next to Chloe’s older brother. Everything she’d planned to say, the words she’d practiced as the miles ticked by from Wichita, were nothing but a jumbled mess in her head.
“You sure you’re okay?” He sounded so genuinely concerned, and she had to fight the knee-jerk reaction that she didn’t deserve it.
She nodded then fiddled with one of the fries but didn’t bring it to her mouth. At the moment, she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to eat again.
“So, you used to live here, huh?”
Instead of answering, she spun halfway to face him. “Are you Garrett Brody?”
His eyes widened briefly before he tilted his head to the side as if trying to place her. “Do I know you?”
She swallowed and did her best to ignore the queasiness invading her middle. “Natalie Todd. I used to be friends with Chloe when we were kids.”
Garrett tipped his hat back and looked at her closely. His scrutiny made her even more aware of just how good-looking he’d grown up to be, as if carved by a modern-day Michelangelo of cowboys. Not that it surprised her. He’d been cute even as a boy, so much so that he’d been her first crush. Leaving him behind in Blue Falls had broken her heart almost as much as realizing she might never see her best friend again.
“I remember you. The two of you used to be thick as thieves. I also remember Chloe wailing as if the world was ending when you moved away.”
Guilt, even though it wasn’t her fault, roiled inside her, dancing a tango with her anxiety. “Yeah, it was hard.”
Natalie glanced at some of the surrounding patrons, not wanting to go into any more detail in the middle of a room crowded with people who didn’t need to hear them. “Are Chloe and Owen here?”
She shifted her attention back to Garrett in time to see him shake his head.
“I just came from Owen’s wedding, so he and his new wife are headed to Austin for the night and then the airport in the morning for their honeymoon. Chloe got married recently, too, so all four of them are jetting off to the Caribbean.”
God, could fulfilling her father’s dying request get any harder? Part of her wanted to just blurt it out to Garrett then race as fast as her truck would take her back to Kansas. But that was the coward’s way out, and she wouldn’t walk the same road her father had.
While she mentally cursed the entire situation, she grabbed her glass with a hand that was a little too shaky. But Garrett either didn’t notice or chose not to comment. She knew she should make her exit and go back to the motel to regroup, but her brain refused to send the appropriate signals to her body to make it move. If she stuck to the plan of telling all of the Brodys at once, she either had to go back home and come back at a later date or stick around until the honeymooners returned. Both options held about as much appeal as lying down on a fire-ant hill covered in honey.
If she went home, she wondered if she’d find the nerve to come back to Blue Falls a second time. But if she stayed, what the hell was she going to do with all the free time? What about her job? And was it fair to Owen and Chloe to hit them with this type of news during what was likely the happiest time of their lives? An ache started throbbing in her forehead between her eyes.
Garrett snatched another French fry, evidently oblivious to her inner turmoil. And she needed to keep it that way.
“They didn’t feed you at the wedding reception?”
“Yeah, but there’s always room for cheese fries. So, where you living now?”
“Wichita.”
“That where you moved when you left Blue Falls?”
Natalie resisted the building urge to flee. “Yeah. You still live at the ranch?”
“Yep, just me and Dad now. Chloe and her husband, Wyatt, have their own place on another part of the property. Owen’s living in town, above Linnea’s bridal store, but still works out at the ranch.”
So, Garrett seemed to be the only unmarried sibling, and she tried not to be happy about that. His marital status shouldn’t matter to her at all. It wasn’t as if she had a chance with him, even if hundreds of miles didn’t stand between where they lived their lives. Once she revealed why she’d come back to Blue Falls, he would never want to see her again. And she wouldn’t be able to blame him.
“What do you do in Wichita?”
“I’m a vet,” she said absently, still stuck on why she was sitting here in a town she hadn’t seen in two decades.
When Garrett picked up yet another fry, she slid the plate the rest of the way in front of him.
“Sorry. I’ll stop stealing your food.”
“It’s okay. I realized I’m too tired to eat.” Another glance at him and the resultant pull she felt toward him was enough to propel her to her feet. “I’ve had a really long day, so I’m going to call it a night.”
As she started to step away, his voice, that delicious voice that could so easily seduce, stopped her.
“How long are you in town? I know Chloe would love to see you and catch up.”
The lonely, fragile part of her wanted him to be asking for himself and not Chloe, but she knew her thoughts were irrational. If she managed to get a solid night’s sleep, she’d probably wake wondering what had possessed her brain tonight.
“Not sure. But I’ll get in touch with her when she returns.” She wasn’t positive that was true, but she had to put some distance between herself and Garrett before she cracked and spilled everything too soon, in the wrong place. Before he could say anything else, she pushed her way through the crowd toward the door.
By the time she reached the parking lot, she felt genuinely ill, the kind of ill that came from too little food, not enough rest and nerves frazzled almost to the breaking point. As if to match her mood, it started to rain as she drove back to the motel.
This time, she managed to exchange her clothes for her pajamas and slid underneath the covers. She lay on her side, wondering if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life when she’d promised her father that she would deliver his confession and apology. What could possibly be gained from telling the Brodys the truth? All it would do is hurt them by reopening old wounds.
You don’t know that.
She hated that voice of doubt in her head, the one that said that maybe the wound was already open, that it had never healed and wouldn’t until all their questions had answers, no matter how painful they might be. Plus, she knew herself well enough to realize that if she didn’t fulfill her promise to her father, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. Lying was one thing, but lying to a person about to take his last breath was something else entirely. She couldn’t let her promise be a lie.
* * *
THE NOISE AND activity around Garrett faded as his thoughts zeroed in on the unexpected meet-up with Natalie Todd. He continued to eat the cheese fries she’d left
