Page 64 of More Than This Land

She blinked and focused. “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”

“I asked if you had any questions about the role. Anything that would help you make your decision.”

Decision.

The word echoed in the space between her ribs where her heart had been trying to tell her something for weeks.

This wasn’t what she wanted.

Robert’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

“I—” She stopped. The shaking uncertainty fell away. “I can’t take this job.”

He blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I can’t take this job.” She said it again, and this time the certainty spread through her chest, loosening the pressure that had been building since she walked into the building. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve wasted your time, and I apologize for that. But I already know where I belong.”

Robert leaned forward. “If this is about the salary, we have some flexibility.”

“It’s not the salary.” She stood, gathering her portfolio and the leather folder he’d given her. She handed it back to him. “The offer is generous. More than generous. This is a wonderful opportunity, and whoever you hire will be lucky to work here.”

“Then what is it?” He stood too; his hands spread in question.

How did she explain it?

“I thought I wanted this.” She set the leather folder on the table when he didn’t take it. “I was wrong. What I want is in Covenant Creek. It has been the whole time. I just wasn’t brave enough to choose it.”

He studied her for a long moment, then his expression softened, professional disappointment giving way to something like understanding. “The rancher.”

“What?” She squeaked out the word, her voice threatening to go high and shrill.

“The Calloway case study. The way you wrote it.” He picked up the folder and tapped it against his palm. “It wasn’t just exceptional work. It was personal. I wondered if there was more to the story.”

Heat flooded her face. “I didn’t do that intentionally.”

“It’s okay.” Robert smiled, the first genuinely warm expression she’d seen from him. “I’ve been doing this long enough to recognize when someone’s heart is somewhere else. I just hoped I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry.” She meant it, even though it came out in a hurried rush. “I should have figured this out before I came here.”

“Maybe.” He walked her to the door. “Or maybe you needed to see it to know for sure. Either way, I hope it works out. For both of you.”

She shook his hand and walked out of the conference room, through the polished lobby with its modern art and expensive furniture, and into the elevator that carried her down ten floors to street level. Excitement weakened her knees. The cautious, terrifying, wonderful kind of excitement that came from letting her heart choose and understanding that letting go didn’t have to be frightening.

The parking garage was cool and dim and exactly what she needed to gather herself. She climbed into her car and sat behind the wheel, keys in her hand, and let the magnitude of what she’d done flow through her.

She’d turned down a senior consultant position, a salary that would have changed her life, with security, prestige, and everything else she’d told herself she needed.

For what?

For Covenant Creek, her grandmother, her church family, and the community she’d fallen in love with without meaning to.

For Luke.

Her hands steadied with her deep inhale. Time to go home and try to tell Luke she’d made a decision. She started the engine and pulled out of the parking garage, already rehearsing how she’d tell him she was sorry for making this difficult.

Chapter Seventeen

There were probably a ton of country songs about lonely highways. Luke had never given them any thought until the miles stretched ahead of him in an endless line of blacktop.