Page 53 of Texas Made
Rachel huffed out a breath. “Jaclyn, you know I love you dearly, but you can’t go on like this. I’m not the only one who’s wondering what’s going on. The entire office is speculating about what happened. There are all sorts of wild rumors.”
“Great. Just what I need, to be the subject of office gossip.”
“To be fair, most people are just concerned about you because you’ve been so unlike yourself. Go see Marshall. Make up with him. I bet he’s every bit as unhappy as you are.”
What if he wasn’t? What if he was doing perfectly well without her? If so, it would be what she deserved.
“If I go, and I’m not committing to that, what about the party?”
“The party this weekend? I can go in your stead. It’s just schmoozing, right? I can do that.”
She’d been telling herself she needed to give Rachel more responsibilities. Real responsibility, not simply going to a party. There wasn’t a reason in the world Rachel couldn’t take her place at the party. Rachel knew these people as well as she did, and she knew the workings of the company. And when she wanted, her COO could be extremely charming. Certainly more so than Jaclyn would be right now.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t take too long. Marshall’s a catch. You don’t want some other woman swooping in on him.”
God, she hadn’t even considered that. Surely Marshall hadn’t moved on already. She wanted to strangle her friend for putting that thought in her head.
*
Two and ahalf weeks since she’d seen Marshall and it felt like years. After their discussion the week before, Rachel, who rarely minced words, reminded her daily that she was impossible to be around, and insisted she go see Marshall. Anything, Rachel said, was better than witnessing Jaclyn work herself to death doing totally unnecessary things. And though she’d denied that last, she had to admit Rachel was right.
“We broke up, remember?” she’d reminded her.
“I know. Which in my opinion is about the dumbest thing you’ve done lately. You’re madly in love with the guy, Jaclyn.” True. And her unhappiness definitely wasn’t either going away or even getting better. Before she could talk herself out of it, she’d thrown a couple of things into her overnight bag, gotten in her car, and driven to Whiskey River. When she turned onto the gravel road leading to the Walker ranch, she felt something she couldn’t identify. Then when she saw the ranch house and the barn, she was able to put a name to it. She felt as if she’d come home.
She drove down to the barn immediately and parked there, figuring Marshall was more likely to either be there or out in one of the pastures. She got out of her car and walked into the barn, standing in the center aisle while she tried to figure out where he was.
Marshall walked into the back of the barn leading Cappuchino and stopped short when he saw her. “Jaclyn?” Marshall stared at her as if, well, as if he’d seen a ghost. “What are you doing here? Isn’t the party you needed to go to tonight?”
She tucked her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and drank in the sight of him. She was nervous. She shouldn’t have come. Not when she’d decided it hurt more to see each other than not. Which was a stupid conclusion, anyway. She was here and even if it turned out to be a disaster, she’d at least have gotten to see him.
“I blew it off.”
“You said it was important.”
“It is. Rachel is going.”
He held Cappuchino’s halter. The horse, she was glad to see, looked healthy and happy. Although she doubted he was completely recovered since Marshall had said that would take several months.
“Cappuchino looks good.”
“He is, thank God. His therapy is coming along really well.” He patted the horse’s neck and led him back to his box.
“How did the breeding go?” she asked, following him.
“It was okay. The mare wasn’t very cooperative at first but she finally settled down.” He closed the door of the stall and turned to her. “Why are you here, Jaclyn?”
Moment of truth. “I…I missed you.”
“I missed you too. But it doesn’t matter, does it?”
“Do you plan on never leaving the ranch again?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then you can come to Dallas at some point, even if it’s not for a while.”
