CHAPTER 8
Gentry
F eeling her unfold in my arms at the sight of my tattoo tore at my insides. I hated seeing her tears. Especially since they were caused by a nickname of someone we held so dear to our hearts. It also tore me up inside because she thought I’d dealt with my grief. Only I hadn’t. I focused more on the emotions I felt instead of the loss. Over time, I dealt with it the only way I knew how. Work. I came in every day on a mission. To get so exhausted I couldn’t think. Sawyer and her brothers knew better than to stop me. They let me stay long after they left. I thought it was also because none of them knew what to say. I lost someone near and dear to us along with losing the young woman I loved.
When she pulled away from me and turned toward the house, I let her go.
I watched her walk to her family home with her head hung in defeat.
Her emotions were on even more of a high alert, and she needed this time for herself.
Pulling out my phone, I sent out a group text to let everyone know I thought it was best for Ainsleigh to be done for the day. Once I explained my reasoning, they all agreed I was right.
Putting my shirt back on, I went out and finished my tasks. Her brothers were out on excursions with some of the residents. During hunting season, more men would arrive to hunt the big game here. During these months, we saw more families than anything else. Teaching a child the joys of riding a horse brought all of us joy. We wanted the younger generation to gain a love for riding the way we’d all grown up. Seeing this family succeed in that made me feel whole. They were all amazing people. Especially for letting me in. An outsider. A part of the family feud they’d lived with for generations. But they put that feud aside for their daughter and me. Even after she left, they still made me feel welcome.
Right before the sun set, I put up the horse I’d used to check the fencing across the grounds, making sure to brush him before I left him for the day.
Entering the Courtright home, I noticed Lillian was cleaning up the dishes from dinner, with Ainsleigh nowhere in sight.
“I put your plate in the microwave. I can heat it up for you in a second,” she said with a worried expression on her face.
“You don’t need to do that. I’ll do it in a minute. What’s the matter?”
I knew it had something to do with the woman who still held my heart in her hands.
She let out a breath as she placed the plates on the counter by the sink.
“I’m worried about her. She puts on this brave front, but I know it’s a façade. I almost wish I hadn’t insisted she come home after graduation. I was selfish in wanting my baby girl home. Being here is taking a horrible toll on her.”
“She needed to come home. She couldn’t run forever. I for one am thankful you brought her back here.”
“Go easy on her, Gentry. She’s more fragile than I feared. I should’ve known she hadn’t taken my advice and sought help while she was away. She refused for us to even mention her—or you, for that matter—while she was away. I just thought it was because she needed time. It’s apparent to me now that she needed far more than that.”
“I won’t hurt her, Lillian. I’m helping her the only way I know how. Hopefully, it’s the right way. She’s leaned on me a few times since last night. I’m going to take that as a good sign. I have a plan,” I confessed. Her mother had always been so easy to talk to. My secrets and fears always fell off my tongue before I even realized I’d let them out when I was around her.
“I trust your judgment. Don’t make me regret saying that. And please don’t break her any more than she already is. I don’t know if she’ll come back from it,” she pleaded with tear-filled eyes.
“I promise I won’t do anything to hurt her. I love her.”
“I know you do, son. That’s why you’re still here. I know your love runs deep for my precious baby girl. I don’t always understand it. The only way I coped with y’all falling so hard for each other was remembering the way I’d felt about her father at such a young age. Love like the two of you have is rare, and I hope for both of your sakes you can find a way back to each other.”
“Is she upstairs in her room? I want to check on her after earlier.”
“She left after she picked at her dinner. She barely ate a thing.”
“Where did she go?”
She didn’t have to say. I already knew where she’d gone.
The tree.
I would’ve left without eating, but her mother insisted I get some nourishment before I collapsed.
I don’t think I tasted the spaghetti she heated up for me after I insisted on doing it myself.
My main mission right now was getting to her.
I was playing with fire by not giving her space, but I could handle getting burned if she found her way back to me.