Page 4 of His Secret Wish

“Yup.”

“What did Isabella want? It’s not like she’s a regular fixture around these parts anymore.”

Owen clenched his jaw, mostly to stop from snapping at his foreman. And friend. It wasn’t Sam’s fault he was feeling jittery and out of sorts after his run in with Izzy. He just wasn’t a sharer, especially when it came to things like feelings.

Then again, if he talked to Sam about the situation, and swore him to secrecy, it would mean he probably wouldn’t have to ask one of his brothers for advice. They were like a bunch of gossipy old biddies, and there was no doubt in his mind that everyone between here and the Canadian border would know his business by the weekend.

“She wants me to head to Truckee with her for a family thing.” The words rolled up his throat as smoothly as spurs on shag carpet. His neck started to burn. Fuck, he hated sharing this shit with people.

Sam leaned forward in the saddle. “That’s… kind of weird. Didn’t she just send you the divorce papers again?”

Bile churned in his gut. “Yeah, but apparently, her great grandmother doesn’t know we’re separated, and she has old-fashioned ideas and all that crap. So, Izzy wants us to go and put on a united front, since this may be the last time the whole family is together before… you know.”

“Gotcha.” Sam nodded. “So, what are you thinking of doing?”

Owen sighed. “That’s the stupid thing. I’m actually leaning toward telling her I’ll go with her and put on this charade. How fucked up is that?”

Sam stared at him long enough to make the moment border on awkward. And then he nodded again, like he’d come to some sort of conclusion. “I think that’s the right decision.”

Before Owen could ask why, the foreman urged his horse forward. On his way by, he clapped Owen on the shoulder, and then turned and headed back toward the herd.

Owen watched him retreat, and he could feel a fierce frown drag down his features. Well, that was less than helpful. Besides, what did Sam know about anything? He and his girlfriend, Cassie, had only been together a couple of years. Sam had didn’t know what it was like to be married to your high school sweetheart, and then have the universe conspire against you so badly that it eventually tore you apart.

Agreeing to this stupid plan was a mistake of epic proportions.

He tilted his head back. The sky was blue and dotted with white fluffy clouds, although the heat of the summer had yet to settle in since it was still only May. His thoughts and feelings were all jammed up inside him, and he honestly had no idea what to do.

Except he did. Deep down.

He rubbed his eyes and blew out a breath. Even after all this time, he couldn’t let Izzy down. And he knew without a doubt she wouldn’t have asked him to do this if it wasn’t incredibly important to her.

Looked like he was headed to Truckee this weekend. He urged his horse forward, back toward work. At least it should keep him busy enough that he didn’t have to dwell on whether or not he was making a huge mistake.