Chapter One
Dallas
I never thought I would wind up back here in Elk Crossing. Just a few months ago, I thought my life was fantastic. Thought I had everything I wanted. The perfect husband. An amazing job. A beautiful home. Great friends. A decent, comfortable relationship with my parents.
Then, it all blew up in my face.
Because I caught my now ex-husband in bed with my now ex-best friend. And according to all of our other friends, it had been happening for a while. But no one told me because, and I quote, “We didn’t want to ruin your marriage.”
What was the point of remaining married if your significant other couldn’t be trusted to stay loyal?
Needless to say, I told them all to go screw themselves, filed for divorce two hours later, and packed my things. My ex-husband pleaded with me to hear him out, to not ruin everything we built together, but he’d already managed to do that all by himself. He hadn’t needed any help from me.
Once all of my clothes were loaded up in the back of my Range Rover, I gave him a stiff middle finger and hit the road.
I hadn’t realized where I was really going until I was on the interstate and headed back to Montana. To Elk Crossing, the small town I spent my entire childhood living in. The town where I found out what it was like to fall in love with a sweet country boy who only had dreams of being a rancher.
I hadn’t seen or heard from Wade since we mutually agreed to end things when I left for college. He was staying local, and he didn’t want anything holding me back from chasing my dreams, even if that thing might have been him. My parents had agreed with him, saying if we were truly meant to be, we’d find our ways back to each other.
So, tearfully, I’d agreed. And the only way for me to heal and move on was to cut off all communication with him. I didn’t even want my parents to talk about him. Hearing anything about him hurt too much.
So, seeing him at the only coffee shop in town in the middle of the day threw me for a loop I wasn’t prepared for. Snow was on the sidewalk, but the roads had been cleared off and salt had been put down on the asphalt so people could travel safely. I figured he was here to warm up, but considering I knew he worked up at Gibson Ranch—courtesy of the wonderful grapevine here—I was surprised to see him in town in the middle of a work day.
“Wade?” I asked incredulously, unable to keep my mouth from opening up. It was a bad habit of mine. That filter people were supposed to have between their brain and their lips? Yeah—mine was nonexistent. Always had been. It was what made Wade fall in love with me in the first place.
Wade’s hair was more grown out than he wore it in high school, the blonde strands hanging to his shoulders but pushed back under his cowboy hat in the front. He was a few inches taller than I remembered, too, and a close-cropped, blonde beard covered his jawline.
And those eyes—those stunning eyes—were just as blue as I remembered.
We were in eighth grade when we met for the first time, and he ran into me in the hallway. I told him he was an idiot and needed to watch where he was going. The boy seriously had to have had something wrong or misplaced in his brain because from that moment on, he was all heart-eyes and trying to win me over.
He managed to accomplish it our ninth-grade year with roses, chocolate, and going all out to ask me to be his date to the homecoming dance. I hadn’t been able to resist the sweet cowboy a moment longer.
“Holy crap—Dallas?” he asked in a similar tone, his blue eyes widening in surprise. Then, the most beautiful grin I’d ever seen graced his handsome face. Crow’s feet appeared at the corners of his eyes when he smiled.
“Long time, no see,” I teased.
He chuckled and stepped forward, tugging me into his arms. I couldn’t help the soft sigh that escaped from my lips at the feel of his strong, thick, burly arms wrapped around me. It had been so long since I had a man this…strong and confident wrapped around me.
“How’ve you been?” he asked, pulling away from me. I reluctantly released him as well, though it was almost painful to do so.
“Eh.” We moved up in line. “Just got divorced. Lost all my friends because they’re backstabbing and knew about him cheating on me the entire time.” I flashed a fake smile at him. “You?”
His eyes were wide. “Good Lord, woman. Need me to take care of him for you?” I was pretty sure he was joking, but then again, if he was still the same Wade I was in love with back in high school, then he probably wasn’t.
I laughed and shook my head. “No. He’s fine. He and my best friend can shack up together and cheat on each other and continue their toxic cycle.” I shrugged. “Honestly, the forced change hurt more than losing him.” And that was the honest truth. I never felt for Trey what I felt for Wade. I probably loved Trey once upon a time, but our love quickly died off, turning into a mere fondness for each other.
But looking at Wade, I still felt so strongly for him. Felt it deep in my soul. It was the kind of love that never left and never died.
“You always did hate change,” he remembered. “You just in town visiting?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Been here for a few months now,” I told him honestly. We reached the counter, and I smiled at the young girl working behind it. “Hi! Can I get a caramel frappuccino with a shot of decaf espresso, extra caramel, almond milk, and no whipped cream?”
“Add mine to her order,” Wade spoke up. I gaped at him, but he just winked and rattled off a plain, dark roast coffee before paying and gently tugging me out of the way. “A cold drink in this weather? You’re still a little psycho, I see.”
I elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t be mean,” I teased.
He quietly laughed. “I need to get back to work soon, but you should come out to the ranch sometime. I live out there now—have for a few years.”
“Embracing that rancher lifestyle fully, huh?” I asked as we stepped forward to get our drinks.
He winked at me. “You know it, baby.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. A blush stole over my cheeks, and I couldn’t have stopped the smile from tipping up my lips if I’d tried. “See you later, Dallas.”
He walked out of the coffee shop to an old Ford pickup parked across the street. I didn’t rip my eyes away from him until the girl behind the counter whistled lowly, drawing my eyes to her. “Girl, that man is the kind you want to sink your teeth into.” She shook her head. “Women have been trying to grab his attention for years. What’s your secret?”
I laughed. “Apparently, all it takes is calling him an idiot.”
She giggled.
