She's the One (Boggy Creek Valley 3)

“Bishop? Bishop?”

At the sound of Ken’s voice, I snapped my head to the left.

He handed me my phone. “You, um, you dropped your phone.”

Absentmindedly, I reached for it, then turned back to look at Abby and Bryce talking.

I heard Ken’s intake of air before he asked, “Did you know she was in town?”

I shook my head. “No. That’s who kept calling. I mean, it was Abby calling.”

“You want me to tell her you’re not here?” Ken asked.

Shaking my head, I replied, “No.”

It took me a few moments to snap out of the shocked daze of seeing Abby on the farm.

My shock quickly turned to anger. “What in the fuck is she doing here? Why now?”

Ken laughed. “I’m telling you, women have radar. She probably sensed you were moving on.”

I looked at Ken. “What?”

He shrugged. “I’m just saying. Either that or someone told her.”

That made me look back down the hill. Had someone told Abby I was dating Jax? Greer? Arabella? From what I could tell, neither one of them had kept in contact with her. Her parents, maybe? I knew they knew. They’d seen me out with Jax and Ashley a couple of times. Crystal had smiled and been polite, but I could see the disappointment in Pete’s eyes. Not that I was moving on, just that I wasn’t with his daughter anymore.

After drawing in a deep breath, I exhaled slowly. “Well, the only way I’m going to find out what she wants is to go ask.”

Bryce pointed up the hill toward my house that stood on the highest point of the farm’s nearly two-hundred acres.

As I started toward my truck, Ken reached for my arm. “Bishop…I never said anything to you because it wasn’t any of my business. But I know Abby was pregnant, and I know she lost the baby.”

I looked away and clenched my jaw tight.

“When I was in college, my sister Kate found out she was pregnant. It was a one-night-stand kind of thing. My folks threw a fit; Kate wasn’t even sure what she was going to do. She was so scared. But I remember watching her with her hand on her stomach and this smile on her face. I knew she had fallen in love with that little bean growing inside of her. She lost the baby not long after she found out she was expecting. My folks were over-the-moon happy, but Kate…something happened to her. She quit school, withdrew from everyone—including me for a while. It fucked her up in the head, and she did some stupid shit.”

I looked at Ken and pulled my brows in. “What are you trying to say, Ken?”

He gave me a one-shoulder shrug. “I’m just saying, Abby didn’t act like herself after she lost your child. Her behavior reminded me of Kate’s. I don’t know…maybe I just thought you should hear that.”

“How long did it take your sister to come back to herself? A month? Six? Two fucking years?” I nearly shouted.

He flinched, looked down at the ground, and kicked at something.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Sorry. I’m just a little on edge. Thank you, Ken. I appreciate you trying.”

He lifted his gaze to meet mine. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. He looked at the firepit. “I’ll get back to work on this.”

I nodded and watched as he walked back over to the pit. Turning, I looked back up the hill that led to my house and saw that Abby was on her way up the long drive.

By the time I pulled up to my place, Abby was sitting on the front porch steps. I looked away and focused on parking my truck next to her car. The same damn car she’d been in when she drove away from the farm. From me. From the promise she’d made.

Opening the truck door, I slipped out and then slammed it. When I rounded the back of my truck, Abby stood, and it felt like someone had sucker punched me right in the gut.

She was even more beautiful than I remembered. And I had memorized every inch of her years ago. Her light brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and I could practically see her hazel eyes sparkle as I made my way toward her.

She was fiddling with something in her hands, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

“Bishop,” she said softly when I came to a stop at the bottom of the steps. Our eyes locked, and I had to fight like hell not to react to the tears building in hers.

She was the one who left you, remember that.

I focused on making my voice as cold and distant as I could. “What brings you back to Boggy Creek, Abby?”

The small smile faded, and she took a step back while I walked up the steps. “I tried calling you.”