by Liz Isaacson
Laura didn’t even blink, and Wes saw the professionalism in her. She’d do great in meetings with big fuel moguls who always wanted more than Wes wanted to give them.
“The transition can begin as soon as the board approves,” Gray said, waving at Kent to keep the folder. “You can arrange to shadow Colton and Wes to get a feel for what they do, meet their staff, all of that.”
‘The staff stays,” Colton said, glancing at Gray. “Is that right?”
“Absolutely,” Gray said. “They get twelve months, same as me. After that, if Laura wants someone new, she can hire and fire at her discretion.”
Wes thought of his assistant and his secretary. They’d been with him for years and years, and he felt like he owed it to them to give them a heads-up about his departure before they heard it from someone else.
So right after this meeting adjourned, he’d call Bree. Then he’d call Matthew and Myra.
Then...Wes didn’t even know what he’d do after that. And it felt great.
More talk. More handshakes. The cousins left, and Wes stood there, almost numb. Colton and Gray seemed to have fallen into the same pit he had, and it wasn’t until Gray zipped his briefcase and said, “All right. Let’s go. And I want to stop at Joe Dog’s on the way out of town. We’ve all earned a foot long,” that Wes’s eyes even focused.
“That went well,” he said.
“Really well,” Gray agreed. “I suspected it would. They’re family. They don’t want to rock the boat, and they don’t think we did a bad job.”
“It’s just time to pass the baton,” Colton said. “And I want the Pirate’s Chest at Joe Dog’s.” He grinned, and Wes’s step landed lighter than it had in years. Over a decade. Fourteen years.
He followed his brothers out of the conference room, taking a moment to bump down the thermostat. He was the last one on the elevator, and he gazed down the hall as the doors slid closed, everything around him feeling just a little surreal.
He let Colt and Gray chatter down to the truck and over to Joe Dog’s. He just wanted the Plain Jane, and he did enjoy his all-beef hot dog with ketchup, brown mustard, and bacon-and-onion jam.
Before he knew it, Gray had driven the hour out of the city and turned onto the lane where the farmhouse sat.
“Someone’s here,” he said, after making the last turn and driving through the tree line that blocked the view of the farm and house from the dirt road.
Wes peered at the black sedan that looked like it had driven through a mud storm. “No one I know,” he said.
“Me either,” Colton said.
“Could it be Laura or one of them?” Gray asked, eyeing the car like it was a cobra. Wes could admit he was doing the same. “We should’ve told them we hadn’t spoken to Dad yet.”
“If Dad had found out, he’d have called me,” Wes said. He checked his phone. No missed calls. Not even a text. Even as he looked at his phone, a message came in.
Bree’s name filled the screen, her note popping up a moment later. Is it over? How did it go? I’ve been on pins and needles all day, thinking about you. Call me!
Thinking about you. Wes couldn’t keep the smile from his face. It had been a long time since a woman had been thinking about him—at least in a good way.
“Holy—that’s Eden.” Colton’s level of panic reached Wes, erasing the smile and pulling his attention from his phone. He looked first at his brother, who had wide eyes and his mouth hanging open, and then to the black sedan, where a tall, curvy woman with brown hair now stood at the hood of the car, watching Gray drive past.
“Who’s Eden?” Wes asked at the same time Gray said, “She’s real pretty. Too young for you, but pretty.”
Colton wrenched his head around to keep his eyes on her, whispering, “It’s Annie’s daughter. I have to get out.” He nudged Wes. “Let me out, Wes.”
“Gray needs to stop the truck first,” Wes said. He’d jumped from moving vehicles before, but he wasn’t keen to do it now, thirty years older than the last time he’d done it.
Gray finally stopped, and Wes got out as quickly as he could, thinking Colton would crawl over him if he didn’t move.
Colton strode away, back toward the black sedan and the woman who stood there. He obviously wasn’t over Annie, and Gray murmured, “Good luck, Colton. Get past whatever you need to get past, because it sure seems like you want Annie in your life.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Annie lifted her head from the pillow she’d put on the couch. She’d left the lodge on the twenty-sixth. She didn’t have to stay there, and the glances and questions had become too much before dinner was served on Christmas Day.
Everyone wanted to know where Colton was, why he’d left, and when he’d be back. He’d seemed to get inside everyone’s heart in the six days he’d been in town, and Annie couldn’t blame them.
He’d definitely crawled right inside hers. She’d made up some excuse about checking the house, and she’d packed and left. She’d only communicated with three people in the past few days since then, and in her opinion, that was three people too many.
But she couldn’t ignore her daughters, and she knew their texts came from a place of concern for her. Celia’s did too, and Annie hadn’t been able to simply read her texts and ignore them.
Thankfully, no one had followed her down the canyon, and she’d checked the house. All fine. She’d made crepes for dinner. Delicious. She’d eaten out for every meal one day, something she’d always wanted to do.
She’d stayed in her pajamas the next day, watching movies and eating ice cream straight from the carton. All the things she’d always wanted to do when Ryan had died, she did.
