Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
A strange sensation swept over my entire body. “You’re going to meet me tomorrow, right?”
“Of course, I am.”
I relaxed a little…but something still didn’t feel right.
“Promise me, Ensley. Promise me you’ll always know that I’ll never stop loving you.”
Swallowing hard, I replied, “I promise. I’ll always love you, too, Colt. Forever and always.”
A look of relief washed over his face. Was he worried I’d leave him? I knew he was somehow blaming himself for what happened, but surely he didn’t think I blamed him in any way?
Before I could say anything else, my mother and father walked out, said their goodbyes to Colt, and got into the car. I kissed him goodbye once more, and he drew me to him, hugging me so tightly I almost couldn’t breathe.
Then, he let go of me, turned, and walked into the house.
Little did I know then that he would break my heart into a million pieces. Or maybe I did know, that somehow that little inkling of intuition was louder than I wanted to hear…and I just simply couldn’t bring myself to believe it.
Ensley
Present Day
I sat in the rocking chair of Nellie’s nursery as she drank from a bottle of breast milk that Lilibeth had given me. It was so much quieter in the nursery. Everyone was at my brother Caden’s house to celebrate his wedding to Lilibeth. They’d decided not to go on a honeymoon since Nellie, their newborn daughter, was only a couple months old. She’d been born at the end of August.
“What do you think about all of this, Nellie?”
She looked up at me with her bright blue eyes. She’d been named after my great-grandmother, Nellie Wilde. It was a beautiful name; one I’d hoped to use if I had a little girl. Of course, Caden had beaten me to the punch. To be fair, I never told anyone I wanted to use that name, so I wasn’t mad about it. Sad, but not angry.
I stared down at Nellie and fought back tears. My tiny niece was a reminder of how far I was from my dreams of a family of my own. When my younger sister Emeline married last winter, I was so happy for her…yet also jealous. Then she and Caden had both announced they were having babies in August, and it threw me into a serious depression that I’d been trying to fight off ever since. I hadn’t felt this sad in a very long time.
Not since the day Colt left me. Left everyone after Grady’s death.
Rocking Nellie, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d already missed my chance for my own happily ever after. Yes, I was only thirty and still had time, but would I ever meet someone I wanted to settle down with? Or had that dream vanished when Colt left?
I closed my eyes, and an image of Colt Owens popped into my mind. I quickly shook it away, but not before a tear slipped free and moved down my cheek.
Damn you, Colt. Damn you for making me cry all these years later.
Smiling at Nellie, I said, “I hope someday you meet someone like your daddy, Nellie. Someone who will love and cherish you.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about that just yet.”
I reached up and quickly wiped my tears away as Lilibeth walked over and sat down on the floor in front of me.
She reached up and placed a hand on my knee. “Are you okay, Ensley?”
Normally, I would plaster on a smile and say I was perfectly fine, but today I was far from feeling okay. So, I told her the truth.
“Not really.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I let out a long, heavy breath, wishing it would expel the sadness that felt like it was taking over my body. “I’m trying so hard not to be jealous of you and Emeline, I really am. But I’m struggling.”
Her face fell, and for a moment, I wished I hadn’t said anything. Still, in a strange way…it felt good to have admitted it.
“Oh, Ensley, I’m so sorry. You’re going to find love, I know you are!”
I let out a humorless laugh, then sniffled. “I had it once, Lilibeth. Do you remember I told you about Grady Owens?”
She nodded. “He was your best friend who…who died. Was he the love of your life?”
I sighed. “No, he wasn’t. We really were just best friends. I dated his brother, Colt, for a couple years. He was so heartbroken after Grady died, as was everyone. He withdrew into himself, and that left me feeling even lonelier. I had my family, of course, and Colt’s parents, whom I’m still very close to.” I smiled slightly. “It was Jacob, Colt’s father, who got me interested in being a farrier. I trained under him before I set off on my own.”