36. Thirty-Six
Thirty-Six
Rhett
“Just please tell me you weren’t really thinking of accepting that man’s offer?” I said as I barged into my dad’s office, Lachlan close behind me. From his window I saw Kyla making her way over to the cabin. She was hurt, and she was hurt because of me. I took a shaky breath. “You know what he’s trying to do, right?”
“He’s trying to buy some land—”
“No, he’s playing a game. He doesn’t give a shit about the land.”
“Uncle Leo,” Lachlan groaned, leaning his head back and crossing his arms. “Did you not see what went down out there? He hit Kyla.”
“I saw.” My dad’s eyes met mine. “Listen—”
“It's bullshit!” I screamed. “And the fact that you were going to entertain the idea while I was gone . . . Dad— ”
“It was— is —a good offer, and it could be helpful, but when it comes down to it . . .” He blinked and let out a long breath. “I wasn’t going to accept. Your mother would make sure of that. I know you guys had a plan to get him here and decline, but I was already planning on doing that.”
“Then why entertain him in the first place?” I argued.
“Because Rhett, it was a damn good offer. We don’t need the five hundred he was after and you have no idea what’s happening behind the scenes. Ask your sister.” My dad’s hand flew in the air as he gestured to the kitchen where Abi had been. “It would have been a good business call to take it.”
“But, you’re not?” I asked, a heaviness hitting my chest like a ton of bricks. What was going on with the ranch that I didn’t know about? Was Lachlan aware of anything? I looked at Lachlan and then back to my dad. “What’s going on?”
He heaved a sigh. “Nothing we can’t handle. I entertained the idea of selling, but not to that man.”
I swallowed. “You called David here for a meeting?”
“I did, I knew you were home and I figured we’d get it all out of the way.” Dad leaned up against his desk, crossing his ankles. “He was early. I didn’t think it would turn out like it did.”
Closing my eyes, I ran my fingers through my hair. “If he comes back around you call the police.”
“You hit him, Rhett.” Lachlan pointed out. “He has cause to press charges against you.”
I glared at my cousin. “And he hit my wife. ”
“And if and when he comes back—because you know he will.” My dad stopped me. “We will handle him. You should go make sure your wife is okay. She looked pretty shaken up.”
“She is.” I ran my hand down my face. “She doesn’t need this.”
My dad lowered his chin, his eyes meeting mine as he bore into me. “This was never supposed to last, right?” He paused, inhaled, and narrowed his eyes. “Is it still . . . temporary?”
I kept my chin down but lifted my gaze to him. Lightly, I shook my head. “It’s not temporary. She’s staying. We’re married.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Can’t say we didn’t call it.”
“I love her, Dad. I want her to stay, I need her to stay. I know it hasn’t been long—”
“I knew the day I met your mother . . . and Rhett, you’re a lot like me, so it doesn’t surprise me. We all love Kyla, she belongs here. But David—”
“Won’t be a problem,” I promised. “Next time he comes around—”
“Just don’t punch him again,” Lachlan groaned. “I’ll give Jarret a heads up.” He pushed himself off the windowsill and pulled out his cell phone to call the sheriff. He left the room, a distant “ Hey Jarret, it’s Lach,” echoing in my ears as he walked down the hallway.
“It’s a good thing he and the sheriff are on good terms now, huh?” My father cracked a joke, trying to lighten the mood in the room.
Ignoring his comment I shook my head. “I need to get back home, make sure Kyla is okay.” I rubbed the nape of my neck. “Once she’s settled, I’ll come back. Apparently I need to be let in on a few things around here? ”
My dad raised his eyebrows, and gave me a swift nod. “Yeah, we can talk about it after you make sure she’s okay.”
I left his office and made the trek to my house, forcing myself to push the last half hour out of my mind. I wanted to take Kyla in my arms. I needed to see she was okay. I needed to be calm and available to Kyla. I needed to protect her and make sure she was safe. She was the priority, not me. Not the ranch. Not David and his fucking offer. Nothing else mattered.
Only . . .
I opened the front door and saw a suitcase sitting by the sofa. I saw the towel with the bag full of ice—now water—sitting on the coffee table, and Kyla’s phone buzzing, face down on the counter. I moved, determined to figure out what the hell was going on, when I saw Kyla in the bedroom with her clothes on the bed, another suitcase open. She rushed from the bed to the bathroom, beginning to gather her things in there as well.
She hadn’t been here long, but she did make herself comfortable and she was . . .
Packing.
She was packing.
“Kyla,” I said softly.
“Oh, hi,” she said as she passed me, nonchalantly, as if what was happening here was normal. “How are things with your dad?”
“Kyla, what are you doing?”
“Oh um . . .” She stood up straight, flipping her hair from her shoulder. “I’m . . . uh . . . I’m packing.”
