“We let each other go, I guess.”
“Are we exes now? Do we hate each other? Or detest each other? How do we stop being us? You know things that no one else does, and we truly share the things Hunter and that twit think they share. They don’t, but we do.”
He took her hand. “We will never hate each other. We are doing this for each other. Not to hurt each other. We’ll never end up there.”
“This is so stupid.” She sniffed as she glared at him. “I’ll come home and edit indie books from the ranch. We could make that work.”
He shook his head. “For a time. And then what? Daisy? Daisy, please, try to be real for once. See the future. Not just the day. I need to hear you finally acknowledge what I always feared. The reason why I didn’t want to fall in love with you. Why I didn’t even want to be best friends with you. Because we will stifle each other’s potential if we stay together. Everything we want for each other, to fully be ourselves, will be impossible—”
She sniffled. “It’s beautiful. It shows how selfless we are. Our love is the real thing.”
He nodded and kissed her. “We do share that.”
“I can’t stay here any longer.”
“No. Let’s go back to our hotel room.”
Sneaking out the back staircase, they escaped the multitude of family and friends and avoided explaining their disappearance. Even to Hunter. Too shaken by their pain, which they inflicted on each other, they both sought comfort from the other.
Long, slow, deep comfort came in the form of silent sex. Tightly holding and kissing each other, they both performed the most intimate, caring acts of sex. Their mutual trust and care that the years they spent together nurtured and honed were unparalleled. The tears that fell on their hands came from each other.
Near dawn, they fell into bed. He held her tightly, gripping her with all his limbs. He kissed her head. “I will love you forever, Daisy. Your happiness and future success cannot be higher on my wish list. It’s number one.”
She cried endlessly at his kind words. An hour passed and she said, “And you’ll be the only reason that it happens.”
With a defeated, dull, broken heart, Asher internally acknowledged the truth: she didn’t deny it. She didn’t try to convince him of the opposite.
She finally accepted and embraced her future commitment, which wasn’t based on today.
Chapter 13
DAISY LEFT RIVER’S END to finish her last quarter in school for her degree. She waited until she actually had the degree in hand to let her family know of her continuing plans.
“Law school? This fall? How could you not tell us?” Her mom demanded as her dad stood beside Allison with his arms crossed, mouth in a frown of disappointment.
She shrugged. She’d let them all keep on thinking she was looking for a job editing in New York City. She hadn’t had the words to speak of her future plans. Not that she didn’t think they’d support her, and even be thrilled and proud of her. No, it wasn’t their reaction to her plans, but her own that made her stay quiet for so long. It was that this future course ruined her relationship with Asher, and grieving him, she’d been almost angry with her plans to continue on with schooling.
“I wanted to make sure I had my degree in hand and that I was firmly going to do this. I didn’t want any more ribbing about being flaky Daisy.”
“But not telling us this? Chicago? Daisy Rydell…” Her mom shook her head.
Dropping her head down she admitted her weakness. “I was afraid I’d chicken out. Because of Asher. We broke up. So I can do this. And I thought, maybe—”
Her mom didn’t say another word of criticism but immediately stepped forward to grab Daisy in a long hug, smoothing back her hair. “I see now what you’ve been going through. I don’t think any of us had a clue.”
Holding tight to her mom’s shoulder she whispered against her, “I had no words to speak about it. It hurt too much.”
“Oh, Daisy…” Her mom’s tone acknowledged her heartbreak and it helped Daisy to finally release the tears she’d held back. And the feelings she’d tried to stuff back inside her.
“I wish I could just come home and be content. But…”
“But you can’t. It’s not who you are, there are ambitions and dreams you can’t let go of, and you can’t them do from here. I believe Asher knows that. He always knew that. We know how much you love Asher, and we also know how hard this has had to be on you. I just wish you’d shared all of this as it was happening.” Allison held Daisy’s face in her hands and looked into her tear-soaked eyes. “For what it’s worth we are so proud of you.”
The numbness broke, their love and support helped ease the grief. But once school started in Chicago she did not come back for a year. By the time she returned to visit, her relationship with Asher was almost resolved and set to rest. She didn’t see Asher on any of those visits after that.
“We tell AJ when you’re coming,” Daisy’s mom explained when she mentioned that she never ran into Asher.
Pausing at the answer, she knew why. AJ told Asher so he could be sure to stay away and not unintentionally run into her. It felt like a knife in her gut, knowing the man she gave her entire soul and being to, now avoided her purposefully. Could it be that simplistic? Is that what happened when a couple broke up? Now she was Asher’s ex, a description she detested. It was so much more than that; nothing ever sullied their love. It was just broken. Their hearts and their connection snapped apart. But the bond, respect, care and friendship that comprised the foundation were never tarnished.
Should she seek him out? She resisted the urge because it was unfair to him… and to herself.
Daisy came home after Violet found a new love. The new man was named Gage Sullivan and he and his teenage daughter lived in the valley. She met him on one of her mountain quests, a pastime that helped heal her heart after losing Preston. She embarked on the journeys alone which confused, puzzled and often upset everyone else in her family. Not Daisy though; she understood. She and Violet were very different people. Daisy thought that until she practically threw herself back into the city and law school. It was the therapy she chose to ease her own grief and losing the only loving relationship she ever had. Violet found the same thing in quiet nature and being on the mountain. That was how she healed. Perhaps healed is too strong a word. Violet survived her tragedy.
On one of her trips up the mountain, Violet met a man who was working for the Park Services. Eventually, their mutual attraction shifted into real life. Violet told Daisy how real it was, so she came home to finally meet Gage and his daughter, Andy.
And now Violet was soon to be married.
“You’re going to be a stepmom. That sounds so weird,” Daisy said to her barely older sister. Daisy considered herself pretty clueless about life in general and damn lucky she could care for herself. It was so beyond impossible for her to imagine being a stepmother or even caring for another person.
“She’s nothing like you might be picturing a stepdaughter or even a teenager to be.”
No, she wasn’t. Andy was vivacious, sweet and adorable. She was always respectful to Violet and her family, including Daisy, and she loved the ranch, especially the horses. Violet and Andy swiftly bonded, sharing a love for all creatures, mostly horses. Gage wasn’t the only factor that healed Violet’s broken heart. Andy played a big role too. Watching them interact one day, Daisy was very glad her sister would soon be a stepmom to this wise teenager.