Weston (Broken Falls #6)

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Weston

I grip the doorframe to keep myself from falling over. In my ear, the guys are all asking questions about what I’ve just said.

“What wife?” Nolan asks.

“No, for real,” Abel interjects, his voice louder than the rest of them. “What wife are you talking about?”

Quickly, I hit the button on the headset and speak into it. “I’ll be back later.” I throw it on the ground. Never mind that thing was a splurge that cost me over a hundred and fifty bucks.

The woman standing in front of me is one I haven’t seen in years. She once held my heart in her hands and squeezed it until there was nothing left. She looks unsure as she smiles up at me. “I didn’t know if you’d be here with the roads and all. Are you still on the road crew? I thought maybe you’d be at work.” She shrugs with an uncertainty that she should definitely have.

I don’t know how to respond. The last time I saw her, she was in my bed, and I was leaving for my third day of work on said road crew. I’d expected to come home and find my wife, yet I came home and found nothing. Not even a goddamn note. I clear my throat, gripping the doorframe harder to keep myself from reaching out to her. “I worked during the last winter storm, so this one I’m not on call.” Even though I don’t owe her an explanation, I give one.

My eyes rake over her body, trying to take in everything from the top of her chestnut hair to the pair of Doc Martens on her feet. This woman was the love of my life, yet no one knew we got married, or has known since she left me in the dust. I should ask her to come in, but I’m terrified. Why is she here now? How did she even know where I live? I bought this place after she left.

She shivers, pulling her coat tighter against her body. “Listen, I know we probably have a lot to talk about, but do you think we could do it inside?”

There’s a real part of me that wants to be an asshole and tell her no, that she doesn’t belong in my home. If she would have stayed, she’d have a place here. But there’s also a part of me that has missed the fuck out of her, that doesn’t like to see her shivering and wants to be her knight in shining armor. Against my better judgment, I step back and motion for her to walk into the house. “Come on in, Melanie.”

With a relieved sigh, she steps over the threshold and unzips her jacket, knocking the snow off. I watch as she stamps her feet and then looks around for a place to put the coat she just removed.

“It’s over there.” I point to the wall. “Most of the time, it’s just the guys here, and we put the coats on the table, so there’s not a ton of hooks. Find one and just stick it there.”

Damn, this is awkward.

Once she’s done removing her scarf, gloves, and beanie, she looks at me expectantly. I rock back on my heels. “Why are you here? What is it you want from me? It’s been eight years. Eight fucking years, Mel. What the fuck?”

She closes her eyes, eyelashes fluttering against her porcelain skin. “I know I have a lot to answer for.”

“Yeah, that’s an understatement. Are you going to tell me, or are we going to sit here and act like nothing’s wrong?”

She sighs, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, and it’s then I notice that there are dark bruises under her eyes. She looks exhausted.

“Weston, I know I owe you a lot, an explanation, at least, but I’ve been driving for three straight days. You’re the only person I trusted to come to. Do we have to talk about it now? I know I shouldn’t ask you for anything, but I’m starving and I need a nap.”

She sounds as if she’s about to cry, and it pulls at my heartstrings, but I’m not a pussy, not anymore. Back then, I let her call all the shots, and she left me, not caring that it killed me. I firm up my bottom lip.

“So, you’re just gonna leave and walk back in after eight years and tell me that you want to take a nap and eat some of my food? What the hell do you think you’re doing?” My voice is harsher than I expect it to be.

She flinches as if I’ve smacked her. Granted, my tone was rough, but I didn’t think it was that bad.

It hurts like fuck that she's giving me this look. It makes me feel like an asshole. Dropping my hands, they smack against my thighs. Might as well give up right now.

I continue reluctantly. “Take your shoes off, too. I’ll get you something to eat then you can take a nap, then Melanie, I want some goddamn answers.”

She swallows roughly; the column of her throat moving up and down.

“Okay Weston,” she says softly. “If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get.”