by Liz Isaacson
“I can just offer one shift,” she told him when he’d said “Maybe.”
“You choose. Morning chores or evening. I’ll do the other one.”
“Morning,” he said, and Laney’s heart soared. If she didn’t have to get up and out the door, in her boots, long underwear, and coat, she could sleep in, make Bailey a real breakfast before school, and take care of the business side of the ranch better.
“Fifteen an hour okay?” she asked, praying it was. He’d come to her last spring with that offer, but she hadn’t hired him. She hadn’t been this desperate last spring.
“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckled and added, “I got hired on at the cabinetmaker over the summer. I’ve been doing great there.”
“I’m sure you have, Jake.” At this point, Laney didn’t care that he’d spent a year in jail and was a bit slow in the head. He’d never be near Bailey or alone with her, and Laney needed him.
“Tomorrow okay to start?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Great, I’ll see you in the morning. Seven o’clock.”
“I won’t be late.”
Laney ended the call, a huge burden lifted from her shoulders. Her first thought was I need to tell Graham, but her second screamed louder. He won’t answer.
He doesn’t care.
Does an Energy Summit last longer than a week?
She didn’t want to think about it anymore. She didn’t have the head space, the mental or physical energy, or the patience.
“I deserve to come first sometimes,” she said aloud to the quiet cabin. “I deserve to be happy.” And Graham had hardly ever put her first. And while the few weeks she’d spent with him as his girlfriend had made her insanely happy, she didn’t want to be put on the backburner every time something came up with his job—and he had a very big, important job he’d made clear came first.
So with her heart shrinking and then pounding around inside her chest, she tapped out one more message to him.
I think it’s time we call our relationship what it is: over. Good luck with your summit.
Chapter 20
Graham glared at Dwight, the other man’s mere presence enough to put Graham in a foul mood. He’d been back in town for approximately three hours before Dwight had shown up at the lodge.
On a Saturday night, no less.
Demanding a meeting that had taken most of the night.
Graham yawned, his anger and frustration no less just because he was exhausted. “You can’t keep ignoring me when I call,” Dwight said. “We have things happening at Springside—important things that require the CEO’s attention.”
“It was a protest, Dwight. They happen about once a month.”
He shook his head, his hair shaved close to the scalp staying still. “It was more than a protest. A petition has been filed, and I needed you—I need you to know about these things so we can take action on them quickly. Did you know that if we’re shut down from drilling for even one day, we lose over fifty thousand dollars?”
Graham rubbed his thumb across his forehead. “I’m aware, Dwight.”
“We lost two days because you wouldn’t answer your phone. I can’t make executive decisions about legalities,” he continued. “Your father—”
“Always answered his phone,” Graham finished for the general manager of Springside Energy. “I know, Dwight.”
“Why didn’t you answer?”
“I was busy.” He gazed at the other man, daring him to ask Graham what he’d been doing. He wouldn’t tell him, and Dwight seemed to know, because his shoulders fell and he sighed.
“Are we back up now?” Graham asked, his voice perfectly even.
“Yes.”
Graham felt sure that Dwight would’ve added a “sir” to the sentence if he’d been talking to Ronald Whittaker, Graham’s father. But Dwight lifted his chin, a silent dare for Graham to make him say it.
He wouldn’t. “All right.” He let out a long sigh. “Thank you, Dwight.”
The older man tapped the stack of folders he’d put on the desk last night. “I still need these read, signed, and statements prepared. By tonight at the latest. We can’t go another business day without responding.”
“Tonight,” Graham said, already distracted by the farm beyond the window.
“Maybe I’ll stay here until you get them done.”
“No.” Graham stood. He couldn’t survive the day with Dwight in the lodge. He thought he’d wanted company, but Dwight was completely the wrong kind. “I’ll get them done. No later than six p.m. tonight. You have my word.”
Dwight looked like he highly doubted Graham could deliver on his word, but he put his arms through his suit jacket and said, “All right. My wife will be wondering where I am anyway.”
Graham didn’t walk the other man out, his thoughts already back on Laney. He’d left suddenly, hadn’t called her, and spent too long in New York getting the permits he needed. He’d never met with so many lawyers, explained his situation so many times, and had to relive the death of his father over and over again.
He definitely did not want to repeat the last ten days ever again. Ever.
He picked up his phone and found a message from Laney. She’d stopped texting after the first day, and Graham had missed her more than he could express. But the whole family—the entire Whittaker empire—lay on Springside Energy, and Graham was needed at the Energy Summit, in court, and back in Wyoming all at the same time.
He couldn’t be everything to everyone.
And apparently he couldn’t be Laney’s boyfriend anymore.
I think it’s time we call our relationship what it is: over. Good luck with your summit.
Over.
“Over?” He jammed his thumb on the call button, hoping she’d texted recently. And that she’d answer. Laney had a stubborn streak, and she did not like being told what to do. And she didn’t answer.
“I’m coming over,” he said to her voicemail and he had his coat and gloves on before he realized how he sounded.
Beastly.
