Page 60 of Broken Boundaries

“But this is weird! You’re living next to my dad?”

“I’m living at my place of employment. Your dad was kind enough to offer me a spot after his son embarrassed me in front of the whole town. And it’s not like we’re living in the same house. We hardly see each other. You’re being dramatic,” she tells him. We certainly see each other more than she’s alluding to, but I’m keeping my damn mouth shut. Zach doesn’t need to know that. He certainly doesn’t need to know that I wish I could kiss her again right now.

Zach takes a deep breath. “Yeah, ok. Sorry. I was just… surprised.” He takes a step toward her, and she holds out a hand to stop him. “Did you get the flowers I sent?”

“Zach, I don’t want your flowers. Stop it. I’m begging you to leave me alone at this point.”

Zach’s shoulders slump, and I think I might be witnessing him realize that he lost her for good.

“Ok. Ok. I’m sorry, Aspen. I was hoping after some time apart, you’d see that I was serious about us. But I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you really want.”

“Thank you,” she says sternly. She glances at me but doesn’t say anything else before getting in her car and leaving.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s just she asked me not to…” I try to explain.

“It’s fine. I’m glad you gave her a safe place to stay.” He watches as her car gets further down the gravel drive.

“Do you wanna go grab some coffee? My treat.”

He sighs. “Sure.”

He follows behind me as we drive to the little coffee shop on Main Street. I should be at work right now, but spending time with Zach is more important. Especially if he’s willing to actually talk to me.

We order our drinks and find a small empty table near the window.

“So, how is everything going? Are you almost done with the police academy?” I ask him once I realize he’s not going to be the one to break the awkward silence.

“It’s good. I’ve still got about three months. Some days are pretty tough…”

“Yeah, I imagine it’s not a cake walk.”

“But it’s good. I feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m just itching to get out in the field.”

“That’s great, Zach. I’m glad you found something you love.”

“Yeah, look. I’m sorry I didn’t want to work the ranch like you wanted me to…”

“No, don’t even worry about that. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy. Would it have been nice to pass it down to my son one day? Of course. But I would never want to do that if it wasn’t what you wanted. Ranch life is not for everyone, and I understand that.”

He nods and sighs. “Seems like Aspen is liking ranch life, which surprises me. I didn’t think she would like it as much as she does. She looked good today, though. Happy.”

I nod and try to think of an appropriate thing to say without making it sound like I’m interested in her. I settle on, “She is fitting in well. She’s a hard worker.”

“I know that. I just… I miss her, and I’m afraid I’ve lost her forever,” he admits.

After a pause, I tell him, “I think she’s moving on, Zach. You hurt her pretty badly. Don’t you think it might be best to just let her be happy?”

He rubs his hands down his face as he takes in my words. “I know. God, I know. I hate myself for cheating on her. Hell, I don’t even know why I did it. Sex with Aspen was fantastic.” My hand freezes on my coffee, and I try to remain calm, but I really don’t want to be thinking about Aspen having sex with anyone, especially not my son. “She would be willing to try whatever I wanted. Sex with Melinda is so… boring.”

“Why’d you do it then?”

“I don’t fucking know. Because she wanted me, I guess? When we moved here, Aspen was really stressed. She was nagging me a ton, putting all this responsibility on me. And then Mom was trying to monopolize all my time. I could tell Aspen didn’t want to hang out with her. I was worried about the academy. It just felt like everything was crashing down on me.

“Then Melinda showed up and basically opened her legs wide for me, no questions asked. It was easy. She was easy. But I don’t want to be with her. I want to be with Aspen.”

“Well, son, I think you might need to plan for what might happen if you don’t get Aspen back. I saw her go on a date the other night…” I don’t need to add that I was insanely jealous and tracked her down.

“Yeah, I know. Fucking Dawson. I love her, though. I guess I thought she’d see that and come back to me.”