Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch (Gold Valley #13)(88)

There had been other changes, too. And there were two things that were true. She couldn’t stay here, couldn’t stay with him.

And she had to go tell her father the truth.





CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO


HE SHOULDN’T HAVE been, but he was shocked when he discovered that Callie was gone. There were still two weeks left of their marriage to fulfill. Not that her being in residence was a requirement. But he had no idea where she had gone.

But her duffel bag was gone. Along with everything else. Her presence. He could feel it. The difference in the air. The difference in everything. He sat down on the couch, numb.

He had avoided this feeling since that terrible week when his parents had died.

That awful hollow feeling. Where there was nothing. No future, no past. Just nothing. Nothing but the endless lack of a person that you wanted desperately to be with and couldn’t.

Knowing it was his fault.

Knowing it was him.

He thought maybe he was having a heart attack. Right then. Because he couldn’t catch his breath. Couldn’t breathe past this god-awful realization that it was just him again.

He let her down. But he told her, and it still didn’t matter. He should have done different. He should have done better. He should have protected her from himself, and he did.

You’re afraid.

You’re afraid.

Did it matter? Did any of it matter?

His life had changed that day fifteen years ago, and his world had shattered. And it had broken again when he’d learned the truth about his father. Every room in that house had felt packed full of lies and unanswered questions.

The wedding pictures on the wall had felt like photographs from a play, and when he’d started to get older and his face had begun to take the shape of his dad’s, he’d wondered what that meant. Who that man had actually been.

A man who’d bought a plane ticket in a moment of insanity?

A man who had a secret life.

Secret plans to leave.

A man who had changed his mind when his wife had decided to go on that trip with him, after all.

Everything had felt wrong and uncertain. And hope had felt like something with teeth.

Contentment had felt like the calm before a plane crash.

Loving a person felt like the edge of disaster.

He’d cared about nothing. For a long time. And then there was her. And she had always been an exception. And he let her get too close. He’d let this all go too far. But no more. It had to end.

He’d ended it. And she was gone.

It was why he left the rodeo in the first place, and he should’ve just left it as it was. He never should’ve let her come for Thanksgiving.

Holidays were a bitch.

This whole holiday season had ruined years of rules. Years of them.

It had to be done. It had to end. And thankfully, it was.

Because she was gone.

And he had a feeling it was for good this time.

And he knew that it was for the best.



* * *



CALLIE SLUNG HER duffel bag off her shoulder and set it down on the porch, looking up at the front door, feeling... She didn’t know. Not like a failure. She hadn’t failed at anything. It was just that it was time now, to have a real conversation with her father. Be ready for the answer to not be what she wanted. But she was going to have to put herself out there. And she was going to have to tell the truth.

All of it.

She breathed in deep, then knocked on the door. It was her father who answered.

“Hey there,” he said, taking a step back and letting her in. “Didn’t expect to see you.”

“Yeah. I know. Are... Boone and Kit and...everyone still here?”

“No. They all went home. Right after Christmas.”

“Of course. I... Yeah. I’ll come in, then.”

She followed her dad into the kitchen. He pulled out a stool at the island. “Have a seat.”

“Is Mom here?”

“No,” he said, moving to the fridge. “Off getting her nails done.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Well, spit it out,” he said, getting a cheesecake out of the fridge and setting it on the counter in front of her.

“What’s this?”

“Your feelings,” he said. “If necessary.”

And then she just started to cry. Absolutely burst into tears. And she couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that. Ever. She didn’t do tears. Other than the times that Jake had kissed her, and they just kind of escaped. But even then they’d both been too wrapped up in what they were doing to really talk about it. And she didn’t even know if he’d noticed.

“Do I need to get my shotgun?” he asked.

“No,” she said, reaching out and putting her hand on her dad’s wrist. “But I do have to tell you some things. Jake and I didn’t get married because we were in love.”

Her dad sighed, and sat in the stool next to her. “I see. Well, I suppose this is about the time I tell you I knew that.”

“You... You knew?”

“Yes, I knew. I knew you didn’t just decide to get married after never showing any interest in it. And I knew it wasn’t like he was that old-fashioned of a guy. Though it was a nice story that you told.”

“Oh.”