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Agatha huffed, spinning quickly and heading straight for his truck. She got a few steps when they both realized she hadn’t grabbed her purse. Before she could make an excuse to return inside to get it, Zeke snatched it up from where she’d placed it and held it out to her.
She tore it from his grasp and marched away without another word.
Zeke only flinched when she slammed the door shut. That was a lot easier than he’d expected. Maybe by the time he got done with the work he had to do today, she will have cooled off enough to listen to reason.
He returned to the kitchen, only to find Sean perched on the top of the step ladder, a sly smirk on his lips. “Seems to me something’s going on between the two of you.”
“You’d be wrong. Get back to work.”
“Nah. Something’s going on. The Zeke I knew would have never let Agatha talk to him like that, let alone get close enough to cause even a hairline scratch. She’s got you whipped.” Sean’s eyes widened and he stiffened. “Erm… sir.”
“You best be keeping your theories to yourself, son. Gossiping doesn’t look good on you.”
22
Agatha
Who did Zeke think he was? He couldn’t kick her out of her own home. She was the owner of the house, and as such, she had every right to be wherever she wanted to be, even if that meant right in the middle of all the action.
Hadn’t she proven herself smart enough to be able to handle whatever the next project was? She’d seen the videos online. Women weren’t put in boxes anymore. They could do hard things, and she’d spent most of her life trying to prove that very thing to others.
But apparently, Zeke wasn’t prepared to accept that part of her life anymore. Something had shifted, and she had no idea what it was.
If Sean and some of the other men weren’t on the premises, she might have stomped her foot and demanded he treat her like a partner and not some helpless damsel in distress. That was the furthest thing from how she viewed herself, and it was about time that Zeke believed it too.
The problem was, with the other men lingering, she couldn’t say anything that might jeopardize where they were in their relationship. But oh, how she’d wanted to give him a little shove in the right direction.
Agatha returned to the cabin just like Zeke had requested, but she was far too amped up to do much more than pace around the building. At first, she counted the steps it took her to get around the whole thing. Then she moved on to how many times she’d walked the perimeter because the former got to be too much.
Her agitation continued to grow exponentially and all she wanted to do was call Zeke up and put him in his place. The drill issue wasn’t her fault. Yes, she’d bumped into the ladder, but that was where her responsibilities ended.
She let out a groan, throwing her hands down at her sides as she picked up the pace. The second he got back to the cabin, she’d force him to make a promise that he’d never do something so embarrassing for the rest of their lives.
All this flurry of emotion had her wishing she wasn’t still at odds with her son. It would have been nice to be able to vent about a man who wasn’t willing to treat her like his equal.
It wasn’t just Thomas who would have been a good sounding board. Shane was another person she’d opened up to a handful of times. The problem was she couldn’t confide in him either because of his relationship with Zeke.
Why didn’t she have any female friends?
Everyone she’d gotten close to since moving to Copper Creek were men. And they were all in the same social circle. So much for being independent.
Agatha refused to admit that her choice in friends had anything to do with her past, however. She’d fought to be released from a prison where she’d been placed. Hadn’t she clawed herself out of an unfortunate circumstance where she didn’t have any power? And now she found herself slipping back into a position where that would be taken away.
She knew Zeke had bad habits. He didn’t prioritize equality. Going up against him would only continue to get harder. Agatha had to put her foot down if she wanted to ensure her future would remain the way she had grown accustomed to. That wasn’t being selfish; that was advocating for herself.
The whole afternoon, she waited by the window, watching for Zeke to return to his campsite and leave his ATV where he usually did.
But as it got darker, she started to wonder if he was going to show up at all. Doubts continued to circulate in her mind. She cared for him deeply. She loved his company and spending time with him when he wasn’t concerned for her safety.
Anyone else in her position would be patient. They’d make their concerns known, but only after everything cooled down. Perhaps it would be better for her to stay at one of the now-vacant motel rooms in town. She’d be able to clear her head and regroup. Ever since she returned home, she’d been on edge. Part of it had to do with Thomas, and the other was with Zeke.
A night alone would do her good.
Without giving it a second thought, she grabbed her purse and Zeke’s keys for the truck she’d borrowed earlier and headed out. The farther she got from the cabin, the more at ease she became. Could it really be that simple? That this one act of taking control of her life had calmed her troubled heart?
Agatha pulled up to the first motel on the edge of town, and within ten minutes, she was all checked in. The place was built in the seventies, and it showed—from the carpet to the wallpaper. But she didn’t mind one bit.
She dropped her purse on the small table and settled onto the edge of her bed. It was quiet—not the kind of quiet out in the woods where she had been staying—but still nice and peaceful. She didn’t imagine that town was this peaceful when the rodeo folk had been around, but with them gone, she could see herself staying here had that been an option.
