Page 93 of Mountain Rescue
Apparently, she was asleep. Would she let him curl up behind her? He walked into the main bedroom, his heart sinking a little when she wasn’t in the bed they’d shared. He headed to the other bedroom. She wasn’t in there either, or the third one. His heart fell to his stomach.
He returned to their bedroom to see if her clothes were in the closet. A piece of paper on the pillow of his side of the bed caught his attention.
That white paper with blue ink words resting on his pillow shattered every bit of that happiness he’d walked into the cabin with. She was gone. He didn’t have to read the words to know that, but his heavy steps took him to the note.
He picked up the paper, squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then read her words.
Dallas,
I almost left without saying goodbye, but I couldn’t without telling you some things. Maybe you don’t want to hear this, but I love you. I do. The problem is, I don’t want to, not if you can never love me back the way I need you to.
I can’t be your crutch because I’m the only woman you can stand to touch you. I can’t be your safety net. All I can ever be is the woman you love without reason. If I can be that for you, come find me. If you can’t look me in the eyes and say that I’m that woman, forget you ever knew me.
Please take the time you need to discover what’s in your heart. My wish for you is that you find happiness, even if that’s not with me.
Rachel
Bella whined and nudged his leg. “Why did you let her go?”
If he left now, could he catch up with her before her flight departed? He read the letter again, then dropped it on the bed. She’d asked him to take time to discover what was in his heart, and for her, he would do that.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“It’s been three weeks, and not a word from him,” Rachel said. She heard Nichole’s sigh over the phone. “I need to forget about him.” Easier said than done. She knew, because she’d tried. She refused to ask if Nichole or Jack had talked to Dallas, but was he okay? Then she got mad at herself for worrying about him.
“All I know is that he spent time at an equine therapy for vets place, then went home to Montana,” Nichole said. “Jack’s been in touch with him, but my husband is infuriatingly mum on what they’re talking about.”
“You know what, I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” She was past tired of crying over a SEAL cowboy.
“Okay, let’s forget about him. What’s the latest Hollywood gossip? Who’s secretly screwing who?”
Rachel laughed, and it felt really good to laugh. She told Nichole about a famous married actor who was cheating on his wife.
“No way! They look so happy.”
“Well, that’s Hollywood for you. Honestly, when I moved here and managed to get my foot in the door, I was in awe. I thought I’d found my place in the world. But the shine has worn off. I’m tired, Nick, of the fake smiles and the air kisses. The glitter isn’t so shiny anymore.”
“What do you want to do then?”
And wasn’t that the million-dollar question? “I don’t know.” She just knew that after this movie was in the can, she was done.
“Why don’t you come home?”
“And do what?” With Nichole being pregnant now, she’d love to be home. “How are you feeling? Any morning sickness?”
“No, not so far, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”
“Any cravings yet?”
Nichole laughed. “Yeah, popcorn dipped in honey. I don’t know why. One night Jack made a bowl of popcorn, and I kept thinking how good that would be with honey. Now I have to have that every night.”
“Okay, that’s weird.”
“Tell me about it. Jack just got home, so I’m going to let you go. I wish you were here, Rach, so I could give you a hug.”
“Same, bestie. Same.”
This movie was killing her. Some of the stunts were over-the-top, and they had required long meetings with her stunt coordinator, the director, and the famous actress playing the part of the FBI profiler. The actress was a diva, but Rachel had worked with divas before, and refused to let the woman mess with her head when she ordered Rachel to make her look good. Never mind that she’d worked with Shayla on two other films and had made the woman look like a badass. She was so done with these people.