“Why?”
She sighed. “Because I can’t stay here. ”
I pinched my brow. I felt my heart stop. She was . . . she was . . . no.
“What?” I asked breathlessly. “You’re . . . you’re . . .”
“Let’s face it, I can’t stay here. If I leave, this will end. David will give up on his whole endeavor and, well . . .” She dropped her arms and hit her thighs. “It will be better this way.”
“Kyla, no. You—you’re staying. You said you were staying.”
Her expression faltered as she turned, closing her eyes to take a deep breath. “No, Rhett. I can’t.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. Not taking my eyes off my wife, I reached in, pulled it out and looked at the screen. Grace. Grace was texting me.
Grace
What the hell is going on, Rhett? Kyla’s not answering her phone and she’s saying she’s leaving. What the hell?
Locking the screen, I lowered my arm. I watched as my wife zipped up the suitcase and began to walk past me. I stepped aside, not quite sure what to do. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to grab her wrist, pull her to me and remind her that just last night she said it was good to be home. That just hours ago we fell asleep in each other’s arms—made love in our bed. I told her I loved her; felt the way she shuttered when the words hit her ears. She knew how I felt—how she felt—but all I could do was watch as she was getting ready to walk out the door .
I looked at the room in front of me, now seemingly empty without her things. It may have just been her clothes, hairbrush, toothbrush, but all those things made it real—made it home. And now . . . it was empty.
“Kyla.” I turned. “You don’t need to leave.”
“Yes. I really do. If I had just stuck to my original plan none of this would have happened. I should have never stopped at the bar. I should have gone straight to Washington.” Her words were quick as she listed off things she never should have done.
“Are you telling me you regret it?” I stumbled, remembering the first time I saw her at the bar. The moment I saw her, I knew she was it for me. “Do you regret all of this?”
“No. Yes.” She stopped, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “No. I don’t . . . Rhett, I don’t regret you. I could never regret you. I regret bringing you into this. I regret bringing David into your life. I regret asking you to be my fake husband just to try to get him out of the way.” She came up to me, placing her hands on my chest. I felt the weight of them, and my heart pounded. She tapped her fingers in rhythm with my heartbeat. She could feel it, yet she didn’t stop it. “I don’t regret the summer we had, so many things were added and checked off that bucket list. You made so many things come true for me, but . . . it’s not the right time for us. I have to go. I have to. All this will end—”
“Kyla.” I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me. Maybe if she was next to me my heart would stop pounding. “I don’t regret marrying you. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I love you, Kyla. You are my everything—my whole world. Please . . . let’s talk this through. Let’s not make any rash decisions. ”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” she stammered. “I need to leave, Rhett. I’ve already called the agency. They’re still happy to have me on board until I can get in a classroom. I’ve told Grace, and I booked a hotel in Spokane for tonight.”
I shook. My whole body was shaking. This was happening. She was leaving me.
“I had a wonderful summer, Rhett, but . . . please . . . David will follow me. He won’t stay here. Once I get to Spokane I’ll get a new number. I’ll keep in touch with Abi, and I’ll get a restraining order against David.”
“No, I don’t like this. You belong here, with me. You belong with somebody . . . like me. Kyla, this is ridiculous—”
“Honestly.” She stopped me. “It’s for the best. This was always supposed to be—”
“Mrs. Hartwell,” I whispered, “this was never temporary. Not for me.”
Kyla blinked, a tear dropping from her cheek. She sniffed and lifted a finger to swipe the single tear away. She had gotten a lot stronger at controlling her emotions, I’ll give her that. Either that or I had missed her crying while I was talking to my family.
She took a deep breath and then took one step away from me, forcing my arms to loosen. “We’ll need to end the marriage,” she muttered. “I looked and we can’t annul it, so, divorce—”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “No.”
She placed her hand on my cheek and leaned in to give me a chaste kiss. The last one we would ever share.
No, I refused to believe that .
“Please, don’t fight me. I’ll be fine, you’ll go back to being the Rhett Hartwell I met in the bar. Just, give me this. I’ll—” She swallowed. “I’ll miss you.”
Then she dropped her hands from my chest. My arms went limp, and she stepped away. She didn’t even look at me when she grabbed her phone and left the cabin. I looked at where her phone had sat, my heart completely stopping when I noticed the ring sitting there. I didn’t even notice her taking it off.
I was frozen in place as I heard the engine of her car turn over, the gravel under her tires moved and faded in the distance. I listened until I couldn’t hear them anymore—I didn’t want to believe my ears. I didn’t want to believe she was really leaving . . . that she was . . .
My phone buzzed again, pulling me back to the silence that was my cabin. I blinked and looked down to see Grace’s text message.
Grace
Rhett, please call me. What’s going on? Where’s Kyla?
She was gone.