Chapter Ten
Grady let out a deep sigh as he set his phone down on the arm of the recliner. The weight of his mistake settled heavily on his shoulders, and he knew he had just made a big mess with Savannah.
“Fuck,” he exclaimed, his frustration bubbling over as he stood up from the chair.
He paced around the living room, trying to think of a way to make it up to her. He knew he was in the wrong and was man enough to admit it, but getting her to forgive him would be a challenge. He knew she needed time to cool off, but telling a woman to calm down was never a good idea. He remembered his father making that mistake with his mother and how it only made things worse. A small chuckle escaped him at the memory, reminding him not to make the same mistake.
He needed some time away, away from everything and everyone. Grabbing his phone, he called Warren to ask for a week off. With most of the cattle already moved and maintenance being the only task left on the ranch for a while, he knew they could manage without him for a week. Next, he called Maverick to let him know about his plans to leave town for a bit. Finally, he called his mother to ask if it would be alright for him to visit them at their cabin in Kalispell.
“We’re actually at the cabin right now, so of course you can come visit!” his mother’s voice echoed through the phone.
Early Saturday morning, Grady loaded his duffle bag into his pickup truck and hit the road toward Kalispell. The familiar drive brought back memories of when he first arrived in Clifton, searching for job opportunities. He had stumbled upon The Feed Store where local ranches and farms posted job openings. As he stood in front of the bulletin board, he had a clear idea of what he wanted - to work on a cattle ranch. He had spent many summers helping out on his uncle’s ranch before his passing, and was well-versed in the operations of a ranch.
He couldn’t help but grin as he remembered standing next to Robert Coleman, the owner of the Triple C Ranch, while they both scanned through the postings. Robert had noticed him and struck up a conversation.
“Looking for work, son?” Robert’s deep voice boomed.
Grady nodded. “Yes, sir. I’m interested in working at a cattle ranch.”
“Do you have any experience?”
“I worked at my uncle’s ranch from the age of twelve until his passing last year.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. Are you from Clifton?”
“No, sir. I’m from Missoula.”
“I see. Are you looking for summer work or something more permanent?”
“Something permanent,” Grady replied confidently.
Robert extended his hand for a handshake. “I’m Robert Coleman, owner of the Triple C Ranch here in Clifton. It’s one of the largest ranches in the state.”
“It’s great to meet you, sir. I’m Grady Henderson.”
“How old are you, Grady?”
“Eighteen, sir.”
With a smile, Robert handed him a business card. “Come to the address on this card tomorrow morning at ten, and we’ll chat. I’m always in need of experienced ranch hands,” he said.
Grady took the card gratefully, his fingers tracing over the embossed lettering. His heart swelled with gratitude for the unexpected opportunity. “Thank you, Mr. Coleman. I will definitely be there, sir,” he replied earnestly.
As Robert left the store, Grady couldn’t help but feel hopeful and excited about the potential job offer. He gazed down at the card in his hand, envisioning a future where he could use his skills and hard work on a ranch once again.
Returning to reality, Grady shook his head in disbelief. He never would have imagined that a chance encounter could lead to such a promising opportunity. Robert Coleman was not only kind and generous, but also a shrewd businessman who recognized talent when he saw it.
As he made his way around the sprawling ranch, Grady was introduced to the other ranch hands and foremen. He was struck by the vastness of the land and its untapped potential.
From the moment they met, Grady knew that he and Maverick would become lifelong friends. They were both promoted to foremen at the same time, with Grady at twenty-six and Maverick at twenty-five. The two worked seamlessly together, earning the trust and respect of the Coleman family.
After driving for almost two hours, Grady finally arrived at his destination; a quaint cabin nestled amidst rolling hills and lush greenery. He parked his truck, retrieved his duffle bag from the back, and made his way toward the front door. There was no place he’d rather be than here right now, at the cabin with his parents, where he could find peace and solace in the familiar surroundings.
****
Savannah sunk into the plush cushions of her sofa, her fingers absently running through Bentley’s soft fur. She could feel a lump forming in her throat, but she refused to let herself cry. Grady should have called by now. He should know that she was upset and needed him to reach out. But there was only silence.
“What is it with men, Bentley?” She sighed, leaning back against the soft fabric. “He knows I’m upset.”
She grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV, hoping to distract herself from the disappointment she felt. Her eyes scanned through channels, but nothing seemed interesting enough to hold her attention.
