“Thank you. I’ll just wait here for him,” she said.
“You can sit over there on the bench while you wait,” he said. “You’d be out of the sun.”
For the first time since she’d climbed out of her car, Julie realized she was sweating profusely. Brody thought it was because she was standing in the sun. What a joke! Julie knew it was all nerves.
It had been over ten years since she’d seen Hunter Williams. Ten years of wondering what this moment might be like. She didn’t know what to expect. She’d imagined it at least a hundred times just this morning while she’d changed her outfit half a dozen times before finally deciding it didn’t matter what clothes she was wearing when she saw Hunter again.
Besides, Hunter was a ranch hand. Or used to be. Caleb said something about him shoeing horses for a living now. Regardless, he worked in a stable with horses and she knew what it was like to work on a ranch with horses. It didn’t matter if she were dressed up wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt or a ball gown. She’d get good and dirty.
“Thank you,” she said.
She started walking over to the bench under a large tree with wide branches. As soon as she was under the shade of the tree, she realized just how hot it had been standing in the sun by the barn door. She heard footsteps and glanced over her shoulder and noticed Brody was following her.
“You don’t have to wait with me. I’m sure you have work to do. I don’t want to keep you from your job.”
“It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah, it has,” she answered, not sure what he meant but not sure how to reply.
“What have you been up to?”
How could she relive the last ten years of her life in a few short moments before Hunter walked out of the barn and saw her? But then she realized that Brody really didn’t expect her to catalog every step of her life. It was just small talk. She’d somehow lost the ability to do that.
“I’ve been working at the Red Wolf Casino.”
His eyes widened. “Really? As a dealer?”
“No.”
“Ah. I haven’t been to the casino yet.”
She frowned. “Really? That surprises me.”
“Why?”
“I thought everyone within a five hundred mile radius had been out to the Red Wolf. It’s so close. I see millions of people every day.”
He smirked. “Millions?”
“It sure feels that way at the end of the night after serving drinks for eight hours.”
“A bartender.”
She chuckled at his surprised expression.
“Yeah, a bartender. Fully licensed.”
This year she was bartender. Last year she had been a waitress. The year before that she’d worked as a housemaid at one of the lodges in upstate Oregon. She hadn’t quite settled on the thing she wanted to do for life. Be a mother. That had been robbed of her.
“If you haven’t been to the casino, you should stop by. People have a good time,” Julie said, glancing at the open barn door to check for Hunter.
When she looked back at Brody, she saw a shadow had crossed his face. “I’ll take you up on that. But it will have to wait for a few months.”
“Why is that?”
“I’ve got a date on the calendar. After that date, I’m good to go.”
Before she could ask what he meant, she heard boots on the concrete aisle of the barn getting louder. Her pulse quickened as she stared at the open doorway.
“Looks like that’s Hunter,” Brody said.
Hunter appeared in the doorway, adjusting his cowboy hat and squinting toward the two of them to get a better look now that the light had changed. His eyes suddenly widened as their gazes locked.
“What are you doing here, Julie?” Hunter asked, glaring at her with anger she knew she probably deserved. He was surprised but the anger was there and it was potent.
“Guess I’ll just let you two visit,” Brody said. Then he turned to Hunter. “I’ll be taking Tenterhook out for a spin in the corral before Tabby gets here.”
Hunter waved him off and continued to stare at Julie as he slowly walked toward her. She waited until Brody was out of earshot to say anything.
“I saw my brother last night,” she said.
“So?”
Hunter propped his hands on his hips. Damn he was better looking that she’d remembered. And she’d remembered a lot. He’d been full of muscles and lean as a working cowboy should be when she’d been in love with him, and that hadn’t changed. He was still as handsome as ever. Even wearing his cowboy hat, she could see a few strands of gray starting at his temple. She longed to touch it and feel her fingers in his hair again. They’d both gotten older even though in many ways it had felt as if time had stood still.
“Caleb said he was going to tell you that he saw me unless I told you myself.”
He frowned. “That’s why you’re here?”
“Yes.”
Hunter seemed distant for a few seconds, looking around the ranch as if he were looking for someone. And it occurred to her that maybe he was. Caleb hadn’t mentioned anything about Hunter having a woman in his life. What had she walked into?
He finally lifted his gaze to her. “Okay, now I’ve seen you.”
“That’s it?”
He turned away and paced a few steps before turning back and looking at her. “What do you want me to say, Julie? You’ve been gone for ten years and you never once thought to call me or let me know where you were or that you were okay. Why should it matter now?”
She shrugged but suddenly felt embarrassed. “Look, I just didn’t want you to hear it from Caleb. I thought it might be best if I came here myself. But I guess I was wrong. So now that
