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His easy smile quickly faded. “Really? Like you didn’t see me last night?”
“I mean, according to Sarah,” I began, tugging my damp T-shirt free from my sweaty abdomen. “The two of you were kind of seeing each other.”
I swear the light went right out of his hazel eyes, though he played it off coolly. “She told you that, huh? Did you ask her about me?” He took a step forward. “Were youcuriousabout me?”
“Ha, no,” I laughed dryly. “She offered it up and said that she was waiting on you to call her back or something.”
He nodded. “Well, if it puts that mind of yours at ease, I wasnotreally interested in Sarah. If you knew her to any extent, you’d know she kind of had this way of finagling her way into your life—ifthat’s what she wanted to do.”
The past tense talk of her caught me off guard. “Yeah, I guess I get that. She did have a way of getting what she wanted, I think.”
“But,no, for the record,” he said, his tone calm and cool. “I had no intention of calling her. We went on two dates—both of which were just drinks there at Outlaws after I got off my shift. Never even left the bar with her.”
“Great, good on you. How honorable,” I snorted, grabbing up the buckets of feed. “Thanks for the clarification.”
“Yeah, anytime, Beth.” He didn’t move out of my way. “Would you like to know about my other past dates?” He gave me an amused grin, but I ignored it.
“I have no interest in knowing anything more about your dating life,” I grumbled. “But I would appreciate it if you’d move out of my way.”
“If you say so,” he said, stepping to the side—and then following me out into the aisle way.
Ugh. Why will he not just go away?
“Beth?”
I exhaled sharply, dumping feed as I went. “Yes, Blaze?”
“I was here last night, working horses,” he said, his eyes locking with mine as I glanced back up at him. “Thatwasthe original question you asked, you know—and as a lawyer, I wouldn’t have expected you to let that one go unanswered. It’s much more relevant to the case, hon.” There was a teasing tone to his voice, as a smile tugged his lips upward.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Mm, thank you for filling in the gap.”
“Anytime.” He shot me a wink that did absolutely nothing for me. “I’ll let you get to that feeding, but seriously, don’t forget the advice I gave you earlier. We don’t really know each other, but your dad would want me to look out for you.”
“He wouldn’t want me to ignore Garrett,” I forced out the words, spilling some feed as I fed one of the horses, a bay mare I didn’t recognize. “He cared about him.”
“Yeah, and I think it’s plain to see that you cared about him, too, standing here defending the guy who ruined your life.”
I froze, my hands trembling. “No one ruined my life.”
“He kept you from coming home. That’s what your mom said.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t talk to my mom so much,” I snapped, shaking my head as I made it to the last stall, my heart squeezing.
Jett.
My father’s old black gelding greeted me with a nicker, poking his head out of the stall. He had been the last of the horses my dad had personally trained and that wasyearsago, making Jett nearly twenty-four years old. He looked to be in good shape as I stroked his forehead and filled his trough with feed. Tears slipped down my cheeks, and as I brushed themaway, I stole a glance back to where Blaze had been standing. He was no longer there.
Thank God.
“I know you miss Dad,” I choked out as I turned my attention back to the old horse, my emotions catching up to me as Jett hungrily dug into the feed—like he wasn’t fed copious amounts of the highest quality stuff with a workload ofzero.I watched him for a few moments longer before leaving him to finish in peace. I put the buckets away, before stopping to take a seat on one of the stools in the feed room.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, and the piece of notebook paper fluttered to the floor. I scooped it up and smoothed it out, reading it for the first time since he had handed it over.
Please call me sometime. (214) 555-1739
My heart jumped to my throat, and fresh tears from a well I’d thought had long gone dry slipped down my cheeks. Grief was fresh from my dad’s passing, but nothing had prepared me for facing the man who I’d pined after for years. I wanted to hate him, and I’d pretended to for so many years that I’d nearly convinced myself I did.
But apparently, the lie didn’t stick.
