Chapter Seven
“We Already Broke Up”
“Can’t believe it’s only two days until Halloween,” Bryon said with a shake of his head. “It feels like there’s still so much for us to do.”
“That’s because there is,” Theon told him.
“We still need to make sure everywhere is fully decorated. We’ve got food, drinks, and enough wood for a night-long fire.
Not to mention Cal and Henry are making sure the house itself is in order.
But you and I still have more work to do. Like setting up these canopies.”
He straightened, brushing some sweat off his cheek, and stepped back to examine his handiwork. The canopy he and Bryon had just erected was bright orange, like a large piece of a pumpkin resting on four poles. Not bad, though the other three they’d put up looked sturdier.
He looked around at the tarps and poles lying on the ground around them.
Four more tents to go. Several logs sat in a circle about twenty feet away atop a large patch of dirt.
The bonfire was ready. In the distance, the barn that had gotten TP’d a couple of days ago looked exactly the same.
After giving it some thought, he’d decided not to remove the toilet paper, figuring it at least supported the Halloween aesthetic.
What he’d viewed as an inconvenience was turning out to be a blessing in disguise.
“Why do we need canopies anyway?” Bryon wanted to know. He reached down, picking up a couple of poles. “Especially with the bonfire. It’s not like it’s going to rain.”
Theon gave a shrug. “I’ve been setting up tents for the last few years. Don’t see a reason not to do it again.”
“You’re the boss. At least now that you’re off that case of yours, we should be able to set this party up quicker."
Theon simply nodded in response. Yesterday, as they left Svenson’s ranch, shortly after the attack, Janice had thanked him for his help on the case, informing him that she no longer needed it.
He and the detective parted ways then. Thinking about it now, he couldn’t help releasing a sigh of relief. It was all over now.
Or was it? Janice figured she was closer to cracking the case.
Those teenagers who’d trapped them in the barn must’ve had something to do with the attacks on the ranches.
It couldn’t be much of a coincidence that they’d happened to be present and had locked up the two people who’d been trying to prevent an attack moments before it happened.
And now that she knew their names, it shouldn’t be hard to track down the culprits in this small town.
But what if she was wrong?
He glanced toward the barn, covered in a year’s supply of toilet paper, and frowned. What if those kids weren’t actually responsible? Deep down, Theon couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that this case wasn’t nearly over. But Janice was already on the hunt for her new suspects.
And he was off the case.
He and Bryon continued setting up the next canopy, attempting to dig the poles into the earth. As they worked, Bryon frowning in concentration, Theon let his thoughts drift a little, memories of yesterday cascading through his mind.
He still couldn’t believe he’d kissed her in that barn.
The details were still fresh in his mind.
They’d been having an argument, and the next thing he knew, he’d been kissing her for all he was worth.
At the time, it had been all he could think about, and even hours after they’d left the ranch, his lips still tingled with the memory of hers.
Theon drew a deep breath, feeling a tiny ache in his chest. In those moments before they’d broken apart, he’d been lost in the sensation of her—the taste of her lips, the warm, delicious scent that flooded his nostrils, the softness and warmth of her body.
God, he’d missed her. If those cows hadn’t interrupted them when they had, he just might have ended up taking her against the barn doors, or on the ground.
And from the way she responded to his kiss, he doubted she would’ve minded.
“Stupid cows,” he muttered in spite of himself.
“What was that?” Bryon wanted to know.
“Huh?” Theon blinked. “Nothing.”
He supposed it was for the best that things hadn’t escalated any further.
They’d already stepped into dangerous territory with that kiss, and even now that he was off the case and she was, according to their agreement, out of his life, he’d thought about her more in the past twelve hours than in one month.
But it wasn’t just the kiss he’d found himself thinking about. Janice’s words had imprinted themselves on the walls of his mind ever since their argument: For someone who claims to have cared, you had a funny way of showing it.
Emotionally unavailable. That was what she’d called him. Each word had felt like a dagger to the chest. Even now, she thought the same of him as she had the night she’d ended their relationship.
“Can I ask you something, Bryon?” he said.
