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Her pictures were all over the internet. He’d felt like such a whopping idiot for not realizing who she was. Emma was the number one female country singer of the year, from the looks of it. She was everywhere.
After realizing what he’d been up against, Caleb snapped his computer shut. He wasn’t going to go looking for updates. They only angered him further.
Caleb marched out of the house, the congestion of the family returning home already overwhelming. Instead, he went out to the barn. At least the animals didn’t want to gossip about a country music star. Even if they did, he wouldn’t be able to understand them.
He entered the barn and immediately leaned against the wall. Six months had gone by since he’d last seen her. Six months after listening to her make excuse after excuse as to why she couldn’t simply tell him the truth. Six full months and he hadn’t managed to figure out a way to get over her.
It wasn’t normal.
“Thinking about Emma, huh.”
Caleb jumped and turned toward the source of the voice. Daniel stood in the doorway of one of the stalls, a brush in hand. He glanced over at Caleb with that knowing, quiet look that Caleb had grown to hate. “It’s none of your business.”
“You’re right. It’s not.”
“Then don’t talk about it.”
Daniel shrugged. “Suit yourself. But I know it’s better to talk about something like this than to ignore it. Nothing is going to be fixed by running from it.”
“I’m not the one running.” He pointed out the door as if Emma were right there. “She’s the one who was running. She ran from everything from the very get-go. What kind of person runs from her job? From her future? From her family?”
Daniel gave Caleb a pointed look. “You know better than most how often that happens.”
“Our parents don’t count. They weren’t right in the head. They couldn’t be. There was too much responsibility, and they would have only messed us up.”
“I dunno’ I feel like we’re all a little messed up anyway.”
“We turned out okay. Look at us. None of us have run from our obligations.”
Daniel lifted a brow. “And Carter? What about him?”
“That’s different.”
“Is it?”
Caleb scowled. “Yes, it’s different. Our folks. Carter. None of them had what she had.”
“And that makes it okay? Look who’s making excuses now.”
Heat flashed beneath his skin and he charged toward his brother. “I don’t care what you say. Emma was a coward when she didn’t have to be. How hard would it have been for her to tell me who she was, huh? She could have said it that first night we were staying at Mateo’s. She could have told me when she started playing that guitar. There were so many opportunities for her to justsay something!”
“Think about what you’re saying, Caleb, and then think about how you treated her in the beginning. I don’t see you offering her your trust right out of the gate. Why expect her to? She had a lot more to protect than you had. What would have happened if you learned who she was and then told someone? Do you think people would have just left her alone? She would have been fighting off the paparazzi right and left.”
“I wouldn’t have breathed a word, and you know it,” Caleb spat. “No one wants to keep Copper Creek free of that sort of thing more than me. If I had my way, we’d prevent people from moving here and make it our own little paradise.”
Daniel chuckled. “Then you would have never met her.”
“Maybe that would have been for the best,” Caleb said. He didn’t have to look in Daniel’s direction to know his brother was judging him. He spun around with the intention of leaving the barn to find some solace elsewhere when his brother’s voice stopped him.
“You have to forgive her, Caleb.”
“I don’t have to do any such thing,” he shot back, turning to face Daniel. “She didn’t ask for my forgiveness, and even if she did, I wouldn’t have to give it.”
“That’s where you’re a little misguided.”
Caleb groaned. This was what he’d been trying to avoid. He didn’t need a sermon from his brother. There was a reason he’d kept to himself and tried to avoid people. He’d wanted to stop his heart from being torn to shreds by someone who was only going to betray him. That’s what most people did. And Emma was no different.
It didn’t matter that she hadn’t meant to hurt him. What mattered was that she’d hurt him, and she could have avoided dragging it out.
