Page 27 of Denim & Diamonds

After a few seconds of silence, she said, “What if I come to my senses, years down the line, use the bracelet to come find you…and you’re married? What then?”

I scratched my chin. “Well, then I might have to go on a very long trip to the store for some milk.”

She giggled. “You’re bad.” She sighed. “You’re never gonna believe what song came on the radio as I was leaving Meadowbrook.”

“What?”

“‘Wild Horses’ by the Rolling Stones. If you listen to the words, it kind of reminds me of us.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention before, but I’ll definitely listen to it.”

The line went silent, and I realized the call had dropped.

Shit.

I tried to call her back, but it went straight to voicemail.

My phone rang about a minute later, and I immediately answered. “Everything okay? ”

“I’m sorry. That was on my end. Damn patchy service again.”

“No worries, Red.” When she started breaking up, I added, “Be careful driving, okay? Text me when you get home.”

“I will.”

After we hung up, I sat there in a daze.

Oak came over and placed his chin on my leg.

I rubbed between his ears. “You tried to warn her that I was looking for her, didn’t you?”

He whimpered.

“I know,” I muttered. “We tried.”

***

That evening, Tim Weaver, who owned one of the local convenience stores, sat at my bar.

“Rang up that ginger beauty, February, this morning,” he told me. “She grabbed a few things for the road. Told me she was headed out of town, back to New York City.”

“Yeah. She left this morning.”

“Not sure if I should be telling you this, but…”

My eyes darted toward him. “What?”

“Her eyes were red. Looked like she’d been crying.”

Fuck. I stopped wiping the counter. “Yeah?”

“You do something to upset her?”

“None of your damn business, but no.” I gritted my teeth.

I never wanted to see February hurt, certainly not at my expense.

While I hadn’t intentionally hurt her, I’d let things go too far with us the other night, and the aftermath had made things even more painful today.

Making love to her was worth all of it, though.

But it was no wonder both of us felt broken.

Later that night, “Wild Horses” came on the music streaming service I used at the bar.

I just shook my head, powerless against the universe.

Anxious to know why it reminded her of me, I tried to listen to the words through the noise in the bar.

But I couldn’t figure out their exact meaning—something about a failing relationship and some kind of heartache.

Still, this song would always remind me of her .

Speaking of Red, she must have been home by now. I’d told her to text me, but I felt like hearing her voice, so I picked up the phone and dialed.

After a few rings, she answered. “Hey, Brock.”

She sounded down.

“Hey. Just checking to make sure you got home okay.”

“Unfortunately, no. I’m stuck in traffic. It’s been stop and go most of the way here. There are tons of accidents because of the weather. It’s dark and rainy now, and I have another fifteen miles to go. At this rate, it could still take hours.”

“Aw, baby, I’m sorry. What a long day for you.”

“That’s what I get for driving. I should’ve just flown. It would’ve been a short flight. The drive up was great. Used it to clear my head. But the ride back is just torture.”

“I wish I was with you. I’d drive so you could rest.”

“You know what I wish?” she asked.

“What?”

“I wish I could go back to the night I spent on your couch in front of the fire with Oak on my lap. I’d give anything to be in that cozy spot right now. ”

I closed my eyes for a moment. “That was a damn good night. Not quite as good as last night, but a close second.”

“Absolutely nothing tops last night,” she agreed. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

“Me neither, beautiful.” I groaned, remembering the ecstasy of being inside of her.

“Will you stay on the phone with me for a bit?”

I was supposed to be working the bar, but heck, I owned the place and made the rules. I temporarily stopped service and retreated to the back room, where I stayed on the phone with February for the next hour.

After we hung up, I vowed to follow through with my promise to attend the wedding with her.

She hadn’t mentioned it again, and I wondered if maybe she didn’t actually want me to go.

But heck, I had a tux on order, and I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing her again.

So I needed to make it happen. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.

Damn, that’s corny.

It’s been a long day.

I was just about to close down the bar when my brother Maddox walked in.

“Hey, dude. What are you up to?” I asked.

He beamed. “I got the best freaking news today.”

“Well, it just so happens I could use some good news. What you got?”

“Wait, what’s wrong?” His brow furrowed.

“February left today.”

“Shit. That’s right. Trevor told me.” He patted me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s going on with you?” I asked.

“The insurance finally approved my surgery. They set a date for the operation.”

I felt myself smile. “That’s amazing, man!”

Maddox had been dealing with an old sports injury for some time now, and it had been impeding his ability to work his construction job. While he owned part of the business, he did a lot of hands-on work, too.

“You still good to fill in for me at the site while I’m out of commission?” he asked.

“Yeah. Of course. Anything you need.”

“That really means a lot, man.”

“Anytime.”

“And I can count on you to pick me up from the hospital and shit? Take me back to your place until I can recover? I hate asking you to do that, but it’ll be easier than you having to come to my house with Oak.”

“Yeah. Whatever. Don’t worry about it. When did they schedule your operation?”

“Well, they had one opening and said if I didn’t take it, I’d have to wait two months. So it was a no-brainer. The surgeon is super booked. It’s on a Friday, two weeks from yesterday.”

“Cool.”

But almost as soon as I’d said that, I realized what that Friday was.

The weekend of the wedding in New York.