Page 44 of The Moments You Were Mine

Debate warred in me. No good answer. No good path to take. All the ones in front of me were loaded with land mines I was sure to step on.

“I’ll leave tonight.”

Dad exhaled with relief, and just that single sound eased the tension in my shoulders.

I’d made the right decision.

Chapter Thirteen

Fallon

GIRL IN THE MIRROR

Performed by Megan Moroney

THREE YEARS AGO

HIM: I didn’t hear you leave.

No response.

HIM: You’re really going to ghost me?

No response.

HIM: Don’t make me come find you.

HER: Take the hint, Parker. I can’t talk to you right now. Let me recover from my humiliation and lick my wounds in peace.

PRESENT DAY

The smoldering ruin in front ofme made my stomach roll, and fury beat inside my chest. The flames were out, but smoke still drifted from the blackened remains into the morning sunshine. The heat of the day wasn’t far off, and the charred scent hung heavy in the thick air.

My hands were damp, and my fingers wrinkled from the hoses I’d wrangled while fighting the blaze. My body shook from both the physical exertion and the nerves that had settled in now that the fire had been contained.

We’d almost lost it all. The entire ranch…

Pain coursed through me.

God. It had almost gone up in flames on my watch.

“Fuck.” Kurt’s single word was full of emotions.

I glanced over to find his face and clothes coated with blackash that I was sure covered me too.

Tears threatened, and I bit my cheek hard in an attempt to contain them. I would not cry in front of my staff or the fire crew who was finishing up. I’d save the tears for later, in the privacy of my own home when no one could see me.

Just before dawn, I’d been coming down from my house to the hotel when an explosion had rocked the ground and sent me to my hands and knees. Shock had quickly been followed by terror as I’d clambered to my feet and raced toward the main house. When I’d seen the flames, for one panicked moment, I’d thought it had been the horse barn. I’d barely registered that relief as the cabin had come into view, wholly engulfed in the blaze.

Kurt and others had poured onto the scene, and we’d had the emergency pumps and hoses going well before the firefighters had arrived. But it had been too late to save the cabin.

Thank God no one had been inside. Andie, our hotel manager, had said it had been empty last night, and the next guest wasn’t due to arrive until today. We’d have to figure out where to put them, but that was the least of our worries.

As I stared at the black hole where the cabin had once been, I saw Dad’s sad, disappointed face in my mind. Once upon a time, the ranch’s horse trainer had lived there. I didn’t remember Levi, but Dad had fond memories of the weathered old man who’d been more of a father to him than anyone else. Dad had spent much of his childhood at Levi’s side, learning everything he knew about horses. If I hadn’t been born, and Spence hadn’t whisked Mom away from Dad, my father would have spent his entire life here, breeding and training horses.

When Levi had died, my stepdad and Mom couldn’t afford to replace him, and the cabin had stayed empty until we’d renovated the ranch. We’d kept the old pine furniture, updated the kitchen and bath, and added a tiny porch with rocking chairs and potted plants. It had been one of our top bookings over the years, and now, it was gone.

The lost memories for Dad hurt far worse than any lost profit could.