Page 63 of Taming the Billionaire Cowboy
“Carly, I care about you and Bradley more than I can say. But I can’t keep making promises I can’t keep. It’s not fair to either of you.”
“Then stop making promises you can’t keep,” she says, her voice breaking slightly. “Come home.”
Home. The word lands like a punch to the gut. I thought Miralena was my new home, but maybe, like Carly said when we met, I was just a rich dude ‘playing cowboy’.
“The ranch is yours,” I say suddenly. The idea pops fully formed into my mind. “You know the animals and the land better than anyone. It should be yours.”
“What?” She sounds stunned. “Oliver, I don’t want the ranch. I want?—”
“It’s the right thing to do,” I press on. “You can run it however you want. Set up those trail parties and wedding packages youwere talking about. You won’t have to worry about money. I’m giving it to you, paid off. Bradley can have all the space he needs to grow up around the animals he loves.”
“This isn’t about money or the ranch,” she says, anger creeping into her voice. “This is about us. About what we were building together. And it’s about your health?—”
“I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
“By buying me off? By throwing money at the problem instead of actually fixing it?”
I flinch at her accuracy. Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing? Using my wealth to solve a problem I don’t know how to fix any other way?
“That’s not what I meant,” I say, though part of me knows it is. “I just want to make sure you and Bradley are taken care of.”
“We were doing fine before you showed up, and we’ll do fine after you’re gone,” she says, her voice hard now. “Keep your ranch, Oliver.”
“Carly, please. I’m trying to?—”
“To what? Ease your conscience? Make yourself feel better about choosing your company over us? Well, don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine.”
I sink back into my chair, feeling the situation spiral further out of my control. “I still want to be part of your lives. I can visit when things settle down here?—”
“Don’t bother,” she cuts in. “A clean break will be better for all of us. Especially Bradley.”
The finality in her voice knocks the wind out of me. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do. He’s asking every day when you’re coming back. I won’t have him waiting by the window for visits that keep getting pushed back because something more important came up in Houston.”
Her words paint a vivid picture that makes my chest ache. Bradley waiting. Carly making excuses for me. The disappointment on both their faces when I cancel yet again.
“I never wanted to hurt either of you,” I say, my voice choked.
“I know.” Her voice softens slightly. “But you have to choose, Oliver. You can’t have both lives.”
She’s right. I’ve been trying to maintain two completely separate existences — the accomplished CEO in Houston, and the wannabe-cowboy learning to ride horses and falling in love in Miralena. I thought I could balance them, but I was wrong.
“I need to go,” she says after another long silence. “It’s late, and I have to be up early.”
“Carly, wait?—”
“Goodbye, Oliver.”
The line goes dead before I can respond. I stare at my phone, the sudden disconnect like a physical blow.
She’s gone. They’re both gone. And it’s my fault.
I should call her back. I should tell her I’ll be on the next flight to Miralena. I should tell her that nothing — not even this company I’ve spent my whole life building up from nothing — matters more than what we found together.
But my finger hovers over her name without pressing call. Because what would I actually say? That I’m ready to walk away from everything I’ve worked for? That I can turn my back on the responsibilities here?
I thought I could work remotely, but obviously that’s not the case. I need to either be here or be there.
