Chapter 8
GREER
Weeks Later
“I’ll try not to be too long,” I call to Kellan as I grab my purse.
“Don’t you dare rush,” he lectures.
I roll my eyes. “I won’t.”
I head to the library, my thoughts a twisted tangle I can never seem to sort.
Kellan has been kind, generous, and the best lover I could have asked for, often satisfying me several times a night.
But there’s a distance between us. A mile-high wall he’s built. And sometimes I worry that’ll never change.
My phone buzzes with a notification from my old high school guidance counselor, Mrs. Granger.
Dear Greer,
It’s good to hear from you. I’m glad you’re doing well.
I promise I never thought you were a burden, and I certainly never told your parents you were.
I do admit to calling them down to the school for a meeting, but I was only asking their permission to try a new intervention. Shortly after, they pulled you from class, saying they were able to get you into a special program. I’d emailed them, asking for more details, but it went unanswered.
I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. Please, if you have any more questions, all you need do is ask.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Granger
I stop and gawk at my phone, feeling enough rage and confusion to make me scream.
But I hold it in, pushing it down, determined not to let my parents haunt me any more than they already have.
It’s time to put the past behind me.
I arrive at the library fifteen minutes early, but my tutor beat me there anyway.
“Hi! You must be Greer.” The blonde woman extends her hand. “I’m Willa.”
We shake. “It’s nice to meet you.” I smile nervously.
“Sorry, I couldn’t squeeze you in until now.” She tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m always busy.”
“It’s fine. I’m in no rush.”
“Evelyn tells me you’ve been studying hard.”
“I try to come in three times a week. I could just as easily study at the clinic, but there’s something about the smell of tea and old books that I find agreeable to the task at hand.”
“Same!” She gestures to the table. “I was hoping to give you a practice test to see which areas you’re weak in.”
“I can tell you that without any fancy test—it’s math.”
“Doh!” She snaps her fingers. “That’s where I’m weak too. But I’ve learned a few tricks over the years.”
We spend the next two hours going over math problems, which is a type of torture that should be classified as a war crime.
Willa is more patient than any teacher I’ve had before. Every time I get a question wrong, she says, “Okay, let’s try it another way,” and reframes it.
When I’ve had enough, I push the book away, manifesting a comical snarl.
Willa giggles and checks the time. “Would you like to grab something to eat?”
My stomach growls a response for me.
We wave to Evelyn on our way out and head to The Ridge Diner, dining on the best burgers and fries I’ve ever tasted.
“So, how do you like Iron Peak?”
“It’s great. Tight knit in a way you only see in Hallmark movies.”
The waitress drops off two big slices of pie. I inhale deeply, savoring the sweet scent.
“Don’t forget to box a second slice,” Willa tells the waitress. “Colt will get grumpy if I forget.”
The waitress turns back, smiling. “I’ll drop it off with the check.”
“Ah, make it two,” I interject.
“Two,” the waitress calls back.
“Pie is the least I can offer Kellan after all he’s done for me.”
The corner of Willa’s mouth curls into a smirk. “Have you known him for long?”
My cheeks flush with heat. “Growing up, he was my brother’s best friend. I never actually thought I’d see him again, but…things got hectic in my life, and he agreed to take me in.”
“Hectic?” She arches an eyebrow. “I hope it’s not anything too serious.”
“Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, but that’s a story for another day.”
“I have a crazy story of my own, as do a few other women around these parts. Iron Peak seems to be a magnet for damsels in distress.” She stabs her pie with her fork. “We’ll have to get together with some of them and reminisce about our sordid pasts.”
It feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. “I’d love that.”
“So, I hear you’re grooming at the clinic.”
“Kellan allowed me to take over one of his spare rooms. Mostly, I clip nails and trip backsides, but I’ve done a few shaves, and the results were passable.”
“It sounds like you’re looking to settle here, then.”
I frown.
“What’s wrong?”
I could lie. But I want so badly to tell someone my feelings, and something tells me I can trust Willa.
“The truth is, I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life after I take the test.”
“So the grooming business is temporary?”
I shrug. “I don’t want it to be, but I can’t say Kellan will appreciate me sticking around forever.”
“If he allowed you to open a grooming business inside his clinic, I’m sure he’ll want you to stick around.”
