“Sarah, it's time we let go."
Let go. Just like that.
She took the phone away from her ear. Stared at the dark screen.
He’d hung up.
He'd broken up with her on her birthday.
She wasn't shaking. Shouldn't she be crying or something?
All she felt was numb. Was numbness one of the stages of grief? Suddenly, she couldn't remember.
A man's throat cleared from nearby, and she jumped, whirling, her fingers scrabbling on the phone's surface as she tried to dial for help.
"Hey, birthday girl. It's just me."
She struggled to regulate her breathing, to calm the blood from rushing in her ears, the itch in her feet to run.
It was Chase. Just Chase. Her friend.
He was backlit by the kitchen light streaming out the back door behind him. She hadn't heard the door open. Had he been standing there the whole time?
Had she been so caught up in her own little world that she hadn't noticed him when she'd come outside?
How much had he heard? Everything, probably.
Enough to know she was pathetic.
"You're gonna freeze out here if you stay too long."
Was it cold? Her sense of cold had fled when that base survival instinct had taken over.
There was motion behind him. He said something over his shoulder that she didn't get all of but that sounded like, "she's on the patio."
More motion, a whisper, and then he stepped forward, holding something. The door remained open behind him.
He lifted up an afghan she recognized from the back of her sister's couch. She'd given it to Kayla two years ago for Christmas. Purchased it from one of her clients, who raised Alpacas and made yarn from their wool. Sarah was not remotely crafty.
He wrapped it around her, securing it over her shoulders, and she knew a moment of warmth, the scent of man and horse. Then he stepped back, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.
"You okay?"
"Sure. Yeah." She jutted her chin up. Nothing to see here. She was fine.
She couldn't see his eyes, backlit as he was. She didn’t have to see to know—he’d overheard.
He was just too nice to say anything. She hated that he'd seen her in this weak moment.
The cowboy hadn't been a close friend back in high school. Back then, she hadn't known how to protect herself, how to hide her feelings. She was a little afraid of what he might see on her face right now.
She didn't want to talk about James, and she really didn't want to talk about the Other Thing, so she pushed the afghan off her shoulders and straightened them. "I just needed a second to catch my breath. Let's do cake!"
He was practically vibrating with tension as she walked past him into the kitchen, forgoing a route back through Kayla’s bedroom.
He held his silence. Not a skill that many men had.
The bright lights of the kitchen were blinding. She managed to focus on Kayla and Jessie, who watched her troop back inside. They both looked slightly anxious.
As if maybe they expected her to burst into tears or...something. She didn't know what. She hadn't cried in the hospital last month. Or later, alone at home. She was fine.
Her phone buzzed again. She considered tossing it down the garbage disposal. Probably would have, too, if she hadn’t just finished uploading all her contacts after— Nope, not thinking about that. Not thinking about James, either. Or talking to him.
But when she glanced at the screen, it was the emergency call center associated with the practice. A frisson of unease went through her, but she took the call, turning her back on too many curious gazes.
"Doctor Campbell," she answered.
She absorbed the information the operator gave her. A rancher needed an exam on his daughter's prized 4H sheep on the other side of town. Of course she'd go. This was her job, her calling.
Except, it was nighttime.
She hung up and turned to her sister and her friends. "I have to go."
"I'll go with you," Jessie said quickly.
Jessie's husband stood in the doorway, holding a tiny bundle on his shoulder. The baby squalled, almost on cue. "No way," he said.
"I'll handle it," Sarah said firmly. She hated that they felt like they had to coddle her.
She'd been a vet for five years. With the rancher on hand, examining one sheep was well within Sarah's capability.
But Jessie looked like she would protest, her jaw cocked mulishly as she looked over her shoulder to her husband.
"I'll go," came an unexpected voice from behind her. Chase. "I'm about partied out."
She turned on him. "That is really unnecessary."
He shrugged easily. "It's not calving season yet. I'm not needed at the Triple H, and it isn't like I've got a hot date waiting for me." He winced a little after the words had left his mouth. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to admit that.
"Thanks, but I'll be fine. You've never assisted a vet before." When she turned, ready to find her coat and get moving, she caught both Kayla and Jessie making silent hand gestures and mouthing words to Chase. Now they both clasped their hands, manufacturing wide-eyed, utterly unconvincing looks of innocence.
"Oh, come on, you guys," Sarah protested. "I'm a grown woman. I don't need a babysitter."
"He's not a babysitter," Jessie offered helpfully. "He's a cowboy."
Sarah shot a look over her shoulder to the man who stood immovable as a big bull, silent and watchful.
"No one said you needed a babysitter." Kayla linked her arm through Sarah's. "But it never hurts to have a friend."
A friend.
The soft thought brought immediate, unexpected tears, and Sarah blinked quickly, hoping no one had noticed.
"Fine," she agreed.
Only because it was dark. Not because she needed a friend.
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Also by Lacy Williams
Wild Wyoming Heart series (historical romance)
Marrying Miss Marshal
Counterfeit Cowboy
Cowboy Pride
Courted by a Cowboy
Triple H Brides series (contemporary romance)
Kissing Kelsey
Courting Carrie
Stealing Sarah
Keeping Kayla
Melting Megan
Cowboy Fairytales series (contemporary romance)
Once Upon a Cowboy
Cowboy Charming
The Toad Prince
The Beastly Princess
The Lost Princess
Heart of Oklahoma series (contemporary romance)
Kissed by a Cowboy
Love Letters from Cowboy
Mistletoe Cowboy
Cowgirl for Keeps
Jingle Bell Cowgirl
Heart of a Cowgirl
3 Days with a Cowboy
Prodigal Cowgirl
Wyoming Legacy series (historical romance)
The Homesteader’s Sweetheart
Courted by a Cowboy
Roping the Wrangler
Return of the Cowboy Doctor
The Wrangler’s Inconvenient Wife
A Cowboy for Christmas
Her Convenient Cowboy
Her Cowboy Deputy
Not in a Series
Love’s Glimmer
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Dates
Santa Next Door
The Butterfly Bride
Secondhand Cowboy
Wagon Train Sweetheart (historical romance)
Copyright © 2017 by Lacy Williams
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Courting Carrie: a Cowboy Fairytales spin-off (Triple H Brides Book 2) Page 8