Page 5 of The Forever Cowboy (Noble Ranch #1)

The warmth of a stove had never felt so good before.

Violet rubbed her frozen fingers together and wiggled her stiff toes. Standing beside her in the Nobles’ kitchen, in front of the blazing fire of the open stove, Hyacinth was doing the same thing.

They’d discarded their mittens and hoods but hadn’t shed their coats. Violet doubted Sterling would let them stay long anyway. From the rigid way he stood near the worktable, he was clearly waiting to evict them as soon as they were warm.

Their valises still sat outside on the porch, filled with as much of their clothing and belongings as they could carry.

They’d dressed in warm layers and multiple stockings before creeping out of the house and had made their way out of town via the back alleys.

Once on the road north, they’d remained in the shadows.

Hyacinth had protested when she’d finally realized where Violet was taking them, but by that point, they’d come too far to turn back.

Thankfully, they hadn’t met anyone during the four-mile trek to the Noble home.

They’d walked briskly in an effort to stay warm, but by the time they’d reached the ranch gate, they’d both begun to shiver.

When they’d knocked on the door without receiving an answer, Violet had decided the best option was to wait a short while before trying again. Since Sterling was an early riser, she’d guessed he would be rousing soon enough.

The longer they’d waited in the cold, and the stiffer her limbs had grown, the more she’d contemplated breaking into one of the barns in an attempt to find some warmth. She’d been about to suggest that option when Sterling had stepped out of the cattle barn.

She hadn’t been able to view him well in the darkness, but she’d seen enough of his tall, muscular frame to know it was him.

Not only that, but he had a distinctive swagger to his step—a swagger that held the same confidence and determination she’d first noticed about him last year when she’d been new in Breckenridge.

Lowering her lashes now, she glanced sideways at him. He filled the kitchen with his overpowering presence the same way he’d always filled every room. Tonight, with his dark coat hanging to his knees and his hat pulled low, he looked forbidding.

His maple-sugar-brown hair was longer than it had been earlier in the year and curled against his coat collar.

The dark scruff on his face was thicker.

And his features were more rugged and weathered.

Somehow he was more handsome tonight than when she’d first met him, although she wasn’t sure how that was possible since he’d had killer looks all along, making her weak every time she was around him.

He’d stuffed his hands into his pockets, and his shoulders were slumped, as though exhaustion was weighing him down.

“I’m sorry we’re keeping you from bed,” she offered.

There had to be a reason—probably not a good one—for why he was up so late.

There also had to be a reason why his family hadn’t heard her knocking and didn’t appear to be home.

As much as she wanted to inquire about how he and his family were doing, she kept her questions to herself.

She’d lost the right to ask when she’d broken things off with him.

“Can you go stay in a hotel in town?” His question was abrupt and to the point.

Hyacinth huffed. “I told you we shouldn’t have come here, that he’d be too full of himself to help.” She tossed Sterling a dark glare.

Violet stifled a sigh. She had nothing left beyond a few pennies, but she was too embarrassed to admit that to Sterling. Instead, she shrugged and focused on the flames dancing. “I thought we’d be safer if we were away from town.”

“Who is Claude?” Again his tone contained no warmth.

“I don’t know.”

“Why does your father owe him money?”

She hesitated. The whole truth was much too embarrassing.

Sterling already hated her, and he would think even less of her after learning about her father’s problems. When they’d been courting, her mother had done everything she could to hide all evidence of Father’s problems, probably hoping Sterling wouldn’t realize how broken their family really was.

How could Violet admit it now?

“Tell me the truth.” Sterling’s tone was cold and impersonal.

“It shouldn’t matter,” Hyacinth murmured to Violet, but loud enough for Sterling to hear. “He should be willing to help regardless of everything, and he’s not.”

As Violet shifted from the stove to face him, she felt as though in some ways she was looking at a stranger.

Gone was the loving and kind man who had adored her in every capacity, who had revered her like she was a princess, who had granted her every wish, and who had loved her like no one else ever had.

He had been too good to be true, and the way he’d treated her had been too good as well. She’d known it would only be a matter of time before he realized she wasn’t a princess worthy of his adoration.

