Page 46 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight

W

hen he woke up, Cole wasn’t there, and the sunlight was shining through the beams. Chloe was gone, too.

Grady snorted. Cole must’ve gone riding.

He sat up and went back to the house. He walked through to the kitchen and found Charmaine sitting at the little table, tapping her fingernails on her coffee mug.

She glanced up as he came in and then looked down again.

Grady couldn’t parse why she’d be looking abashed—he was the one who’d spent the night in the barn with his hand; clearly, they needed to talk, but she should’ve been mad.

“Think he’s gone riding if you wanna do this now,” Grady said and made a coffee.

“He’s not gone riding.”

Grady faced her. She was looking at her coffee.

“All right,” he said slowly, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“He’s gone,” she said and met his gaze, her face set but afraid too, regretful.

Grady walked out and went straight for the pasture. Chloe was there. He couldn’t have gone, then—he wouldn’t leave her. He came back. Charmaine was standing now, and Grady noticed her suitcases beside her.

“He ain’t gone,” Grady said.

She nodded. “He is.”

Grady got it then.

“What did you say to him?”

Her eyes flashed defiantly, anger rallying over the regret. “I said what you should’ve said, Grady. I said what you should’ve damn well said!”

“What?”

“That you’re married! That it ain’t serious between you two! That he ain’t the only one!”

Grady felt each one of those statements like a blow.

He took a deep breath to steady himself.

He was at a loss as to what to say. She wasn’t wrong, was the thing, on the face of it.

But all he could see was Cole’s face at hearing that.

And all he could feel was that none of that was true. Except the married part.

“You leavin’?” he said instead of anything else.

“I think it’s for the best. For now. You need... God, Grady.” She threw her hands up.

He watched her. And he knew what he needed right now.

“Not for now,” he said.

“What?”

“Not for now. You ain’t leavin’ for now. Don’t be comin’ back.”

Her lips parted, and he could see the shock, the questions.

“Because of him?”

Grady squared his shoulders and decided to finally say it. “Yeah.”

She laughed, and it turned into a sob. He moved toward her, but she held her hand up. Then she pulled it together.

“I’ll have my lawyer call you,” she said and walked out.

Grady stood there, listened to her drive off, and wondered what time Cole set out and where the hell he’d gotten to and how long it’d take Grady to track him down this time.