I sighed and followed the horizon from one side of the mountainous range to the other, absorbing the vast expanse of land I was on the cusp of losing.
“More stables, but ones that I could rent out to locals and people in the area who needed to house their horses. Offerin’ a fee for care and shelter. There’re a lot of families in town with horses in stables hours away, and they’re rarely able to make the trip to see ’em or care for ’em never mind ride ’em. I could probably earn a good penny doin’ that. Enough to hold us at least.”
Lachlan nodded. “I imagine that would help.”
“Just can’t manage the start-up cost without increasin’ the debt too drastically. I thought of cuttin’ back and sellin’ some of my own team to free up a bunch of stalls for rentin’, but it’s a trickle effect, you know. If I have fewer horses, I have to cut back on my own services, which in turn means less money again. I feel like I can’t win. But if I don’t act on somethin’ soon…”
Lachlan leaned forward, resting his arms on his drawn-up knees as he took in the landscape. With his lips pressed together and a crease in his brow, he looked deep in thought.
“What’s on your mind, Lach?”
He blinked out of his musing and glanced back at me, shaking his head. “Just thinking. I hate for you to lose all this. There has to be an answer that is doable and that won’t increase your debt.”
“If there is, I can’t think of it. C’mere. I don’t wanna talk about it no more. It makes me depressed.”
Lachlan turned and faced me with his legs crossed. He didn’t speak, but his mind was racing, and his gaze was far away. I reached out and ran my knuckles over his stubbled cheek, drawing him back. “Tell me somethin’?”
He removed my hand from his face and glanced down, sadness tugging his eyes. “I know what you’re going to ask.”
“Can’t avoid it forever. You’ve been ’ere for more than two weeks. You have a job and a fancy penthouse apartment and a life back in Edmonton.”
Lachlan nodded but refused to lift his head or say anything.
“When’s this beautiful bubble gonna burst? I need you to be honest with me. Lach, my heart’s tangled up in yours now. The longer you’re ’ere, the worse it’s gonna get. At least warn me when it’s over, so I can be prepared for the blow.”
Glassy eyes met mine, and he shook his head. “I don’t want it to end. If you believe anything, believe that. I’ve…” He peered across the ridge and over to where the horses grazed. “I don’t know what I’m doing. My father’s livid. I’ve stopped taking his calls, and I’ve given him no answers. He sent me here for a purpose, and I don’t know how to tell him I failed.” He glanced at his hands on his lap, twisting his fingers together. “How do I tell him that I stopped trying on day one and decided to lose my head to the incredible man who owns the lands he wants to buy instead?”
I reached out and took his hand to stop the anxious movements. Lachlan looked up from under dark lashes.
“You’re hidin’,” I said.
“Kind of.”
“Because you don’t wanna face your father?”
“Partly. But … I also don’t want this beautiful bubble to break either and…”
“And?”
“I don’t think I can have you and my life in Edmonton.”
I stayed quiet. My worst fears lived in that statement.
He squeezed my hand and leaned in for a lingering kiss. I took his face and roughed the tips of my fingers over his new scruff.
When he pulled back, he said, “I’m not leaving yet. Let me figure things out.”
“But how long can you avoid your father? Your job?”
He chuckled, but it was filled with the heavy weight of sadness. “Indefinitely, if I keep his number blocked.”
My brows hit my hairline. “You blocked your own father?”
“After his forty-seventh call—and that’s not an exaggeration—and twenty-second voicemail which I erased every one without listening to them, yes. I blocked him. Which means I’ve basically dug my own grave. I’ve never done anything quite this rebellious before.”
I couldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped me. “You see, I would have never added rebel to my list had you not told me that.”
“It’s part of the new me.” The dark lines on his face eased, and a hint