Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (24 page)

 Since it was Sunday, Kerri knew
there was no work being done on the restaurant, so she figured it was a good
spot. There was no way she’d take him to the apartment, though. Just the
restaurant, and then the airport to catch his eight o’clock return flight.

The twenty minute car ride gave
them a chance to talk pleasantries, and he inquired about Jordan and Cole.
Happy to talk about her sister’s relationship and not theirs, Kerri briefly
told him their long history, some of which he’d already known.

Then he asked about Connor. Kerri
hesitated slightly, and he must have picked up on it.

“Do you like him?”

Can you say awkward?

Kerri could. And she could spell it,
too. Backwards, even.

She cleared her throat. “Sure. I-I’ve
known him all my life.” Yeah, nothing like discussing her feelings for Connor
with her ex-husband. Priceless.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said
quietly.

Yeah, well…too bad.
  She
pulled into the parking lot and parked before facing him.

“Look, Lance, Jordan said you had something to say to me, so let’s not waste time discussing Connor. Okay?” She
got out of the car without waiting for his reply.

Rude? Yeah, but she was entitled,
dammit. Unlocking the front door to the restaurant, she stepped inside and flicked
on the lights.

“Wow, Kerri, this is great,” Lance
said, voice full of enthusiasm.

Her pulse, admittedly, sped up at
the sight of her restaurant starting to take shape. “Yeah, you think so?” She
smiled as she looked around at the finished wooden paneled walls and wooden
floors. “It’s hard to believe that in little more than a month this place will
be open for business.”

“I have no doubt you and Jordan will make a success out of it. I’m just sorry Comets was destroyed. I know you two
did well there.” Emotions darkened his expression. “I’m so glad you’re both
okay. I nearly died when I saw it on the news.”

He drew in a breath and looked like
he wanted to hug her.

Oh, Lordy. No.
She wasn’t
ready for that, so she moved to a table in the corner and dusted off two chairs
for them before sitting down.

Lance joined her, and she noticed
his hand shaking as he struggled for somewhere to start. Her throat jumped on
the tight bandwagon her chest had going on. Dang. Her heart went out to him
despite herself. He’d been a dear friend and a jerk only that once in the seven
years she’d known him before the divorce. She couldn’t just sit back and watch
him suffer, so she made it easier for him by starting the conversation.

“Jordan encouraged me to meet with
you.”

He blew out a breath and looked up
at her. “I’m glad she did, Kerri. I needed to try to explain to you about what
happened.”

Okay. I can do this.

Part of her wanted to run, and the
other part wanted to hear it. The latter won. She remained where she was and
sat nervously waiting for him to continue.

“Kerri, I swear I never meant to
hurt you. You’ve got to believe that.”

A troubled green gaze bore into
hers, looking, searching…hoping. It hurt, but she knew he was telling the
truth. When she nodded, he went on.

“I loved you, hell…I still do, but
I should never have married you. I see that now. I always felt…odd inside, but
didn’t know what that meant.”

What could she say to that?
Nothing, so she remained quiet. And hurting.

He shot to his feet and began to
pace as his confession spilled from his lips. “My mother was pressuring me to
marry and have kids, and since I already loved you, I thought we could make it
work. And we did for awhile. It wasn’t until Ian got hired as manager that I
started to understand why I had felt different all those years.” He paused to
take a deep breath, then he looked at her. “Kerri, I was wrong. I know that
now. I should’ve told you, but I just didn’t know how, and by not doing that
the unthinkable happened.” He closed his eyes and shuddered.

Tears streamed down her face as she
found her voice.   “Yes, Lance, you should have. What did you think I was going
to do? I mean, sure, I would’ve been devastated, but at least you could’ve
explained things, and I would’ve been spared walking in on you.”

Closing her eyes, she shuddered,
recalling the devastating moment her life had irrevocably changed. The moment
her husband had forsaken her for another. For a man. She opened her eyes and
stood, hugging herself in an attempt to keep the pain and humiliation from
reaching the surface. “Do you have any idea what that did to me, Lance?”