Now he knew. And now he was treating her like a normal person. Well, maybe he was treating her like she had a plague that she would pass on just by breathing near him. But what did she expect?

At least he’d let them inside to warm up.

She’d bought herself some time to figure out what to do next.

Could she go and stay with Hazel and Maverick?

Sterling’s sister had become a friend of sorts, but not anyone close.

From the little gossip Violet had heard so far during her time back in Breckenridge, she knew Hazel was expecting a baby. Could they really impose on her?

She’d considered Reverend Livingston and his wife. But they lived in town and had a small child. Violet didn’t want to put them in the middle of her issues with her father.

“Why is your father having financial problems?” Sterling’s question cut through the silence of the kitchen.

Since he was persisting in his interrogation, she had no way to get around telling him the truth, as mortifying as it was. She swallowed all the resistance that crowded in her throat. “Because of the gaming tables.”

“He gambles?”

“Yes.” She stared at the wooden floor, unable to meet Sterling’s gaze and the censure sure to be there. Respectable men did not go to saloons and gamble away their earnings, especially when they had families to support.

Sterling was quiet.

Hyacinth sighed with exasperation, but then slipped her hand into Violet’s, supporting her as always.

Violet grasped her sister’s hand, needing the encouragement more now than ever. If she’d thought life had been challenging before, those problems couldn’t compare to the trouble she was facing tonight.

“I don’t believe you,” Sterling finally said, his voice testy.

Her gaze snapped up to his. This was the second time he’d said those exact words. Why was he doubting everything she was telling him? “We may not have worked out, Sterling, but I was always honest—”

“Honest?” His brows rose, revealing darkly bitter eyes.

She took a rapid step back and almost bumped into the stove.

“You lied about our relationship all along, pretending to love me when you didn’t.”

“That’s not true!” Was it partially true? Had she pretended to love Sterling?

Were they really having this conversation here and now? She supposed it was long overdue. But tonight, when she was in the middle of a crisis, didn’t seem like the right time to fight with him over why their relationship hadn’t worked.

“You never loved me.” His glare dared her to defy him.

Love was a strong word, and she wasn’t sure if what she’d felt for Sterling actually had been love. But that didn’t diminish the feelings she’d harbored for him. “Of course I cared about you. Why else would I agree to marry you?”

“You didn’t care about anyone but yourself.”

Hyacinth released a mocking laugh. “That’s absolutely perfect coming from you.”

Violet yanked on her sister’s arm. She didn’t need her sister making matters worse. “Stay out of this. Please.”

Hyacinth rolled her eyes but clamped her lips together.

Violet returned her attention to Sterling, to his shadowed face and hurt-filled eyes.

Was he right? Maybe she had only been thinking of herself. She’d been scared when he’d proposed. She’d told herself the fear was normal for a bride, that the uncertainties would go away, that the doubts would diminish.

But as the wedding had drawn closer, the fear had begun to strangle her and wake her up at night. She’d spent less and less time with Sterling, and he’d been so busy with the calving that he hadn’t noticed.

When the day of the wedding had finally arrived, she’d been sleep-deprived and jittery and hadn’t been thinking straight. Because if she’d used an ounce of reason, she would have met with Sterling privately and talked with him about her fears and asked him if they could postpone the wedding.

Instead, she’d gone to his house and gotten ready for the ceremony in his sisters’ room.

By that point, the guests had all started arriving—so many people.

When she’d told Hyacinth and Mother she needed a few moments by herself, they’d left the room.

She’d used the opportunity to slip down a servant’s staircase and out the back door.

She’d needed to think, to catch her breath, to draw in the strength to persevere with the union—a union her parents, especially her mother, had been so happy about.

Once outside, all Violet had wanted to do was run home, crawl into bed, and pull the covers over her head.

When Maverick had come around the house and spotted her, she hadn’t known what to do.

All the questions she’d been asking herself had surfaced.

Maybe Sterling truly did love her. But was his love strong enough?

Would he always love her more than everything else?

Or would his interests and hobbies one day mean more to him than she did?

What would happen when she was no longer first in his life?