And they were worried about him. That was why they’d come up with the half-baked idea of him running the ranch.
The entire Wilde clan had decided he was depressed or suffering from PTSD when, in truth, post-traumatic stress disorder was not the problem.
The problem was, he was a failure.
It started to rain as he turned onto the county highway.
Great. Rain certainly suited his mood.
Had Caleb or Travis told Addison McDowell he needed a reason to feel useful?
Had they asked her to take pity on him?
His jaw tightened.
Was pity at the heart of what had happened last night?
The possibility made him sick. And angry.
There was only one way to get an answer.
Jake pulled onto the shoulder of the road, made a U-turn and headed for the Chambers ranch.
He drove fast and hard, and reached the ranch in half the time it normally would have taken.
His anger was still boiling when he pulled up outside the house.
The rain beat down on him as he got out of the car and slammed the door shut. Scowling, he turned up the collar of his jacket, stalked up the sagging wooden steps to the porch and jabbed at the bell.
Silence.
“Dammit,” he muttered, and banged his fist against the door.
Nothing.
She had to be inside.
Her car—he could see that it was a plain vanilla rental Chevy—was parked where he’d seen her leave it. In the glow of his headlights, he’d seen her get out of it and rush inside the house as if the hounds of hell were at her heels.
Had she been afraid of him?
Was she tucked away inside, afraid of him now?
Jake stuck his hands in his pockets, looked down at his boots.
He wouldn’t blame her if she were. He’d behaved like a crazy man and here he was this morning, stomping across her porch, banging on her door….
And why in hell would he think she’d made love with him out of pity? Had sex with him, whatever she wanted to call it?
She’d been as carried away as he’d been.
No matter how things had ended, she deserved better than those cold and ugly thoughts.
Enough, he thought, and he trotted down the steps, got back into his car and drove away.
Addison watched from an upstairs window as Jacob Wilde drove off.
Good. In fact, excellent.