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“Out front. Where’s yours?”
“Back here. We drove the Caddy, and I have the spare key.”
I pulled my keys out of my purse and ran the rest of the way to the Caddy, with keys in hand.
“Connie. Please don’t do this,” Luke’s voice echoed through the small parking lot. “Connie!”
But I didn’t respond, and as soon we arrived at the Caddy, I unlocked the driver’s door, jumped in, popped the lock for Shea, turned over the engine, and we took off out of the parking lot, faster than you could say,what the fuck are you doing, Connie?
“Where are we headed?” Shea asked once we were on the main road, and I’d turned off my phone. The guys kept calling and texting me, and I didn’t want to respond. Not now anyway.
I knew they’d have a tough time of it for a bit, but once they settled down and realized I wasn’t coming back, they’d figure it out. They were a resourceful bunch.
“Cricket,” I told her.
“Why?”
“It’s my home.”
“Didn’t you give up your apartment?”
“I did, but I’m sure I can get it back if I ask.”
I was already mentally making plans to return to my old life, the life I left behind only three weeks ago. The life I knew and loved until I was talked into a life that I simply wasn’t suited for.
“I think it’s already rented,” she said, as I glanced over at her. “Someone from the puppet theater took it. They may have already moved in.”
“Fine. Then I’ll stay with you for a while. Just until I can get another apartment.”
“I’ll have to run it past the guys. I mean, I’m sure it’s fine, but Gio has a couple of his cousins visiting us from Italy. We kind of have a full house right now. What about your ranch?”
“I can’t go there. That’s where the guys live.”
The ranch and all of us making love and music flashed in front of my eyes for a moment, and my heart broke. I physically wanted to cry, but I knew that was simply the reaction of the moment. Everything would be fine once I was resettled somewhere.
“But it’syourranch. You can kick them out.”
“I can’t do that.” I almost spat the words out; they came out so fast. I would never ask them to leave. They loved our… the ranch. It suited them. It just didn’t suit me.
“Why not? They don’t mean anything to you.”
Anger immediately bubbled up.
I turned to her. “That’s not true. They mean a great deal to me.”
“Huh. I never would’ve guessed from the way you left them tonight.”
She simply didn’t understand. How could she? She had everything she ever wanted, whereas I had everything Ineverwanted.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
Damn, she was persistent. I’d never known her to be so persistent.
“Look, you left your fiancé at the altar, and I didn’t ask you any questions about it. I just drove the car.”
“I believe he abandoned me, and I was merely running away from the embarrassment of it and of course, there were my parents. I needed to get away from my smothering parents.”
