AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But Casey was wrong. It wasn’t love. Mutual respect, definitely. Lust, most definitely. But not love.
Darla Holiday walked up. “I hope you’re telling Rome about our plan for a surprise birthday party for Cloe on Friday.”
Cloe’s birthday was this coming Friday? She hadn’t said a word. Of course, that wasn’t her style. She didn’t like drawing attention to herself. She didn’t want people doing things for her as much as she wanted to do things for other people.
His gaze searched for her and he found her talking to her father by the open doors of the church. She noticed him watching her and a smile softened her face. His breath got caught in his lungs and his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. All his denials melted away beneath those pretty green eyes.
He knew.
He knew that no matter how much he denied it, it was too late to worry about falling.
He’d already fallen.
He didn’t remember driving home from church. Nor did he remember the excuse he gave for not going inside with everyone else to eat the dinner Cloe had put in the Crock-Pot that morning. Instead, he headed to the stables and saddled up his horse. He rode long and hard, trying to outrun the fear gnawing at his gut. Fear that he was headed for the same heartache he’d felt when his mother and then Emily had left.
But he couldn’t outrun the pain. Soon he slowed his horse and just accepted that it was too late. His heart was going to break again.
His cellphone rang. It was probably Cloe wondering if he was okay. As much as he didn’t feel like talking to her, he couldn’t let her worry. He pulled his cellphone from his pocket. But it wasn’t Cloe. It was his lawyer. He answered, curious as to why she was calling on a Sunday.
“I hate to bother you on a Sunday, Rome, but I’ve been out of town on business and just discovered this report on my desk and figured you’d want this information as soon as possible.” There was the sound of paper shuffling. “You know how you asked me to find out as much as I could about Oleander Investments? Well, while I was away, my assistant discovered that it’s owned by Corbin Whitlock.”
“Corbin Whitlock? That name sounds familiar.”
“It should. He lived in Wilder for a while. My assistant also found out that Oleander Investments have filed a foreclosure lawsuit and is claiming ownership of the Holiday Ranch.”
Chapter Seventeen
“So what happened from Sunday at church to now to take that sparkle from your eyes?”
Cloe glanced over at her grandmother. Mimi had arrived that morning loaded down with gifts. There was a tea set that was Cloe’s great-great grandmother’s and an entire car trunk of flowers Mimi had taken from her own garden.
She and Mimi were planting those flowers now. Mimi in a wide-brimmed gardening hat and Cloe wearing one of Rome’s old cowboy hats. She had carefully wrapped and boxed Rome’s mother’s gardening hat and placed it in a sealable, plastic bin before finding a spot for it on the top shelf of the closet.
“I’m guessing you and Rome had a fight,” Mimi said. “But there’s no need to fret. An occasional spat is just part of marriage.”
Cloe wished it was just a spat. But it was far more than that. Rome had slept in the spare room last night. He claimed it was because he had business to take care of in Houston and needed to get up early and didn’t want to wake her, but she knew that wasn’t the case. She knew his sudden cold shoulder had nothing to do with ranch work and waking her and everything to do with him realizing that they had gotten too close.
He was right.
They had gotten too close. Or, at least, she had gotten too close to him. Before when he had ignored her, she’d just felt annoyed and angry. Now, she felt like her heart had been dug out of her chest and was lying naked and exposed—just like the tulip bulbs her grandmother was getting ready to replant.
And it wasn’t just Rome she had gotten attached to. Casey had become the ornery little brother she’d never had and Sam was a good man who struggled to show his emotions—just like her own daddy. They had started to feel like family. Remington Ranch had started to feel like home.
She loved cooking and baking in the kitchen and gardening in the garden and going out to the barn to see Blake and the country music cats. She loved riding Lady Grantham every day and had started thinking about starting a vegetable garden in the spot on the other side of the stables and putting up a chicken coop.
She had started believing this was all real.
No wonder Rome had withdrawn. He had seen what was happening and didn’t want her to get hurt.
But it was too late for that.
She was already hurt.
And it wasn’t Rome’s fault. It was hers. He had been completely upfront with her. She knew how he felt about love and marriage. She had entered into this relationship knowing it was all just a ruse. If it was no longer a ruse to her, that was her problem. Not Rome’s. She needed to pull her head out of the clouds and accept the fact that this wasn’t her home. Casey and Sam weren’t her family. And Rome wasn’t ever going to fall in love with her.
Ever.
She carefully picked up the tulip bulbs and placed them in the hole she’d dug. As she covered them up with dirt, she tried to bury her own feelings. “Rome and I didn’t get in a fight,” she said. “I’m just not feeling very well today.” It was the truth. Her stomach had been upset all morning. No doubt related to the ache in her chest.
