Page 49 of All of Us

I couldn’t form words or think. Shaking uncontrollably, I recognized Mont’s voice trying to get information from me.

“Dusty, I’m going to call an ambulance if you don’t say something.”

A significant amount of time had passed, but I had no idea how much. “I’m. I’m.”

“Alright, that’s enough to know you are still with us, no emergency services.” He sighed. “Do I need to get Ma?”

I finally opened my eyes and looked up. Squatting in front of me was Jacob, the man I had waited for and loved exclusively until the last few months.

“Hi.” He smiled at me.

That was it? A simple ‘Hi’ from him. I launched myself at him, wanting to beat the crap out of his beautiful face. The face that was charming Joe, and left me behind. The next thing I knew he was on his back, and I was throwing punches. My inability to fight was clear, but I was giving it my all, plus Jacob had a much longer reach than I did. He rolled back and forth, avoiding being hit.

“Dusty, stop.” He wrestled me until he had my arms pinned to my side. “Calm down. I know you have a lot of feelings at the moment, but you have to stop trying to hit me.”

I looked up. Joe and Mont were watching, clearly confused about what was going on.

Jacob was about seven inches taller than me, and had about seventy pounds more weight, but I had so much pain and rage that it needed to go somewhere. He held tight.

“If I let you go, do you promise not to attack me again?”

“Yes,” I said begrudgingly. The truth was, I had never been so happy to see someone. He looked amazing, and my heart filled up.

He let me go, and we pushed ourselves up off the ground. I stood there looking at him. Everything else in my world melted away. How I threw myself at men for years. Meeting Montgomery, who changed how I viewed myself. The only thing that was still there was Joe, because he had some of my heart, and now I had a problem. It was possible that Jacob no longer cared about me, but what if he did?

“It’s really you?”

I could see a tear slip down his cheek. “It is. I came back for you on my birthday. You were gone.”

“I’ve missed you. You really became a cowboy.”

He swallowed hard. “Yeah, I did. I missed you, too. I waited for you.”

“They call you Gentry now? And you changed your last name.”

He smirked, “Yeah. I started using Gentry when I went to the first ranch and wanted to distance myself from those people who raised me.”

I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Dusty was still standing there in front of me. I walked toward him, and all the anger and frustration of those years floated away. As soon as I could, I wrapped my arms around his torso, and he hugged me tight, his hands boosting me into his arms, my legs going around his waist, and I clung to him.

He kissed me hard. “You are gorgeous, Baby.” He said while looking in my eyes. Tears were falling from both of us. “I can’t believe you are here.”

When I turned my head, I saw Joe running to the main house, and he looked wrecked.

“Joe, wait,” I called after him.

“Joe. Please.” Jacob yelled next to me.

We started to follow him, but Montgomery stopped us.

“No. Neither of you will be allowed near him until you have worked this thing out. I will not let you upset Joe further, because that will upset Arthur.” He growled, “If Arthur is upset, then I am upset. Understand?” He turned and followed Joe into the house.

Mont knew exactly who Jacob was because I had spent hundreds of hours with him discussing our past and what our love had looked like. I didn’t know what to do. My heart was breaking and completely full at the same time.

“We need to talk.” He smirked and then took my hand. “First, you have to meet my best friend. This is Dusty.”

He patted the horse’s neck. “He is the best horse that ever was. I assume you know how he got his name.”

I grinned at him. “I have a guess. How about you come over to my place for some dinner, and we can talk.”