She pressed her fingers to her lips and tried to hold in the sobs that threatened to consume her. He needed to go home. There was no way she could continue seeing him day after day until November. Maybe the lawyer would have a solution for her. If he didn’t, she didn’t know what she’d do.
Long after the sun had set, when she knew Taran would be fast asleep, she quietly slipped into the house and found him asleep in the living room. More than likely, he’d waited up for her. She could see a plate with the remains of a sandwich on it.
She chewed her thumb as she watched him, resisting the urge to pretend she didn’t know he still wanted to leave and cuddle next to him one last time. Eventually, she pulled herself away and fell into her bed. Tomorrow would be a long day. No, tomorrow would be quick. The days after he left would be long and lonely.
* * *
The next morning before Taran was up, Sarah was dressed and already gone. She drove around Pensacola until the lawyer’s office opened. She wanted to be sure to get there before anyone else.
“Sarah?” Mr. Patterson looked at her, puzzled. She’d even beat the secretary.
Sarah fidgeted with her shirt and nodded. “Yeah, I had a few questions. It won’t take long. Is there any chance we could visit a second?”
“Sure.” He waved her into his office and shut the door. “What can I help you with?”
She sat on the edge of the leather chair and held her purse in her lap. “I was wondering if Taran and I have to live together.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Oh no, not between us. He’s just homesick. I don’t know why I didn’t think to ask this when we first got married. I guess my head just wasn’t on straight.”
Mr. Patterson swiveled in his chair and dug in the file cabinet behind him. “Here it is,” he said as he pulled out a file and set it open on his desk. He was quiet as he read through it. “I don’t see in here where there is a cohabitation requirement. If you don’t want to live together, you don’t have to.”
“I wish I’d known that earlier.”
“It didn’t even occur to me to suggest that. I apologize if this has caused either of you any problems.” Mr. Patterson looked at Sarah with sympathy.
Sarah stood and smiled. “No, it’s okay. I’m so glad I caught you. I can go tell him the good news. He’ll be so glad he doesn’t have to wait any longer. He’s close to his family, and it’ll be good for him to get home.”
Mr. Patterson stood and shook her hand. “Let me know if you need any more help.”
“I will, thank you. “
Sarah walked out of the office to her Jeep. She laid her head on the wheel. Taran was free. She would never be free, but she could give him this. It would be her way of telling him she loved him.
Chapter 29
Taran wiped his hands on his jeans as he finished brushing down Monarch. Trudy was in the grooming room across from him, brushing down Grease. She’d taken care of Larry earlier with his help. Larry was a character.
That draft was terrifying in a lot of ways. The sheer size and power of him. If he didn’t like someone and wanted to hurt them, he could and easily. Taran was glad he was on Larry’s good side.
“Thanks for your help today. Bailey is sure smitten with you.” Trudy shot him a quick teasing glance.
Shaking his head, he unhooked Monarch’s bridle and led him to his stall. “She’s a sweet girl. Talkative, but sweet.”
As Taran returned, Trudy stopped and stared at him. “I wish more than anything that Lydia could have met you. She would’ve loved you. You’re everything she ever envisioned for Sarah.”
He didn’t know how to respond.
“You’re a sweet, gentle man. Kind in everything you do. Passionate about the things and people you love.” Trudy gave Lightning one more brush and unclipped his bridle.
Taran took him from her and led him to the stall next to Monarch’s.
“By the way, have you seen Sarah today?” she asked. “She was supposed to meet me in the office before lunch. It’s not like her to not at least call.”
“Naw, she came in after I fell asleep and left before I woke up. I dinnae know where she is. I tried to call her a few times, but she didnae pick up.”
Trudy put her hands on her hips. “Something’s wrong, then. That’s not like her at all.”
“I dinnae know what it could be.” Taran was as lost as she was. He’d waited for her the night before so he could tell her he’d decided to stay. All he needed to do was take a quick trip home to pack. He’d hoped she’d be willing to go with him.
Trudy patted his shoulder. “You go find her. I’m heading home. I’ve got dinner to cook.”
“Aye, ma’am.”
Her hand shot out, trying to whack him. “I’ll ma’am you!”
He laughed and jumped away. “I’ll see ye tomorrow, Trudy.”
She pointed a finger toward him. “Next week. You and Sarah. My house. Dinner. No lip for either of you!”
“Aye. I’ll let her know.” Taran shot her a parting smile and headed to the house. Sarah had been on his mind the whole day. He wondered what had kept her out all night and had her leaving before he was up .
He stepped through the door and smiled as his gaze landed on her. Excitement bubbled in him. When he’d pictured having someone to come home to, this was the feeling he’d wanted.
She smiled, but something was off. He looked to her left and found his bags packed. Suddenly, his heart and his lungs felt squeezed. “What’s goin’ on?”
“I talked to the lawyer today. He said we don’t have to live together. I know how much you’ve been wanting to go, so I spent the day getting things together so you could.” He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like this conversation.
“Go? What do ye mean, ‘go’?” After all this, she still didn’t want to be with him? Had she pretended the whole time? Why?
