped her arms around the horse’s neck and cried. Why did she come here? Why did she meet the one man who would be good to her? Why did she fall in love with him?
She hated how they argued but it was their defense mechanism. If they fought, they wouldn’t love. She shook her head. She would always love him. It just wasn’t fair to either of them. Why meet him if she couldn’t be with him?
“God, you sure work in mysterious ways.” She climbed into the saddle, rode up the embankment and waited for everyone to get in line.
“Were you talking to Ian?” Cammie asked her in a whisper.
“He saw me crying and asked if I was okay.”
“Did you tell him no?”
“No. I said, I will be. I asked him if he was, and he said no.” Eden wiped another tear away. “I want to leave here, but I’ll tough it out.”
“If you’re sure? I have no problem checking out early.”
“What are you going to do about Dusty?”
“I don’t know. I do know that I’ll miss him, butprobably not as much as you’ll miss Ian.” Cammie shook her head. “You’re crazy to leave that man, Eden.”
“I don’t have a choice. This is my career.”
“Yeah, well what good does that do you? A career won’t keep you warm at night. I think you’re making a terrible mistake.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Eden snapped then immediately felt horrible. “I’m so sorry, Cam. I’m just a mess.”
“It’s okay. I know you’re hurting, but he is too. You’re both miserable and there has to be some solution.”
“There isn’t. Don’t you think I’ve tried to think of something? It all comes down to I won’t stay here, and he won’t go to Chicago, and I understand that. Chicago is not for him. He’s a Montana born and bred cowboy, and I’m an idiot for getting involved with him.”
Cammie didn’t say anything as she joined the line of riders and followed Chip back. Eden looked over her shoulder and saw Ian at the back. His eyes met hers, but she turned away from him. If she didn’t, she’d ride back to him, and beg him to make love with her one more time. She decided this would be the last trail ride for her and she wouldn’t participate in any activities. She was going to laze around the pool, play tennis, and relax in her cabin. She didn’t want to see Ian again.
Wednesday night, she walked to Cammie’s cabin, and knocked on the door. It opened, and Cammie stepped onto the porch.
“It’s a beautiful night,” she said.
“Yes.” Eden really didn’t want to go to thebonfire, but she hated sitting in the cabin and thinking about Ian and how she had to leave him.
They arrived at the spot for the bonfire to see just about everyone there. She saw Willa and Devin and Jaxon and Presley there too. People sat in lounge chairs or on logs and watched as the men carried wood to the pit and lit it. As she sat there, she looked across the pit and saw Ian staring at her, then the flames lifted higher, and she lost sight of him.
“Are you okay?” Cammie whispered.
“No. God, Cammie, I hate feeling this way. My heart is just breaking.”
Cammie slipped her arm around her.
“I hate that you’re hurting like this.”
“I do too. Love is supposed to be this wonderful feeling and all I feel right now is hurt.” Eden sighed. “I’m going to go. I’m sorry. You stay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She didn’t give Cammie time to say anything as she made her way through the crowd to head to her cabin. She was almost at the road leading to the cabins when she saw Ian leaning against his truck. He hadn’t seen her, but she knew the second he did. He straightened up, turned, and opened the truck door to climb inside the cab.