Back then, she couldn’t skip showering for days on end, because she had two daughters who needed her. Back then, she couldn’t afford cable TV, and forget about the streaming services. Back then, she made meals with all the food groups in them, and ice cream was never on the menu.
She had not cried, because Annie had no one to blame for Colton’s departure from her life—except herself.
Anger simmered in her veins, and though she’d tried to deflect it onto him, the lodge, all the other women up there, she knew it always came back to her. She was to blame, and everything Colton had said to her had been true.
One hundred percent true.
Her teeth pressed together, and she had to work to get her jaw to loosen. She wondered how long the furious stage of grief lasted, because she’d like to move past it. If only she knew how to do that.
She’d tried journaling. She’d tried sweets. She’d even taken walks in the freezing cold, trying to clear her head. Nothing worked. She simply wanted Colton back.
He’d texted very late on Christmas night—or very early in the morning the day after Christmas, depending on how she looked at it—to say he’d arrived in Ivory Peaks.
She hadn’t responded. She didn’t know what to say. Please come back, sounded desperate.
His meeting was scheduled for tomorrow, and Annie told herself he’d be gone by now anyway. He’d just moved up the departure date a little bit, and really, it had been merciful. She’d had a few days to wallow while she didn’t have to work. Next week, she’d have to get up and go to work whether she had a broken heart in her chest or not.
She had no idea what time it was when the kitchen door opened. It even took her a moment to realize it had, and that both Eden and Emily had entered the house.
“Hey,” she said, trying to make her voice as cheerful as possible. She glanced around, seeing the evidence of her non-cheerfulness all around her. Wrappers, dishes, water bottles. They sat on every available surface, as if she’d dropped them and left them to sit wherever they’d landed. Because she had.
“You’re sleeping on the couch,” Eden said, glancing at Emily.
“What are you girls doing here?”
“Oh, Mom.” Emily came around Eden and waited for Annie to sit up. “What are you doing?”
“Watching TV,” she said
, though she had no idea what flickered on the screen in front of her.
“You slept out here?”
Annie shrugged. “Seemed like a long walk into the bedroom.”
Emily put her arm around Annie, and she leaned into her daughter. “Mom, I think we all know what this means.”
“We do?”
“The last time you slept on the couch was when Dad died.”
Annie’s heartbeat jumped as if she’d been hooked up to a jolt of electricity. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
“It is,” Eden said, coming to sit next to Emily. “And it means you’re in love with Colton.”
Annie shook her head. “Even if I am, which I’m not admitting to, it doesn’t matter. He’s right. I was trying to pull him to where I am, and he’s not ready.”
“Then wait for him to be ready,” Emily said. “Just call him and tell him that you’re willing to wait until he’s ready.”
Annie looked at both of her daughters, each of them wearing pure concern in their eyes. “Okay,” she said. “It sounds easy, right?”
“It is easy, Mom,” Emily said.
“Maybe for you,” Eden said, glancing at Emily. “Mom.” She focused on her again. “I know how hard it is to wait for someone to fall in love with you when you’re already in love with them. Okay? I know what that feels like.”
Tears gathered in Annie’s eyes then, and everything burned.
“But I really think he could get where you are, and quickly too.”
“You say that,” Annie said. “But you don’t know it.” She shook her head. “What if he’s never ready?”
She’d just vocalized her greatest fear. Yes, she’d fallen for Colton in the several days he’d been at the lodge. She already felt stupid enough for allowing that to happen. And if he could never be ready to marry her?
What’s the point? She’d been asking herself that question for four days now, and she still had no answers.
“Let’s go to Ivory Peaks,” Eden said, standing up.
All of Annie’s muscles tightened. “No. I’m not going there. I don’t even know where it is.”
“I’ll drive you,” Eden said. “I have a map on my phone.”
“Go get in the shower,” Emily said. “I’ll get a bag packed for you with that sexy red dress you wear for weddings.”
“No,” Annie said more forcefully this time. “I’m not wearing that dress in the winter. It’s ridiculous. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ve already called him,” Eden said.
The breath left Annie’s body, and she couldn’t even demand to know what her youngest meant by that. “And he’s expecting us, and if you don’t go, then he’ll think you don’t want to be with him.”
A franticness Annie had only felt one other time in her life filled her bloodstream. She suddenly had so much to do and not enough time to do it. Somehow, she managed to get to her feet, casting one more look at Eden and then Emily before she went down the hall to her bedroom and bathroom.
Before she got in the shower, she looked at herself in the mirror. “Tell the truth,” she told herself. “Start at the beginning.” She held up one finger. “I love God.” Another finger. “I love my girls, both of them, just how they are.” A third finger. “I love myself. I’m smart and capable of anything.” Her chest started to vibrate, because she didn’t want to keep going. But another finger went up, and Annie looked at it and then into her eyes again.
“I love Colton, and I want to get him back.”
Five fingers. “I’m willing to wait where I am until he’s ready to move forward. Together.”
And one more. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
Her truths spoken, she showered and got ready, taking her time. She went down the hall with her purse, finding the girls in the kitchen, eating a pizza they’d had delivered.
“Let’s go,” Eden said, picking up a suitcase Annie hadn’t packed.
“That red dress better not be in there,” Annie said.
