I had changed clothes, shaved, checked my mail, and called Drew from the phone in the lodge to let him know we would be stopping by soon. I went to her cabin and knocked on her door. She didn’t answer.

Confused, I knocked again.

“Claire?” I called, listening carefully for any sounds of movement from inside. After calling her name a few more times and still receiving no reply, I twisted the doorknob. It was unlocked.

Unlocked and empty on the inside.

Unable to process what I was seeing, I stood there for a moment. Eventually, I stepped inside. Claire’s clothes, suitcase, bags, and other belongings were all gone. The several pairs of shoes that she’d placed near the window were gone. The hairbrush on the nightstand was gone. The laptop on the desk was gone.

I peered into the bathroom, seeing that her hairdryer and tubes of lipstick were gone. The bathrobe that she’d hung near the shower was gone. Her toothpaste, toiletries and shower gel were gone.

Everything was gone.

I shook my head, as if trying to deny to what I was seeing. I spun around in a circle, as if needing to confirm from every possible angle that everything belonging to Claire Parks was truly gone.

I left her cabin and headed straight toward the main lobby, practically in a run. I got there to see Luanne standing behind the front desk, waving at a couple of tourists who were on their way out the door, presumably going out for a horseback-riding lesson with Wesley.

“Hi Caleb,” Luanne said.

“Luanne,” I said slowly. “Have you seen Claire today?”

She nodded. “Yeah. She checked out already.”

“I’m sorry? What did you say?”

“She checked out already.”

“She checked out? As in out of her cabin? Out of the ranch?”

Luanne’s brow wrinkled and she nodded slowly. “Yes. She said something about how she was supposed to be staying longer, but couldn’t and needed to leave today. She said something came up and she was in a hurry. She had one of the valets drive her to the airport so that she could get back to Chicago.”

I stood perfectly still, unable to believe my ears.

“She didn’t tell you?” Luanne asked, her eyebrows raised. “Is everything all right? I mean—I assumed you had to know. In hindsight, it did seem like something was wrong, but I didn’t want to ask too many questions and seem intrusive.”

I swallowed over the lump in my throat, trying to fathom why this was happening, but failing to make sense of it.

How could Claire have left without bothering to say a word? How could she leave without saying goodbye? How had thing gone so wrong so quickly? We had been in my office. I had just fucked her breathless. What the hell happened?

It just didn’t make sense. None of it made the slightest bit of sense.

We had been in pure bliss, and Claire had made it abundantly clear that she had wanted to enjoy the last of her time a the ranch. Plus, she had been excited to go back the brewery so that she could interview Drew. So why would she leave so suddenly?

Even if something had come up, it seemed that she would have at least had the decency to tell me first.

Again, it just didn’t make sense.

Why had this happened?

“Caleb, I’m sorry,” Luanne said. “I honestly thought you had to have known already. Maybe I should have told her to wait for you or something—”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not your fault, Luanne,” I said softly. “It’s not your fault at all. I saw her this afternoon. She could have told me. We had plans to go back to Drew’s brewery.”

“I guess it was a really unexpected emergency then,” Luanne said. “Maybe she just didn’t have time. Like I said—it did seem like she was in a big hurry to get out of here.”

“Yeah—an emergency. Maybe so,” I said, my voice sounding lackluster to my own ears. Somehow, I just didn’t believe there had truly been a sudden emergency. The only truth was that Claire had left. Perhaps she had simply had enough.

I ran my hands through my hair, and suddenly realized how much I needed to talk to Nash. Maybe he knew something. Maybe he had the answers. What if he had seen Claire before she left the ranch?

“Thanks for letting me know, Luanne. I-I’ve got to get going now. Got things to do.” I fought to keep my voice steady.

I marched straight to Nash’s cabin. I banged on the door.

“Open up, man. Now.” I pounded against the solid door.

It flew open. He had a toothbrush in his hand.

“What the hell? I’m trying to get ready for our date, brother.”

“There is no date.” I walked inside and slammed the door behind me.

Nash walked to the sink and rinsed out his mouth. He turned to face me. “What are you talking about? Change of plans? Something wrong with Claire?”

“I’d say there’s something wrong with her.”

“I saw her this morning. We had a great time.” He grinned. “She was fucking stellar in the shower, man.”

I groaned. “Shut the fuck up. Claire is gone.”

“Gone?” Nash shook his head. I saw the light leave his eyes. “You mean still out with Wesley on a tour?”

“No. Gone. Gone.”

“I don’t track you, brother.”

I sat on the edge of the bed. “Luanne says she checked out. She’s on her way back to Chicago right now.”

I had to come to terms with the face that we just weren’t right for her. She was a city girl who lived a fast life and enjoyed traveling to exotic locations. We were cowboys taking care of our dead parents’ ranch. We were polar opposites. And while opposites could sometimes attract, more likely than not, they repelled each other.

“That can’t be. No.” Nash sat next to me.

I had been so blind to think things would be different with Claire, but she had turned out to be just like the girls I dated before her. No one could truly handle ranch life. As I continued to stare at the spinning ceiling fan, I began to hate myself for not keeping my guard up, like I had initially intended to do.

“Luanne said she’s not here. I checked her cabin. It’s empty. She cleared out.”

“Without saying goodbye?” He turned to me.

“Yeah. I was hoping you knew something.”

Nash shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. She was ready to stay longer.”

“I know. She told me this afternoon she talked to her boss. She got an extension on the article for the magazine.”

“Then why would she leave?”

“Maybe it was too much too soon. It was too fast. We pushed her.” I shoved off the bed. It was the biggest fear I’d had. I had explored a side of my sexuality I hadn’t been prepared to handle. Maybe I couldn’t get out of my own way to make sure she was ok too.

“No. No. It wasn’t. It was right. It was working. I know it was.”

I walked to the door.

Nash stopped me. “What are we going to do?”

“Nothing. We let her go.”

“Are you crazy?” I thought he was going to throw a punch.

“No. I’m facing the facts. We offered her everything and she ran. Does that sound like someone we should go after?”

He backed up a few paces. I hated it. But I knew I was going back to my cabin and grabbing a bottle of bourbon. I’d drink until the sun came up. I’d drink until I didn’t remember Claire Parks ever existed.

“No,” he stated. Nash stuffed his hands in his pockets. “It was fun while it lasted.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Damn fun getting my heart stomped on.” I slammed the door and trudged back to my cabin.