Page 70 of Resisting Isaac

There’s a heaviness that settles over the bar, and for a second, all threeof us are quiet.

“Thing is,” Liam continues, softer now, “sometimes the moment you think you shouldn’t say something? That’s the exact moment you should. Because if you don’t, next thing you know, it’s too late.”

I jerk my chin toward Elijah. “So you staying single forever or what?”

Elijah holds up both hands. “I’m too emotionally under-qualified for a relationship. Ask our dad. Oh wait, don’t. He said he never wanted to hear my name again.”

I wince. “You and Kent still butting heads, huh?”

Elijah shrugs while drying a glass. “Just since the day I was born. It’s whatever. We don’t see eye to eye. He says I’m a waste of potential.”

Elijah’s mom passed while giving birth to him and from what I’ve gathered, Kent Wilder hasn’t ever bonded with his youngest son. It’s a damn shame. Having lost my father, I want to tell him to repair the relationship while he still can, but Kent is as hardheaded as any rancher.

“He’s hard on all of you,” I say. “But I hate that you and he still haven’t forged some kind of relationship.”

“We were all real sorry to hear about Jack,” Liam says low from beside me. I contemplate telling him about the new evidence in my dad’s case, but I’m enough of a downer already.

Elijah groans. “Oh, good. Now we’re trauma-bonding. Someone change the subject.”

I force a laugh, the knot in my chest loosening a little more. Just brothers, drinks, and the shared understanding that none of us know a damn thing about women. Or fathers.

Or much of anything.

“Noah going to be around this week?” I ask, shifting gears. “Or is he elbow-deep in equipment and spreadsheets?”

“He works late day in and day out,” Liam says. “He’ll be glad for the help though.”

“Put me to work,” I offer. “Need something to get my mind off my own mess.”

Elijah raises an eyebrow. “So you got it that bad, huh? You’re volunteering for ranch chores to keep your hands off her?”

“Yeah, off her and the guy I nearly knocked out because I thought he was touching her.”

We all fall silent again.

“You should tell her,” Liam says eventually. “Even if it scares the shit out of you. Take my word for it, whatever it costs you to come clean, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than a lifetime of regret.”

“Probably won’t make much of a difference,” I say before taking a long pull of my beer. “She’ll still leave when the time comes.”

Liam lifts his bottle. “At least you’ll know you tried.”

Elijah leans back on the counter behind him. “Never thought I’d see the day. Isaac Logan, domesticated. Pining after a woman and crying in his whiskey. Guess I’m the only real cowboy left.”

Liam flicks his beer bottle cap at him. “Cowboy, my ass. You’re a pretty boy who likes the pussy that comes with playing pretend.”

I shake my head with a grin, suddenly a little more certain of what I have to do.

Though I’m glad I have another week before I have to do it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

elena

One Week Later

Paradise Valley, Montana

Isaac still hasn’t returned to the ranch. Still in Wild Canyon “clearing his head,” which I’m ninety percent sure is code for “get away from the off-limits actress who won’t stop staring at him like he’s her last meal.”