Page 136 of The Lost Book of First Loves

Unfortunately, road construction had hung him up near Lander so here he was, cutting it far closer than he liked.

Ali said she was picking June up at the cabin at 8:00 a.m. since the Move Inc jet was supposed to touch down at 8:30. It was now 7:30 and he had fifteen miles to go to reach the ranch.

He didn’t have to say goodbye in person. There was no good reason he needed to rush back to Bridger Peak. He could have texted her or even called her.

If he wanted to talk to her in person, he could always fly to Seattle.

Somehow, it had seemed vitally important that he talk to her face-to-face.

The few days they had spent apart had only solidified how important she had become to him. He couldn’t let her go without trying one more time to convince her to give them a chance.

He drove straight to the cabin as soon as he reached The Painted Sky. Fortunately, he didn’t see any sign of Ali when he pulled up in front.

As soon as he stopped, Hank whined from the back seat and Beck let him out. The dog relieved himself in the grass in record time then raced up the steps to bark outside the door.

Only seconds later, June opened the door, shock on her features as she stared at first Hank and then Beck.

“Oh. You’re here. Ali told me you were out of town and wouldn’t be home until tonight.”

“We decided to make an early start. I understand you’re heading out today for Seattle.”

She continued petting his dog. “Yes. The plane will be touching down at the airport soon.”

Don’t go.

The words hovered on his tongue, but now that he was here, he didn’t know how to say them.

“I’m glad Hank had the chance to say goodbye to you.”

“I’ll miss him.”

She scratched his dog behind the ears and Hank lolled out his tongue, tail wagging wildly.

She would miss his dog. Not him.

“I think he’s going to be heartbroken when you leave.”

She met his gaze and he wanted to tell her his dog wasn’t the only one.

“If I hadn’t left Montana in the early hours of the morning, neither of us would have had the chance to say goodbye.”

Her hands stilled on his dog’s fur. “We said everything we needed to say the other night, didn’t we? We both know this is for the best. It would never work between us.”

“Why not? You didn’t really give me a clear answer before. I have feelings for you. Believe me, nobody is more shocked about that than I am. After Soledad, I was sure I was done with letting anyone else in. Then you showed up and changed everything.”

“Please, Beck. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

He was angry, suddenly. “Why does it have to be hard? Can you honestly tell me you feel nothing for me?”

She swallowed, her eyes suddenly distressed. He felt like the world’s biggest ass to push her on this, with everything else she had been through.

“No. I can’t tell you that,” she said, her voice so low he could barely hear her. “But what does it matter how I feel? We both know this can’t work between us.”

“Why not?”

“We live different lives a thousand miles away from each other.”

“So what? Long-distance relationships aren’t as tough as they used to be. We can have long video calls into the night and text a thousand times a day. You can come to Wyoming whenever you can break free. I have a flexible schedule and can make frequent trips to Seattle. Or hell, if things progress that far, I could always find a new workshop in the Seattle area. The Pacific Northwest has some amazing timber.”

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