Page 7 of The Rogue (Four Corners Ranch #11)

The knot in Rue’s stomach refused to go away. It was with her from the time she woke up on the day of her wedding, all the

way on the drive to the church, and it persisted.

Which was weird because everything was in its place. There was nothing to be nervous about. It had ended up that she hadn’t

actually seen Asher, and that was causing her a little bit of anxiety. But his flight had been delayed, and then she had her

bachelorette party, and there was a point where it really was bad luck to see each other, and as much as she didn’t believe

in that, it was the tradition of all of it. Justice had been right about that.

But it had been a couple of months since she’d last been with him, and yeah, it just felt... funny to be marrying him after

that much distance. But that was just the way of it with the military.

It was excitement, really. She remembered reading one time that excitement and anxiety were actually the same physical sensation in the body and it was up to your brain to interpret what you were actually experiencing.

So then she decided on excitement. Because it was her wedding day after all.

She dressed and did her makeup, her hair a simple style that she could manage on her own.

She enjoyed the silence and the solitude.

It was, she supposed, one of the perks of not having a big wedding party.

Her man of honor was off helping set up.

And he didn’t have to text her for her to know that.

Not that he ever texted.

She heard a knock on the door and she opened it. It was Justice, looking incredible in his tux. They stood there and looked

at each other, her in her dress, him in the tux.

“You’re beautiful,” he said finally.

“You’re not so bad yourself, cowboy.”

It just felt an especially grown-up thing to do, getting married. Especially right now that she was looking at her childhood

best friend. The one who had been there for her through so much. Everything. No one understood her the way that Justice did.

He was unique in that regard.

“How is everything looking?”

“We’re good to go,” he said. “Guests haven’t started arriving yet, but the sanctuary’s looking perfect, we’ve got all the

flowers set out. I know the reception venue is handling all of that. So... you have absolutely nothing left to worry about.”

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. She was suddenly aware of how small the space was.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“When Arizona got married she was a little bit... I don’t know.

Sad really isn’t the word. I think we’ve all accepted the limitations of our parents.

It’s been a long time. We’re grown. We get it.

But I think there are moments like this where you just feel real conscious of what all is and isn’t right.

It is not right that your mom isn’t here with you helping you get ready.

It’s not right that your grandma’s gone.

It’s not right that your dad isn’t here to give you away.

I guess even more so that your mom and dad aren’t the kind of parents that should be here.

Because if they were here they would just be making the wedding worse. ”

“That is the truth,” she said. “I really am okay.” She meant it. The people that mattered would be here. And she couldn’t

complain about that.

“I have something for you.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. Because when you get married you need something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, right?”

“Oh my goodness. Where did you even learn that, Justice King?”

“It’s cowboy wisdom. Everybody knows it. I figure you got quite a few new things. But you don’t have family here. I have something

for you. You can borrow it. Because that’s an important bit. You have to be borrowing it. So I need it back in like thirty

years. Okay?”

He reached into his pocket and he took out a necklace. It had a blue sapphire in the center, and the middle was clearly aged.

“What is this?”

“The King family is one messed-up legacy after another. But it all started with my great-great-great-great-great grandfather Elias King, and his wife, Sadie. They came out West for a chance at a better life. I don’t know that they had one.

But what I do know is that we’re still here.

Trying. This belonged to her. She brought it with her from Missouri.

And I believe it came over on the crossing from England some fifty years before. ”

Her jaw dropped. “You can’t give me a family heirloom.”

“I’m loaning it to you. Because it took my family on this journey. The journey to a better life. And all I know is I’m living

a better one than my parents did. It’s a reminder. To keep being on the journey.”

Her hands were shaking so much that she almost didn’t even want to pick it up. Didn’t want him to see.

“I’ll put it on you,” he said.

He lifted the necklace and undid the clasp, then lifted it, leaning in. Her breath caught, her heart thundering hard. His

eyes never left hers as he brought the chain around her neck and slowly clasped it, letting the gem fall between her breasts.

