he had set. “I just think it might be best for everyone.”
“Yeah, all right,” I said abrasively. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
When I hung up the phone, I was feeling even more done and over everything than I had been already. I couldn’t wait to unload my past and get the hell out of here. The attorney looked up at me over the top of his glasses, and I shot him a glare that made him look immediately back down to finish up. The attorney scheduled the auction for the following week, which was a weight lifted off my shoulders, and it meant that I had another whole week to stay in town. That was good because as much I wanted to leave all this behind, I also was hoping to leave with Clara. I needed more time with her, despite what Scott said.
I knew that she had been acting kind of off, but I didn’t think that she actually didn’t want to see me. I was really hoping that Scott hadn’t said something to her to make her want to distance herself from me even more. I would be really pissed at my best friend if he had. I wasn’t done trying with Clara yet. Granted, the pressure was mounting, and now I did have an actual end date to when I would be leaving Amarillo. But even though she’d been acting weirder every day, I still had hope that I could get her alone again and reach her.
As soon as we had finalized everything, I headed back to the farm to hang out with Scott. I was still hoping that maybe Clara would be around, even though he had told me to give her some space. I, at least, wanted to see how she was feeling. I figured by now that she had seen what I had left in the bed with her, and I hoped that my special stuffed dog had both brought her some comfort and also let her know how much I cared about her.
On my drive there, I couldn’t help but think about how much I just wanted to scoop Clara up and bring her back to the city with me. But I also couldn’t help but think about how much of a true farm girl she really was. It was strange to me how much people let other things get in the way of what they truly wanted, and I truly wanted her. I asked myself what I would give up or do to be with Clara if she ever gave me a chance. And I wondered if I would walk away from everything that I had built in my life in exchange for a life with her. It wasn’t a question that was easily answered, but it was one that I had been giving more thought to lately than I ever believed I would.
When I pulled up into the drive, I could see that Scott’s truck still wasn’t back yet. He must have gotten tied up with his errands a little longer than expected. Plus, I thought that I was a few minutes early, which was fine because I would just hang out and wait. I wasn’t sure if Clara was even here, or if she had gone with him or was perhaps out in the fields or stables somewhere. But from what he had said on the phone, it seemed like she wanted to be left alone and probably wouldn’t be around. At least I could stay for dinner tonight, so I had hope of seeing her later on.
I found the spare key right where Scott had told me it was, inside a planter near the side of the house, and walked inside, expecting to be the only one there. But as soon as I walked in, I saw Clara at the kitchen table, alone and crying.
“Clara?” I asked as I rushed over to her. “What’s wrong?”
There was a full cup of coffee and a plate of cold eggs and toast sitting on the table in front of her. It looked like she had tried to make herself breakfast but hadn’t actually gotten around to the eating part. She was sobbing harder than I had ever seen her cry, and it made me worry that something horrible had happened. I tried to look her over, and she looked like she was fine, at least not hurt or anything. But there was obviously something very wrong with her.
When she