Page 60 of Cabins Cows Critics
“Don’t leave. Not again,” he says, and my pulse quickens.
“Okay. I won’t.”
He steps back, making room for me to pass, and then closes the door behind him. I contemplate sitting on the bed, but pace over to the kitchen wall instead.
“So, you’ve heard the story about the search for the heir to the Richmont family.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, he’s not a serial killer, and he’s not hiding out in the Bahamas,” I say, turning and pacing back the other way. The cabin is one of the smallest we have, so it only takes a few strides, and he crosses my path to sit on the bed, legs crossed in front of him, hands resting on his knees.
“Okay, so where is he then?”
“Here. I’m him.”
He squints like he’s struggling to process the words that have just come out of my mouth. Fuck, even I am struggling to understand what I am saying. I went from never wanting anyone to know to having everyone know in a matter of a few hours.
“What do you mean, you’re him?”
“My full name is Theodore Connor Brewer Richmont the Third.”
“You’re the missing millionaire?”
I sigh. “I’m not a millionaire. I’m the same guy you’ve spent the last two weeks with.”
“Except your name is Theodore?”
“Technically, yes,” I say, and he frowns like he maybe doesn’t believe me. The room suddenly feels so much smaller than it did a few seconds ago. “Can we maybe go for a walk?”
He nods and climbs from the bed. I open the door as he pulls on his coat and boots, thankful that the storm has almost fully passed and the snow is falling in a slow scattering now. We immediately head toward the path that leads around the ranch. It’s the same path we walked all those nights ago, and I’m reminded of how easy it was to talk to him then, too. It’s like I want him to know everything about me, and I want to know everything about him.
“Okay, explain,” he says, wrapping his arms tightly around himself.
“Connor is my second name, but I guess it was still a lie to use it instead of Theodore, but everything else I said is the truth. I haven’t lied to you about my feelings for you.”
He walks quietly beside me as I continue to try to fill the silence with explanations.
“I came here after tipping my truck to miss a calf in the road, and I really did just fall in love with this place. I found where I felt I could belong. These guys and Sally-May are my family.My real family. I walked away from that life. Ran actually, twice now. That’s why I wasn’t at our date. I saw a photo of me online and knew I couldn’t hide anymore, so I took off.”
“So that’s why the rest of them left, to go find you?”
“Yeah. And I’m really glad they did, because this is the life I want.”
I’m rambling, and my throat is scratchy and dry, and my stomach is doing somersaults with every second he stays silent. Then he stops walking and turns to me, his brow turned down, one side of his lips puckered up. He takes a breath and lets it out in a puff of cool air.
“I’m a reporter reviewing the ranch. That’s why I came here, not to write my book.”
Chapter twenty-four
Hayden
COMING CLEAN
“You’renotwritingabook?” Connor asks, his voice low, unsure.
“No, I am,” I reply, stepping closer, but he steps back, maintaining the distance between us, sending a pang to my chest. “I didn’t lie about that, I swear.”
“But you’re not really here to write, I mean, the book. You’re a reporter?”
