Page 75 of Cowboy Stole My Heart
“A woman came by yesterday,” she said, sipping her coffee and clearly pretending it wasn’t a big deal. “She didn’t want to leave a message but—”
Sam sat up straighter. “What?” he asked. “Who was it? What did she look like?”
Faith shrugged. “I thought it might have been Mia,” she said. “Long blonde hair, blue eyes that looked wide as saucers when she saw me, and she drove a new-looking Mercedes. The 4×4 kind.”
Sam slumped down again, staring into his coffee. What had Mia been doing here? It could have been someone else but the description was bang on and he doubted another woman would have come looking for him.
“So was it her?”
He nodded. “She fits the bill.” He knew without a doubtthat it was Mia, but he wasn’t going into details with his sister. Faith had already done her best to get information out of him, but he wasn’t going there, not even with her.
“What happened with Mia? I mean, she looked kind of sad. I thought you liked her?” Faith sighed. “Come on, Sam, you can’t keep blocking me when I ask you about her. Nate thought you were really into her.”
“I was.” He wasn’t going to bother lying, not to Faith. Besides, if he answered her it stopped her talking.
“So why the sad face? What happened between you two?”
He sighed, swallowing the rest of his coffee before answering. “How about none of your business?”
She glared at him, hand on hip as she stood up. “Give me a break,” Faith snapped. “You’re all kinds of my business. I don’t take that kind of bullshit from Nate and I’m not taking it from you.”
Sam glared straight back at her, but he knew she was right. She was his sister, and if anyone deserved to know why he’d been walking around like some kind of cartoon character with a permanent grey cloud hanging over him, it was her. “We were casual, it was nothing serious. And before you say anything, we both agreed on those terms before anything happened, so don’t go thinking I’m a jerk.”
She gave him a look. A fierce one at that. “Why?”
“For Pete’s sake, Faith. I don’t want to talk about it. How many ways can I say that to you? Give me a goddamn break!”
She threw her hands up in the air. “How aboutyougive it a break. You’re the one holding on to the past and letting what happened choke you from ever being happy. And don’t youeverspeak to me like that.” She was furious, her eyes flashing. “And before you say it, I was there for you,I’ve seen you at your worst, so don’t go thinking you have to be some big strong, macho guy all the time for me to respect you. You should know better than that.”
He stayed calm, clenched his jaw and stared at his sister before answering. “I’m happy,” he said through gritted teeth, trying not to flare up. “I’m not on some mission to be miserable.”
“If you’re comparing yourself to the Grinch, then sure, you’re happy,” she said, her tone laced with sarcasm. “But seriously, you need to get over the past and give yourself a chance to be happy.Truly happy,Sam.”
Sam bit his tongue. He wasn’t going to fight with his sister, not over this, especially when he’d never even told her all the details about his ex. Maybe Nate had told her, but he doubted his friend would share his secrets, even with his wife. “It just wasn’t meant to be. Now can we move on and talk about something else, or are we going to be stuck on this all day?”
She gave him a long, serious look, before shrugging and turning back around to whatever she’d been doing before he’d come into the kitchen. “Fine. But if I see you looking like a lovesick puppy next week still? I’ll be like a dog with a bone.”
Sam gave her a wink and walked his cup back to the coffee machine. He was desperately in need of more before he went out to feed the horses.
“Uh-uh,” she said, whisking the cup away. “Too much caffeine is bad for you. You’ll never get a decent sleep if you keep drinking that much.”
He let her go, reaching for another cup from the overhead cupboard. “First of all, it’s morning so I’m not worried about bedtime right now, and second, I drink itbecauseI don’t sleep. I’d be a dead man walking otherwise.” He grimaced. “And you’re not my mother, so lay off.”
One of his nieces cried out then and Sam took his chance to make himself another quick coffee and head outside while Faith was distracted. He loved spending time with his sister, but she needed to back off. He wasn’t a child, he wasn’t going to fall for anyone, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to change his mind about Mia. He couldn’t. She had so much to give, and he had nothing. Not anymore.
And maybe not ever.
Blue walked at his heel, and he pulled on his boots and walked out into the fresh morning air. He was greeted by a chorus of neighs, his equine friends all noticing him the moment he moved near them.
For a brief moment, he wondered what Mia was doing. Whether she was feeding out in her stable block, saddling up already for her first ride of the day, or stretching out in bed after a sleep in. That was the mental picture he’d never been able to erase, her lying in bed, soft cotton sheets all rumpled around her, hair mussed up and tousled around her face, and that beautiful body that always seemed to hum for him.
“Come on, Blue,” he murmured.
Blue whined, like he knew what he was thinking about.
“You saw her the other day, didn’t you? Bet you miss her like crazy too.” Sam dropped a hand to his dog’s head for a second then strode on down to the hay shed. He was glad he hadn’t seen her, because keeping his distance was one thing, but looking her in the eye and lying again was a whole other skill set entirely, one he didn’t think he had. Or ever would.
In a few days he would be off on tour again. Part of himwanted to stay at home and do nothing, wallow, spend time with his own horses. But the other part of him wanted to get away, to stop overthinking everything and questioning his decisions. Besides, the money was good. Once he did this, he wouldn’t have to work again for the rest of the year. Perhaps even the next year.
Blue whined and he looked down at his dog, sitting faithfully beside him, head cocked, eyes so intense like he was trying to tell him something.
“You think I’m a dumb idiot, don’t you?” he asked.
Blue made a whining noise again and Sam nodded. “Yeah, I know. And I’m a jerk for leaving you again. But Faith will take good care of you.”
His sister would be gone soon, back home with Nate, and he needed to touch base with the house sitter he used when he was gone for longer periods. She was good with the horses and she’d be the one in charge of monitoring the foal alarm fitted to his mares. This time of year was always the hardest to leave the ranch, even though he had good people working for him.
His thoughts turned to Mia again even though he was trying so hard to keep her out of his head. Maybe he should have been to see her, to explain himself, but would it have made her hurt any less? Would it have made what happened between them any easier? He doubted it. And his gut told him to leave her the hell alone. She didn’t need to deal with him and the shit storm of pain that came with him.