She felt them suddenly. She was just very aware she had them. Heavy, sensitive. His eyes drifted down to the jewel, and it

made her feel unbearably... aware. Of her skin. Of her fingertips. Of the way he smelled.

She didn’t know what to do. She felt frozen. Lost. Found. All at once. Maybe it was because of the enormity of it all. The

wedding. The intensity. Because dammit all, the man had given her this necklace to wear. He had fulfilled all these traditions;

he had shown up for her. In a way she hadn’t expected. In a way she hadn’t thought she might need. That was all.

Suddenly, she found her breath, and took a step back. “Thank you.”

There was another knock on the door and she stiffened. “Oh. I better...” She opened it, and froze. Because there was Asher. His sandy brown hair a mess, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, and not a tux. He looked like he hadn’t slept.

“You’re not supposed to see my wedding dress,” she said. Because for some reason it was the first thing she thought of, even

though she had a lot of follow-up questions. But it had just come out of her mouth. She hadn’t been able to stop it.

“I... I need to talk to you.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Without him here.”

Justice turned, and there was something in his expression that she couldn’t name. Justice was probably four or five inches

taller than Asher, and somehow right then it was more apparent than usual.

And then Justice was just Justice again, an easy smile on his face.

“Howdy,” said Justice.

“I just need a minute,” Asher said.

Normally Justice and Asher got along great, but there was tension in Justice now. The way he looked at her was so sharp she

felt it cutting into her.

“Justice,” she said. “I need to talk to my fiancé.”

Because it was silly that he was standing there acting like a bouncer when her almost-husband was there.

“All right,” he said.

He turned and walked outside and shut the door behind him.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you ready?”

“I’m really sorry,” he said, looking wooden and stiff. “I have really fucked this up.”

She didn’t know what she’d been expecting to hear. But it hadn’t been that .

“What happened?”

Maybe his suit wasn’t here? Had he forgotten to pick it up? No. She had picked it up. So there weren’t any problems with that.

She had made sure that it would all be fine. That it would be perfect.

“Everything’s okay,” she said.

“No, Rue. It’s not. It’s not okay. I... You know I got delayed, and the military called me back and had me stay that extra

couple weeks.”

“Yes. I do know that... It’s why I haven’t seen you.”

“I didn’t anticipate it. And...” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Dammit. Rue, I slept with someone else.”

“What?” The word was hollow. The ground was hollow. She was hollow.

She couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak more beyond that one, devastated word.

She couldn’t reconcile those words coming out of that man’s mouth. That man who knew her so well. Her fears, her hopes, her

plans. Who was part of those plans, had made them with her.

And he knew... he knew how much fidelity meant to her. How much sex meant to her.

He knew he was the only man she’d ever slept with.

“She... We were on deployment together last year, and we kind of got to know each other, and I... I love you. I love you . I was super clear on that. But one thing led to another, and things just got really out of hand. I’d never experienced anything like that before.

I had never experienced being attracted to somebody like that.

It was just the one time. I thought we had, you know, four months until the wedding and I could let it go.

But then I got delayed, and she and I were at the same base and.

.. it happened again. It happened...

and I don’t think I can go through with this.

I thought that I could forget that it happened when it was a year before the wedding—”

“What?” There was a buzzing sound in her ears. She couldn’t breathe. “You had sex with somebody else?”

“Yes.”

“And you weren’t going to tell me? You were going to marry me when you... You know how I feel about that. You know how

I feel about infidelity.”

“I was on deployment,” he said. “It’s... I hadn’t had sex for so long and she was there and it blindsided me. I felt like

I was just a lot weaker than usual, and that it wouldn’t ever be a problem again but—”

“That’s my decision,” she almost choked on the words. “Not yours. You were going to marry me and not tell me and the only thing that

made you confess is that you did it again. Because this time it was close enough that it bothers you?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking lost. Looking like a stranger.

“I don’t understand this. I don’t get what I’m hearing right now.”