on our relationship in order to make a prudent decision about our future”
“Wait a minute...he dumped you?” Jordan’s eyebrows collapsed together. “The knuckle dragger dumped you?”
“He didn’t dump me exactly. He just wants us to reflect...”
“Oh, my God, Jo! Don’t defend him!” Jordan nearly yelled those words.
Josephine jumped off the bed and shut the door. “Could you keep your voice down, please? I don’t want anyone else to know! This whole thing could just blow over tomorrow.”
“Why would you even want it to blow over?”
Josephine sat back down on the bed. “Because I love him, that’s why. We’ve been together for over five years. I’m not just going to throw that all away just because there’s a little bump in the road.”
“This isn’t a tiny little bump, Jo, this is a ginormous frickin’ crater!”
Josephine scratched Ranger beneath his chin and on the top of his silky head. “I know you’ve never liked Brice, Jordy.”
“I never once said that I didn’t like him.”
Josephine looked up at her sister. “You call him ‘the knuckle dragger’ more than you call him Brice.”
“Fine, so I don’t like him. But that’s just because he thinks he’s better than us, Jo. He thinks he’s better than you, with his family money and country club and connections to Beverly Hills, like any of us could give a rat’s behind.”
“I know that’s how he seems to you, to all of you, but do you really think that I’d be with him for five years if he wasn’t a good guy?” Josephine said pointedly. “There’s a lot more to Brice than any of you really know because none of you have given him an honest chance. Dad’s always so stiff around him and Mom has refused to warm up to him just because I decided...” She put her hand on her heart. “I decided to spend the Christmas after Daniel died with his family instead of coming home.”
“Well, Brice knew your brother had just died. It was stupid of him to even invite you to his parents’ La Jolla beach house in the first place.”
Josephine sighed from frustration. “Just promise you won’t tell anyone. Okay? If they need to know, I’ll tell everyone myself.”
Jordan pretended to lock her lips and toss the key over her shoulder. Her sister stood up, wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and gave her a tight squeeze.
“Now, come on, let’s go downstairs. There’s no sense in you sitting up here by yourself moping, especially if you don’t want anyone to pick up on the fact that something’s wrong,” Jordan said. “Besides, nothing’s better for heartbreak than family.”
* * *
As it turned out, Jordan was right. Spending time with her family had helped get her mind off Brice’s sudden, and unexpected, desire to end their relationship. And the plans for Jordan’s wedding were the best kind of distraction for her. Her mom had turned the family library into “Wedding Central,” and once she went back downstairs, she spent hours in the library with Jordan and her mom looking through all of the wedding regalia. She was blissfully surrounded by cake toppers and invitations, seating charts and stacks of RSVPs that needed to be answered. There were scrapbooks filled with all of the selections that had been made for the wedding and Josephine immersed herself in looking through each and every one. She spent hours, laughing and talking with her sister and her mother, and she was stunned when she realized that Brice had barely crossed her mind.
But afterward, when she was alone in bed, in the dark, all she could think of was Brice. Her mind just kept on going over the last several months of her relationship over and over again. Had there been signs that she hadn’t seen? Red flags that she had willfully ignored? Yes, he had been distant and unavailable, but he had just been handed the biggest case of his young career. This case could make or break his career in the field of environmental law. He needed to be focused and she had understood. But now that he had suggested that they take a “break” from their relationship and left her without a wedding date, the idea that his withdrawal from their relationship was only work-related was no longer a plausible explanation. So, what was it?
“Another woman?” Josephine queried quietly aloud.
It feels like another woman.
That’s what her head was saying. That was what her gut was saying. But her heart just couldn’t accept it just yet. Another woman meant that everything that they had been working toward together for years was over. Done. A horrible waste of time for the both of them.
Knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep with all of these questions buzzing around in her brain, Josephine got out of bed and quickly pulled on some sweatpants and matching sweatshirt. Josephine tiptoed down the wooden stairs and she was careful to avoid the creaky boards. Life on the ranch started before dawn, so bedtime was early. Chances were, she’d have the downstairs to herself, which was exactly what she wanted. At the bottom of the stairwell, by the dim light streaming in from the library lamp that was always left on, Josephine stopped to straighten the picture of her brother, Daniel, in his Army uniform. She had three older brothers, but everyone knew that Daniel had been her favorite. After he was killed in Iraq, it was hard for her to imagine the ranch without him. It still was.
After one last look at her brother’s portrait, Josephine continued her quiet route to the front door. The front door was always unlocked, so she slowly turned the knob, and pulled the door free from the frame. Once that was accomplished, she carefully pushed the squeaky screen door open a crack, slipped through, and stepped out onto the front porch. She’d started suffering from insomnia when she was in high school, and when she couldn’t sleep, she had always found her way to the giant rocking chairs on the front porch. Still holding the screen door open, she closed her eyes and breathed in the cool, fresh Montana air. She had missed that smell; it was clean and crisp.
“You’re not out here alone.” A male voice in the dark made her jump.
Startled, Josephine let go of the screen door handle and it slammed back into place. Her heart gave one hard thud in her chest; she placed her hand over her heart.
“Sorry,” Logan said in a loud whisper. “I didn’t want to scare you.”
“Your attempt to not scare me scared me,” Josephine whispered back.
“Sorry,” he repeated.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Josephine hesitated for a second before she decided to join him. It wasn’t ideal; she wanted to be alone. But she wanted to sit outside in her favorite rocking chair more than she wanted to go back upstairs. She sat down in the rocking chair, glad that Logan wasn’t occupying it, and sighed more loudly than she had intended.
“Taking a break from your studies?” Logan asked.
Obviously, he’s going to insist on talking.
“Insomnia. Chronic.”
“It takes me a while to get comfortable in a strange bed.”
Josephine nodded silently.
“I
