Chapter Twelve
An hour in, Aftyn was done. She’d tried to let the music and the noise carry her along but her mind kept circling back to the restaurant, to Avery sitting somewhere on the other side of that wall without a care in the world.
She was tired of it. Tired of waiting. Though she did want to see her sister’s face when the moment finally came.
There was nothing quite like being stolen from.
But your own sister doing it was something else entirely, something that didn’t have a clean word for it.
The thing was, Aftyn would have given her the money.
She’d had plenty before Avery found out about it, and she wouldn’t have thought twice about helping her. But Avery hadn’t asked.
Instead, she’d gone through the desk in the living room, gotten into the bank account online, and walked into the branch to close the savings account and drain it.
The bank had refused to close the checking in case of outstanding transactions, so Avery had taken care of that herself, hitting ATMs wherever she found them until the balance was gone.
She’d also taken everything from Aftyn’s wallet and put it neatly back inside her purse, clearly counting on Aftyn feeling the weight of it and not thinking to look. It had worked, at least for a while.
Aftyn knew she should have kept her purse in the bedroom.
It had just become habit to hang it on the rack inside the door, and Avery had been staying with her long enough to know that.
Things had been fine until Judd came into the picture.
Whatever was left of Avery’s better judgment seemed to have walked out the door with him.
Aftyn leaned toward Cole. “Can we go?”
“Of course.” He didn’t ask why. His hand slipped beneath her hair, warm against her nape, and he pressed his lips to her temple. “Let’s go.” He caught Laura’s eye across the bar.
Laura made her way over with a smile. “Another round, Cole?”
“Just the tab, please.”
“Be right back.”
Cole stood, pulled out his wallet, and handed Laura the bills when she returned with the tab, waving off the change. He took Aftyn’s hand as she hopped down from the stool and steered her through the crowd and out into the cold, where snow had begun to fall in thin, lazy flurries.
“Now it’s freezing,” Aftyn said, pulling her coat tighter.
“It’ll get colder before morning. Come on, let’s get home.” He tugged her hand, but she didn’t move.
He looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
She gave a small nod across the parking lot. Her jaw was tight. Cole followed her gaze and saw them, Avery and Judd, strolling hand in hand across the asphalt toward Dewey’s doors like they had all the time in the world and not a thing to answer for.
“Aftyn.” His voice was quiet but firm. “Not tonight. You let her know you’re here and she’ll run. You know she will.”
Aftyn looked at him and the fight went out of her shoulders because she knew he was right. Avery wouldn’t stay out of loyalty to a job or anything else. She’d be gone before morning if she felt cornered.
“I know.” She exhaled slowly. “I just want her to know she’s not going to walk away from this.”
“She’s not. Talk to Sam Monday morning. Let him handle it the right way.”
“Okay.” She watched Avery disappear through the double doors. “I should call Peterson too. Have him keep an eye on her.”
“Let’s head home.” Cole led her to the truck, opened her door, and once she was in he walked around and slid onto the seat. He nodded through the windshield. “There’s Peterson.”
They watched him cruise past without more than a glance in their direction and pull into a spot near the back.
“He followed them here,” Aftyn said.
“At least he’s doing his job.”
She turned in her seat and watched Avery and Judd cross the lot and disappear through Dewey’s doors, close enough that she could have called out to her.
“I want her for this, Cole.”
“I know.” His voice was low. “But we do it right.”
She turned back and nodded. “Okay.”
The following morning, she padded into the kitchen in her robe to find Cole standing at the window with a coffee cup, looking out at the yard. When he turned and grinned at her she felt the color rise in her face immediately.
“Stop,” she said.
“I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re looking at me.”
“So, I can’t look at you now? You shouldn’t blush, especially after last—”
“Don’t you dare.” That made him laugh, which didn’t help.
“Okay. I’ll behave. For now.”
She shook her head and crossed to the coffee machine, dropped in a K-cup, and hit brew.
She didn’t sleep much. Avery had taken up most of the night in her head, circling.
Though she had to admit Cole had managed to clear her out for a while, and she smiled at the thought before she could stop herself.
“What’s that smile about?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I was thinking about not sleeping because of Avery.” She reached for her cup. “Except for the part where you took my mind off her.”
Cole chuckled. “Happy to help.”
“I was happy you did.” She rose onto her toes and kissed him.
He set his cup in the sink and reached for his coat. “I need to check on the horses and see if the guys need anything. Won’t be long.” He pulled on his hat and gloves, opened the back door, and paused to look back at her. He winked, then pulled it shut behind him.
She watched him cross the yard through the window, his head tipped down against the spitting rain, until he disappeared into the barn. Then she finished her coffee and went to get dressed.
****
Cole pulled the barn door open and stepped inside. “Damn, it’s cold.”
“Hey, boss.” Rio came toward him down the aisle.
“Morning. Everyone staying warm?”
