Golden Ruin by Emma Kennedy

Author:Emma Kennedy [Emma Kennedy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: of the page press
Published: 2024-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Cassidy was on edge all morning. She tried not to be, but her emotions from the previous night stuck to her worse than the dry California dirt. The swelling and stiffness of her joints added to her foul mood. She worked through breakfast, by accident, and because she didn’t know how she’d face Willa in the light of day. Her mind hadn’t had a chance to rest, and so she hadn’t processed what was said.

She wished Sam would hurry up and find a clue. She wished her friends back in Chicago would answer her pings. More than anything, she wished her grandmother were still alive to offer her advice. When she’d died, Cassidy was barely sixteen, still too young and headstrong to appreciate all of her experience. What she wouldn’t give to have her tell her what to do after everything.

As she went about the ranch, she was unable to stop herself from looking for clues about Willa’s past. She needed justification—that she hadn’t been rejected for the sake of it. She sought out men’s work shoes, old notes—any small sign that someone who should have been so saturated into the DNA of the place had been here. But it was as if Willa’s husband, whose name Cassidy didn’t know, had taken all signs of life with him when he died.

Deep down, Cassidy knew it wouldn’t matter anyway. All of Willa’s reasons for not wanting to get involved with Cassidy were as valid as her own. But she’d gone into their interaction expecting to give a rejection, not receive it. Her pride smarted more than she expected it to. The only positive to her day was it seemed the storm had abated for the time being. The winds slowed back to their usual crawl, and dust settled where it was kicked up instead of traveling along the breeze.

As the day dripped by, Cassidy knew she would either have to face Willa at lunch, or let them both starve. Willa worked across the property, so she decided to start early and minimize any time they’d be at the house together. She put together a salad and quesadillas, cooking like a line chef in the middle of a dinner rush. She ate her portion standing at the counter, and when Willa didn’t show, she left her portion on the table with a napkin covering it. It seemed they were both the avoidant type.

Cassidy made a beeline back to the greenhouse and began transferring plants outgrowing their containers. As she worked, her shame built and built until it crested over her in a wave. She’d assured Willa that things would be fine. There was no reason for things not to be fine between them; nothing had changed. She decided she’d wrap up Willa’s meal and go find her out on the property. Damn her nerves and everything else, she couldn’t be a coward about this.

She found Willa taking a break under a grand old oak tree. The day was scorching, and the lack of shade between buildings always amplified the drain of the heat.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.