Page 13 of Love Me Again

You don’t want to identify them.

“Of course you won’t.”

Boone only runs away from the stuff he really wants.

“I never meant to…”

“Lie to me? Abandon me? Crush my heart?” She said these all with the wave of a hand. Like they were inconsequential. But her eyes were angry and he’d never really seen her angry. “Well, rest easy, Boone. I lost the people who really loved me. The loss of you barely registers anymore.”

As daggers went, it was sharp and right at his most vulnerable spot.

“You really want the paperwork?”

“No, Boone, I want to kiss and make up.” She said it with such bitter sarcasm. A bitter sarcasm he deserved and still…

He did want exactly that. He’d even had a kind of vague thought that once he had this surgery, got himself healed up, maybe he could be back on the rodeo circuit as early as next fall, and then they’d be in each other’s orbits again. And maybe he could find a way to deserve her this time around.

But he hadn’t let himself think too hard about it. Push things any which way. He’d let them and her stay out of sight and out of mind, because he was a damn coward.

Meanwhile, she’d lost her dad and… “You didn’t stay with the rodeo.”

“No. I couldn’t…” Her voice broke a little on couldn’t, but she steeled herself. “I want to start over somewhere. Somewhere that doesn’t have any memories.”

Of her father. Of him. Hard to blame her there.

“And before I can do any of that,” she said turning to face him fully, that same anger from this afternoon in her gaze. “I need the damn divorce I was supposed to have a year ago.”

Boone nodded. He should give her what she wanted. She deserved that, if nothing else.

There was just one problem.

It wasn’t what he wanted.

Which wasn’t fair. One of these days, he had to learn going after what he wanted only hurt people. And he didn’t want to hurt her. That had never been his intention.

“I’ll call my lawyer in the morning. See what still needs to be done. I’ll take care of everything. I promise.”

“That’s funny, Boone. A real riot.”

He’d never heard her like this. Bitter and sarcastic and mean with it. She’d always been so warm and sweet, even when he hadn’t deserved her good nature. So it was jarring, even knowing he didn’t deserve a damn ounce of niceness from her.

“I loved him. I love…” He couldn’t quite put it in past tense. “You.”

She shook her head, but there were tears in her eyes. “And look where it got us.”

As parting shots went, it was a killer.

Josie was actually surprised to see a flicker of hurt in Boone’s dark blue eyes. The knee-jerk reaction to smooth it away infuriated her. “I’d like you to leave.”

He inhaled, as though he’d been stabbed. Which wasn’t fair. Him being hurt about anything wasn’t fair. He’d walked away. Stayed away.

She was the one hurting. She was the victim.

“I’ll…” He cleared his throat as if dealing with some great emotion. But she couldn’t be fooled into thinking she understood this man. She refused to make the same mistakes twice. “Once I figure everything out, I’ll have Molly let you know if you need to do anything. That way you don’t have to deal with me.”

“Great.” She crossed to the door and jerked it open, then gestured out into the falling evening. The whirling snow. “Bye.”

He didn’t say another word. Just nodded and then left. She shut the door sharply behind him. Then just leaned against it.