Page 96 of Soldier Cowboy
Butter, milk, chocolate, sugar, flour, oil, eggs.
“Colton.”
He glanced up to find Jennifer standing in the kitchen as if she’d been watching him.
“Yeah? What’s up? What did your father say? How quickly are you headed out?”
She paused. “How fast do you want me out of here?”
He cracked an egg and cleared his throat. “Well, it would be nice if you could stick around and say goodbye to everyone. You have been here for a while, and I think they’ll miss you.”
“I would like that, too. But I didn’t want to intervene with your plans.”
“What plans? Riggs knows and he’s not pissed. He’ll get over it.”
“Everyone will.”
Except for him. Most definitely not him.
“Why don’t you take a shower and get cleaned up? I’m making another cake. You finished the other one.”
“Isn’t that why you baked it?” This was said with an edge of annoyance he didn’t miss.
He wasn’t accusing her of eating too much. He’d had quite a bit himself. Jesus, he’d apparently completed his word count for the day with Dan and now he didn’t know how to talk to people.
“Of course. Why else?”
“Never mind.”
She stalked off, passing the kitchen table, and went to the spare bedroom where she was likely packing. Packing up her life here, getting ready to leave.
Damn it. What was he going to do now? Carry her to his bed and show her how he loved her? How could she not know he loved her, with everything he’d done? It hadn’t been out of obligation. He’d told her he was crazy about her. He’d fallen for her the moment he’d first seen her in that smoky restaurant looking lost but trying so hard to be brave.
And every day since the she’d settled into his heart, digging a trench inside. He was never going to be the same without her. She had toknowthis and was choosing to ignore it. If she wanted to go, there wasn’t anything he could do to stop her.
An hour later the cake was ready, he was a lot calmer and clear-headed, but Jennifer still hadn’t come out of the room. Still wasn’t talking to him. Heading down the short hallway, he passed by the table and recoiled to seeitsitting there all alone.
The ring.
She’d taken it off, which quite frankly was a statement in and of itself. It wasn’t a ring he’d picked out, or one she’d wanted. He hadn’t even slipped it on her finger. But it was a slap in the face to see Delores’s family ring, practically an heirloom, discarded this way. An heirloom that meant so much to her and that she wantedJenniferto have. And Jennifer had left it there like it didn’t mean a blasted thing to her. Well, he could take insults and rejection, but he wouldn’t accept them when directed at Delores. The woman was practically a saint.
He found Jennifer sitting on the bed, staring out the window. As he’d suspected, her suitcase was open, but everything seemed to be in disarray. Her chucks were on the floor, jeans and shirts scattered over the bed.
“What’s this?” He held the ring between his thumb and forefinger, knowing of course, exactly what it was.
She turned and gave him a long look. “Delores’s ring.”
“Why did you just leave it on the table?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Did I say I wanted it back?”
She stood, straightening, and crossing her arms. “That isexactlywhat you said when you gave it to me. You said Delores would want it back.”
Damn it, that wastrue.
“But that was then. Things are different now.”
