Chapter Eleven #2
Somewhere toward dawn, they managed to fall asleep for a little while, but Hunter’s body wasn’t satiated, not by a long shot.
They’d showered together earlier. What should’ve taken a few minutes because he wanted Willow back in bed, ended up being another leisurely discovery of each other’s bodies.
He simply couldn’t resist her after he glimpsed her naked body behind glass.
The water ran cold before they’d returned to bed.
Turning on his side, he pulled her close to him. Maybe spooning with her like this, would relieve this frantic need to become a part of her again. Like him, she’d hardly slept, and she was leaving in a few hours’ time. She needed to rest.
But as their legs entwined, she pushed her bottom against him. “Mmm, ready for me again?” she asked groggily. Without turning around, her hand moved back, and she touched him. “Wow, cowboy,” she chuckled. “This is impressive. You are impressive.”
“Ignore it, you should try and get some sleep.”
Her hand continued to stroke him up and down. “And waste this? Not on your life.” And lifting her top leg, she gave him access.
“Damn, Willow …” was all he managed to say before he slipped into her. As her heat welcomed him home, he pulled her tightly against him.
As their pace quickly increased, he buried his face in her hair. How the hell was he supposed to live without her?
*
It was still dark when Willow stopped at the family graveyard on the ranch. Tears were streaming down her face, she had tried to stop them, but she had no control over it. Damn it, she hated crying.
There was no way she could face Hunter this morning and not tell him how she felt. So, she’d quietly slipped away without waking him up. Fortunately, her bag was already packed and in her car.
Both paintings she’d made of him were still in her studio. Greg Davis, the owner of the gallery had assured her he could arrange for a company to pick up any other paintings she had even if they weren’t quite dry yet.
In the end, she’d decided she couldn’t take them to the exhibition. At this point she couldn’t bear to part with them. Also, she and Hunter weren’t engaged any longer, but anyone looking at those paintings would be able to see how she felt about him.
She hadn’t planned on making this stop, but Cooper’s words had somehow surfaced during the night, and here she was, ready to talk to Walker. As she got out, she switched on the light on her phone. Damn, it was cold, and the wind didn’t help.
It was way too dark to see anything about the surroundings, but she’d been here often enough, it was easy to conjure up the bare, tall cottonwood trees surrounding the graveyard, the gorgeous view from here of Yellowstone National Park, the snowcapped peaks of the Absaroka Range and the Gallatin River.
The quiet peace she always experienced when she came here welcomed her back.
As she opened the gate, she tried to wipe the tears from her wet, cold face but it was no use, they seemed to have a mind of their own.
Sniffing, she moved down the row of graves from her great-grandfather’s, past her great-grandmother’s, her grandpa, and their nana.
In front of her dad’s grave, she stopped.
Crouching down, she touched the grave. “I’ve finally found someone like you, Dad, but he’s not staying.” For a moment she saw her dad as she always remembered him—on his favorite horse, laughing. He’d loved this land, the cattle, his family.
Slowly she got up and moved to Madeline, Hayden’s first wife’s grave. Touching the cold stone, she had trouble breathing. “He’s happy, Maddie. Luke, too. He has your eyes. We all still miss you.”
As a soft sigh filled the air around Willow, she moved to Walker’s grave, and hands in the pockets of her coat, she stared at the engraving on his stone. Walker Weston—you were loved.
For a while, she couldn’t talk, she just listened to the sounds of the night, felt the cold as the wind penetrated even her thick coat. She was wearing gloves and a scarf, but the icy temperature seeped right through everything.
Stomping her feet, she inhaled deeply. “It’s cold damn it, but Coop said I have to talk to you.”
Something warm touched her cheek. Wiping her tears, she swallowed back the tears. “Thanks for that. I … I’m so sorry I dragged all of us into town that night.”
Everything around her went silent, even the wind quieted down. For a moment she saw her brother’s face clearly in front of her. He never blamed her. The relief poured through her like warm wine.
“Hayden, Becket, and Coop are all happily married, but you know that, don’t you? None of them believed they should be happy because you aren’t around any longer, but somehow, after they’d spoken to you, they had the courage to grab onto love.”
Huddling in her coat, she waited. Walker was quiet, though.
“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
A soft chuckle reached her.
“Okay, okay. I met someone. You would’ve like him, you know? I love him, so deeply, it scares me. What if something happens to him? What if it doesn’t work out between us? I don’t think I can survive losing one more person I love.”
You’re much stronger than you think. You know what you have to do.
The words were so clear, for a moment she could swear Walker had spoken. Another warm touch flitted over her face before the cold wind was back, reality crashing over her.
“But I don’t know!” she cried out.
For a few moments she stayed, hoping for a sign, a word, something but soon the cold had her darting back to her car. All she knew was that the fake engagement was over, and her heart was breaking into the tiniest of pieces.
Inside her car, she rubbed her cold hands together before she took off her gloves to text her mother she’d left earlier.
That was when she noticed the engagement ring.
Oh, damn, she was still wearing it. Gnashing her teeth, she tried to take it off.
She hadn’t taken it off since Hunter had put it there.
Pulling and licking, she did everything she could think of, but it wouldn’t budge.
No matter how hard she tried, or how much spit she used, it wouldn’t even move a little bit.
This was ridiculous. Jamming her hand back into the glove, she started her car. She’d try again in Seattle. Maybe she could return it or send it back to him. Hayden should have Hunter’s address.
Maybe after the opening night of the exhibition, she’d visit Walker’s grave again to find answers. At the moment her mind was too absorbed with Hunter to make sense of anything else.
As she drove past the exit of the ranch, she turned her head to look in the direction of her house. There were no lights on yet, Hunter would still be asleep.
When he got up, he would tell her family they’d broken up and he would leave for Colorado.
That would be the end of their fake engagement. Inhaling deeply, she tried to ignore the pain threatening to rip her in two.