“It’s not,” Emily said. “I packed sensible winter clothes.” She grinned at Annie and left her half-eaten slice on her plate as she stood up. “But I’d wear the sweater with the white stripes. You look great in that.”
“I’m wearing this,” she said, gesturing to the black slacks and yellow blouse she wore.
“Mom, it’s mid-afternoon,” Eden said. “We won’t see him until tomorrow morning.”
“He has a meeting tomorrow morning.”
“Great,” Eden said without missing a beat. “Then we’ll see him after that. Come on, it’s time to go.”
Annie took Emily into her arms and hugged her tight, squeezing her eyes closed as her daughter said, “Be brave, Mom.”
She followed Eden outside, hugging her in the driveway before they got in the car and buckled their seatbelts.
“All right,” Eden said brightly. “To Ivory Peaks.”
Hours later, after the sun had set, and they’d been driving for a long time, Eden pulled up to a hotel with shining lights in the front windows.
She handled the bags, which was good, because Annie felt like she could barely handle her limbs. Eden checked in, got the room key, and led them down the hall to the assigned space.
They brushed their teeth and changed into their pajamas. Annie sat on the edge of her bed and said, “Thank you, Eden. I’m not sure why I just...I didn’t fall apart like this when your dad died.”
“I know that, Mom.” Eden switched off her lamp. “You’re the strongest woman I know. You literally do everything, for everyone. It’s okay to need help sometimes.”
“How did your date with Mitchell go?”
Eden grinned, and Annie felt some of her old self start to regrow. “Great,” she said. “We’re going out tomorrow night too.”
“Will we be back in time?”
“I will be,” Eden said, somewhat evasively.
“I don’t have a car here,” Annie said.
“Colton can bring you back,” Eden said.
“You’re presuming he’s going to forgive me and take me back.”
“He will.” Eden grinned up at her. “He really likes you too, Mom.”
Annie sighed, the thought of being stranded in Colorado without a car causing a zing of anxiety to sing through her. A bit of excitement too, if Annie were being honest with herself.
She got in bed and snapped off her lamp too. “Guess I better start working on my speech,” she said into the darkness. “Or did you write one of those for me too?”
“Nope,” Eden said. “But don’t worry about it. He’ll be surprised just to see you.”
“He will? Isn’t he expecting us?”
Eden didn’t respond, and Annie’s blood turned cold.
“Eden?”
“Mom, don’t be mad.”
“You always say that when I have a good reason to be mad.” She reached for her lamp again, fumbling until she clicked on the light. “What’s going on?”
“I didn’t call him,” Eden blurted out. “I’m sorry for lying. But I didn’t call him, and he doesn’t know we’re coming, and I said that to get you to come.”
“You’re kidding,” left Annie’s mouth.
Eden said nothing, and she didn’t roll over, no matter how hard Annie glared at the back of her head.
“Well, I can’t just march up to his house and talk to him,” Annie said. She couldn’t.
Again, Eden said nothing.
Annie laid back down and eventually reached up and turned off the light. She wished she could turn her mind off as easily. It went round and round, and Annie tried to seize onto what she needed to do—what Emily had said to do.
Be brave, Mom.
She didn’t know how, and the fear of what might happen in the morning kept her silent and still. That was when she turned to the Lord and started praying, pouring out her whole soul to God and begging Him to help her.
Please, please help me.
Chapter Thirty
Colton
coached himself not to run toward Eden, but he really wanted to. He checked the car, but there was no sign of Annie anywhere.
“Eden,” he finally said when he got close enough. “What’s going on?” He had so many more questions—where’s your mom? Is she okay? Why didn’t she come?—but he kept them contained in his chest for now.
“I was just waiting for you,” she said with a smile, as if she dropped by his parents’ farm every day about this time. “Now that you’re here, I can go. And not a moment too soon. I have a date tonight, and I’m hoping for a New Year’s kiss.” She got behind the wheel, started the car, and backed away before Colton could comprehend what had just happened.
“What?” he said to the retreating sedan. Then again to just the air. He turned around and caught the backs of his brothers as they went in the farmhouse, and Colton felt utterly lost.
He turned around again, intending to call to Eden, but she was already gone. He didn’t have her phone number, but he patted his pockets anyway. He didn’t even know where his phone was at the moment.
“Colton.”
He spun around, his heart beating faster and faster as his eyes caught up to the sound of Annie’s voice.
She stood there, right at the corner of Gray’s truck, as if she’d been dropped in this spot straight from heaven.
One thing he did know, God had led him to her. So maybe the Good Lord had dropped her off right here in Ivory Peaks, straight from heaven.
He started toward her, intending to sweep her into his arms and hold her close. Whispers of apology tickled the back of his tongue as he broke into a jog.
“Annie,” he said, right before reaching her. He drew her to his chest and held her, so many things aligning in his life. He didn’t embrace her for long, though, his questions taking over.
“What are you doing here? What’s going on?”
“I came to talk to you,” she said. She reached up and nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. “I think everything you said at the lodge is absolutely right. I am in a different place than you. I was trying to pull you to me when you weren’t ready to come.”