He stepped closer. “Kerri, I’m so
sorry. You’re right. I should have, and if I had it to do over, I swear I
would’ve told you. I swear it.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her
to look at him.

Misery lived in his eyes,
darkening, haunting, eating at him, and she realized she wasn’t the only one
who’d spent the last two years in wretchedness. A fresh round of tears trickled
down her face. He wiped them away.

“I’m sorry.”

She sniffed. “I thought that
you…that you went looking in the opposite direction because I was doing
something wrong,” Kerri confessed haltingly, and felt some of the tightness
loosen around her chest.

“Oh, God, Kerri,
no
. I am so
sorry.”

He hugged her then. Hugged her
tight, and she hugged back, letting the pain out. Freeing it. And in doing so,
she realized all the pain she felt wasn’t for the loss of her husband. It was
for the loss of her best friend.

It still felt good to be embraced
by him, but it lacked something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

 After a minute, he pulled away
slightly to look her straight in the eyes. “Listen to me, Kerri.
You
did
absolutely nothing wrong! Do you hear me? You did nothing wrong. It wasn’t you.
It really was all me,” he told her firmly and waited until she nodded. “By not
understanding my confusion, I hurt and lost you. You were my best friend...and I
miss you,” he said, voice cracking. “And I’m so, so sorry. I hope you believe
me.”

His gaze was troubled, but earnest.
She knew him to be telling the truth, so she squeezed his arm. “I’ve missed you,
too, Lance. And I’m sorry you had to go through all that by yourself. I only
wish you would have confided in me.”

He pressed his forehead to hers.
“God, so do I, but I think subconsciously I was fighting it.”

Not much she could say to that, so
she remained quiet.

“I hope, somehow, some day, we can
still be friends,” he said, straightening to look into her eyes.

She inhaled, then let it out slow.
“I want that, too, Lance, but…I…it’s going to take time. Baby steps.”

“I can do that.”  He pushed her
hair behind her shoulder.

She smiled at the familiar gesture,
and felt a lightness around her heart for the first time in years. “Good.”

He smiled.

“So,” she began, a little curious
about his life. “Are you and Ian still together?”

A guarded expression fell across
his face. “Yes.”

“Are you happy?”

He studied her a moment, as if
trying to decide if he should answer. Apparently, he must’ve seen something in
her gaze because he nodded. “Yes.”

Surprisingly, the news didn’t hurt.
So she smiled. “Good, I’m glad.” And found she really meant it.

“Thank you, Kerri, for hearing me
out.”

They stood there and hugged for a
few minutes before finally breaking away.

“So,” he said, holding her hands.
“What about you?”

She frowned. “What about me?”

“Do you want to talk about…what was
his name, Connor?”

Heck no.
Cripes
, especially
with him. “No.” She managed a small smile. “I don’t.”

“Well, take it from someone who
knows,” Lance said. “That man was looking at you as if he’d just lost something
special.”

Kerri reeled back and stared at her
ex. “I-I doubt it.  He doesn’t go for city girls, and besides, me with a
cowboy?” She shook her head and let loose with another small laugh.

But Lance knew her too well. Green
eyes stared unblinkingly at her. “He is yours for the taking. And why not a
cowboy? You were always a little reckless.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You.” He laughed outright.
“You, who used to add certain ingredients to your recipes behind the teacher’s
back.”

She shrugged, holding back a grin.
“Yeah well, that teacher did rave about my quiche as I recall.”

They laughed, a good laugh. Genuine.
And just like that, she took an unrestricted breath, and her first step toward
healing.

“Now.” He dropped an arm around her
shoulder and looked around. “Tell me about this new restaurant of yours.”

“D
id you apologize to
Kerri yet?”

Connor glanced at Cole as they
unloaded what was left of the van into the rented storage bay. “No,” he replied,
going back for another box.

“Do you think it’s wise to let it
go any longer?” his brother asked, passing by with his hands full.

No. And he didn’t think it was wise
for his brother to pester him like a little girl about it, either.

“There hasn’t been a right time yet,”
he grumbled instead.

