Page 72 of A Montana Fake Marriage

The thought made him feel hollow inside.

Would Sammie be capable of sticking around in his town, keeping that information from him?

It wasn’t just his town anymore. He fought hard to remind himself of that fact. Sammie had lived here for the last year. Rocky Ridge belonged to her just as much as it belonged to him.

And with how he’d pushed her away—what had he expected to happen? Their friendship wasn’t exactly what it had been when they were in college.

Everything had changed.

Mack rubbed the back of his neck, not looking directly at Caleb when he murmured, “I think I saw her with Lacey Tipton—that waitress from the Steer House.” His gaze flicked up to meet Caleb’s.

“Are you sure?” He barely voiced the words. Part of him wanted to know that she was near. He wanted to hold out hope that she’d stayed not because she’d fallen in love with the town, but because she couldn’t let him go.

Mack nodded. “I’m sure. I think…”

“You think what?” Caleb snapped when his brother didn’t continue.

“I think she might be working there.”

Caleb nearly stumbled. She was working at the restaurant? Living in Rocky Ridge? And worst of all—avoiding him?

“Maybe she’s not over you?” Mack murmured quietly.

Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes tight. He hated how his brother’s words made him wish things were different. “Sammie wouldn’t stay unless something was wrong.”

“What do you mean? I thought you got the divorce finalized. That means she got the money, right?”

Flinching, Caleb shrugged. “I’m saying that if she got everything she needed, she would have disappeared. She would have chased after the life she’s always wanted.”

“So, shedidn’tget the money?”

Caleb shook his head. “If she didn’t get the money, she wouldn’t be able to afford living on her own. She would have said something. Sammie wouldn’t have just moved out.”

“But I thought you said she moved back with her father.”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Caleb ground out. “None of this makes any sense.”

“So… it is possible… that she regrets the divorce.”

Anything was possible. But that scenario specifically was far more unlikely than Mack seemed to make it appear. Caleb refused to entertain the chance that his brother was right.

“If you could do it over…” Mack’s voice broke into Caleb’s fumbling thoughts.

Glancing over at him, Caleb waited for his brother to finish his question. He knew what his brother was going to ask. But he wasn’t prepared to answer it just yet.

“Would you… fight to keep her?”

Caleb’s shoulders slumped. If he could do it over? That was a loaded question. If he could do it over, he would have made sure her father wasn’t involved. If he could do it over, he would have shared more with Sammie than he’d done in the first place.

If he could do the whole thing over? He would have asked her to marry him because he loved her and not because he wanted to help her get her inheritance. Their marriage wouldn’t have been for convenience. Sammie would have felt loved, appreciated, and more like an equal.

“Yeah,” Caleb murmured. “I would have fought for her.”

Mack studied him for a long moment then gave him a sharp nod. “Then what are you still doing here?”

“What if she doesn’t want me back?”

His brother shrugged. “That shouldn’t matter, right? We’re talking about what you would do. You don’t know what she’ll say or how she’ll react. At this point, you have nothing left to lose. So, make a dang decision. Go talk to her, or stop moping around. Fate’s giving you another chance. Take it.”

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