Page 96 of Tough Love

I won’t.

“Why are you out here, if he is in there with her?” Mack snaps.

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Watch the mares for a while will ya, you two? I have to get outta here for a bit.”

I track to the truck and start it up. As I pull away, Addy flies through the barn doors, hands in her hair. Hurt twists her face, and I tell myself this is for the best. We both knew our time was limited. At least now, we can both go our separate ways. I force my gaze to the road. White covers everything, and the wheel tracks that make up our dirt road blur as I stifle the sobs that claw up my throat.

I drive slow, not caring about the cold that is seeping into my bones deeper with every minute that passes. Reed said if you love something you should set it free. Wise ass. Regurgitating goddamn clichés like he’s Gandhi or some shit. But now, that phrase is too fucking raw. Addy deserves the life and career she wants, that she dreams of. After all she has been through, it is the least life owes her. So, that is exactly what I am going to do.

Let her go.

That’s my decision.

When my newly lit-up house comes into view, I’m so glad to have power. The house is so close to being done. And the irony of my house finally being a home as the love of my life walks away is not lost on me. Not one iota. I will be the world’s mostmagnificently housed king of broken hearts to ever live. I might be in goddamned agony, but I will do it in my ranch homestead, refined rustic style.

I park by the steps and kill the engine. I let my head hit the steering wheel and breathe through the ache in my chest. It’s like a fire I can’t put out, because every breath has turned too shallow, and I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Pushing off the cold plastic, I slam a hand into the wheel.

Fucking hell, Hudson.

I open the door and walk up the stairs and inside. The house is cold. Funny, my heart feels the same right now. I toss timber into the fireplace and shove kindling under it, lighting it with a match. I could drag the mattress out here so I don’t freeze. But before I have the chance to mull that life choice over, a vehicle rolls up the drive and comes to a stop beside my truck. Reed’s truck.

Addy jumps out and runs up the stairs. But she stops short when her gaze finds mine. “Huddy?” she whispers.

I shake my head.

“Please, I... He’s not—” She strangles a cry.

My heart cracks.

“It’s alright, Adeline. It’s better this way. You can check on the mares in a few days if you want. Or not. I’ve handled it all before.”

She steps forward, her hand raised like she wants to touch me, but drops it when I don’t respond.

“Go home, Adeline.”

“What? Hudson, no . . .”

“Harry was right; we shouldn’t have got involved.”

Her face buckles with devastation. “Because you always do what your father says.”

“This here is exactly why. He was right when he told me not to?—”

She folds her arms across her chest. “Harry told you to stay away from me?”

My eyes fall shut.

“Hudson?”

“Yes,” I breathe.

She huffs a breath. “Oh.”

“Addy, I had no intention of following that particular order.”

“Why not?”

I open my eyes. “What d’you mean?”

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