THIRTY-ONE

Stone

“I can’t believe you.”

I turned away from the chain saw blade I’d been sharpening to glare at Cash. “What did I do now?”

“You’re really not going over there to convince Harper to stay?” Cash asked.

I scowled at the sore spot that had been irking me for two days, ever since Agnes had returned.

“If she wanted to stay, she’d stay. Agnes is a single old woman living alone in a house big enough for ten people. Half the time she brings Petunia inside with her for company. If she wanted to, Harper could live there with Agnes and the two of them would barely even see each other.”

“Stone, having room isn’t the problem. She’s got no reason to stay. Unless you go over there and give her a reason.”

I shook my head. The day I started taking advice on women from Cash would never come. It certainly wasn’t here today.

“She’s got a life back in the city with her publisher and all her fancy author friends. Besides, her parents are there. She doesn’t want to stay here.”

“Did she say that?” he asked.

Annoyed, I scowled. “She didn’t have to, Cash. I’m not delusional. This was a vacation for her. A retreat. Time away from reality and that shit can’t last forever. Eventually everybody has to get back to real life.”

Even me.

“Just stop by Agnes’s—”

“How about you just mind your own business?” I asked.

Cash’s brows rose high. “I could, but she’s leaving today.”

I spun to glare at him. “How do you know that?”

I hated that Cash knew more about Harper than I did. As much as I hated he might be right and she could be gone by tomorrow.

“Red told me.”

Seeing a chance to let Cash know how it felt to have someone prying into his personal life, I said, “You sure talk to Red a lot.”

“Don’t change the subject. You’re gonna be sorry if she leaves and you didn’t even say goodbye.”

“Phone works both ways. She has my number.” I couldn’t help but remember the first time she’d used it to text about the chickens.

The text that had me breaking the speed limit to get over there to her. That was the night that I’d spent in her bed.

Fuck.

I stopped what I was doing. How was I supposed to work with Cash bothering me? I wouldn’t even be thinking about Harper if it weren’t for him.

The word liar echoed in my head. But that didn’t change anything.

Harper was leaving. Whether I said goodbye or not, she was going back to her real home. Her real life. And I’d have to live with that. Get over her and get on with living.

But maybe a little closure wouldn’t hurt. It might help me put her behind me and get back to my own life.

I spun toward where my truck was parked.

“Where are you going, bro?” Cash asked. 

I raised my middle finger to him as I walked away and heard him laughing behind me. I hated when Cash thought he was right.

Things were back to normal at Agnes’s. Or at least normal for Agnes. When I knocked on the back door it was Petunia who greeted me, her hooves clacking against the kitchen floor.

They say cats had nine lives but that pig had sure lucked out when she escaped from the stock auction. She would have been bacon if Agnes hadn’t found her running down Main Street and refused to give her back. Now Petunia lived a life of luxury. 

My sight of the pig in the kitchen was followed shortly by her mistress, Agnes.

“Agnes. Sorry I made you get up. How’s the leg?” I asked as she opened the door for me.

“Better. And it helps to move so don’t apologize.” She gave me that sly knowing look that only Agnes could give. “I guess you’re here to say goodbye to Harper.”

“Um, yeah.” I’d considered denying it but really, why bother?

First there was no other reason for me to be knocking on Agnes’s door. I’d already seen her at the Fall Fest and welcomed her home. And it was only neighborly to say goodbye to Harper since we had gotten to be friendly while she was here.

Friendly. Pfft. That was an understatement.

I heard footsteps on the back stairs and my gaze flew to the door as it swung open.

“Stone.”

“Harper.” My focus dropped to the journals in her hands. “Taking a little light reading material with you?”

I joked but there was nothing funny about the growing pit in my stomach at the evidence she was leaving.

She moved to the bag on the kitchen table. “Yeah. Agnes said I could borrow these. Plot bunnies.” She smiled, but it seemed devoid of humor. She drew in a breath. “But I wish I could have found that will for Joe.”

“You get through them all?” I asked, very aware of how many books there were.

“Yeah. Between Red, Bethany and me we at least flipped through every book. Even if we didn’t actually get to read every page, there was no will shoved inside.”

“That’s too bad.” I was being sincere. I knew how much she’d wanted to find that will.

“Yeah.” She hung her head before bringing it up to look at Agnes. “I guess that’s it then.”

God. She was leaving right this minute? I was going to have to endure watching her drive away?

“You have everything?” Agnes asked.

“My suitcase is in the car. I checked and made sure I grabbed all my chargers and stuff from the bathroom.” She flipped the long leather handle from the big bag she’d stashed the books in over her shoulder. “Just my purse and my laptop case left and then that’s it.”

“Here. Don’t forget the cookies Bethany brought over for you to nibble on during the drive.” Agnes handed her a small white paper bag.

 “I’ll definitely lose weight not being around Bethany so much.” Harper smiled but again it looked sad.

“You could stay, you know. As long as you want to,” Agnes said.

My hopes lifted as Harper looked from Agnes, to me, then back again. “Thanks, but I really should be getting back home.”

“I understand. Just remember the invitation is always open.”

“Thank you, Aunt Agnes.” Harper enveloped Agnes in a hug and then turned to me.

Crap. I knew what I wanted to do. Tangle my hand in her hair, kiss her silly and make her change her mind.

What I did instead was open the back door and say, “I’ll walk you to the car.”

“Thanks.”

“Bye, girl.” I bent down to pet Petunia before I followed Harper out.

Fucking Cash. It was his fault that I was here to have to witness the one woman I’d had any feelings for in a really long time, maybe in forever, drive away from me.

But how could I ask her to stay? This was Mudville. Population one-thousand and twelve. A best selling author with fifty-thousand followers on Instagram didn’t belong in a town that had more cows than people. I wasn’t going to be the one to ask her to stay.

I ran ahead and opened the car door for her. She swung her laptop case onto the passenger seat and then stood there awkwardly, staring at me.

“So have a safe drive.” Gah! I sounded like her father. 

But what could I say? It was nice getting to know you. Nice having sex with you too. Maybe we could do it again some time. No.

“Thanks,” she said.

She hesitated and for a second I thought she was going to say something more. Maybe even kiss me goodbye. 

But the moment passed and she folded those gorgeous legs into the car and flipped the skirt of her dress in so it wouldn’t get caught in the door.

I was still holding onto the frame of the driver’s side door even as she put the key in the ignition. If that wasn’t a clue I should give up, I didn’t know what was. I slammed the door. She started the engine and still I stood there.

She rolled the window down and glanced up at me. “Bye.”

“Bye.” I said, and finally took a step back so she could turn around to pull out of the driveway.

Then the woman I’d spent more hours thinking about these past couple of weeks than anything else in my life drove away without looking back. I knew that because I stood there until the very end and watched her go.