Grateful for You

Chapter 2

It took thirteen hours to reach my hometown in Wyoming. There’d been snow along the way, but it hadn’t delayed the trip by much. It was midnight by the time I arrived at the station. I’d called Mom to let her know my arrival time, but I didn’t see a vehicle I recognized out front. In fact, the parking lot was empty.

I got off the bus and retrieved my duffel bag from the storage area. After the driver left, I stood in the cold night air, wondering how I was going to get home. I decided to smoke a cigarette as I waited for my ride, whoever it turned out to be. I needed to quit, but it was a hard habit to break. I’d bought my first pack the day I left home.

Ten minutes later, an SUV I didn’t recognize pulled up next to me. The windows were dark, so I couldn’t see inside. The driver got out of the car and walked around the hood to stop before me.

I froze with my cigarette hanging out of my mouth. Walt Schneider, all six-foot-five inches of him, stood there, still as beautiful as ever. Why couldn’t time have been cruel? His auburn hair hung in waves around his face, gray eyes still mesmerizing as f**k. The overhead streetlight showed me everything.

Mom set this up.

“No way,” I declared. “I’ll walk, thank you very much.”

I flicked the cigarette into the snow and grabbed my duffel bag. Before I got very far, Walt grabbed my arm. His grip reminded me of nights spent writhing together in bed, at his mercy. I’d rather forget that.

“Jared, be reasonable.” God, his voice was the same, too. Deep, sexy, perfect. I closed my heart against it and willed my d**k to stop smiling. “I know I’m the last person you want to see right now, but it’s below freezing out here. It would take you much longer than a half hour’s ride to reach the farm on foot.”

He was right, I knew. Naturally, that pissed me off all to hell. I removed his hand. “Let’s get this over with then.”

Walt threw my duffle bag in the backseat. I noticed there was a car seat and toys back there, too. I had no idea why, and I didn’t care. I got into the vehicle and buckled my seatbelt.

“I’m glad you’re here, Jared,” he said as we drove off down the road. “I’ve wanted to talk to—”

I cut in. “I don’t. I’m here for Thanksgiving, and then I’m gone.”

“Okay. But we’ll have time to discuss—”

“Nothing to talk about. What’s done is done.” I stared out the window, the black landscape dotted here and there by clumps of snow and dirt.

Ten minutes passed, and then Walt tried again. “Are you ever going to give me a chance to explain?”

I closed my eyes and ignored him the rest of the way home.

By the time we reached the farm, I was ready for shower and a bed, not necessarily in that order. I got out of the car and grabbed my things. I still had a key to the front door.

Mom had bludgeoned manners into my head when I was young, so I said, “Thanks for the ride.”

Walt got out on his side of the car. “Jared, come on. Five minutes, tops.”

“Not five minutes, not five seconds.” I walked up to the front door and unlocked it.

“You haven’t changed much, have you?”

The bitter resignation in his tone made me turn around to yell at him for his nerve. But he’d already gotten into his SUV and driven off to…wherever. Putting Walt firmly out of my mind, I closed the door behind me. I wasn’t the one who needed to change. I wasn’t the reason for any of this, damn it.

I made my way quietly down the hall, taking my time so as not to wake anyone. The only light in the massive house came from the tiny bulb over the stove. It all smelled the same, like family and belonging. For a second there, I felt tears welling up.

Mom was right. I should have come home sooner. It had been forever since I’d been here. Too long since I let one stupid, coward of a man dictate when and where I saw my family, all because I couldn’t stand the sight of his cheating face anymore.

With a sigh, I went the rest of the way to my old bedroom at the back of the house and sat on the bed. Everything was freshly washed and dusted, I could tell.

Thanks, Mom.

I really wanted to sleep, but I knew that hot water would disappear fast in this place in the morning when everyone was cleaning up to get ready to do chores. I quickly found my bag of toiletries and went to the bathroom I’d always considered my own when I’d lived here. Ten minutes later, I fell into bed in sweats and a T-shirt and was soon dead to the world.