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For a long time after she and Max broke up, she’d purposely remained alone. Until even her own company became too lonely to bear.
And watching Max go through women, one after another, broke her battered heart into pieces, because she desperately wanted to be the only woman in his life again.
But he’d never take her back, so she’d tried to find a glimmer of the happiness she had with him with someone else.
It hadn’t worked so far. Because the guys she dated didn’t make it to serious relationship status because they weren’t a good fit. She feared she’d forever be disappointed by a man simply because he wasn’t Max.
The man himself walked in the front door, boots off, his jeans outlining his long legs, while his T-shirt stretched across his wide chest and around his thick arms. He held his jacket in one hand.
He barely spared her a glance and addressed his father. “I’ll get cleaned up and be down for dinner in aminute.” He took the stairs up like an agile cat, quick and efficient.
She gave Mr. Wilde a “see” look.
Max didn’t want anything to do with her.
A buzzer went off in the kitchen.
Mr. Wilde waved her forward. “Come on. Dinner’s ready.”
“I’m not hungry. But thank you.”
“You barely touched your breakfast. You skipped lunch.”
She wasn’t the only one. Max hadn’t come in for lunch either.
“You need to eat.” He stepped to the side and waved his arm out. “Now let’s go.”
She didn’t want to be rude when she’d been welcomed into his home in her time of need. So she stood and proved how little she’d eaten that day and swayed on her feet before she caught herself.
Mr. Wilde took her by the arm to steady her. “I know you’re in a bad way right now, but you need to take care of yourself.”
She gave him a half-hearted grin. “I can’t seem to do anything right, right now.”
Mr. Wilde nudged her to start walking. “I’ll fix you a plate. You’ll eat. You’ll feel better.” As orders went, his were delivered with a gentle but firm command.
A few minutes later she found herself seated at the table with a plate of food in front of her. It looked amazing. Pork chops with caramelized onions and apples on top, rice pilaf, and steamed fresh green beans.The cinnamon on the apples smelled like heaven. But her stomach knotted anyway at the thought of eating anything.
Mr. Wilde set a glass of milk in front of her, then stared at her until she picked up her fork and took a bite of the chicken and garlic flavored rice pilaf.
Satisfied Mr. Wilde went back to retrieve the other two plates and brought them to the table.
Max walked in and took the seat furthest away from her. He smelled of soap and hay. He said a gruff, “Thank you,” to Mr. Wilde for handing him his dinner plate. He waited for Mr. Wilde to sit and begin eating, then put his head down and did the same.
Kenna didn’t look directly at him. She couldn’t. She’d start crying all over again.
Mr. Wilde engaged him in conversation, asking about his day and how things went with moving some cattle this morning.
Max kept his answers short in between eating two chops, a mountain of rice, and all his green beans. He packed it away, finished off his iced tea, then stood and took his plate and cutlery to the sink. He rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher. “I’m headed out.” There was a long pause, then he added, “Maybe she’ll eat and not just move the food around her plate if I’m not here.” With that grumble, he walked out of the house again.
Mr. Wilde sighed.
She couldn’t help herself and looked out the window to see if he was getting in his truck to go meet... someone besides her.
“Max traded his late nights at the bar for sunset rides a few months ago. He spends too much time alone now.”
“He’d rather be out there, than anywhere near me.” She stood. “Thank you for dinner. I’m sorry, I just can’t eat anything more.” She’d barely been able to choke down the few bites she did eat with her stomach knotted. Her heart was so heavy she couldn’t bear Max’s complete dismissal of her along with the loss of Marcus. “If you’ll excuse me. I think I need to lie down.”
“I’ll put your plate in the fridge. You can come down and eat it later.”
