Chapter Seventeen
Banging the door closed behind him, Dylan threw his hat on the table. Daisy whimpered and scampered away. Warily, she sneaked a looked at him from behind the couch.
Sighing, he crouched down. “Sorry, girl, I’m just …” Daisy wiggled closer, still not sure what was going on. “I don’t know what I am. I just miss her, you know?” Barking, Daisy jumped up against him. “Yeah, I know you do too.”
Stroking Daisy, he sighed again. It was Friday, a whole week since June had left and not a minute went by that he wasn’t thinking about her.
A truck stopped outside, and barking, Daisy charged toward the door. Grimacing, Dylan got up. Probably Cooper, only he had this effect on all animals.
Cooper knocked and opened the door. Daisy was beside herself. Laughing, Cooper bent down to pat her.
“Coop,” Dylan said. “Want a beer?” He opened the fridge.
“Yeah, thanks. How have you been?”
Dylan handed Cooper his bear. “I’m fine.”
Cooper pulled out a chair and sat down. “Sit, coz, we need to talk.”
“What’s up with all the talking?” Dylan muttered but sat down anyway.
“You’re miserable,” Cooper said.
Fed up, Dylan took a swig of his beer. “I’ll be fine.”
“No, you won’t be. You miss June. You think about her all the time. Trust me, I know the feeling. I nearly let Rose slip through my fingers because of my own baggage.”
Dylan gave him a skeptical look. “You have baggage?”
“Everyone does. If you keep holding on to the past, though, you’ll always carry it with you.
Yes, your childhood sucked, but you’re here now, with family.
You’re the one who has to decide whether you’re going to be stuck in the past or whether you will move forward.
You have feelings for June, even if you don’t want to admit it.
And yes, I know you’ve only known her for a couple of weeks—it doesn’t matter.
Talk to her, text her, call her, tell her about your day, what you’ve done, what book you’ve read, ask about her life.
See whether you can figure out if what you feel is the real thing or whether it has just been hormones. ”
“Is that what you did?” Dylan asked.
Chuckling, Cooper shook his head. “No, I spoke to Walker.”
Frowning, Dylan glared at his cousin. “Walker’s been dead for a few years.”
Cooper nodded. “I went to his grave and just talked. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t there, I could get things off my chest and somehow”—with a faint smile, he shook his head—“he heard me. I’m here for you, coz.
Let me know when you’ve figured out what it is you want.
” With a last sip from his beer, Cooper got up.
“What you can’t do is be as cranky as you’ve been over the last week.
Everyone has been complaining. Do something before a fight breaks out. ” With a wave, he walked out.
Dylan was still looking for words when he heard Cooper’s truck driving away.
Well, hell. His mind racing, he got up and paced the kitchen. He had been miserable and had been lashing out at just about everything. Hell, he couldn’t stand to be around himself, how could anyone else? His mind went over Cooper’s words again.
Text her, call her and say what, damn it? With his cousin’s words racing through his mind, he continued pacing, Talk to her, text her, call her, tell her about your day, what you’ve done, what book you’ve read, ask about her life. He could do that.
He knew June grew up in foster care, he knew what she did for a living, he’d seen her with the kids in the library, he knew she could make a hell of a meal, he’d tasted her food, he knew he loved her body, the way she responded to him …
Sighing, he rubbed his neck. But okay, there were a lot of things he didn’t know about her.
Maybe if he knew more about her, he might feel differently about her.
*
Closing the door of her apartment behind her Friday afternoon, June kicked off her high heels and took out the pins in her hair. Shaking it loose, she walked to her room. That was so much better. She’d left Marietta only a week ago even though at times it felt much longer.
While she was at the office, she kept busy. She’d taken on more clients and would probably have to work at night as well to finish her work, but at least when she was working, she was focusing on something else than missing Dylan. But oh, my goodness, the nights!
Clutching the blue stone on the chain around her neck, she closed her eyes. She missed his touch, his big, warm hands all over her body, the sound of his voice, his body next to hers. Would this longing ever go away?
Maybe she should go for a run. Her appetite was gone, she wasn’t sleeping properly, it couldn’t go on like this. As she was taking out her running gear, her phone bleeped.
Her heart leaped before it settled down with a sigh. Taking a deep breath, she picked up her phone. It was a message from Dylan with a photo of Daisy looking so cute, she wanted to cry.
“I like action and crime movies. A bit of sci-fi but not too weird. And don’t laugh, but I also loved Titanic. Daisy says hi. We miss you.”
Stunned, she sat down on her bed. Where did this come from? She read his text over and over. Why had he sent this to her? Why tell her what movies he liked?
She phoned Abby.
“I was about to call you …” Abby said.
“Why would Dylan text me to tell me what movies he likes? Ending with a smiley emoji?”
Silence. Finally, Abby cleared her throat.
“Well, let’s see. This is an interesting question.
The guy you’ve slept with and have probably fallen in love with texts you to tell you what movies he likes with a smiling emoji.
This after you left him a week ago without telling him you’re returning to Seattle.
Taking a wild guess, I think he’s trying to communicate. ”
“Communicate?”
“Yes, you know that thing people do when they’re getting to know each other? Talk about your likes and dislikes, see whether you have anything in common?”
“Oh.”
“What about dinner tomorrow night?” Abby asked. “Then you can tell me all about your answer to your cowboy. Oh, and there’s a ballet I’ve been dying to see. I’ll find out if we can still get tickets.”
