LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Why, thank you,” Owen said, drawing her gaze back to him.

      “You made the chili?”

      He crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t sound so surprised. I’m good at more than riding a horse.”

      “That’s not what I hear from the girls you’ve dated,” Garrett said.

      Owen slugged his brother in the arm. “Since when do you even talk to girls? You have longer conversations with the cattle.”

      Linnea managed to smile at the same brotherly poking at each other that she’d witnessed from the moment she’d met Chloe’s family. It was a small comfort that some things didn’t change. But then, some things did.

      She tore her gaze away, ostensibly to refocus on the food preparation. But it was really to blink new tears into submission. She was so sick of crying, of how it made her feel even worse. She wanted to be the person again who could laugh at Owen and Garrett’s antics, who could move through her day without feeling as though her emotions were riding a seesaw.

      When she heard Chloe and Wyatt arrive, followed shortly thereafter by Chloe’s dad, she forcibly shoved away her sadness. There was time enough later for it to leak out when she was alone.

      Chloe came over and gave her a one-armed hug. “You shouldn’t have done this,” she said so no one else could hear her.

      “I needed to. A gal can only cry so much before she feels like her head is going to pop off.” Not that she didn’t expect more tears to visit her later that night, or in the days ahead, no matter that she wanted to be done with them.

      “Okay, then. What can I do to help?”

      “Start pouring drinks.”

      A few minutes later, they all sat down to the dinner she’d prepared, lasagna with salads and garlic bread.

      “This is great, Lin,” Chloe said.

      “Yeah, way better than when Wyatt tried to cook for us when he was staying here,” Owen added.

      “Oh, the frozen chicken episode,” Linnea said as she glanced across the table at Wyatt. “Heard all about that.”

      Wyatt shook his head. “Y’all are never going to let me live that down, are you?”

      “Nope.” Garrett’s single-word answer set everyone to laughing.

      Everyone but Linnea, although she managed a smile so it wasn’t so obvious. She hadn’t been lying when she said she’d cooked the meal to have something to do, and in appreciation for the Brodys letting her crash in their home for a few days. But as she saw the loving looks and small touches that passed between Chloe and Wyatt, Linnea would swear her heart was bleeding. She doubted anyone else even noticed those little evidences of a young couple in love, but she’d been no different only a couple of days before. It hurt to think about how all those adoring gazes and thrilling touches were gone forever.

      The weight in her chest and the lump in her throat grew throughout the rest of dinner, to the point where she thought she might have to excuse herself. But somehow she managed to make it all the way through dessert. When she started to gather the dishes, Wayne stopped her.

      “No, dear. You’ve done enough for tonight.”

      By the time Chloe and Wyatt left a few minutes later, Linnea felt as if a bear were sitting on her chest. She slipped out the front door while the guys cleaned up the kitchen. The night air was still warm as she stepped out under a wide, starry sky. But none of that offered her any comfort as she walked toward the fence near the barn.

      She leaned her arms against the top rail and looked up at the sky in time to see a shooting star. Without even thinking, she made a wish for the pain inside her to go away, to maybe even someday be happy again.

      A sob broke free and she laid her head atop her arms and cried yet again, as if her body could produce an endless supply of tears. Linnea didn’t know how long she cried, but the worst was over when she heard a door close. She wiped the last of her tears from her cheeks, glad for the darkness should whoever had stepped outside come close.

      She stared out across the darkened field as the sound of footsteps approached. Somehow she knew it was Owen before he came to stand beside her, propping his own arms on the fence.

      “You overdosed on Brodys, didn’t you?”

      She laughed the merest bit at that. “How did you know?”

      “Keen sense of observation. It’s a gift.”

      She glanced his way and lifted an eyebrow. “Is there any talent you won’t claim?”

      “Ballet. Never got the hang of it.”

      She laughed for real this time, drawing a smile from Owen that lit an ember of warmth in her heart. “Thanks.”

      “For what?”

      “For trying to make me feel better.”

      His gaze met hers. “How am I doing?”

      She thought about it for a moment. “Okay.” She’d like to say that all the pain was gone, but she knew that wasn’t going away overnight, no matter how funny and nice Owen was to her. “I’m sorry if I’m a downer to be around now.”

      “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I just don’t like to see you sad. It’s so unlike you.”

      “I guess heartache catches up to all of us at some point.”

      “Yeah.”

      Something about the way Owen stared out across the field, as if his thoughts were somewhere else, made her wonder what he was thinking about. Maybe he was remembering losing his mom when he was a child. She couldn’t imagine how horrible that had been, even though she knew the story well of how his mother had been killed by a hit-and-run driver.

      Linnea experienced the most unexpected sense of connection with him in that moment. She took a deep breath and stared out into the expanse of darkness as well. Her eyes had adjusted to the dim light enough that she could now pick out a few cows in the distance. She took a slow, deep breath.

      “I still can’t believe I almost married someone who is already married.” She saw Owen shift toward her out of the corner of her eye.

      “How did you find out?”

      “His wife showed up at the shop. Surprise!”

      “God, Linnea, I’m sorry. Who the hell does that?”

      “Obviously the guy I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Says a lot about my judgment, doesn’t it?”

      “Sounds to me more like he’s a bastard in need of a good ass kicking.”

      “I thought about it, but that means I’d have to see his lying face again. Decided it wasn’t worth it.”

      Owen was quiet for a while, but she could feel the anger coming off him. Oddly, it made her feel better.

      “I know it sucks, but I’m glad you found out before you married him.”

      “Me, too.” And she realized it was true. Though she was shredded inside, it would have been so much worse to find out the truth after she’d gone through with the wedding. What a nightmare that would have been.

      They stood there, side by side, in silence for several minutes before Owen stepped away from the fence. “I’ll stop invading your space.”

      “If anyone is invading anyone’s space, it’s me.”

      “Let that go. You know you might as well be part of the family.”

      “Thanks, again.”

      He nodded. “No problem. And if you decide Michael needs a good beat-down to make you feel better, just let me know. That can be arranged.”

      “He’s

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