Page 43 of A Simple Regret

Maren quickly follows his statement up, “No, you stay here so you’re not in the way. We can pet Goose while we wait.”

“’Kay,” he replies. I can just picture Goose sitting there like the good boy he is, lapping up all the attention and snuggles.

After I reach my quad, I remove the rope and toss it aside.

“This was unexpected,” Wyatt says quietly, grabbing the rope and starting to roll it up. Wyatt wasn’t home when we arrived and didn’t know who was with me until just now. When I texted him to let him know I was coming out to sled with a friend, I intentionally left out the friend’s name.

“Zip it,” I mutter, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with a mixture of annoyance and anger.

“Hey.”

I ignore him, climbing on my four-wheeler and starting it up. I take off, returning the machine to the section of the barn where we keep them. Parking it in line with the others, I wish I had more time to get my feelings under control, but unfortunately, I don’t.

Wyatt brings the sled to the barn and sets it on a shelf near the quads. “Keeping this here?” he asks, even after it’s put away.

“Yeah,” I reply, climbing off my quad. Might as well keep it here. Maren has a small sled for their yard, and this way, it’ll be here when we come back out again without having to transport it back and forth.

When.

No if…

“You okay?” he asks gently.

“Yeah,” I state a little too quickly. Taking a deep breath, I turn toward him, hands on my hips as my heart pounds heavily in my chest. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

He shrugs his beefy shoulders and leans against the wall. “You don’t have to figure that out today, man.”

“I know, it’s just…I’m still…hurt.”

He nods in understanding. “I get it. There’s a lot of history there between you two.”

I look down at the concrete slab we’re standing on. “I wanted to stay angry. From the moment I saw her standing there, I wanted to hate her. I’ve lived with that fury for what feels like a lifetime, and now…I don’t know. It’s not just the anger I feel but something is still there.”

“Uneasy, maybe? There was trust and then it was broken.”

I nod, wondering if that’s what it is.

“I wasn’t hitting on her, man,” he states, a wolfish grin on his face. “I could tell by the look in your eyes you were ready to knock me out.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I mutter.

Wyatt barks out a laugh. “Right…” he replies, drawing out that single word. “So, if I were to go have mac and cheese with them, you’d be completely fine with it?” His eyes are bright with humor, at my expense.

“Of course,” I mumble, the words like sand in my throat.

That makes him laugh even harder. “Stay away from the hay, man, because your pants are on fire.”

I roll my eyes. “Very fourth grade of you.”

He shrugs. “Listen, I know I’m just a dumbass who probably spends more time with animals than people, but you’re like a little brother to me, so I feel it’s my place to say something. Don’t let the past dictate your future. If you want to spend time with Maren and her kid, do it. Just because you get to know her again doesn’t mean history is gonna repeat itself.”

“So, you think I should just forgive and forget?”

“I didn’t say that. I think you need to have a conversation, if you haven’t already. You’ll never be able to move forward without it. And that doesn’t necessarily mean with her either. Maybe that conversation is the closure you need to finally be free from her ghost.”

His words hang heavy between us, mostly because I know he’s right.

“All right, I’ve done my good deed for the day. You need anything, holler. And you know you’re welcome to come out here anytime and sled.” He levels me with a gaze. “With or without your neighbors.”