“Okay, thanks.” Her thoughts still with Dylan’s text, June ended the call.
Picking up her phone, she stared at the small screen. Maybe this was not such a bad idea. If he knew she preferred movies that were the exact opposite of what he liked, he’d realized it was a good thing she’d left.
*
Dylan had just given Daisy her food when his phone pinged. Daisy stopped eating and barked.
“You think it’s her?”
Daisy barked again before she resumed eating her food.
The text was from June.
“Don’t judge—rom-com movies.”
Chuckling, he read her text a few times before he texted again.
“So you liked Titanic?”
He didn’t have to wait too long.
“Way too sad! If it doesn’t have a happy ending, I’m not watching. Things okay on the ranch? Is the bull behaving himself?”
Grinning like an idiot, he texted back.
By ten o’clock they were still texting. By now he knew Barry had loved her story—of course he would love it, it’s a great story—he knew about her difficult client, he knew Abby and she were going to the ballet tomorrow night after dinner out, and he knew he missed her even more than he had before.
He should probably say good night, she had to be tired after the week back at work.
Instead of texting again, though, he phoned her. And waited. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to phone, maybe he should’ve just sent a final text, but man, how he wanted to hear her voice.
Just before he wanted to end the call, she picked up. “Dylan.”
Daisy barked and jumped up against his legs.
“Is that Daisy?” she asked.
“She misses you.”
A soft sigh. “I miss her too. You okay?”
“I am. Just wanted to hear your voice.”
Silence. “I’ve decided to brace myself and watch Titanic.”
He chuckled. “Yeah? So, what rom-com should I watch?”
“Ooh, there are so many. I’ll send you a list.”
“I don’t know if I can stomach that many happy endings, but I’ll try.”
Silence again. “Good night, Dylan.”
“Good night, June. Daisy is not the only one who misses you.”
A low chuckle. “Daisy’s not the only one I miss. Good night, Dylan.”
Before he could answer, the silence in his ear told him she’d ended the call.
Daisy barked again.
“I know. I miss her, too, but she’s not coming back.”
His phone pinged again. It wasn’t from June, though but from Arlene on the Weston family group thread.
“Love to see you all on Sunday.”
Strange. Since he and Carson had moved to The Weston Ranch, having lunch with Arlene on Sundays had become a standing date. Why would she text them?
Sighing, he walked toward his room. He needed a seriously long cold shower before he’d be able to sleep tonight.
*
Saturday late morning June was in front of her laptop. Barry had emailed her the work of a few illustrators he thought they should consider using to do illustrations for her children’s book.
None of them were bad, it was just that she couldn’t get excited about anything she’d seen so far.
To be fair, since her return, she couldn’t get excited about anything really.
A strange, lethargic kind of feeling had taken hold of her.
Hopefully, the night out with Abby would cure her of whatever it was.
She kept thinking about Dylan, about Daisy, about the friends she’d made in Marietta, about how at home she’d felt at the foot of Copper Mountain. Rubbing her face, she groaned. This was not helping.
Her phone rang. It was Barry.
“And?” he asked, clearly enthusiastic about the prospects.
“Hi, Barry. Thank you for these, but I … I don’t know. There isn’t really anything that jumps out.”
“What?” Barry was clearly stunned. “All the illustrations I’ve sent you are work done by some of our top artists and you don’t like any of them?”
Rubbing her neck, June sighed. “Let me have another look, maybe …”
“Do you have something specific in mind?”
“Not really, but I’ll know what it is when I see it.”
Barry was quiet for a while. “Wanna tell me what’s really going on with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just because I’m close to sixty and usually have my nose in a book doesn’t mean I don’t see what’s happening around me. Ever since you’ve returned from wherever you were, you’re … I don’t know how to put it. You don’t look happy.”
Feeling close to tears, June swallowed. Barry was the closest thing to a dad she’d ever known, and he’d always been good to her.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be fine, I promise. Abby is coming over later, I’ll ask her to help me choose.”
Barry cleared his throat. “If you’re in any kind of trouble, you know you can talk to me?”
“Thanks, Barry. I’m okay.”
“I love this story, I really do. It’s something that would resonate with kids. I can feel it. Please let me know as soon as possible.”
“By Monday, I promise.”
When Barry ended the call, she texted Abby, asking her to please come earlier, she needed her help.
Abby arrived an hour early. June was dressed and ready for their night out and had her laptop out to show Abby the illustrations.
Abby gave her one look and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t decide what illustrator to pick, come and have a look.”
Abby grabbed her arm. “That’s not what I’m talking about. You look … wan.”
“I’ve put on blusher and …”
“… covered your freckles, I know, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I know you, June, something’s up. How was the rest of your communication with Dylan?”
June shrugged as she walked toward the table where she’d left her laptop. “I now know what kind of movies he likes and what music he listens to. We are complete opposites. Come and have a look at the illustrations.”
“Well, isn’t opposites attract a favorite trope romance authors use in their stories?”
“Exactly. In their stories. It’s not something that happens in the real world. Come on, help me decide.”
Fortunately, the illustrations fascinated Abby and within minutes she was scrolling through the artwork.
Rubbing her temple where a headache had been lingering since early this morning, June exhaled slowly. She didn’t want to talk about Dylan. If she did, she was going to cry, and heaven knew she’d cried enough over the man.