She's the One (Boggy Creek Valley 3)

Bishop

Two Years Ago

My heart dropped when I came around the corner and saw Abby’s car parked in the driveway. She must not have felt like going to work at her folks’ flower farm again. Her parents had been understanding, of course, as day after day went by and Abby still wasn’t there. Her emotions had been all over the place, and I had to admit I was holding on by a thin thread. I had done my best to be there for her, but she’d been slowly pushing me away.

I parked next to the Toyota Camry we had bought a few years ago and sat for a few moments to get my own head in the right place before I walked into the house. I needed to be strong for both of us. There were days when Abby didn’t even get out of bed, but the last few weeks she’d seemed to be doing better. Last night, she had finally let me in some. She’d walked into my office in the house and crawled onto my lap. I dropped everything I’d been working on and held her.

When she whispered for me to make love to her, I’d hesitated. I hadn’t touched her in over a month. Every time I tried to get close to her, she’d push me away or start to cry. But last night, I caught a glimpse of my wife once again. I made love to her right there in my office, in front of the fire on a bed made of blankets.

I closed my eyes and let the memory of her words come back to me.

“I’ll love you forever, Bishop. I need you to know that.”

I wrapped my arms around her tightly. “I’ll love you more, Abs.”

I could feel her soft breath on my chest as she laughed. She snuggled in deeper against my chest and soon drifted off. It was the first night in nearly six weeks that she hadn’t cried herself to sleep.

I opened the door of my truck and slid out—then came to an abrupt halt. Blinking a few times, I stared at Abby as she stood there with her suitcase by her side and a large bag over her shoulder.

“I thought you were in a meeting?” she asked with a guilty look on her face.

“It ended early, so I came home before I headed down to the farm. Where are you going, Abs?” I asked, taking a step closer.

She held up her hand to stop me, and I stilled.

I could see the pain in her eyes and the hurt on her face, and it nearly killed me. I was going to lose my goddamn mind if she didn’t let me help her soon. Then she gave me a slight smile, and for the briefest of moments, that same fourteen-year-old girl was back in front of me, and my breath caught.

The first moment I ever saw Abby Boyer, I knew she was the girl I was going to marry. Her folks had moved to Boggy Creek when she was a freshman. For two years, I tried to win her over. I came so close so many times, but she’d always push me away and tell me I was a hopeless flirt who would never be able to love just one girl.

I proved her wrong. Asked her to marry me our senior year. We got married at nineteen on this very hilltop.

Now Abby’s smile was gone as fast as it came. A cold chill rushed through me as I stared at her. She was the only girl who had ever captured my heart, and now she stood in front of me—sixteen years after the first time I’d ever laid eyes on her—with a look on her face that scared the living shit out of me.

Abby broke our eye contact and stared down at the ground. “I’m leaving for a while.”

I jerked back like she’d hit me. “Leaving? Where? Are you going to your folks’? If you want some alone time, babe, I can go.”

Her eyes jerked up and met mine again. She shook her head. “No, it’s not like that, Bishop. I can’t…I can’t do this. I can’t be…I can’t be with you anymore.”

I stood there motionless while I let her words sink into my brain.

“Wait,” I said with a disbelieving laugh. “You’re…leaving me? Abby, don’t do this! I said I would do anything you wanted. I’m trying, Abs. What do you want from me? I’m trying to figure out how you need me to help you, but you keep pushing me away. If you want, I’ll hire someone to work the tree farm and we can go somewhere. Anywhere you want, baby. I’ll do whatever.”

She sniffled and shook her head. “I just need a little bit of time, Bishop. I always wanted to live in Boston, see what living in the big city was like. I think that’s where I need to go.”