Page 70 of A Montana Fake Marriage

He shut himself away from his family unless he was working.

The triumph about his patent left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth that he wasn’t prepared to clean out. He’d wanted to share his life with Sammie. He’d wanted to be everything to her. He’d been prepared to save her from her father and from herself, but she’d left.

Now, all he could do was focus on work.

Never had he been more determined to hide away from the misery that continued to chase him down. The nights he fell into bed and went right to sleep from exhaustion were the best ones.

The sheets still smelled like her.

Sammie’s lightly perfumed scent lingered in the room long after she’d gone. It clung to the bedding—sheets and pillowcases that he refused to put through the laundry. As soon as that happened, he’d lose her all together.

He hadn’t called her.

Couldn’t bring himself to do so after her betrayal. She’d left—without a single word.

“Time for a break,” Bo grunted.

Caleb shook his head from where he sat on his horse. The animal bucked beneath him, attempting to throw him from the saddle. Each jostling movement made Caleb’s teeth click together. Every muscle in his body screamed with how hard he’d thrown himself into every aspect of working at Sagebrush Ranch.

“I mean it, Caleb. You’ve been working since the sun came up this morning. And you worked until sundown yesterday. You can’t keep pushing yourself so hard. No one else is doing this.”

“I’m fine,” Caleb gritted out.

Bo reached for the reins of the horse, then nudged his horse into the animal to cage it against the corral. The animal was close to being broken. He was hardheaded as the rest of them and let women ride him just fine. But as soon as a man got into the saddle, he got skittish. He’d need a lot more training before he could be used on the ranch or sold to someone else.

Caleb glowered at his cousin. “I’m.Fine.”

“Aunt Tana will kill me if you drop dead before supper. You’re running yourself ragged.”

“He’s not wrong, Caleb.”

Caleb shot a dark look in his brother’s direction. Mack was the only one who knew the whole story. He was the only one who understood why Caleb was struggling with Sammie’sdisappearance. His best friend. The love of his life. How could he go on living without her?

“I can’t,” Caleb ground out. His gaze turned beseeching, pleading with Mack to back him up. “You know I can’t.” Every single spare second he wasn’t mindlessly busy only led to pain.. Her face filled his thoughts. Her eyes, her smile, her touch.

The memory of her plagued him.

“Have you called her yet?” Mack sighed.

Bo’s unwavering stare all but demanded that Caleb climb down from the saddle.

Caleb muttered an expletive and got down. He ignored his brother’s question and threw his hat on the ground before storming off toward the barn.

He didn’t have to glance backward to know his brother chased after him. The sound of his boots hitting the earth echoed his own. Soon, Mack fell into step beside him.

“When are you going to just accept that you made a mistake and call her?” Mack’s voice was edged with irritation. “Everyone can see it plain as day. You miss her.”

“Yeah, I miss her. So what? She doesn’t miss me.”

“You don’t know that.” Mack shoved Caleb’s hat into his chest. Apparently, he’d managed to swipe it up from the ground. “What if she’s missing you just as much as you miss her?”

Caleb whirled to face his brother. “If she missed me, she wouldn’t have signed the dang divorce papers. She would have confronted me and told me she refused.”

“Have you signed them?”

Caleb’s dark gaze shifted from his brother. Of course he hadn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to release her. He was breaking his promise to her. He’d told her he would let her go. He’d told her she could escape from the sham of a marriage they had, and they’d remain friends.

And yet he hadn’t been able to bring himself to call her; to ask her where she’d gone, to make sure she’d found somewhere safe to live.

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