Page 13 of The Rogue (Four Corners Ranch #11)

people weren’t formed from nothing and nowhere, and her mother was no exception. And now, her mother had become the gift that

kept on giving.

“Thank you,” Rue said. “I... I’ll figure it out.”

Rue turned to Justice. “They’re going to auction the house off. I’m going to have to go move the rest of my stuff.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I just... This is so unfair. I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t the responsible one. So why are they doing this to me? Why...

What is this happening to me? It doesn’t seem fair.”

“It doesn’t. You’re right.”

“There’s supposed to be a reward for good behavior. There’s supposed to be... a point to this.”

“I don’t know. Some people say that virtue is its own reward.”

“Well, fuck this rewards program,” she said, kicking a stone on the sidewalk. “I hate it. It hasn’t given me anything that

I want.”

She put her hands over her face.

“Rue, it’s possible that we could pool the money from the ranch...”

“No,” she said. “You can’t do that. I won’t let you.

That is taking this whole friendship thing a bridge too far.

It’s not like I’m going to be homeless. I’ll be able to get something together.

I will be able to buy another house. I can do it in Mapleton.

I can probably find a rental. That’s what I’ll do.

I’ll find a rental near the yarn store. ..”

“You’re going to move to Mapleton?”

“It makes sense.”

Except it hurt. Because she worked in Mapleton, but Justice was her life. Still. She had to make the drive in one direction

or another.

That didn’t help. Nothing helped. Everything just felt terrible and disruptive and like the absolute worst thing that could’ve

happened. But she was going to try not to dissolve out there on the streets.

“Do you want to go into the yarn store for a minute?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. I can’t face anyone yet. I can’t... I can’t.”

“Yeah. I get it.”

“Can we just go back...?” She almost said home . When she said that, she meant King’s Crest. She hadn’t forgotten that she wasn’t staying at her grandmother’s. Not anymore.

“We can go back,” he said. “Hey, if you want to box up your things that’s fine and I get it. But...”

“No. I’ll do it.”

“Well. I’ll stand guard and make sure those lackeys from the repossession company don’t try anything.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t worried about that. And now I am.

“Hell. You should always worry,” he said.

“You never worry.”

“Because I have you to do it for me. If you stopped, though, I might get myself into trouble.”

That was like a little pinhole of sunshine coming through the darkness. It was silly, maybe. But it was a reminder. Of how they balanced each other. Of how she mattered.

“Okay,” she said. “We’ll move my stuff out.”

“You can store it in one of the old outbuildings.”

“I’ll start looking for a place at the end of February.”

“Fine with me. You can stay longer than that.”

“I need a binder.”

“Then let’s go get you a binder,” he said.

“I think that’s the only thing that could make me feel better.”

She bought four binders, three of them with flowers and one of them with a squirrel, and she was pretty happy with that. As

far as her happiness scale could go.

“What are they all for?” he asked.

“I don’t know yet. It never hurts to have backup binders.”

He chuckled. “If you say so.”

“Maybe I’ll make a binder for you. Oh! I’ll help you organize things.”

“My house is organized,” he said.

She couldn’t deny that for a bachelor pad it was pretty neat. And that was especially impressive now that she had the knowledge

he didn’t bring women back there. So it wasn’t really for anyone but him.

It was something they’d never discussed before so she had assumed that there was a level of cleanliness that was performative.

“You are fairly organized.”

“I can’t have you coming to my house if it looks like a total mess. You would lose all respect for me. And you wouldn’t visit.”

“What?”

It sounded almost as if he was saying it was for her. And that was difficult for her to wrap her head around. More than difficult. It was impossible.

“I fear your judgment,” he said.

“I don’t judge you,” she said.

“You generally don’t,” he replied. “But I like to be on good behavior so that it never gets to a place where you might.”

“My mind is blown by this.”

“Glad that I can still surprise you.”

“Well, if you need help with anything...”

“Do you hear yourself right now?”

“You keep asking me that.”

“Because I’m not sure you do. I don’t need you to do anything for me.”

She huffed. Then she thought about the binders. “Maybe I can use a binder to figure out how to be more like you.”

“Well, first of all,” he said, “I wouldn’t use a binder.”

“I need a binder. If there’s going to be chaos it has to be controlled.”

“What exactly are you talking about here?”

“I don’t want to go out. Not yet. Like, I don’t want to barhop, and whatever else, because mostly right now I cannot stand

the idea of having everybody look at me and think that I’m the poor jilted bride.”

“In fairness,” he said. “That may last a while.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said.

“What’s your plan then? Hole up at King’s Crest?”

“Is that bad? I have the next few weeks off. I don’t have to go into public.”

“No,” he said. “You don’t. But that might build it up and do something that’s difficult to get past.”

“You’re an expert on that?”

His expression was neutral. “I know a thing or two about it.”

“Okay. So I just need to come up with some things.”

“Alternatively, you could let it unfold naturally.”

“No. I want a plan.”

“Lord.”

“I will have an adventure,” Rue said. “What are all the things that I haven’t done because I’ve been just too cautious?”

His blue gaze landed on her, his expression bland. “I could not rightly say.”

“I barely have any experience on horses. I haven’t been on one since I was a kid. It looks like fun. And you... The way

you ride it makes it look like an adventure. I want that.”

“I can definitely take you on a ride.”

“And... oh, I want to do a polar plunge.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No. I’m not. It’s like a completely insane thing to do, and I have always thought so. I hate getting cold, and I don’t really

like just jumping in the water.”

“Why is this turning into doing things you hate? Talk about piling on the martyrdom.”

“It’s just... my life is different. I didn’t choose it. I want some things to feel totally different because of some things

I chose at least. I want it to feel significant. Maybe I’ll hate everything. I probably shouldn’t get a tattoo right now.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Big no on the tattoo.”

“But there are things that are not permanent, that are not going to actually injure me that... I have this time off. I

have this time away and... and this was supposed to be special. This was supposed to be my first married vacation. My first...”

Her throat went tight. Because she hadn’t wanted to think about this part. “I’m thirty-two. I was supposed to be getting married

and starting my family. The family that I wanted to have. The family I wish that I had all my life, but didn’t because...

I just didn’t. This was supposed to be a special, beautiful, idyllic holiday. Maybe the only one before we had kids.”

She could sense Justice’s discomfort. “Anyway. I don’t want to dwell on that. But if my life isn’t headed in that direction,

I just want something different. Zip lining. I want to go zip lining.”

“Maybe when the wind isn’t trying to eat your face off.”

She really didn’t like being cold. Regrettably, most of these ideas she had involved the outdoors. “I can wait for it to warm

up.”

“A polar plunge .” He shook his head. “You’re on your own. I don’t do that shit. I don’t do masochism for the sake of it.”

“It’s not masochistic. It’s supposed to be good for you.” If anything could provide mental clarity at this point, she needed

it. If a baptism in ice would do it, she was all for it.

“A lot of things are supposed to be good for you. And I don’t do them because they aren’t fun.”

“That’s my problem. I’ve done all the sane things, the good things. And for what?”

He rubbed his chin, the sound of his whiskers scratchy. It made her heart trip over itself, just for a beat. “I mean that’s

the real problem. It didn’t get you what you wanted. So you’re mad about it. Which means maybe it isn’t right for you. So

yeah. I agree. You do need to do something different.”

“Then I will. That’s my plan. My rebellion.”

He looked at her sideways. “That’s a little scary.”

“I have watched you do whatever the hell you wanted to for a lot of years, Justice King. So I expect you to support me.”

“You have my support. But if I have to save your ass...”

“Isn’t that what friends are for?”

He sighed, long-suffering. “You got me there.”