She grabs the papers and starts back to her truck. “Stay out of my business. I don’t need or want your help.”
“What’ll it take?” I ask suddenly. I don’t want this interaction to end. Even if it means she’s yelling at me, at least we’re talking. That’s progress.
She stops at the door of her truck, her hand reaching for the handle, but says nothing.
“What’ll it take for you to forgive me, Astor? You know I love you. I want to pay your bills, take care of you, be your man. What’ll it take?”
Her whole body grows still. My heart stops as I wait for her response. The silence stretches between us. The birds stop chirping. The stoplights are red. Mike’s Garage’s phone isn’t ringing. It’s as if the whole world is holding its breath.
“That time has passed, Cane. Even if I did forgive you for breaking my heart, there’s no place in my life for you anymore. You were right all those years ago. I do regret saying I love you. I regret it every day. I can’t take it back, but I can move on. I suggest you do the same.” She wrenches the door open and climbs inside.
“I’m not moving on,” I tell her—shout it, really. Heads turn in our direction, but I don’t care. “I still love you. I always will.”
“Then you’re going to end up lonely and miserable. Have fun with that.” The door slams shut, and she guns her engine, exhaust and dust blowing up in my face as she takes off.
I scrub a hand over my face. Mike ambles out with a small grin on his face. “That looked like it went well.”
“She’s talking to me, isn’t she? It’s progress. In five or so years, we’ll be married.” I form a fake gun with my fingers and point it in Mike’s direction. “Count on it.”
He doesn’t believe me, but it doesn’t matter. I believe it enough for all of us, including Astor.
CHAPTER 2
ASTOR
I hate how weak I am when it comes to Cane Justice. I can’t keep my mouth shut. The anger I still have for him only reminds me that I’m clearly still in love with him. Which only makes me madder at the situation.
I pined after him for the majority of my childhood, thinking I’d never stand a chance. Out of all the Justice men, Cane is the hottest, and I’m not saying that because I’m in love with the man. You’d have to be blind not to see how handsome he is.
I’ve seen girls lose the ability to speak in his presence. He isn’t only handsome, he’s damn charming too. And he knows it. So does his entire family. It’s why he’s the one that’s always sent out when something needs to be smoothed over. They know he can basically convince anyone to do anything. The rest of the Justice men are more your typical cowboys who want to work and be left alone.
Too bad that doesn't work so well for them. Not when they’re richer than God and won’t give any woman the time of day. That only seems to make the women chase after them harder. It wasn’t until this year that the Justice men started to actually drop like flies when it came to the opposite sex. One after another, they are falling in love.
It started with Calder Justice. The oldest of the Justice men. He and Tucker are a lot alike. They keep close to the farm, but after Earl Justice passed, Calder didn’t have much of a choice. There was something in his uncle’s will about him having to go fetch socialite and fashion designer Birdie Rodgers from the big city. I don’t know all the details, but he went, got her, and brought her back to the ranch. He became smitten and never let her go after that. Well, not for long, anyway.
From there, a domino effect happened with the rest of the Justice cousins. I guess they aren’t believing in that stupid-ass curse anymore. I always thought it was silly, but not much scares me. Cane was convinced it was true when we were younger.
It’s said a curse was put on the Justice men that the women they loved would never make it to see the age of thirty. Truth is, that was true when it came to all the uncles. The women they married, who they truly did love, all passed before they reached thirty. The only ones that did live were their later wives whom they didn’t actually have real love for. None of Cane’s cousins, including himself, have any living moms. It’s heartbreaking, really. I know what it’s like to not grow up with a mom.
Some of their uncles did go on to marry, I’m guessing for sex only. Those wives seemed to make it, but the men didn’t for too long. I think they all pretty much died when they lost their true loves. It just took them a bit longer to hit the grave.