A Cowboy for the CEO

Chapter 35: Someone I Used to Know

When Ali woke the next morning, Hank was gone. She had only just gotten dressed when there was a knock at the door.

"My brother's back," Liz said with a sigh when Ali opened the door.

"I know." Ali smiled. "I was with him last night."

"No, I mean he's back by the garage, and—well, you may want to talk to him." She turned and walked away, not waiting for a response.

A knot formed in Ali's stomach. Hurrying to the other side of the building, she stopped when she saw him unloading some familiar-looking furniture from the bed of his truck.

She took a deep breath. "I guess you didn't like my idea," she said.

He carried two wooden dining chairs into the garage before tossing them by the wall. "You shouldn't have wasted your time."

Ali moved closer. "I just wanted to make the place nicer for you."

"I liked it just fine the way it was," he grumbled as he walked by.

"But it felt like you were neither coming nor going." She turned after him.

He looked over his shoulder. "Exactly."

"What?"

He spun around and threw up his hands. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I don't want to be here?"

She remembered what he'd said about wanting to get his life to return to the way it was before the accident. "I'm sure it's just a matter of time. If that doctor is as good as you say he is—"

"So I should just sit around and wait for a solution to be handed to me?" He raised his voice. "Right. Thanks. Like you're the first one to suggest that."

She crossed her arms. "What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing, Ali." He looked down and kicked away a rock. "Don't say anything, and don't try to make my life into your version of perfection."

"Excuse me?" she asked in an attempt to draw out a specific accusation.

"Haven't you noticed?" he asked, leaning against the truck. "You can't handle it when things around you are less than ideal."

She shook her head. She may have been a perfectionist according to Dr. Sacher, but that didn't mean she couldn't handle a little disorder in her life. "That's not true."

"No? You made one mistake—and honestly, falling off that horse can't even be called a mistake but a plain old accident—and now you're intentionally sabotaging getting better because you don't want to fail again."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, walking to him until she was just inches away. "I'm doing everything I can. Yes, I resisted at first and there were some hurdles, but I'm making progress. And the funny thing is, none of it probably even matters because I was just offered a promotion."

Hank straightened up at the news. "What?"

"Yeah." She paused. This wasn't how she'd wanted to let him know, but it was too late to take the words back. "The senior VP is ready to put me in charge of a new office in Seattle. I just have to officially accept."

"Are you going to?"

She shrugged and touched his arm. "I don't know yet."

"Right," he said with unhidden sarcasm.

Ali stepped back. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know," he said before turning around and unhooking a tether. "You're just afraid to admit it to yourself."