Page 58 of Entwined Hearts
He glanced over at me. “You thinkin’ about retiring?”
“Yeah,” I admitted, and something inside me chipped away. My identity or my fear of losing it, I didn’t know. “I just…” I ran a hand through my hair. “How did you do it?”
His brows furrowed. “Do what?”
“Pick between Claire and the Cavendish partnership.”
He was silent for a moment, thinking. “I took a hard look at myself and the kind of man I was: alone,lonely, workaholic. I thought I was okay with it, but really, I wasn’t. I was miserable.” He smiled to himself, something soft. “But then Claire showed up. And I realized I wasn’t walkin’ away from Cavendish, buttowardsher and the life I wanted. The life I thought I didn’t deserve.”
“Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if she hadn’t been a part of the picture at all. I’d still be alone, buried under even more work, and resigned to being the fun uncle.” He shrugged a shoulder. “It sounds fuckin’ awful. Yeah, I gave up millions, but no amount of money could replace the happiness I have now.”
“First off, we all knowI’mthe fun uncle.” We both laughed. “And second, I don’t know how to give up riding. It’s all I’ve ever known, all I’ve ever been good at. It’d be like cutting off an arm.”
He put the truck in park and turned towards me. “Would you rather not have an arm, or not have a heart?”
The question hit like a slap of clarity. One I hadn’t seen coming.
“I know you love riding, and the world knows just how damn good you are at it. But that’s not all you are, Weston, and Savannah sees that. Sees that better than anyone.” He rested his hand on my shoulder. “Trust me, the love of a woman who sees you, seesallof you, is worth more than any buckle you could win.”
I nodded quickly, swallowing back the knot in my throat. My eyes burned as I looked out at the pastures. “Thanks, Beau,” I rasped, my voice gruff with emotion.
He was right. So right. And yet, I was still struggling to let go, and I couldn’t figure out why. I’d always been a bull rider, and maybe I wasn’t sure Savannah would love that version of me who wasn’t. IfIwould love that version. Whoever he was.
He clapped my shoulder and nodded once. “Always.” He climbed out of the truck, a hand on the door when he turned. “By the way, if you interrupt me and my girl again, I’ll kick your ass.”
I laughed, wiping away the tear rolling down my cheek. “Noted.”
He shut the door and went to the barn, leaving me to think over what he said, my mind a mess.
18
Savannah
I read over the Agricultural-Residential zoning code for the county for the sixth time, the words blurring together until I couldn’t make sense of it.
I rubbed my eyes, sighing heavily. I planned on citing this code ten ways to Sunday for the zoning board hearing coming up. I needed to know it like I knew my Social Security number. The future of Golden Circle was riding on it—on me.
But I couldn’t memorize it when I kept thinking about Weston. About what happened at the Bull Pen with Stewart last week. About potentially not having a life to return to in Dallas. About possibly giving it all up when Weston still hadn’t decided what to do about his career.
I changed my position in my chair for the fifth time in the last ten minutes, sighing again.
“You okay over there?” Levi asked from across the hall, where he sat at his desk.
“Yeah,” I replied automatically. He arched a brow. I set my highlighter down, leaning back in my chair. “No,” I grumbled.
He got up and crossed the hall, leaning against my doorframe with his hands in his pockets. “Want to talk about it?”
“I just…” I ran a hand through my hair. “You were at the Bull Pen, you know what happened.”
He scoffed amusedly, scratching the back of his head. “The whole town knows what happened thanks to theWhispers.” He didn’t sound particularly thrilled about it.
“I couldn’t even bring myself to read it.” And Ireligiouslyread theWhisperslike a dirty little secret, even when I was in Dallas and California before that. Delilah would send me a picture of it every morning.
“Probably for the best.”
“The guy that showed up, the one Weston hit, he was my kind of fiancé.”
Levi’s brows shot up. “How is someone akind offiancé?”
