Lonely Secrets: Yellowstone Ranch Series

28

"I can't leave you here." Kayce said in an exhausted voice. Drops of water dripped down off his dark hat and soaked his grey suit jacket.

I hastily sat back down in the small white folding chair, facing to where a casket once was just a short time ago. Not even an hour ago. I sighed loudly and dried the water from my face as best I could without smudging my make up as if that would've helped. It was likely I had smears of black mascara and patchy blush. "Ryan said he can come back and get me." I stared straight ahead, avoiding his kind eyes.

"Well, he's not here and I gotta get back to the ranch. And I ain't leaving you by yourself here." He shook his head, and I heard him walking away. The squishing of mud under his boots stopped for a moment and paused, as if he realized I wasn't following. He trudged back to me and knelt down in front of my little white chair. He narrowed his dark eyes and sighed a breath that sounded like it held a thousand pounds. He was frustrated with me and he was exhausted, probably from work or family or something between the two. I had heard this sigh many times before and that's what it always meant. It happened when Kayce was too drained to even entertain an argument. He was going to tell it how it was, and I would listen. But not this time. I was going to be tough and stay strong. "I don't give a damn how mad you are, or that you still hate me. But I'm not leaving you alone right now." The gravelly tone in which he spoke gave off that rough demeanor that made me remember one of the reasons why I had found him so attractive. The sternness and intensity made me giddy at one time, and that hadn't changed, because I ached to do as he said. I wanted to please him and make things easier for him because he does so much for everyone but himself.

But the image of him with Monica that I had created in my mind long ago floated by me. And I couldn't break from that picture.

Not this time. I repeated in my head. I stayed still, ready to throw my tantrum if needed. I wasn't going with him. I knew what that would do. "Ada, if I have to carry you to my truck, fightin' and screamin' I will. Please don't make me do that." He blinked slowly,"Just let me drive you home before it starts storming again." His chest fell slowly now as he breathed deeply. I heard his exhales over the rain. His eyes were dark and dreary and falling half shut. When's the last time this poor man slept?

I gritted my teeth. I can't. I bit my tongue. Don't do it. I told myself. I took my eyes from him and stared forward again.

He let out another one of those heavy sighs and stood up from his one knee. His tall figure sat down in the chair beside me. "I guess we'll ride out this storm together." He cleared his throat. "That'll be a first." He looked down at me.

The comment just pissed me off. He wasn't talking about a thunderstorm or snow storm. He meant our storm. The storm he caused. I opened my mouth to argue then stopped.

He knew me too well and that I would have to say something back.

"I'm only letting you take me home so I don't have to sit here with you any longer." I stood up and stomped away.

I stepped up into the truck and he shut the door behind me. The truck smelled the same as it use to and gave me nostalgia from the dates we had or errands we had to run together. I missed those times. I curled up in his passenger seat and stared out the window as the blue mountains and muddy pastures flashed by us. He didn't say a word. He didn't turn on the radio. He just drove. And it was peaceful. Comfortable. Safe. My eyelids kept dipping down and as much as I forced them open again, they won. They fell shut. The tap tap of the rain on the wind shield made a relaxing tune that put me in a sudden sleep.

When I opened my eyes, the truck was shut off, sitting in front of his cabin. The front porch swing swaying the in wind and the heavy rain. But I was alone in the truck. I swallowed hard. Of course he would do this. I couldn't blame him for trying.