Hot Westmoreland Nights - Brenda Jackson [65]
“I was asked to call and talk to you. To try and convince you to get that chip off your shoulder you’ve been carrying around for almost ten years but has gotten most noticeable the last two weeks.”
Ramsey rubbed his hands down his face. He could imagine which one of his relatives had called Dillon. It could have been any one of them. He hadn’t been in the best of moods and they all knew it. And they had no idea as to why.
“I don’t need this, Dillon.”
“Okay, but can I ask you one thing?”
“Yes.”
“Do you love her?”
The question, to Ramsey’s way of thinking, came out of the blue. It was one he definitely hadn’t expected. But with Dillon he would be honest because even now, his very heart, every part of his body, knew the true answer.
“Yes, I love her.”
Dillon was silent for a moment and then he said, “She might have set out to deceive you. However, you did admit that she wanted to confess all, but you talked her out of saying anything.”
“Yes, but only because I assumed she wanted to talk about something else.”
“Does it matter? I can’t help but remember the woman who for two solid weeks got up before five o’clock every morning and cooked two meals a day for your men. She befriended them. And when you think about it, she really could have left you in a bind. Even you admitted the guys worked harder while she was there and that they broke all kinds of shearing records.”
Ramsey threw his head back. “Is there a point you’re trying to make, Dillon?”
“Just a suggestion.”
“Which is?” Ramsey said in a hard tone.
“Basically the same one you gave me a few months back. You were the one who told me that in some things you need to know when and how to adjust your thinking, to be flexible. Especially if it’s a woman you want.”
“I don’t want, Chloe. At least not in my life.”
“You’re absolutely sure about that?”
Ramsey knew that, but now, he wasn’t sure. When it came to Chloe, the woman still had him tied in knots. And he wasn’t sure about anything, other than the fact that he still loved her.
He pulled in a deep breath. The truth of the matter was that he hadn’t been able to adjust his thinking when it came to Chloe. It had been a while since he’d had a woman in his life and over the years he’d gotten pretty set in his ways. But what Dillon said was right. She hadn’t had to hang around preparing those meals for his men for two weeks. She could have bailed after the first day. But she hadn’t.
She had told him that she loved him, but he’d never told her that he loved her as well. Instead he had asked her to leave. What if she’d left town? Suddenly he didn’t want to think about that possibility.
But he did. He thought about it a lot. He was still thinking about it later that evening when he and Callum got together to shoot a game of pool over at one of the local pool halls they frequented. The thought that if she were to leave Denver he would not be able to find her grated on his mind. As well as the thought that he needed to let her know that he had appreciated what she’d done for two weeks, feeding his men good food, letting them know they were appreciated. She had gone out of her way to put a little sunshine in their days.
All right, he would be the first to admit he probably did still carry around that chip on his shoulder that might have caused him to overreact. After all, she had tried telling him something that day, but he hadn’t wanted to hear anything she’d had to say, fearing the worst and not wanting to deal with it. And although her original intentions might not have been honorable, she had stayed around, hung in and made a difference.
His thoughts shifted back to the possibility that she had not remained in Denver. Not being able to take not knowing any longer, he turned and handed his pool cue to Callum. “I’m going after her.”
Callum accepted the cue stick and merely rolled his eyes. “About time.”
Ramsey raised a brow. “And you