When she started the truck and drove down the lane to the road, she didn’t look back in the rearview mirror. Blake had made it crystal clear there was nothing back there for her.
She’d made her own mistakes by giving into her fears and not telling him the real reason behind her asking for a divorce. But what he’d done had been far worse. He had deliberately misled her and had no intention of asking her to stay with him to see if they could work things out. He’d probably been relieved when she called to tell him she wouldn’t be moving to Wyoming with him. That would certainly explain why he hadn’t been more insistent that she give their marriage a chance.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she drove the short distance to the foreman’s cottage, she went inside to retrieve the things she’d brought with her from Seattle and loaded the rental car. It was just as well that she’d found out about his ruse. Even if he had finally come clean about what he’d been trying so hard to hide, she didn’t think she would ever be able to trust him.
Sobbing, she drove down the mountain road toward Eagle Fork. She hadn’t been after his ranch, his money or anything material. Whether Blake was as rich as sin or as poor as a pauper, all she’d ever wanted, all she’d ever cared about, was having him love her.
* * *
“Hey there, bro,” Blake said, riding the stallion over to where Sean stood just inside the arena doors. “You missed a great party last night over at the Rusty Spur.”
His brother nodded. “I was on my way back from a situation up in Sheridan.”
“Anything you can talk about?” Blake asked.
“Some guy is robbing banks all over the state and I was asked to review the details of his latest robbery,” Sean answered.
“If he’s been at this a while, I’m surprised they haven’t called you in before now,” Blake commented.
“This was the first time somebody got killed,” Sean answered.
When his brother fell silent, Blake knew that was all Sean would say on the matter. Blake wasn’t surprised that Sean didn’t go into more detail about the case. He never talked about the work he did for the FBI and Blake never pressed for more than his brother was willing to tell.
“So what are you up to this afternoon?” Blake asked, dismounting the horse.
“I came by to see if you want to go fishing with me tomorrow.” His brother shrugged. “But after I met your houseguest, I decided you probably wouldn’t be interested.”
“You met Karly?” Blake asked, hoping the subject of who owned the ranch hadn’t been a topic of conversation.
“Yeah, she seems real nice,” Sean commented. “But why are you two staying over at the homestead?”
“It’s...complicated.” A knot began to form in his gut as he realized Karly must have mentioned where they were staying. He asked, “Did you mention that I own the ranch?”
Sean stared at him for what seemed like forever before he finally nodded. “She asked and I wasn’t going to lie to her.” When Blake cut loose with a string of cusswords that had his brother raising his eyebrows, Sean asked, “Care to explain what brought on that little display of profanity?”
“Have one of the men take care of Blaze,” Blake said, handing Sean the stallion’s reins.
“What’s going on?” Sean demanded when Blake took off across the yard toward the house.
“I’ll tell you later,” he called over his shoulder. “I have to go talk to my wife.”
Blake knew he would face an interrogation from Sean later on but he’d worry about that when the time came. Right now, he needed to talk to Karly and explain why he hadn’t told her everything months ago.
Running across the patio, Blake started calling her name as soon as he entered the house. When his calls went unanswered an icy dread began to settle in the pit of his stomach.
His heart stalled when he went into the foyer and found the front door ajar. Looking out, he really couldn’t say he was surprised to see the ranch truck gone and along with it, his wife.
By the time he went back inside to get the keys for one of the vehicles in the garage, his brother met him in the kitchen. “What the hell’s going on?” Sean demanded.