She stood and hauled his suitcase behind her. “We need to get going. You’ve got a flight to catch. You should be in Scotland by tomorrow. You’ll be back home with your family.”
“But, I thought…”
Taking a deep breath, she blinked a few times and squared her shoulders. “Taran, I realized that as nice as this has been, I’m just not ready for a relationship. I’m sorry.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Do ye nae love me?”
Her eyes didn’t quite meet his, and she said, “No, I don’t.” A small tremble in her voice gave him pause. Why was she doing this?
“Sarah, what’s really goin’ on?”
She cast her gaze to the floor, her lips quivering briefly before she spoke again. “It was…it was two lonely people who needed to feel a connection. We’re friends, remember? We just got caught up in the moment. When you get back home, you’ll feel the same way.”
His gut screamed that something wasn’t adding up, and he knew it. “I dinnae believe that for a second, and I dinnae believe ye do either. Will ye nae tell me what this is about? Is this about me leavin’ ye at the end of the six months? Because I’ll stay. I choose you.”
She jerked her gaze to his, and tears filled her eyes. “I would never let you do that. Your home is with your family. I’m sorry, Taran. But I can’t do this. I was wrong.”
If she wasn’t willing to talk to him, there was nothing else he could do. She’d have to decide on her own if a life with him was what she wanted. He couldn’t handle the rejections any longer .
A cold numbness spread through him. How close had he been to baring his heart to her? There was no way to win if she wouldn’t let him stay and refused to give up her white-knuckle grip on the sanctuary.
“Aye,” he said softly. “I’ll get goin’ then.”
“It’ll be easier this way. When the six months are up, I’ll send you the paperwork, and it’ll be like this never happened. “
“Like it never happened,” he whispered as he took his luggage from her .
No, it would never feel that way. He’d loved her, but
she still hadn’t chosen him. He couldn’t imagine what had changed her mind after the amazing time they’d had together in the past few weeks. They were meant to be together, but as much as Taran wanted to argue, to make her see that…he knew it would only make her dig her heels in. If there was one thing they had in common, it was stubbornness. All he could do was give her space.
Taran hung his head and shuffled to the Jeep. His heart ached, and there was no end in sight .
* * *
Sarah straightened her shirt as she entered the barn the next afternoon. She’d spent the night crying, and when she’d finally fallen asleep, she’d tossed and turned. Taran’s hurt expression haunted her dreams.
He’d been blindsided, and she knew she’d broken his heart when she told him she didn’t love him. It was the only way to set him free. He felt obligated to stay with her, and that’s not the life she wanted with him.
It was nearly lunch when she finally dragged herself out of bed and made it to the barn. It had taken an hour and a cold press to get the puffiness in her eyes down enough that she was comfortable showing her face. With Taran back home, it was time for her to get her hands dirty again.
“What are you doing here?” Trudy stepped into the stall Sarah was cleaning.
She jumped as Trudy surprised her. “Oh, you have to stop doing that.”
“Where’s Taran?”
The question was bound to be asked, and she’d prepared herself for Trudy’s interrogation. “He went home.”
“Home? What do you mean, ‘home’?”
“He was missing his family and farm, so I booked him a flight home.” She picked up a pitchfork and started shoveling dirty hay into a wheelbarrow.
Trudy took the fork, set it down, and held her by the shoulders. “Now, you give it to me straight, young lady. What did you do?”
“I did just what I said. I sent him home.” She would keep it together. She would not break down.
“Don’t married people have to live together?”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “What?”
Trudy lifted an eyebrow and put her fist on her hip. “Do you really think my best friend in the whole world would put that kind of clause in her will and not tell me? Did you really think I didn’t know? I knew the moment he didn’t leave that Sunday.”
“He wanted to go home. I spoke to the lawyer. We don’t have to live together.”
Trudy pursed her lips. Her faced flared pink, and her eyes flashed with anger. “That man is in love with you. Dollars to donuts he was going to stay with you here despite the fact that this is the last place on earth you want to be.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true,” Freddy ran into the stall.
Sarah was trapped. “Where did you come from? You know you’re not supposed to be eavesdropping.”
Freddy pointed her face up at Sarah. Her lips were pinched. “And you’re not supposed to lie, but you are.”
Trudy nodded toward Freddy. “Girl’s right.”
Sarah took two steps and balled her fists. “I heard him say he wanted to go home.”
“You heard him? You said he wanted to go home. Which is it?” Trudy wasn’t backing down.
Freddy stood next to Trudy. “Yeah, how do you know he wanted to go home?”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she looked down. “I heard him on the phone with his brother. I wasn’t meaning to overhear,” Sarah said and gave Freddy a pointed look.
“Don’t matter. You still did it.” Freddy pulled her shoulders back and stood straight.
“So, he didn’t tell you he wanted to go home. You overheard a conversation, and instead of finding out what was really going on, you went the chicken’s way out.” Trudy pointed her finger at Sarah. “Honey, he came here, not intending to stay. Did it ever occur to you that he needed to go home to pack? Maybe to see his folks and let them know his plans?”
Her heart hit the floor. She’d never even considered it.
Trudy exhaled slowly. “That’s what I thought.” She turned to Freddy and said, “Honey, I know you like to listen in, but I need you to give me and Miss Sarah some time to talk.”