Cole chuckled. “Oh, bro, anytime is
the
right
time to apologize to a woman. You should know that by now,” his
brother proclaimed, joining him inside the van.

“Yeah, well, I’ll apologize soon.”
Picking up the last box, he made a mental promise to seek Kerri out and
apologize this week.

Maybe even today. If she was up to
more company after the cheater from the coast left town.

With determination pushing away his
uncertainty, Connor deposited the last box on the pile and looked around. “I’m
glad Jordan sold her furniture or we’d be here another hour.”

Cole laughed. “Yes, I know. I think
I married a pack-rat.”

His brother pulled the door down on
the bay and locked it, while Connor did the same to the van. His mind strayed
to Kerri. Again. He wondered how she was doing.

God, she’d looked so frail, so
fragile back at the ranch. He’d wanted to grab her hand, pull her close and
reassure her everything would be all right. Wipe away her uncertainty. Protect
her from…

From what?

Ah hell. He shook his head, rubbing
at the ache in his chest. He was just as guilty of causing her pain. Of dulling
the light in her beautiful brown eyes.

“Okay,” Cole said, slapping him on
the back. “I just need to drop off the van.”

Happy to have something to do, Connor
climbed in his truck and followed his brother to the designated drop off in
town. It would be great if he could turn off his thoughts. Shut them down. Run
on automatic. Then there would be no reason for his mind to shift to a certain
sexy, cook.

God, he wished he knew what the
hell it was Kerri’s ex wanted to talk to her about.

He stiffened.

What if the guy wanted her back?

After all, his green eyes had been
full of affection for Kerri.

Damn
. That had to be it. The
ache in Connor’s chest intensified. Her ex must want her back. Why else would the
guy drive someone else’s belongings across four states?

He didn’t have time to contemplate
anymore, thank God, because his brother came out of the building.

“Thanks, bro,” Cole said, getting
into the cab. “Do you mind going down the road to the restaurant? I promised Jordan I’d check on the building while we were out this way.”

“Sure. No problem,” he replied,
careful to keep the gloom from his voice.

He had no right to feel that way,
but he did. Okay, he had the right to feel lousy, but not worthy. It wasn’t
like he even had a chance with Kerri. And it didn’t matter if he did. She wasn’t
sticking around.

As he pulled into the parking lot, Connor
realized the whole point was mute. His jaw clenched tight. Kerri and Lance were
laughing as they walked out of the restaurant.

“S
orry, bro.” Cole
sighed, glancing sideways at him. “I didn’t know she was coming here, honest. I
thought she was going to drive him straight up to Houston to catch his return
flight.”

“Not a problem,” Connor lied, angling
his truck so the passenger door faced the happy couple.

Cole rolled down his window as
Kerri approached. The closer she got, the more Connor noticed a change in her.
She looked relaxed. Peaceful.

Happier.

It felt as if someone lodged their
fist in his throat, via his stomach.

She smiled, placing her hand on the
door to peer in. “What’s up, guys?”

“Jordan asked me to check on the
place, but I didn’t realize you were coming here,” Cole replied. “Sorry to
intrude.”

“You’re not intruding,” she said, turning
to wave at the building. “I figured it was a good place for privacy, but we’re
done now. We’re going to head to Houston. Feel free to look about.”

God, her face, her smile…they were
radiant, and Connor couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Lance, I’d like to thank you for
driving the truck here from California. My wife and I appreciate it,” Cole
said, sticking his hand out the window to shake the man’s hand.

“No problem. And, thank you. I
appreciate the opportunity to talk to Kerri,”
Slick Dick
replied. “And
congratulations, again. Jordan is a real gem.”

“I know.” His brother nodded. “I’m
very lucky.”

The Californian slung a damn arm
around Kerri and grinned. Like he had the right to touch her. Deserved to touch
her. Well, he didn’t. Damn it! He deserved Connor’s fist upside his cheating
head. Twice.

The damn man
cheated
on her.
Forsook
her.

“Kerri is a gem, as well,”
Lance-can’t-keep-it-in-his-pants
remarked, looking pointedly at Connor. “Worth any risk.”