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"It's okay."
"Baby, I'll be there for Halloween, and we can take Flora trick-or-treating together. I promise. You tell her that, okay?"
I believed him. I trusted the arsehole. Goddamn it all to hell!
"I'm going to miss you," my voice came out in a whine, and I was mortified.
He laughed. "I'll miss you, too. The cell signal sucks on the trail, so I won't be able to call you. I don't want you to get the wrong idea and bolt."
"Now, why would you say that?" I lay in bed with my earbuds.
"Turn on the camera."
"No, it's fine."
"Isha, do as you're told."
I turned on the light and the phone camera.
"You're sulking."
I sucked my lower lip into my mouth, pouting. "How long can we do this long-distance thing?"
“For however long we need to. You look beautiful. I miss you, baby." He was in his bed. We'd had enough video calls that I was now familiar with his house. It was a simple wood cabin with all the modern amenities. I liked it very much.
"You're going to be even busier with the winter calving in November." Tears sprang in my eyes for no good reason. I was turning into a bloody sap.
"I love how you drop those rancher terms," he teased.
I smiled as he wanted me to. "Flora is going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss her, too."
"Rowan? Are there any women on this trail with you?"
"We have a few hands who are women. You know that." He winked at me. "You jealous, darlin'?”
"No, not really. I trust you."
He was silent for a long moment, and his Adam's apple bobbed. "You do?" he asked hoarsely, his voice full of emotion.
"I do," I admitted. He'd worn me down. He'd showered me with love and affection, fallen in love with my daughter, and made her fall in love with him. How on earth could I resist him?
"Thank you."
"No, thank you, Rowan, for not letting me go."
"Not once I found you. The universe was looking out for me when I walked into Claudio's apartment that day. The universe was looking out for me when Ace met you at that bar in London. You…you and Flora make my life better."
I touched the screen of the phone. "You're going to come back, right?"
"You bet your sweet ass, darlin'."
Those were the longest ten days. No calls, no nothing. I got a text from him once in a while when he had cell signal.
"I miss him," I confessed to Mick. "I don't know what to do. How to make this work?"
Flora was sitting with Art at a table while I was at the bar with Mick at his pub.