“Just what am I supposed to do while he sulks?” Savannah grumbled aloud, frustrated with Grady’s stubbornness.
She couldn’t wrap her head around why he hadn’t reached out yet. Sure, they had argued, but every couple had their disagreements. They just needed to move past it and forgive each other. All day yesterday she had hoped he would stop by her store like he usually did, but he never showed up. And today, she thought for sure he would have gotten over his anger and called by now, but once again, he hadn’t. She was not going to be the one to break and call him first. No way.
“Men,” she muttered to Bentley who was lazily sprawled out next to her, “I know I was the one who hung up, but he had to know I was pissed.”
Feeling restless and cooped up in her house, Savannah decided to take a drive into Clifton for some retail therapy. She wanted to get Bentley a new collar since he had outgrown his old one.
Racing up the stairs, she quickly changed into a comfortable t-shirt and jeans, then slid her feet into her pink flip-flops, before locking up her house and heading out in her car.
As she strolled along Main Street after parking her car, she couldn’t help but take in the bustling atmosphere. Usually, she was too busy running her store to enjoy the small-town charm. But today, with nothing else to do, she wanted to explore the local shops.
Entering almost every store she passed, Savannah couldn’t resist making a few unnecessary purchases. When she came upon the bakery, the delicious scent of fresh pastries and breads hit her like a wave. She couldn’t resist stepping inside and joining the line of people waiting for their turn. After leaving with half a dozen mouth-watering cupcakes, she crossed the street to Scoops of Joy, an ice cream shop that she had always wanted to try. She ordered a chocolate chip cone and walked back outside, hoping it wouldn’t melt before she could finish it.
As she made her way along the sidewalk, juggling her box of cupcakes and cone, she spotted The Everyday Grind coffee shop down the street. She waved at Celine who was working behind the counter and decided to stop in and say hi.
“Hey, Vanna,” Celine said as she handed a customer a cup of coffee.
“I thought you didn’t work on the weekends.”
“I usually don’t, but Ainsleigh wasn’t feeling well, and since Killian is out of town on a case, I decided to cover for her.”
“I hope she’s okay,” Savannah said.
“Me too, but I think it’s just a bug. She should be back tomorrow. If not, we’ll deal with it. What are you doing?”
Savannah held up her bags. “Shopping. I wanted to explore today.”
Celine laughed. “Good for you.”
“I just wanted to stop in and say hi. I’m going to see if Maggie is home.”
“Okay. Thanks for stopping by.”
“Sure. See ya.” Savannah walked back out into the heat of the day. She put her bags in the trunk of her vehicle, then headed toward the alley behind her shop.
Savannah climbed up the stairs, knocked on Maggie’s door, and was greeted with a warm smile as her friend welcomed her inside.
“Vanna! Come in!” Maggie exclaimed.
Savannah stepped into the open apartment and took in its spacious layout. One large room served as living space with a TV mounted on one wall and a couch facing it. A couple of dressing screens were set up near one corner, with a bed hidden behind them. Savannah admired the creative use of space.
“I love what you’ve done with the place,” she said, taking a seat on the couch.
“Thanks.” Maggie beamed. “I wasn’t a fan of having the bed out in the open, so I got these dressing screens to create a private area for it.”
“It’s perfect,” Savannah replied.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Maggie asked, gesturing toward the small kitchenette.
“Water would be great, thanks. It’s scorching hot outside.”
As they sat down with their drinks, Maggie asked about Savannah’s plans for the day.
“I just needed to get out of the house,” Savannah admitted with a sigh. “Grady and I are still not talking.”
Maggie’s jaw dropped in shock. “Seriously?”
Savannah nodded sadly. “I know I made him mad when I hung up on him, but I never thought he would go this long without reaching out.” She shook her head. “I miss him.”
“I bet you do. Men tend to speak without thinking sometimes. He probably didn’t realize the implications of his words when he asked about your feelings for Kirk.”
“Maggie, he has to know I don’t have feelings for Kirk anymore. That man shattered me. I would never take him back.”
“That’s what you need to make clear to Grady. He needs to hear it from you.”
Savannah took the glass Maggie handed her and sipped from it, then nodded.
“Grady should know that, but maybe I should go to his place and talk to him.”
“Maybe you should.”
They chatted for a while longer before Savannah decided to leave and head over to Grady’s house. She hugged Maggie goodbye, walked down the steps, got into her car, checked for traffic, and pulled onto the street when there was a break. She drove down Main Street and made her way to Grady’s house in hopes of resolving their issues.