“Yes, sir. Keeping them all inside today. Should warm back up tomorrow.”
“Good. I just want to check on the babies and then I’ll be inside. Call me if anyone needs anything.”
“Will do.”
Rio headed out and Cole walked the aisle alone, the barn quiet around him except for the soft sounds of the horses. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, glanced at the number. Familiar somehow, but not in his contacts. He answered.
“Harrison.”
“Hello, Cole.”
He went still. “Callie. Why are you calling me?”
“I’ll be home for Thanksgiving. I thought maybe we could get together.”
“Why would we do that? I haven’t heard from you in a year.”
“I’d love to see you.”
“How many times have you been home since you left?”
A pause. “I was back last Thanksgiving. And Christmas.”
“And you never called once.” He leaned against the wall. “Not once.”
“I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me.”
“You’re right. So, what changed? You heard I’m seeing someone, didn’t you.”
It wasn’t really a question.
“I might have heard something,” she said.
“Might have. Callie, you still have people here. I’m sure you knew within the hour.”
“Is it serious?”
“Is that any of your business?”
“Cole.” Her voice softened. “I miss you.”
“Have a good day, Callie.”
“Wait.”
He stopped. “What.”
“I’ll see you soon.” She hung up.
He stood there a moment staring at the phone. What was she after? He knew her well enough to know this wasn’t sentiment. It was something else.
“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered. “She just doesn’t like the idea of you being happy without her.”
“You talking to yourself?” Rio had come back in through the side door.
Cole pocketed his phone. “Callie just called me.”
Rio’s expression shifted. “What for?”
“She’s coming home for Thanksgiving. I think someone told her about Aftyn.”
“Ah.” Rio shook his head slowly. “Doesn’t want you, just doesn’t want anyone else to have you.”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“I never liked her, Cole.”
“I know you didn’t.” He pushed off the wall. “I’m heading inside. Talk to you later.”
Cole stepped back out into the cold and crossed the yard to the house, turning the question over as he walked. Should he tell her about Callie’s call? He already knew the answer. He sighed and climbed the porch steps, wiped his boots on the mat, and pushed inside.
He hung up his coat and hat and sat on the bench to pull off his boots. The house was quiet. He padded to the bedroom and stopped in the doorway.
Aftyn was packing her case.
His stomach dropped. “Packed already?”
“I heard there’s snow coming. I thought I’d better get ahead of it.”
“It’s only drizzling right now. Supposed to warm back up tomorrow.” But even as he said it he picked up her case and nodded toward the door.
In the kitchen she pulled on her coat and tugged her beanie down, and he watched her without saying what was sitting in his chest. He put his own coat on, picked up the case, and held the door open.
Outside, the cold settled around them.
“We didn’t get to spend Sunday together,” she said quietly.
“There’ll be others.”
She stopped and looked at him and shook her head. “Will there?”
“What does that mean?”
“We both know I’m leaving once Avery is arrested, Cole.”
He held her gaze for a moment. “I’ll follow you to your apartment, then I need to stop at the Feed Store.”
He pulled the door shut behind them and set his jaw. He didn’t want her to go. But this had always been the arrangement, and there was nothing in Clifton to keep her. Not even him.
He followed her vehicle through town, eyes on the black Enclave ahead of him, his hands tight on the wheel.
The weekend had gone too fast. Intense and easy all at once, the kind of time that made you aware of its edges while you were still inside it.
He wanted more of it, and he knew better than to say so.
He’d asked someone to stay once before. The memory of how that had ended still sat in his throat like something he couldn’t quite swallow down. He wasn’t doing that again. Not ever.
He pulled into the diner lot and parked beside the metal stairs leading up to the apartment. The engine ticked as it cooled. He stepped out and watched Aftyn slide down from the driver’s seat, her hair catching what little light the grey morning had to offer and reach into the back for her things.
“You don’t need to walk me up,” she said, her breath clouding in the cold air.
“I know.” He took the case from her and caught her hand, and led her up the stairs, which groaned under their weight.
At the door she fumbled with the keys, then shouldered it open and turned to face him, taking her case back without quite meeting his eyes.
“I had a good time.” Her smile was there but it didn’t reach anything deeper.
“Could I come in for a minute? There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Of course.” She stepped back to let him through.
He helped her off with her coat and hung it on the rack, then took off his Stetson and turned it slowly in his hands. He kept his sheepskin on. He wasn’t staying.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“No, thank you.” He exhaled. “While I was in the barn this morning, Callie called me.”
The line that appeared between her brows was small, but he caught it. “Why?”
“Because of you, I imagine.”
“She doesn’t know me.”
“No, but someone told her I was seeing someone and she didn’t care for that.” The bitterness in his voice came out before he could measure it. “I suppose she expected me to still be sitting here torn up over her leaving.”
“She’s been gone a long time, Cole.”