Page 68 of Love Me Again

He laughed, watching as Molly gently swayed their nephew, already head-over-heels in love, clearly.

“All right, Uncle Boone. Your turn.” She came over to him, and since he was a little concerned about the state of his knee and his ability to hold a baby that wasn’t even twenty-four-hours old, he remained seated as Molly settled the tiny, nearly weightless baby in his arms.

He looked down at a scrunched up, pink face. Owen’s little mouth was open in a kind of o, and he peered up at Boone, with something that appeared like suspicion in his dark blue eyes.

“Getting a little tired of being passed around, huh?” he said to the baby. “Gonna have to get used to it. That’s the Tyler way.”

“Where’s Josie?” Cora asked, clearly completely out of the loop because it was an innocent, lighthearted question.

He should have said something vague, but he was staring at this tiny little baby’s face, and he only had the simple truth. “She’s leaving.”

“Oh, Boone.”

He managed to look away from the baby, over at Cora’s worried and sad expression. He even forced himself to smile. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

For the first time in his life, no matter what it took or how long, he was going to make something okay.

CHAPTER 20

Methodically and without allowing herself to cry, Josie packed the rest of her meager belongings. She held herself stiffly, and it was something like those first few hours after her father had died. Her body was numb, trying to stave off the pain and the grief.

She walked out into a blinding winter day. She didn’t feel the cold, but she had to squint against the way the bright sun bounced off the white snow.

The UTV Boone had driven her over on last night was still parked out front, but she left it. She walked, because she planned to spend most of the next ten hours driving well into Montana. As far as she could get before she needed rest.

And as she walked, she tried to tell herself this was the last time she’d ever see the Tyler Ranch. Maybe she should have said goodbye to everyone, not just Boone, but she wasn’t letting anyone stop her.

She’d had her most important goodbye. She’d wanted it to feel final, and it had.

Until he’d said all that stuff this morning. She damn well should have left in the middle of the night. Now she understood why he had without saying a word back then.

There was no chance to hear things that might change your mind if you said goodbye.

Except he had done things out of fear and…and… What are you doing then?

It wasn’t the same. He’d run. She was making a choice.

She was sure of it. Certain. When she got to the main house, uncharacteristically quiet because everyone was at the hospital meeting the new addition, she stopped for a minute.

It looked like any Christmas postcard. The wreath, the lights, the snow, the mountains in the distance.

Absolutely perfect.

And absolutely not hers.

She turned away, to the garage. Up at the garage, she paused. Her truck was parked on the drive, looking mostly the same except the tires had been replaced. Brand new snow chains glinted in the sunlight. For a moment, Josie just stood perfectly still, holding her bag, staring at it.

It didn’t matter if Boone had done it or a member of his family, because it brought a stark, meaningful pain to her.

What would her life had been like if Boone had stayed? If he’d introduced her to his family then? What kind of support would she have had dealing with her father’s death? How did she ever forgive him for crawling through the last six months alone?

“I’m doing the right thing.”

So why did it feel so wrong?

When Boone returned to the Tyler Ranch, he noted Josie’s truck wasn’t in the driveway and he accepted that. He’d at least gotten the new tires and snow chains ordered and installed before she’d run.

He couldn’t chase after her at first. He didn’t mind his leg hurting. He wouldn’t even mind hurting his knee worse to follow her to the ends of the earth.