As she pulled up to his place, she noticed that his truck wasn’t there. She hoped he wasn’t at the ranch because she had no idea how to get there. She parked beside the wooden rail fence, got out of her car, and walked onto the porch where she knocked on the door. It was unusually quiet inside. Maybe he was working, but she knew he had weekends off.
She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. That surprised her since Grady never locked his door.
“What the hell?” she muttered under her breath.
She walked around to the back of the house, admiring the glistening water in the pool as she went, but Grady was nowhere to be found. She walked up the wood steps to the deck and peered through the windows, but it seemed like no one was home.
“Where could he be?” she whispered to herself.
Did he go out of town without telling her?
“Well, you did hang up on him,” she reminded herself, feeling guilty.
Taking a deep breath, she walked back around to the front of the house, climbed into her car, and drove home. She felt disappointed and her heart ached at not being able to find Grady.
She pulled into her driveway and saw Kirk sitting on her porch. “Oh great. One I can’t find and the other one I don’t want to find.”
After popping the trunk, she got out of her car and walked to the back to retrieve her bags, ignoring Kirk.
“Do you need some help?” he asked as she struggled with all of her bags.
Savannah looked at him and responded sternly, “What I need is for you to leave me alone. Go marry... whoever it is you’re going to marry and stay away from me.”
“Vanna...”
She narrowed her eyes. “Kirk, just go. I’m happy now with someone else.”
“I want you to be happy for me.”
“I’m thrilled to death. You said you came here to tell me you were getting married. You did that. So now you can go.”
“I did come to tell you that, but I don’t want any hard feelings between us.”
“Kirk, there are no feelings at all between us! Why are you making this so difficult? Go back to your fiancée. You’re only sticking around because I’m in love with someone else,” she snapped and knew by the look on his face, she was right. She entered the house and slammed the door.
****
Grady joined his father on the back deck, sipping a cold beer and admiring the small back yard and the woods surrounding the cabin. His parents had moved and downsized to a smaller house in a close-knit community in Clifton, but this place was where they spent a lot of their time.
“What’s on your mind, son?” Vic Henderson asked.
“Nothing, Dad,” Grady replied evasively.
“You never were a good liar.” His father took a long swig of beer.
“I’m fine. Really.”
“Your mother doesn’t seem to think so,” Vic remarked.
Grady chuckled at this comment. “Well, we all know she’s always right, don’t we?”
“We just let her think that.” His father winked.
“Because I can make your life miserable if you don’t,” Lena chimed in as she joined them on the deck and settled into one of the rocking chairs.
“So, how’s work going?”
“It’s going well, Dad. I really enjoy my job,” Grady replied.
“I know you do, son,” Vic said.
“And are you still seeing Savannah?” Lena inquired.
“Now there’s the question I knew was coming.” Grady sighed.
“I’d love to meet this woman. Your mother says she is absolutely beautiful,” Vic continued.
“She is,” Grady confirmed with a smile.
“But?” prompted his mother.
Grady shook his head. “We had an argument, and I thought it would be best to give her some space for now.”
“I see,” his mother murmured.
“I’m glad someone does.” Grady shook his head.
“What did you do?”
“Why do you assume I did something?”
“You’re a man, aren’t you?” His mother smirked.
Grady chuckled. “Is that all it takes?”
“To piss off a woman? Usually.”
Grady looked at his dad, but he only shrugged.
“You’re not going to say anything?”
“Son, we just said she’s always right. I’m not going to the doghouse for you.”
Grady laughed. “Thanks a lot.”
“I’m going back inside to make dinner.” His mother stood up and put her hand on his shoulder. “You need to call Savannah. You’ve been here almost a week now.”
Grady sighed. He knew she was right, but he wasn’t sure he could yet. She hung up on him, but he also knew he deserved it. He should have trusted her, but maybe this was for the best. He didn’t like the idea of getting in too deep. Hell, you’re already in too deep.
“So, what’s your problem with settling down?” his dad asked, and Grady wondered if he could read minds.
“I don’t know, Dad. I like my freedom.”
“Your freedom will make you lonely one day. You know, the right woman doesn’t make you feel like you lost your freedom.” His dad stood up and entered the house.
