Emily knew that what she was doing was cowardly, but she had to get off the Blue Star.

As she shoved both clean and dirty clothes into her suitcase, she thought about what she would tell her mother. And Daddy. Oh, Daddy would be upset with her. The bridesmaids were all supposed to have a meeting about the wedding but it was going to have to happen without her. Her sanity would not allow her to stay.

Jackson was six feet three inches of walking temptation. When she'd been a girl he'd been her first crush and not much had changed over the years. All men had been measured against him.

Her lifestyle had changed though. The advertising company she managed was not a job she could just call in. She had to be present and at the top of her game for everything she did to work. It was vital to keep her finger on the pulse of Houston. Every move their company made had to be run through her.

The screen door slammed downstairs and Emily jumped, then cursed her nerves. She waited, holding her breath, to hear who had entered the house until her curiosity got the better of her. She stuck her head out of the room in time to see Cheyenne coming up the stairs. She let out a relieved breath.

Cheyenne spotted her and frowned. "What the heck are you doing?"

Emily went back into the room and then into the adjoining bathroom. She began throwing her toiletries into the square case she carried for them, not caring that her make-up was now mixed in with her hair products. She could sort them all then she got home.

"I'm leaving," she admitted.

"Jackson?"

Her fingers fumbled what they were doing. "Maybe."

Cheyenne sighed as she sank to the edge of the bed. "Oh, Emily. You know he's not going to change."

Emily did know that actually, it was why she was leaving, but she didn't point that out to her sister. "I can't stay. It's not right to Neil for me to be here without him."

Cheyenne watched as she returned to the bed with the toiletry case and stowed it into the suitcase, packing shoes around it. "Where are Mama and Daddy?"

Cheyenne stared at her for a long moment. "They're in the barn with the kids. One of the hands got Taco out to show to the younger kids."

Emily nodded. They would love that. She needed to stop and see the old pony one of these days. It had been a long time since she'd had a moment with him.

"Em..." Cheyenne started, but Emily waved a hand.

"I can't be here, Cheyenne. I love you. Email me whatever you guys decide about the dresses and I'll order one in Houston."

"You can't keep avoiding him, and what you had together," Cheyenne told her firmly.

Emily jerked to a stop, her heart clutching painfully. "I've promised Neil I would marry him."

"Didn't you promise Jackson first?"

Scowling, Emily shook her head. "That was a childhood game, a flirtation, nothing more."

Cheyenne stood and Emily was forced to look up at her older sister. There was a sad smile on her lips. "I know you want to discount what happened back then, but to everyone around you it sure looked real, and to Jackson it was real. Of the four of us, we thought that you were going to be the first to marry. You two together were something special."

Shaking her head, she looked down at her feet. "We want different things, Cheyenne. I can't be the good little housewife he wants."

Cheyenne tilted her head, looking at her strangely. "Has Jackson ever said he wanted a housewife? I don't remember ever hearing that come up."

Emily blinked. Had he ever articulated it that way? She wracked her brain trying to remember, but nothing came to mind. "It doesn't matter. I love my job in Houston and I can't imagine changing it, and Jackson would never leave the ranch for me, so we're at an impasse."

Reaching out, Cheyenne wrapped her in her arms as Emily wiped her streaming eyes.

---

Jackson knew she was gone as soon as he rode into the barn lot. It wasn't any physical thing he saw or heard, he just felt the lack of her presence. It shattered his heart. Again.

He should be used to her disregard by now, but it hurt all the same. For years he had been waiting for her to return to him, but she hadn't even tried. All of his wild insecurities from childhood tried to overwhelm him, but he tamped them down.

Jackson helped the guests dismount and instructed them on how to shake out the cramps in their legs. Some of these people had never ridden before but they had good energy, and were willing to try. Chad led them into the barn and showed them how to put the horses away. Jackson didn't interrupt, just helped where needed. And when the barn was finally quiet he sank down onto a hay bale in the aisle, head tilted back against the stall. That was where Cheyenne found him a few minutes later.

"You know?" she asked softly.

"Yes. I know."

She sank onto the bale beside him, leaning her shoulder into his own. "I'm sorry, Jackson. I don't know what to tell you about her. She frustrates the hell out of me."

Jackson smiled at the curse word. The elementary school teacher didn't curse very often, even when she was at her wit’s end with her own little red haired heathens. "You couldn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I expected her to leave. In her defense, I was pushing her pretty hard, and her honor demanded that she remove herself from the situation. I’m sure Emily considered leaving the less hurtful solution for everyone involved."

Cheyenne snorted. "Yeah, you're probably right. You know she'll be back for the wedding."

"I know," he confirmed, "but I'm not willing to wait that long."

She looked at him brows raised, but he shook his head, preferring to keep his plans to himself. There was too much riding on him getting everything right.

So, he turned the subject to Sheridan and the girls. "So, how is cohabitating going?"

Cheyenne grinned a sly grin. "It's going very well," she admitted.

Jackson could see the happiness in her eyes and it made him happy for her. Cheyenne had been without companion or care for a long time. That was why he was happy for her. Anyone who saw the way Sheridan doted on her would see they were deeply in love. It gave Jackson hope that if Cheyenne could get it together that he might be able to as well.

"What do the girls think of all this?"

Cheyenne leaned back against the stall wall. "They're in love with both Sheridan and Olivia, and nuts about his dog. Even our dog Daisy and his Beowulf get along great. It's gone more seamlessly than I ever could have imagined. I really feel like I'm in a fairytale."

He gave her a smile. "I'm very happy for you."

"I'm happy for us too," she admitted.

One of the hands called him away after that, and with a wave he left Cheyenne. Her eyes were a little sad as she waved him goodbye.