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But if Ghost had heard the crash—

This time she couldn’t even finish the thought. Because she knew her mother had been right. That he had been well within his rights—and the Rafferty property line.

After all he’s done, you can’t even be as patient with him as you are with that horse?

That had stabbed home hard. Made her feel petty, even vindictive, and she didn’t like the feeling. Had sniping at Cody become nothing more than a habit?

…enemies flipped can become the fiercest kind of love.

Was it really possible for a lifetime of animosity to change direction like a champion cutting horse?

She realized she had reached up and was touching her lips. Because the most incontrovertible piece of evidence had been that kiss. There was absolutely no way to deny what that had been: real, fierce, fiery, and overpowering.

Are you as…boggled as I am by this?

As she remembered what he’d said, what struck her now as much as the words was how he’d sounded, absolutely gobsmacked. As if he couldn’t believe it, either. As if his head was spinning with the speed of it, just as hers had.

Her own words floated through her mind again. I should have known it couldn’t really turn around so fast.

And her mother’s response. Those words that had been like a key in a lock, just waiting for her to turn. To accept.

Maybe it didn’t turn around. Maybe you just saw it clearly for the first time.

Accurate vision for the first time in her life. The truth of it began to sink in. She was seeing clearly, all right. And right now, she was seeing the mess she’d made of things.

Her phone chimed a text.

When she saw it was from Cody, her heart took a tumble.

When she read it, her eyes began to sting with gathering tears all over again.

It’s time for your pain meds.

He’d been religious about that, tracking that for her, bringing her the pills and making her take them so the pain stayed down. That relief would end soon, because they could interfere with the bone healing, but for now it made her life easier. And he’d always made sure her wrist was iced regularly, kept elevated, and the same with her ankle.

And now, even after the way she’d thrown him out, he was still taking care of her.

Raffertys don’t lie.

No, they didn’t. So the simple thing was to ask straight out, right? Ask a Rafferty a question and you got an honest answer.

She swiped out the words one-handed before she could change her mind. Calling him would have been easier, but she wasn’t ready to hear his voice again, not yet.

Were you only here because you felt guilty?

There was a long enough pause that she thought he wasn’t going to answer at all. She guessed the fact that Raffertys don’t lie didn’t necessarily mean they answered every question.

But then, just as she was putting the phone down, it came.

I came because I felt guilty. But that’s not why I stayed.

Honesty. The Rafferty trademark.

She stared at the screen until her tears blurred the words.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cody sat with his head in his hands, rubbing at his eyes. He finally understood.