The Day He Chose Her, I Chose Myself

e ye

years, I'd ch

here on this dusty Wyoming ranch he managed, a place s

adier than I felt, "just one

nding the fence, his back a

id, his voice flat, "I've t

ache starting in my chest. "Is it L

winter sky. "Lily has nothing to do with this.

the way he dismissed me, i

t was a door slammed s

ut something else spa

tion and a strange sense o

. I wa

, a sprawling log monstrosity my

shaking as I g

number, a contact I usua

it

ing, his voice impatient. "

cided. I'll go to that ranch in Wyoming you threatened

p on chasing that foreman, have you? What

jabs, but I didn't let th

I said. "I wa

nd over a working ranch to you, Elara?

your hair," I stated, not as

e you nothing. You live a li

u call this luxury? Being a pawn in your busine

dawful boarding school when I was twelve, rig

was for you

busy with your new wife, with Lily's mother? Stepping on old

early. I was twelve. He'

it was a grea

n doll he'd given Mom years ago,

agged me to the car. The sound of it breakin

long time

t. You owe me for a lot. So, the ranch. Am I going, or do I

s to 'manage'. Don't expect any help from me. Ethan Cole is

he irony was thick

I said, and hung up before

ravagances I despised but now found convenient, de

than Cole leaned against it, arms cros

than he had when I'd been chasing him around

ce devoid of any welcome. "Said you're

r. "Get in. Work starts at

. "That's for the main house. Rules are simple: you pull y

the already harsh reality of my new life. This was

ending fences in the blistering sun, and trying to learn

designer nails were bro

swing, too tired to even shower, he appeared

a nasty cut on my hand from a rusted wire, his t

aspirin and a canteen o

ver, a result of overexertion and a sudden c

rk silhouette against the faint moonlight, sta

But then there were these sm

ing sure his father's unwanted

d exterior was still there, but these

te his consistent rejection

ll for him, har

was something about his quiet strength, his

them, a grizzled old cowboy named Hank, had said. "And he's fiercely

he one he always seemed

something else in his eyes when he lo

just wanted

d, began to grow in the

d ever

way of the barn, my hand brushing his. He'd just st

kfast, hoping to catch his eye. He'd glance once, then focus entirely on

secretly mastered, just so he'd have to com

ant, guiding my hands with a professional detachm

rejection. He was a fortress, and I had no siege

started showin

-next-door kind of way, with wid

kies, her gaze lingering on him with a

Ethan softene

outh would ease, a rare smil

ad supposedly helped Ethan out of a tough spot, some k

ntle tone with Lily, the way his eyes followed her, was a st

ned. This was th

back from the far pasture,

reek, hidden by a gro

eal, open laugh I'd nev

he had his arm around her. He leaned down and whispered so

isse

tender kiss that spoke o

rt sha

.. it was something I'd allowed to grow

was all

d away, the image

t. The bre

had planned for me, the arranged marriage, anythi

Cole – it was all a mistak

in this rugged place. The old claw-foot tub in my room w

away the grime and the heart

ry. He'd obviously just come in from a l

ink you're doing?" he sn

lf, my heart pounding. "What are yo

spat my name like it was poison. "I saw y

so humiliating, hung in the

sence filling the small bathro

e dripping with sarcasm. "Hoping to catch so

ed, my voice shaking. "I

alites are all the same. Always looking

Miss Vance. I am not interested in you. I will never be interested in you

laps, each one more p

ld and dismissive. "Stay away f

leaving me shivering in the coo