Grady thought back to telling Savannah he enjoyed his freedom but then told her he enjoyed being with her, and he did. His dad was right. Freedom was one thing, being lonely was another. He did enjoy his freedom but if he lost Savannah, would his freedom be worth it? It was time he admitted, at least to himself, that he was in love with her.
He stood up, walked to the rail of the deck, leaned against it, removed his phone from his shirt pocket and called Savannah.
“Hello?” a male voice answered.
“Who’s this?” Grady frowned.
“Kirk.”
Grady could feel his blood boiling.
“Why are you answering Savannah’s phone?”
When Kirk laughed, Grady squeezed the phone in his hand.
“She told me to since she didn’t want to talk to you.”
“Bullshit,” Grady growled out.
“Why else would I be answering her phone?”
“Let me talk to her.”
“Savannah? Man, she’s already shaking her head.”
“Fuck you,” Grady snapped and hung up, then he threw his phone across the yard, then sighed as he walked down the steps to get it.
****
Monday morning, Savannah arrived at the shop and headed straight for the coffee maker. She was in desperate need of caffeine after a sleepless night and wondering where she lost her phone. She remembered having it yesterday because she talked to her mother while shopping.
Maggie walked in and greeted her with a smile. “Good morning.”
“Hi, Maggie.”
“Did you talk to Grady?”
“No, I couldn’t find him. I think he might have left town.”
“I see. Well, you could call him.”
“Oh yeah, that’s another problem. I lost my phone.”
“Oh no, where did you lose it?”
“If I knew that, it wouldn’t be lost.” Savannah laughed.
Maggie sputtered out a laugh. “True.”
“I spoke to my mom yesterday, but after that, I don’t remember using my phone. I searched my house and car but couldn’t find it. It has all my contacts.” Savannah gasped. “My bank info is on there.”
“You have to call your cellphone provider to lock it.”
“I’ll do that right now,” Savannah said as she made her way to the office and called her provider. Once they locked her phone, she returned to the front of the store. “They took care of it. Now I have to buy a new phone. But even having the same number, I won’t have anyone’s contact information.”
“Yeah, unless you backed them up somewhere. I should probably do that too because I don’t know anyone’s number by heart,” Maggie said.
“I’ll get a new phone on my lunch break. I just can’t figure out where mine could be.”
“Well, better safe than sorry. And if you do happen to find it later, I hope you can get your numbers from it.”
“I hope Grady doesn’t think I’m ignoring him if he calls.”
“You should call him.”
“I’ll ask Parker to get his number from Maverick when I have a chance.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I’ll do that after the rush,” Savannah said, noticing customers entering the store.
“Good luck with that,” Maggie added under her breath.
The day only got busier and by the time Savannah had a break, she hurriedly went to the cellphone store to purchase a new phone. When she returned to the shop, it was already bustling with customers. She rolled her eyes at Maggie and quickly put her new phone in her purse before locking it in the filing cabinet.
As closing time approached, Savannah and Maggie finally had a moment to catch their breath while sitting on stools behind the counter.
“Today was crazy busy,” Maggie commented.
“It definitely was. I know I shouldn’t complain, but I barely had a chance to breathe. And I never got around to calling Parker. It’s too late now since she’s probably on her way home and unfortunately, I don’t have her number saved.”
“I don’t have her number either. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. I’ll figure something out. I miss Grady so much right now and can’t even get in touch with him.”
“I’m sure he’ll come by when he can’t reach you.”
“I hope so. Unless he thinks I’m still mad at him. I need to call Parker tomorrow.” Savannah stood up. “I guess we can call it a day here.”
“Okay, I’m ready whenever you are.”
“At least your apartment is close by.” Savannah smiled.
“I absolutely love the apartment. Thanks again for offering it to me.”
“I almost moved into it myself, but when my friend Kinley offered me her townhouse, I couldn’t pass it up.”
“Kinley?”
“Yeah, Kinley Wilson. She moved in with her fiancé, Levi Thomas, and let me know her place was up for grabs. I jumped at the opportunity and love living there.”
“I bet it’s amazing.”
“It definitely is. You should come by sometime.”
“I’d love to.”
“Anytime. Let’s get out of here. I’m ready for a hot bath and a good night’s sleep. Damn, I wish I had my phone.” Savannah shook her head.
“At least you don’t have to worry about someone getting into your accounts now, though.”
Savannah nodded as they walked out the door, locking it behind them, then Savannah made her way to her vehicle while Maggie walked around to the back of the building.