All We Left Unsaid: Small Town Enemies to Lovers Romance by T. Thomas

Author:T. Thomas [Thomas, T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: 2023-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

19

Maddox

Travis, Carlos, Warren, and Zane were sitting at the dining room table playing poker when I walked in. The other ranch hands were already gone home for the day to spend time with their families. The five of us were the only ones living on the ranch. We had nothing outside of these fence lines, so there was no reason for us to spend our hard-earned money elsewhere.

“What’s for dinner?” I asked, walking to the stove. I snorted at the sight of the food when I lifted the lid off the pot. They’d opened a few cans of chili, cut up hot dogs, threw those in, and heated it all up. I shook my head. “I swear we’ll all waste away if I leave you guys to make food,” I teased.

“That’s gourmet,” Zane sniffed. I chuckled and scooped out two helpings, placing aluminum foil over one of the bowls before carrying the other to the table.

“Whose the other bowl for?” Carlos asked.

“Harlow,” I answered. Silence followed my admission, but I didn’t look up to see anyone’s facial expressions, no matter how much I wanted to.

Something had shifted between us today, and I saw a glimpse of the old Harlow. The one who made promises and kept them. The one who loved so much, it flayed her open when someone didn’t love her enough to want to make the effort needed to keep her around.

Like her father. I’d never realized just how much she’d been hurting. I’d seen it, but I guess I’d never truly understood it. Because all I saw was that she had a dad still making an effort.

His effort just hadn’t been the right kind. His effort was to change her and manipulate her. He’d never tried loving Harlow in the way she needed to be loved.

When I finally did look up, Travis arched his brows at me and lifted his bottle of beer to his lips. “Did I hear you correctly?” he asked me. “I thought you hated her.”

I shrugged. “We… talked. I think.”

Warren snickered. “You think?” He shook his head. “You either did or didn’t, man.”

I scowled at him, but he just shrugged. I sighed. “She’s keeping the ranch. That’s what made us talk. I said some things I probably should have kept to myself, and she was so upset…” I frowned down at my bowl of food, remembering the tears on her face and spilling over her eyelids. I couldn’t believe I’d ever thought they were fake. Those tears had been filled with so much pain, I was still hurting for her. “I couldn’t leave things like that. We’ve got a long way to go, but I think things might finally be okay.”

And that felt good to admit. To know. My life had been vacant without her.

“Well, that’s good, right?” Travis asked. “Maybe you’ll get to keep this ranch and the girl.”

I pointed my spoon at him, making him snicker. “I think you’re getting way too ahead of yourself,” I told him. I wouldn’t ever allow myself to hope for that much.

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