“Does that surprise you?” he asked.
Yes it does. And hurts too.
She knew he wanted her gone. Kollette didn’t realize just how much. “Take care of yourself Ethan. It was…I’m glad I got to know you.”
“Are you?”
She stepped closer, got up on her tippy toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Yes I am.” Then she quickly got into her Jeep, started it and drove the hell away. Even as she made it down the driveway, she hoped her vision was clear enough to see the road through the tears. Tears she wasn’t about to let him ever see.
Looking in her rear view mirror, she saw him just standing there, watching her.
Goodbye Ethan.
“I assume that was your doing,” Roy stated from behind him.
“Why do you say that?” he asked.
“Because it’s the only explanation as to why you decided to take my mare out in the middle of the night. How long did you need to ride before you found a signal?” Roy inquired.
Too fucking long.
“Do you miss anything?” Ethan asked, avoiding answering Roy’s question.
“Yup. My wedding anniversary once. But what I don’t understand is why you did it. You like her. So why make it so she could leave? I’d have thought you’d be praying for more snow.”
“It’s complicated,” he answered.
“Well you know what is nice about being here? I ain’t got much else to do but listen. Why don’t you and I go check on the horses and you can clarify things for me,” Roy suggested.
If this was his brothers, he’d tell them it’s none of their damn business. But he wouldn’t speak to Roy that way. Roy was more like a father figure than even his own dad was. So, as instructed, he went to the barn with Roy. But once inside, Roy sat down on a bale of hay and waited. Ethan wasn’t sure where to start. He knew what he didn’t want to say, and that was why Kollette was here.
“Roy, she needed to get back home. All I did was provide the means for that to happen. I didn’t tell her to go.”
Roy shook his head. “You didn’t ask her to stay either. I know there is something more going on. You barely spoke last night before we went to bed. And I spoke to Kollette when I came out to check on the fire. She was doing a damn good job at hiding the fact she was miserable. Why don’t you back up and tell me why that is?”
“Roy, this is between me and Kollette,” he stated, hoping that would be the end of it. Of course, it wasn’t.
“I’m talking to you man to man. Count yourself lucky because Mabel wanted to talk to you about it. You know how emotional she can get.”
“It’s not anything big. We just had a disagreement and found our views of the situation were different.”
“Great. A fight. Mabel and I have had plenty of them. So what are you doing to fix it?” Roy asked.
“It can’t be fixed,” he said. Kollette deceived the Potters.
“Anything can be, if you want it to,” Roy said. “Do you think Mabel and I have been married this long by luck? No. It takes love and understanding and…work.”
“Kollette and I aren’t married. We’re not even dating,” he clarified.
“And you won’t be if this is the way you handle things. That is unless you tell me that you don’t like her that is,” Roy said.
“Sometimes people aren’t who you think they are,” Ethan stated.
“That’s the problem. You need to accept a person how they are, for who they are, if you want them to do the same to you. Have you noticed that Mabel and I don’t ask any questions?” Ethan nodded. “I have known you for many years, and yet don’t know what you do for a living. I have never met your family and very rarely do you speak of them. Yet we know you’re a good man. That’s all we need to know. Kollette is also a good person.”
“She had secrets,” he said.
“I do. You do. Everyone does.”