“He only let me open it because I demanded to contribute in exchange for his help. Allowing me the use of the room cost him nothing, and gave me an illusion of helpfulness.”
“Or, he could genuinely appreciate your contribution to his business. I’ve heard he offered grooming services before, but it got in the way of his patients that needed care.”
I look down at the table and suck in a breath. “Yeah, but when he offered me the room, it was before certain…complications.” My shoulders slump. “I complicated things.”
“Oh, trust me. I understand complications, and what it’s like to cause them.” She pops another bite of pie into her mouth.
“He says that the only thing I should be focusing on is my studies and getting my life together, and once I’ve accomplished that, we can discuss…other matters.”
“And let me guess: you think he’s kicking the can down the road?”
I frown. “The thought has definitely crossed my mind. He was a bachelor before I met him, and with as handsome as he is, that had to have been by choice.”
“Talk to him. The only person who knows what Kellan wants is him.”
The waitress delivers the extra pies, and we settle the bill before leaving, hugging like old friends before we part.
I have to admit, after meeting with her, I don’t feel as helpless as I had before. Maybe I have a chance.
I enter the clinic, finding a note at the receptionist’s desk.
Wrangling a runaway cow.
Be back soon.
Kellan
There’s always something.
I start decorating the new grooming room, putting stick-on puppy prints along the walls. But try as I might to bury myself in my work, a nagging thought won’t leave my mind.
Kellan fled. And I don’t know why.
He probably realized long ago that commitment wasn’t his thing, and I can’t help but worry that once the subject of us is on the table, it’ll change everything between us.
Not that what we have is anything substantial—lustful nights and days full of eyebrow waggles and lip bites. Still, it’s far from nothing.
I head into his office to grab some equipment, but as I pass Kellan’s desk, a note written in thick, black ink on a yellow sticky pad catches my attention.
Don’t think with your dick.
You deserve better.
She ain’t worth it.
I step back, heart hammering in my chest.
It all makes sense.
The hot; the cold.
The distance he’s put between us.
How could I have been so foolish?
I reach out, fingers trembling, and peel the sticky note off the desk.
I’m not worthy of Kellan.
I’ve known this all along.
He knew it too.
KELLAN
The cow was a stubborn heifer, but we finally got her back in the pen just as the sun dipped behind the peaks.
My arms ache, my boots are caked in mud, and all I can think about was getting back to Greer.
Maybe I can run her a bath tonight and relieve her of the stress she’s felt throughout the day. Then, I can lose myself in her again, like I’ve been doing every night since she had the audacity to exit the bedroom with barely any clothes on.
I can’t keep going like this much longer. Wanting her so badly, yet keeping her at a distance. It would be selfish of me to tell her how I feel—how much I love her—so I keep it to myself, praying that she’ll take the damn test so I can scream it from the side of the goddamn mountain.
Her car isn’t at the clinic. She usually sticks around to head back when I do, but maybe studying made her tired.
I head to my office to close up shop.
That’s when I see it.
The yellow sticky note on the seat of my chair. Words I’d scrawled weeks ago when my ex left that voicemail.
My phone’s already in my hand, thumb hovering over Greer’s contact, but I stop myself. If she read that, she’s not going to pick up. She’s going to run.
She’s probably already gone.
I rush home, praying that maybe her old beater got a flat tire.
My prayer goes unanswered. All that’s left of her is the faint vanilla scent of her shampoo and a note that says, “Thanks for all the help, but it’s time I make it on my own.”
Gerry squawks, sitting on the tee-shirt of mine she’d wore to bed last night as if knowing she’s not coming back.
My phone buzzes. I look down and see it’s Rus.
I bring the phone to my ear and hit ACCEPT.
“Hello?”
“Hey, I just wanted to thank you for hosting my sis while she figured things out.” He sighs. “I have to say, what you’ve done for her is nothing short of a miracle. If there’s anything you ever need, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone.”
Apparently, Greer must not have told him about us or why she left. And now, he thinks I’m some kind of hero.
“Rus, I’m not the man you think I am—”
“Like hell you aren’t. I’ll admit, I was hurt by you ghosting everyone. But you were there when I needed you—a true brother to me and my baby sis.”
“Yeah, about that. You’re not going to like what I have to say, and you might decide you want to kill me. But hear me out…”