The other man stopped what he was doing and glanced at him, hands still gripping the pole. “What is it?”
“Do you think I’m incapable of feelings? Or at least incapable of showing them?”
Bryon blinked at him for a few seconds, his eyebrows twitching into a confused frown. “I...I’m not sure I follow.”
Theon told the man everything he could remember from his argument with Janice back in that barn at Svenson’s. It wasn’t particularly fun, recounting the details, but he did it anyway. When he was done narrating, Bryon scratched his head.
“Well, boss,” he said, “I’m not sure what to say.”
“Just be honest,” Theon told him. “Tell me what you think.”
Bryon lifted an eyebrow. “You sure?”
“It’s not like I’ll fire you or strip you of your dinner privileges for saying something I don’t like,” he joked. When Bryon didn’t laugh, he gave the man a playful punch on the shoulder. “Come on, of course I’m sure. Out with it.”
The animal rescuer cleared his throat, glancing away for a moment before focusing his brown eyes on Theon. “Well...now that you mention it, you can come off as a little unfeeling sometimes. It’s not hard to see what she meant. You don’t strike me as emotionally available.”
He cast a cautious glance in Theon’s direction, as though expecting him to suddenly yell, “You’re fired!” When nothing of the sort happened, he sucked in a breath and went on.
“But it doesn’t bother me, to be honest. The way I see it, you’re the boss around here, so it’s pretty normal.
Plus, we’ve been friends for a long time now.
It’s different from your ex. Bosses aren’t exactly meant to be soft or emotional.
Heck, I’m sure it would weird me and the others out if you got like that.
We’re your workers, your buddies. But with lovers... that’s a different story entirely.”
Theon pressed his lips together. So Janice had been right.
“I wasn’t always like this,” he said, shaking his head.
His wife Clara’s passing had changed him in more ways than even he had realized. After she died, he’d thrown himself deep into his work. Hadn’t it been the reason he founded Green Sanctuary? Ever since then, all he’d done was focus on work, on the sanctuary, on animals.
No wonder Janice thought he was guarded.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t loved her. In his defense, now that he thought about it, he’d been single for way too long.
How many years had it been since Clara was killed?
In the years that followed, he hadn’t gotten involved with other women, in part due to an unyielding devotion to his late wife. And then he’d met Janice.
Now, even she had left him, and what had he done? He’d thrown himself into his work yet again.
You could never even say you loved me.
That part had stung a little. Not that it hadn’t been the truth. He’d liked Janice—loved her, even. But after several years without a woman in his life, coupled with the fact that he’d practically buried his emotions in other things, he’d had trouble bringing himself to say the words.
No wonder she’d left him. Now that he thought about it, Janice hadn’t really done anything wrong. He had. He’d failed to show her how much he loved her. And it had cost him everything.
“Want some advice?” Bryon asked.
Theon blinked at the man. “Huh? Sure.”
“If you really loved this woman—and if you still love her, you should go after her.” He leaned lightly against the pole, tightening his grip on it. “Try to get her back. We usually don’t know what we have until we lose it. But maybe it’s possible to get it back.”
Theon thought about it for a moment, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest. Truth be told, it hadn’t even really occurred to him that trying again with Janice might be an option.
She had dumped him, after all. Even now that he thought about it, what were the odds that she’d be willing to get back together with him?
The memory of her kissing him back in the barn, gripping his shoulder as their passion intensified, flickered through his mind then. But what was it she’d said after they broke apart? You shouldn’t have.
“I don’t know.” Theon shook his head. “We already broke up.”
“You did.” Bryon took a step closer. “But if there’s a part of her that still wants you as much as you want her, maybe there’s still a chance for you. The thing is, you won’t find out if you don’t try. Now, why don’t we get the rest of these canopies set up so we can be done before dinner?”
Theon nodded, turning back to the canopy they were setting up. He reached for another pole, wondering what Janice was up to right now.
***
Janice had found the culprits.
At least, that was what she’d thought an hour ago. Now, as she paced around the interrogation room, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made a huge mistake.
“I told you already, we didn’t do it!” said the blond kid sitting across the table from her.