Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 101466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
I had a feeling Lou would love it. That she had hoped for this all along.
I heard Casey’s SUV and waited patiently, smiling when the sound of her footsteps coming closer reached my ears.
She appeared, wearing jeans and a hoodie, casual, simple, and the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
“Hey,” I greeted her, holding out my hand.
“Hi,” she replied, taking it with a squeeze but then dropping it and sitting down.
I found that odd, but I smiled. “How was girls’ night?”
She shrugged. “Okay.”
“You didn’t have fun? Miss me too much?” I teased.
She paled. Even in the dim light, I could see her skin go white.
“Too much on my mind, I guess,” she replied, staring into the fire.
Something was off. Everything about her was wrong. Her expression was tormented, her posture stiff—it was as if she was collapsing in on herself. And her voice. It wasn’t the warm, soft tone I loved so much. It was removed. Distant.
I was about to move and go to where she was sitting when she spoke.
“I had an interesting phone call and email today.”
“Oh?”
“My old boss out west. He offered me a huge project.”
“Wow. Congrats, Pix. That’s awesome.”
She stared into the fire, not meeting my eyes. “It’s a great opportunity. The salary and bonuses are incredible. I get to hire the team. Oversee it all. The equipment budget is crazy.”
“Wow. How long a project is it?”
“Nine months to a year.”
Something in her tone alerted me to what she wasn’t saying.
“Will you have to rent a bigger space for the equipment you’ll be needing?” I asked.
“No.”
She lifted her gaze from the fire to mine. “I have to move back out west.”
It felt as if the earth shifted under my feet. Her face swam in front of me. “What?”
“I have to be on-site. Manage the whole thing.”
“For the whole project?”
“Yes.”
I started talking without thinking. “Maybe you can arrange something. Work here part of the time, fly there when needed. There’s Zoom, all sorts of ways around that.”
Her voice was flat. “Why would I want to ask for that?”
I was on my knees in front of her before she could blink.
“You know why, Casey. I’m here. We’re here. Our life together is here.”
“We’re just for now. You made that rule. You knew I’d be leaving.”
I cupped her face. “That was before you got under my skin. Before I fell in love with you.”
“No,” she whispered, pushing my hands away. “You don’t love me, Thorne. You’re reacting to what happened last night. You’re still upset over your family’s betrayal, and you’re clutching on to me like a lifeline. You don’t love me.”
I stood, now angry. “You can’t tell me how I feel. I love you. I think I’ve loved you since you crawled in that window and got stuck. You amaze me every day. You make me laugh.” I stepped closer. “You love me too. You’re just scared.”
“I am not. I don’t love you, Thorne. I don’t love anybody.”
“You loved Lou,” I pointed out.
“I loved Lou as a child. That was different.”
“You can’t go, Casey.”
“I’ve been working for something like this my entire life.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “Then let’s work it out. Figure this out together. I can fly there. You can come home when—”
She stopped me. “No, Thorne. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”
“Why are you fucking throwing us away?” I roared.
“There is no us.”
Her words were like daggers to my chest. The physical pain was real, and it hurt to breathe. I didn’t know how to get through to her. To tell her I knew she was scared. That I understood.
She looked at me, her eyes vacant.
It was too late—she was already gone.
“If you go, Casey, don’t come back. Your apartment won’t be there. I’ll move ahead with my plans and turn this into a single dwelling again.” I met her gaze, mine pleading. “I won’t wait.”
She sighed, the sound long and sad. “I didn’t ask you to.”
She turned and hurried away.
I didn’t sleep that night. I couldn’t stay in the house where she was. She’d closed the closet door, and when I had tried to open it, I’d found she had locked it as well, making her message clear.
Leave her alone. We were done.
I took Miller, and we left the driveway, my thoughts jumbled, my body feeling as if it was a hundred years old, and my heart aching.
I drove aimlessly, parking the truck and letting Miller wander to his heart’s content. He was going to miss his buddy. I supposed I could get him another cat to keep him company.
But how would I replace Casey?
Why was she refusing to admit she loved me? She showed it in a thousand little ways. I felt it. I was smart enough to know the difference between right now and forever. We belonged to the latter. We were meant for each other.