Like his word would be obeyed. That he could just barge back into her life whenever he wanted, and she’d swoon she was so happy to see him.
His phone rang and he fumbled to get it out of his pocket, finally tearing the glove off and pulling the phone out on the last ring.
“Eli,” Graham mumbled, his pulse settling back to normal. But he needed to talk to Eli too, so he called his brother back.
“Hey, couldn’t get to the phone fast enough,” he said.
“My last day is Friday,” Eli said with a laugh. “It’s been amazing how things have worked out here. House sold in one day. One day, Graham!” The elation in his brother’s voice wasn’t hard to hear.
“That’s great, Eli.” And Graham meant it. He needed his brother here too. If there was more than just Graham managing things at Springside, maybe he’d have time to eat dinner—or spend time with his girlfriend.
But Eli’s not coming to help with Springside, his mind whispered.
Graham pushed the thought away.
“And Meg agreed to relocate to Wyoming. I guess something about the snow charmed her.”
“I can’t imagine how that’s possible.”
“Right?” Eli laughed again. “But I’m glad. Stockton likes her.”
Graham thought Eli was the one that liked Meg, but he kept that to himself. He didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with women at the moment. He slowly took off his other glove and slid his coat down his arms and hung it back on the hook in the mudroom.
“So when will you be back in town?”
“We have to get packed up and get the moving company here. I’m selling a lot too, since we don’t need tons of furniture.” Eli continued to talk, and Graham wandered into the kitchen and sat at the bar.
He must not have participated in the conversation appropriately, because Eli finally said, “I can tell I’m boring you.”
“No, not at all.” If Eli ended the
call, Graham wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. None of his employees worked on Sundays, and Graham suddenly felt like all the space in this huge lodge was suffocating him.
“What’s wrong then?”
Graham’s first inclination was to keep his problems to himself. He hadn’t told anyone about Erica—except Laney.
“Laney broke up with me.” He wanted to hang his head and figure out how to get her back. That was something he was very good at and had done over and over in his life. Figure out what he wanted and then work until he got it.
But he had a feeling he couldn't do that when there was another person involved. Especially someone as headstrong and intelligent as Laney.
“Oh, no,” Eli said. “What happened? I thought you two were great together.”
Graham scrubbed his fingers down his beard, which he’d kept short and neat while in New York. “I had to go to New York for Springside, and there were so many problems….” He let his voice trail off. He really disliked the management part of running the energy company. Maybe he should let Dwight do it now that Graham knew all the ins and outs.
He exhaled and then took a long, deep breath. “She thinks I abandoned her.” It was as if a light bulb had gone off over his head. “I need to go talk to her.”
“Yeah, sounds like it.”
Because Graham didn’t abandon anything. If he was the running type, he’d have left Coral Canyon five minutes after the funeral and left Dwight in charge of the company while he put his life back together in another tech city.
He hung up with Eli, all of his thoughts tumbling around like clothes in a dryer. “You wouldn’t have survived in another tech city,” he told the empty house. This place, Coral Canyon, had healed him in a way he hadn’t anticipated. And moving forward with Laney was the best thing he’d done in his path back toward happiness.
“I have to get her back.” With less frantic movements, he returned to the mudroom and got dressed for a long walk in the winter weather.
He went down the road, which was still covered in ice. It was a miracle he didn’t fall on the mile-long walk down to Echo Ridge Ranch. Why he thought Laney would be there, he wasn’t sure. His brain wasn’t working properly.
Neither was her furnace, because when he let himself into the homestead, it was as cold inside as out. Well, minus the wind.
He looked at the family pictures hanging on the wall leading down to the kitchen, drinking in the happiness he found in Laney’s eyes, in Bailey’s smile. This was what happiness was. Family. Relationships. He had all the money in the world, but he didn’t have those.
“Soon,” he whispered to himself.
He pulled out his phone and called his mother. “Hey, Mom, real quick. I need the number for Steffanie Boyd.”
“Steffanie? Laney’s mom?”
“Yes.”
A long pause came through the line, and Graham hoped she wouldn’t ask why. Wouldn’t ask why he couldn’t just get the number from Laney.
“Let me see what I have,” she finally said, and a few seconds later, she recited it to Graham. He repeated it back to her while he typed it into his note app, and then hung up before any more conversation could get going. He loved his mom, he did, but she could get talking, and Graham had a task to do.
Steffanie’s line rang several times, and desperation clawed through Graham’s system while he waited for her to answer or her voicemail to pick up.
She finally said, “Hello?” in a breathless voice.
“Hello, ma’am,” he said, employing his polite CEO voice. “It’s Graham Whittaker. I need to find Laney, and I’m wondering if she’s staying with you.”
“Oh, she’s not, dear,” Steffanie said. “She’s probably at the cabin.”
The cabin has power. She’d told him that just before the new year. She and Bailey probably were there, as it was close to the ranch and she could still get her work done.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said and hung up.
Thankfully the cabin was just up the hill a bit. He raised his collar and stepped back out into the wind, making his strides long so he could get to the cabin faster.