Sarah didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to hear what Trudy had to say. That meant she’d hurt Taran and sent him home. It meant she may have lost any chance of having a life with him.
Freddy pouted but nodded. “Okay.”
The barn door opened and then shut, and they were alone.
“I want you to listen to me, sweetheart. I know your head is swimming and you’re trying to find a way out. I’m not going to let you. Taran adores you. You can see it in his eyes when he looks at you, and you feel the same for him.”
“But the sanctuary.”
“Can be run by someone else.”
Sarah spun on her heels. Her head was swimming. She needed a second to think. Who else could run it? She wheeled around. “Well, you don’t want the sanctuary, do you?”
A wide grin spread on Trudy’s face.
“But, what about your family? I thought you had too much going on to manage this all on your own.”
Trudy took Sarah’s hand. “Sweetheart, more than anything, I was waiting for you to realize you didn’t.”
Sarah narrowed her eyes. “You did want it.”
The older woman sucked her teeth. “Why do you think Gavin blabbed about the marriage clause?”
Her jaw dropped. “You told him to say something?”
“Honey, your mom and I had this planned from the beginning. When I knew you didn’t tell Taran about the clause, I told Gavin to snitch on you. He was more than happy to help. We may not have seen everything your mom saw in him, but he did love her.” Trudy chuckled.
Sarah gasped. “He told Taran about the clause on purpose to get him involved?”
Laughing even harder, Trudy nodded. “We knew you’d work to keep Taran from knowing about it, so Gavin pretended to be shocked. We wanted you to think he was on your side about the marriage clause.”
“I can’t believe you and Mom and Gavin…”
Trudy took Sarah by the arms. “You needed to figure it out on your own. You needed to want to let this place go and stop hiding. That was the only way it would work, but we needed a way to get you two together long enough to see it.”
“I don’t know if I want to hug you or beat you.” It had been forever since Sarah had felt any sense of hope or freedom. She was free to love. “I’ll call the lawyer on my way to the airport to let him know you’ll be taking over the sanctuary when the six months are up.”
“I’ll take a hug and a kiss before you go.”
Sarah grabbed Trudy and hugged her. “I’ll visit every chance I get.” She didn’t even wait for Trudy to say anything before she was running out of the barn.
“You’d better,” Trudy called after her.
Freddy was leaned against the wall just outside, and Sarah slid to a stop. Sarah grabbed her and hugged her. “I love you to pieces, young lady.”
“You’re leaving, huh?” Her sweet brown eyes held tears in them.
Sarah nodded. “For a little while. I’ll be back to visit a lot. This was my home for a long time, and I’ll have to come back just to make sure you’re behaving.”
“I love you, Miss Sarah. Promise you’ll visit.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I love you too. Be good for Trudy and your daddy. I promise I will visit a lot.”
Freddy grinned. “I like Taran.”
“Me too. I need to tell him.”
Without a word, Freddy disappeared into the barn. Sarah hated leaving, but her mom had never intended for her to stay. Her mom had given her wings just when she needed them.
She had to get to Taran. Maybe she could convince him she’d lied, that she did love him and she wanted to be with him. Maybe he wouldn’t hate her so much that he’d never speak to her again.
Chapter 30
Taran pulled Banner to a stop just outside the barn. His brothers would have normally been in the field with h
im, but something had come up that day. He’d been left alone, and he’d appreciated the silence.
He was tired of their questions. Until Sarah chose for herself to be with him, there was nothing he could do. He missed her, ached for her, and it had only been a couple of days.
Muffled laughter came from the inside of the barn, and he wondered what could be going on. With his brothers and sisters-in-law, there was no telling what they’d done. There could be a party in full swing, knowing them .
Closing his eyes, he pressed his forehead against Banner’s neck. The horse pawed the ground as if he could sense Taran’s emotional turmoil. “I wish they’d leave me alone. I wish they’d let me hurt in peace. I know they mean well, but they can’t fix what’s broken. Nothin’ can.”
Taran straightened and rubbed his face with his hand. There was no point in stalling. Banner needed to be fed and put to pasture so he could graze. He pulled the barn door open, and his breath caught. Angus, Penelope, Rory, and Paige stood in the barn, but the person he zeroed in on was Sarah. “What?”
His brothers and their wives looked at each other. “You two need to talk. We’ll see you later,” Penelope said .
They scattered like sand in the wind, leaving him alone with her. The one time he didn’t want them leaving him alone, and they’d left.
“Sarah?” Taran said and pulled Banner into the barn.
Sarah wrung her hands. “I’m hoping we can talk. “
Hope surged in him. “Aye, speak.”
“That day I sent you home…I was stupid. The day before, I overheard you talking on the phone. I shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but it just happened. You said you missed home and wanted to return, and instead of being an adult and asking you about it, I ran because it was easier to run.”
Taran thought back to the conversation he’d had with Angus. “I needed to come home long enough to pack and tell my mum and pop I was married and stayin’ in Florida. I’d hoped ye’d come with me. ”
Mending The Billionaire Brother (MacLachlan Brothers Romance Book 3) Page 17