Page 120 of Rocky Mountain Devil

It wasn’t the clean, fresh aftermath of a snowfall, where everything seemed pristine and hopeful. It was jagged ice and ruined plans, and right then Rafe felt so damn empty inside he wasn’t sure his heart was still beating.

His cousin turned to him, his face grim. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I care. Which is why I’m leaving, because it’s the right thing to do. The only person this hurts is me. But you? Don’t throw it all away. Don’t hurt Laurel as well as yourself.”

He slapped Rafe on the shoulder then turned and walked toward the truck that would take him even farther from the people who cared about him.

Rafe called after him. “Joel loves you. Hell, all the Colemans love you, you ass.”

Jesse kept moving. “I know.”

Rafe didn’t try to stop him. Just watched him go, hoping his cousin’s road turned smoother. Hoping it would turn around and someday lead him home.

The house was deafeningly quiet.

There’d been four of them living in the place at one time, and now it was just Rafe. Gone was the raucous laughter, piles of dirty dishes, sporting events played too loud. No more arguments about who ate the last piece of pizza, or finished off the milk without buying more.

The cousins who’d moved out to settle down—that was life. But Jesse? If the stubborn asshole had talked to Joel, so much pain and sadness could have been avoided over the past couple of years…

His phone signaled a text from Laurel, and he could hardly bear to look.

Laurel:Your mom invited me to dinner. We’re discussing the stubborn men in our lives

Laurel:You should show up to defend yourself

Laurel:btw, she knew about the time we got in trouble for throwing the water balloons. Or if she didn’t before, she does now. Oops

A smile twitched to his lips before he could stop it. Damn it, he missed her so much. She was strong and fearless, and too sweet for her own good.

Strong enough to deal with his sorry ass?

Fueled by frustration, and with too much energy to be contained, Rafe went outside and made toothpicks of the woodpile, swinging the axe like a mad man. Hours later, his muscles ached and he was sweating in spite of the freezing temperatures. His brain whirled through options until he was tired enough to drop into bed exhausted.

Chapter Twenty-Six

He wasn’t at the funeral.

There was still time until the actual service got started because the family always gathered early. But with half an hour to go, and no sign of Rafe, Laurel was pretty sure he wasn’t late but being stubborn.

Stubborn? Try a complete and utter jackass.

There she’d been, all ready to make a huge move forward with him, andpfffft. Nothing.

While his father’s death had been unexpected, the way Rafe’d been acting ever since, anyone would have thought he’d lost the most important person in his life. Like he’d been rocked off his foundation—and that made no sense because she knew exactly how much Ben had frustrated him.

Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe the fact hedidn’tmiss his father as much as he thought he should was playing into this.

Laurel understood guilt. Heck, she understood it at whole lot more than he’d probably give her credit for, and if they ever got a chance totalkshe was prepared to tell him everything.

But after he’d all but shoved her out of the house, he’d raised every wall possible between them. He’d gone from ignoring her phone calls to ignoring her completely. She was torn between stalking him so she could give him a piece of her mind or letting him be a jackass, alone and miserable, because that seemed to be what he wanted.

If only it was that simple. Because whatshewanted was to make him better. To find out why he wasn’t acting like the man she knew.

Like the man sheloved…

Stupid timing on her part. Falling in love wasn’t supposed to be this frustrating.

She’d put up with his bullshit over the past few days figuring he’d have to show up eventually, and when he did, she’d duct tape herself to his side if that’s what it took to make him talk.

Tough to duct tape herself to a person who didn’t show up, though.