Page 16 of Isabelle & Jason
Since that night, she’d refused to go out with friends beyond spending time at their homes. She didn’t go dancing at the new country club—at least not without a fight. There had been a handful of occasions when Charlie had dragged her out there.But she’d steered clear of anyone she didn’t trust, and she didn’t accept any drinks whatsoever.
If Charlie thought something was off, she didn’t comment. Charlie was the best. She accepted Isabelle for who she was, secret scars and all.
“You okay?” a deep, rumbling voice shattered the early morning peace.
A scream lodged itself in Isabelle’s throat and she scrambled back a few paces as she searched for the source of the voice.
A tall figure emerged from the shadows of a nearby tree. Isabelle nearly screamed again, but she swallowed down the instinct and glowered at the man. In the moonlight, his features were highlighted enough for her to recognize him. They were probably about a five-minute run from the wranglers’ cabin, and if it had been any other time of day, she wouldn’t have given this a second thought.
Her heart jackhammered in her chest as she lifted her wrist to take note of the time. “What are you doing up at four in the morning?”
Jason arched a brow and folded his arms. “I could ask the same thing of you.”
She scoffed and, with a flippant wave of her hand, motioned to her running attire. “I think it’s clear that I go running in the mornings.”
“Mornings? Is that what you call it?” He stared up at the dark sky. “I don’t know that I would call this morning.”
Crossing her arms, she took him in. He wore a jacket, jeans, and a pair of well-worn boots. He wasn’t wearing his usual cowboy hat, but then he didn’t really wear it in the kitchen either. That particular piece of clothing was reserved for when he was out riding and working.
“Are youfollowingme?” This was the second time she’d bumped into him while on her run. “Clearly you’re not out fora run or even a stroll in those shoes.” She nodded pointedly toward his boots.
Jason ignored the question and asked one of his own. “Why are you running in the middle of the night?’
“It’s not the middle of the night,” she argued. When he didn’t speak, she sighed. “I… can’t sleep.”
His brows lifted a fraction, but he still didn’t talk.
“It’s been going on for a while now. I go days sometimes without being able to fall asleep and I get… restless.” She shrugged and looked away. It was another one of her flaws.
“You can’t live like that,” he finally said. “It’s not healthy.
Irritation flared to life in her chest. She wanted to scream at him. Shouldn’t he realize that she already knew that? Wouldn’t he assume she’d tried everything to fix this? The nightmares were one thing, but when she closed her eyes, it was all she could donotto go over the events of that night and try to piece together what she couldn’t remember.
“Do you get any sleep?”
Still, she didn’t look at him. “Sometimes when I finally reach my limit, I’ll sleep all day.” Luckily, her responsibilities around the ranch were flexible enough that her siblings hadn’t been paying attention to her sleeping habits.
She sensed more than saw him approach. Her whole body tensed, and she tightened her arms around herself. In those boots he wouldn’t be able to get far. She’d built up enough stamina, strength, and speed to get past him and escape. Besides, there were plenty of people nearby who would hear her scream.
“Hey.”
She flinched at his voice. Despite it being quiet and soothing, it was too close. Thankfully, he maintained some distance between them. When he didn’t continue speaking, she looked up and found him watching her intently. Goosebumps trailedup her arms and she shivered even though her body was still warm from her run. She wasn’t sure what he wanted or what he was going to say. If he thought he could just offer her some recommendations and they’d work, he’d be sorely mistaken.
“Mind if I walk back with you?”
Her mouth almost fell open. His offer was unexpected, to say the least. But just as quickly as her surprise arrived, her suspicions got the better of her. “Why?” she demanded with narrowed eyes.
Jason shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Because you look like you could use the company?”
That answer gave her pause as well. They’d only interacted a handful of times since he’d started working for her brother. What game was he playing at? Her eyes darted to the faint light coming from the buildings not far off. Then she sighed. It wasn’t like she didn’t know where he lived. And she trusted her brothers enough to do something about him if he became a problem.
Strangely enough, it only took a few moments of walking together for her to feel comfortable enough with him to blabber on about her family.
“You’d be right about that. I didn’t grow up here. My folks are from Montana. Mateo wanted to move down here to start something for himself.” She smiled at the memory and shrugged. “All of us wanted to follow.”
“That must have been hard for your folks,” Jason said.
“Yeah, it wasn’t easy to leave them. But they chose to stay put. They still work on a ranch for another big family, the Millers.” She peeked at him. “What about you?”
