Page 56 of Rescued Love
When I was in school, it was being at the top of your class and having your pick of internships. When I was an intern, it was about getting one of a few, coveted positions when it was time to hire. When I was at the firm, it was becoming a partner.
The prize kept getting bigger, and they roped you into believing that you wanted that prize, but then there was always another one.
When did I go from wanting to follow my dreams and become a lawyer to help people navigate the law to only looking toward the next, big win for myself. When did my ego grow bigger than my conscience?
I have no idea, but I do know I don’t have to keep going down that path.
“I might have a lead on a job for you?” Grandpa’s voice pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts, and I look at him as my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline. He holds his hands up just as I open my mouth. “Now, I’m not saying I don’t want you out here and helping with the animals, but I also want you to build a life here, one with a solid foundation, which will allow you to still do what you love while making our girl fall in love with you.”
I can’t help but grin. “I’m pretty sure she’s already in love with me, Grandpa,” I tell him, feeling smug as fuck about it.
“Has she said that?”
“Uh,” I wince and rub the back of my neck, “not in so many words, but I can see it in her eyes. This thing between us is real and it’s forever.”
“Can’t make assumptions when it comes to women, Nathan,” there’s admonishment in his words. “That’s how people get in trouble. They make assumptions, take their partner for granted, and forget why they’re together in the first place.”
My heart sinks because I know he’s right. We’re still so fresh, but maybe I have been making assumptions. Like believing that she knows how I feel about her. It’s not like I’ve told her that I love her even though I’m certain I do.
“Still, doesn’t mean Kimball doesn’t love you. But the words are important. So are the actions,” he lays his sage advice on me like the elder he is.
“I think staying, which I told her is what I want to do, is a big first step. I could,” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, “feel her holding back, you know? I knew why too. Why go all in withsomeone who is planning to leave? It was totally fair for her to want to protect a part of herself and I don’t blame her for it.”
“Not to mention protect herself from a guy who didn’t make the best first impression by being a jackass,” he jabs at me.
I chuckle. “You’re not wrong about that, Grandpa. Something changed between us though when I admitted I wasn’t planning on leaving. Now,” I change the subject swiftly, “what were you saying about maybe having a lead on a job?”
“Well, my friend, Kenneth Wilder, who is also the great-uncle of our sheriff, has been the lawyer in town for a long time. We grew up together and have been friends our entire lives. He’s ready to retire but has been putting it off because his clients need him.”
I rub the underside of my jaw, the real and exciting possibility this presents makes my heart pound. It’s not like I hate practicing law, I just hate what the firm turned it into. This way I could stay here, be with Kimball, and find my passion again.
It sounds perfect.
Before I can say anything, I hear a door closing in the distance. When I look at Grandpa, he shrugs a shoulder like he’s not expecting anyone.
I head toward him to go and check it out, but I stop long enough to give his shoulder a squeeze. “Thanks, Grandpa. We’ll talk more about it later?”
He gives a nod and follows me out of the barn. I pause when I round the house and see Kimball’s truck there. But that’s not what makes me stop in my tracks.
Grandpa gives me a confused look as he steps up next to me, but his face melts into a neutral mask when he sees what I see.Kimball isn’t the only one out visiting the sanctuary. There’s a Sheriff’s department vehicle sitting right next to hers.
When Kimball turns my way, a smile lights up her face, but there’s sadness in her eyes. I’m torn. I want to go to her and find out what has made her sad, but I also want to know what the fuck is going on.
And maybe that makes me an asshole.
When a man steps out of the SUV, Grandpa speaks out of the side of his mouth, “That’s Rhodes Wilder, the sheriff.”
I suck in a sharp breath. Did Kimball bring him out here? Is this a coincidence?
My woman tilts her head to the side, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion, before she looks toward what has pulled my attention away from her. When she sees Sheriff Wilder, her shoulders hunch and she practically folds in on herself.
Her brown eyes turn and lock with mine again, this time they show hurt, and I know, deep in my gut, that I’ve fucked up. The worst part is that I haven’t said a damn word, but my woman has gotten to know me well enough to know where my mind has gone. I’m sure our first encounter, full of misunderstandings and colored by my jaded perspective, isn’t helping matters.
Part of me is expecting Kimball to yell at me. But she doesn’t. No, not my woman.
She squares her shoulders and marches right up to me where I’ve been frozen and doesn’t stop until our toes are almost touching. Even though her eyes narrow, she keeps her voice even and calm, “Are you making assumptions again, Nathan?”
I swallow hard and nod once. It’s not that I don’t trust her, I know she’ll always have the animals’ best interest at heart, and Iknow she loves Grandpa like her own, but I also know there are always other forces at work.