disappointed him over something that was technically none of his business, then knowing how she felt about trust issues, got in his truck and drove away.
He had so much power over her, everything she’d planned for that weekend came screeching to a halt. The work for the rescue, preparing for Christmas, which was his damn idea, even taking the dog for a walk held no interest for her at all. Brulee stood on the porch, locked in by the gate, and she walked back to the cottage to let her out to pee.
“I’m sorry, girl, no walk this morning.”
They went back inside, locking up and throwing the dead bolt and chain in case he came back. She went upstairs and, with the towel still wrapped around her head, got into bed for the rest of the morning.
At one she woke up, sorry she’d wasted the day. Her hair was still damp from being mashed in the towel, so she shook it out and stuck it in a ponytail.
“Come on, Brulee, I’m so sorry,” she said, kissing the top of her head.
Brulee followed Maggie down the stairs and waited at the door for her walk. Maggie got her leash and a bone, and they set out to do the long walk around the perimeter of the one-hundred-acre property. That afternoon, they saw the new band of horses close by, and the original band right in the woods next to her open yard. They hiked the trail, smelling winter in the air, the dry, cooler weather that was perfect for festivals and festivities. But she wasn’t feeling festive at all. They made the loop in just under an hour, and she went to the gate and changed the combination on the lock. It felt a little juvenile, but then she decided it wasn’t. He was acting like a child, and until he came around and apologized, she wasn’t giving him access.
Everyone was in love; Ted and Kelly had moved into his spacious home with Danny. They were playing house, with Kelly finishing up the last work on the old rescue and going home to make dinner for Ted, who was contrite and apologetic to his employee Amber, especially when he found out Sheriff Chastain had moved in with her.
Annie and Steve were in heaven after Kelly told them they could move into her house, which was owned by their parents, as soon as she was confident about Ted. She wanted to have a place to go if it didn’t work out with him, and decided a week was long enough.
Even Gus and Grace had gone to the justice of the peace and got married that Monday that she started her paint job.
Yes, everyone was moving forward, but she was moving backward.
“Come on, Brulee, you must be starving.”
They went back into the cottage, and after Maggie fed Brulee her late breakfast, she looked at her phone, and there were calls from Justin with no voicemail. No messages on the landline machine, either. Oh well, he’d talk when he was ready.
The numbness persisted though, the disappointment that because she hadn’t obeyed him, he would act this way. It had nothing to do with safety. This was his expectation of her that had gone awry. Would he snap out of it, or was he going to lay down the law?
She couldn’t shake the feeling that resolving the issue was not going to be easy. Relationships that were good still required so much compromise. Maybe they had jumped in too quickly because she didn’t want to compromise yet. Right now, she just wanted to live her single life, paint her cottage without recriminations, do the rescue, and try to recover from the upheaval of the last year.
It was at that juncture that she made a decision. She loved Justin, but they were spending far too much time together, making too many demands. Well, he was making demands; she didn’t expect anything from him.
Heating up old coffee, she took it out on the porch and tried to see the horses, they always made her feel better, knowing they were out there, grazing and keeping watch. Her phone rang, and she was relieved that it wasn’t Justin, but Annie.
“Hi, Annie, are you getting ready to move?”
“I am, hoping and praying Ted stays lucid enough to make Kelly happy so we don’t have to move out of her house.”
They laughed and chatted for a few minutes.
“Listen, I need to tell you something. Justin talked to Steve today and read