His courage took a vacation as the cabin came into view. Smoke lifted from the chimney on the roof, and two squares of light looked like yellow eyes in the twilight. He looked back toward the lodge, seriously considering just going home.
“This is for Laney,” he whispered to himself. He squared his shoulders and stepped toward the front door, praying that she’d open it when he knocked.
His fist sounded like gun shots against the door, and he couldn’t hear anything inside for a long time. He knocked again, determined not to leave without seeing Laney. Her truck sat in the lane, which meant she was here.
Unless she was at the ranch, working.
He knocked for a third time, finally hearing something behind the closed door. “Laney,” he called. “It’s Graham.”
The door opened a few moments later, and she stood there wearing yoga pants and a large sweatshirt. Her hair had been knotted on top of her head, as usual. She wore no makeup, and Graham was struck speechless and her casual beauty.
“What do you want?” She spoke in that same icy tone he’d heard her use on Mike, and that simply would not do.
Chapter 21
Laney tried not to drink in the tall, dark, handsome sight of Graham Whittaker. She’d spent entirely too many days of her life doing exactly that.
“I did not abandon you,” he said in a calm, clear voice. “I had a crazy week in—Look. It doesn’t matter. I’m still as committed to this as ever.” He gestured between the two of them, and Laney had to admit she liked the way the words sounded.
“This has nothing to do with you going to New York,” she said.
Confusion crossed Graham’s face, and his nose and cheeks were pink from the cold. She wondered how long he’d been outside, if he’d wandered around the ranch looking for her. She’d never told him she was coming to the cabin.
“Then what’s it about?” he asked.
“I’m…I’m not ready for a relationship.”
An edge entered his eye that spoke of suspicion. “I don’t believe that.”
“You can believe what you want.” But her voice wavered a little, and he heard it. Graham wasn’t stupid, that much was certain.
“Laney.”
She loathed how he said her name with that note of condescension, as if she were being unreasonable.
“No,” she said, the word exploding out of her mouth. “No. You don’t get to ‘Laney’ me.” She drew herself up tall and determined to say what she should’ve told Mike all those years ago. What she should’ve done with Graham from the beginning. Bailey would probably cry for days and stop talking to Laney, but she pushed those thoughts away. She couldn’t make huge life decisions based on what her six-year-old thought about the handsome cowboy.
“I am worth your attention,” she said. “I deserve to be your first priority. I know you can’t give that. I know it’s probably selfish and unfair of me to want it.” Her emotions clogged her throat, but she pushed her voice past them anyway.
“But I do want it. And I’m tired of making excuses for you and everyone else for putting me second, or third, or last.” Her chest shook; her stomach quaked. She was going to cry—again.
“I deserve explanations when I ask questions, not when you have time to give them. Bailey and I deserve someone who’d going to love us, take care of us, and put us first.” She shook her head and swiped angrily at her eyes. “So this has nothing to do with you physically going to New York. This has to do with you not being able to make a phone call when you said you would.”
“I’ll make the phone calls,” Graham said, his voice as broken as Laney felt inside.
She looked right into those dreamy eyes and wished she could erase his pain. “I don’t need them now, Graham. I can take care of myself and Bailey. And while I was hoping for a partner, a friend, to lean on, I don’t need it. I can do it myself.”
And she could. She would.
Graham stood there, and Laney really couldn’t afford to heat the wilds of Wyoming. “Goodbye, Graham.” She slowly closed the door, the click of it when it latched one of the most horrifying sounds she’d ever heard.
She expected the beast in Graham to pound on the door again, call something through the wood, insist she listen to him.
Nothing happened, and when Laney finally got the nerve to peer through the window, she found him trudging down the lane, his shoulders slumped and his head bent.
She embraced her old friend misery, stumbled into the kitchen to retrieve a couple of cookies from the freezer, and collapsed onto the couch to stare at the TV without really seeing.
The next morning, Jake was waiting in his truck near the barn when Laney arrived. He was fifteen minutes early, and Laney lifted her hand in greeting, a bit of trepidation tugging through her. She probably should’ve told someone that she’d hired the ex-con.
Her list was short, and had gotten shorter with the departure of Graham from her life. Sadness filled her. Even when she couldn’t kiss Graham, she could still talk to him. Joke with him. Talk about the past with him.
Now, it felt like she’d lost a lifelong friend and her boyfriend.
“Morning, Laney,” Jake said, coming toward her with an eager smile on his face. “Thank you so much for hiring me. I won’t let you down.” He shook her hand, his bright blue eyes reminding her so much of Bailey’s.
A rush of relief spread through her, and she nodded toward the barn. “You’ll mostly work in here. I have thirteen horses that need fed. Two barn cats and two barn dogs. They can run around while you work in the stables. But they have to be put back in before you go. It’s too cold for them outside.”
Jake nodded, his cowboy hat old and torn along one side. He asked questions and nodded as she gave directions. She worked side-by-side with him, told him about the cattle and how he’d go out and check them every other day. She used a four-wheeler for that, and the corrals weren’t that far away.
