Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
My fingers latched on to his neck, and this time when our mouths met, it was with a frantic desperation that made my heart positively throb. His mouth was scorching hot and unbearably tender, and I finally had to wrench myself away before I was in over my head again.
I stood up and stepped away, nearly toppling backward.
He didn’t try to reach for me again, knowing as well as I did that it was time.
I stared down at his handsome face once more as my eyes became watery with emotion, then stumbled to the door. With Hamlet snuggling closer in my sheets, I felt a bit less lonely. Even his soft snore in my ear was a comfort tonight.
Still, sleep came in fits and starts, and by the time I met Sienna outside, I was desperate to get on the road and away from the farm. The moon was still shining in the early dawn sky, and I focused on it while getting my head in order.
The ride to the airport was filled with thick tension I couldn’t readily explain.
“Will you keep in touch with Kerry?” Sienna asked, pulling up to the departure door.
“Yes, of course,” I replied, but I had trouble looking her in the eye.
“Okay, good.” She looked away guiltily.
“Why do you—”
“He needs someone in his corner,” she said plainly, but there was bald regret in her features. “And your friendship is important to him.”
“It’s important to me too.”
We hugged goodbye, and I waved as she pulled away from the curb, my chest tight and achy.
What in the hell was that about?
I took a deep breath, walked into the airport, and back toward my real life.
28
Kerry
I lifted the pitchfork and scooped some fresh straw for Rocket’s bed. I had just returned from a short ride after dinner to clear my head. My gaze naturally slid toward Mercy’s stall because it somehow made me feel closer to Julian.
It’d only been three days since he left, but it sure seemed longer. The farm felt a bit less bright without his easy smile, and there was a constant throb dead center in my chest that no amount of rubbing would alleviate.
But there was little time to sulk because the autumn season would be bearing down upon us soon. In addition to our regular duties, that meant hiring part-timers, administering vaccinations, collecting firewood, and fixing faulty farm equipment so we could keep up with the demands of the harvest.
The fact that Firefly Goods would be opening soon too meant it was all hands on deck. And because we couldn’t predict how well the business might do, Sienna would initially be running it solo, with additional part-time help from her mom—and me of course, doing anything she needed in support.
So why couldn’t I stop wondering what Julian would think of the autumn and winter seasons in Wyoming? We might not have had the bustle of city life, but we had gorgeous scenery to get us through the more frigid nights.
Okay, I sounded like a postcard, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.
In any other circumstance, I’d want to try, with you.
I meant those words, but in retrospect regretted saying them. Because now that he was gone and there was a visceral hole in my life, the honest truth was that I’d want him in any circumstance, to hell with the consequences.
Too little, too late. Because of course I needed to be the honorable one, sensible too, in order to prove to everyone I’d hurt that I could still hold everything together. Even if it was my own heart that was crumbling in the process.
By now he’d have been fitted for his tux, which no doubt he’d filled out nicely, and preparing to travel with his family to his sister’s wedding. The people he left behind back here in little old Wyoming were probably far from his thoughts.
I’d even considered texting him some of the photos Ainsley and I had taken that one day, hoping it would remind him of us, but I didn’t want to push, so I’d give it more time or wait for him to reach out to me. Because part of missing him also meant longing for his companionship. I didn’t realize how lonesome I’d feel in that department until I was left to milk the cows without him the last few mornings. Pathetic.
And somehow Sienna made it worse by checking to make sure I was okay every other minute, like I’d fall apart at the seams right in front of her eyes. Sometimes it felt like I would.
Speak of the devil, I paused when I heard her pitched voice at the stable entrance.
“What’s wrong, Brad?” She frantically motioned to me. “He’s right here.”
My pulse skyrocketed. Had something happened to my parents?
“I’ll tell him,” she said as she strode toward me.