Sneak Peek! ANNabel and DALTON’s Story…

He chuckled to ease the tension. “Come on, Anna. How long has it been? Can we just agree to be friends?”

“Friends,” she tried out the word, her eyes narrowing. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t think that’s possible.”

“Why not?” He settled back in his seat. “I’m back in town, but most of my friends have moved away. You’re one of the only ones who I can relate to.”

She snorted. “You expect me to believe that? We couldn’t be more different.”

This time his laugh was spontaneous. “You misunderstand. Yes, I know we’re different. But right now? I’m trying to figure out how to run my father’s ranch while he’s bedridden and the only one I know who might be able to help me is… you.”

Annabel stared at him again. “What?”

“Sure. When we were younger, I was all over the place. I didn’t care about running the ranch and my parents didn’t push me to. I got out of high school, got a degree and moved away. But now I’m back and I can’t help but feel like this might be a good place to settle down and raise my kid.”

“You have a kid,” she said quietly.

“Yeah.” Dalton pulled out his phone and flipped through his pictures until he got to one of Henry. He turned his device around and beamed at Annabel. “He’s gonna be six in a few weeks. Just started kindergarten.”

She scooted closer to the phone but didn’t take it from him. Her eyes flitted up to meet his. “He looks like you.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “So, you asking me here… you’ve got ulterior motives.”

“What?” he laughed. “Of course not.”

“You said yourself. You want my help with your father’s ranch.”

He straightened. She was right. He had said that but only because he wanted to put her at ease. “Well, I guess that would be a bonus. You guys seem to know what you’re doing. I’ve asked around. People have taken note of how the Keagan farm is starting to make waves in the community.”

This time her smile was far more genuine and confident. “You can blame Wade for that. Oh, and Shane. Without his money, I would bet we would still be barely scraping by.”

“Shane?”

“He owns the country club on the outskirts of town. But it’s more than that. It’s got therapy services and… other stuff.” Annabel looked away again. “Anyway, I think Wade is just trying to make sure we’re all taken care of. Elijah was totally on board, but then he started dating Scarlett and now he’s doing more with her family’s farm. Lucas doesn’t seem to care what happens. And the rest of them are just following Wade’s lead. I guess it’s sorta nice to have the whole family coming together though.”

“Sounds like it.” Dalton watched her closer, noting the way she started picking at her fingernails and fidgeting. Gone was the confidence of her youth. She was struggling with something and part of him wanted to reach out and demand that she tell him.

But he couldn’t do that without making her think that he wanted more. That was how the world worked these days. A guy either wanted to help because he was genuinely the woman’s friend, or he wanted something more.

Seeing as they couldn’t be classified as close friends, she would assume the latter and that simply wasn’t something he was looking for.

He ducked his head, causing her to look up at him. “So, will you do it? My dad is holding out on me. I can feel it. He just keeps giving me chores so that all the moving parts remain in motion, but he won’t let me do much else. He’s really slowed down a lot and I’m beginning to wonder if his mind isn’t going.”

Annabel blinked a few times. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s part of aging. But I really want to help him. I just don’t think I can do it alone. What do you say?”

***

 Was it possible?

Had Annabel gotten Dalton all wrong?

Was Dalton really just asking for her help?

She studied him, not trusting herself at all. This was one of her biggest weaknesses. She allowed herself to morph into whatever someone else wanted. Part of her didn’t know if she could handle spending time with him. Already she’d spent too long in the truck psyching herself up to even enter the coffee shop. What if she fell back into old habits? What if she romanticized their past relationship and ended up hurt?

That wasn’t something she was willing to do. He was married. Hadn’t she told herself and Scarlett that married men just couldn’t have female friends? It was true. She’d seen several instances of couples breaking up just because the couple couldn’t handle outside friendships, and she refused to become a statistic.

Annabel cleared her throat, dredging up the courage to say just that. “What does Darcy think of this?”

He frowned. “Darcy?”

“Yeah. Is she okay with you asking for my help? Heck, I don’t know that I would be okay with you meeting some ex-girlfriend for coffee. Does she know that you’re here with me?”

“No…” he drawled. “It’s none of her business who I choose to have coffee with.”

She stiffened and her stomach seemed to catapult its contents all over the place. “Excuse me?” Annabel rose to her feet and placed both palms on the table as she stared down at him. “When you’re married, you’re supposed to be open and honest with her. There are no excuses for keeping secrets. She’s the mother of your child, for heaven’s sake—”

His brows lifted and his head swung side to side as he took in the people who were now watching their little scene. “Anna,” he whispered, “sit down. You misunderstood.”

“I misunderstood nothing. I know people like you think it’s okay for you to treat your spouse like they’re nothing more than a roommate, but I would never accept that. I’m not on board with anything if it means you’re not willing to be one hundred percent transparent with her.”

Dalton’s hand shot out and grasped hers, tugging her down a little and forcing her to collapse into her seat. Her gaze landed on where he held her, and a shock of electricity rocked through her system.

Wrong, the alarm seemed to say. She tried to snatch her hand away from him, but his grasp remained firm.

“Anna, I’m not with Darcy anymore,” he muttered in a desperate-sounding hush.