Holding Haley (The West Contemporary Romance Series) by Jill Sanders

behind him, she put her hand on his arm. “Wes, we’ve been through a lot together.” He turned back to her.
    “I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “I’m sorry for not telling you about signing up for the army. I’m sorry for leaving you after . . . after . . .” He cupped her face. “I should have never abandoned you like that.”
    She didn’t realize there were tears falling down her face until he gently wiped one away. How could she have known that his apology would mean so much to her. That after all the years she’d been waiting to hear those words, they would still mean so much. She’d tried for so long to understand why he’d left her. They’d been so much more than lovers; they’d been best friends.
    “Why?” Her voice squeaked, and she tried to cover the emotions.
    “ Why?” He wiped another tear from her face.
    “ Why did you leave? Was it because of . . . the scare?”
    He looked at her. “I suppose so. I guess I was scared that I wouldn’t experience everything that was out there.” He shrugged his shoulders and stepped back. “I didn’t realize what I had.” He walked to the end of the stall and leaned against the post, looking off towards the doorway. She could see he was uncomfortable with the conversation.
    “You don’t have to explain,” she started, but he broke in.
    “ It’s not that. It’s just,” he looked around again. “This isn’t how I planned on talking to you.” He motioned around to the stall. “Break your plans tonight, come to dinner. Give me a chance to explain.”
    She sighed and leaned back against Dash, then nodded.
    His smile was instant. “I’ll see you at seven?”
    She nodded again.
    After he left, she went up to the loft, one of her favorite thinking spots, and wondered what she’d just agreed to. She sat there for a few hours before she heard someone come into the barn and shake her out of her thoughts. Walking into the house, she realized she had just over an hour to get ready for dinner.
    There were still so many questions in her mind. Was she willing to take another chance with Wes? Did he deserve it? Why couldn’t she rid herself of his power?
    She’d learned one thing in the last few years after seeing both of her sisters fall in love with great men—sometimes you just had to take a chance and hope everything worked out.
    Deciding the best course of action was to make Wes suffer while she made up her mind, she took a little extra time picking out her outfit for dinner. She even went as far as applying some of the makeup and perfume that Alex had left in their joint bathroom.
    By the time she started walking over to the ranch house, she was determined to make Wes work hard so she could get some answers.
     

    Wes had a million things to do before Haley arrived at seven. First, he had to run into town to buy some food. Then he had to clean the entire place. Even though it was small, the construction had left the place looking like a tornado had gone through it.
    He drove to the Grocery Stop with a list of items he needed. As he walked through the narrow aisles, Savannah walked over to him and grabbed his arm. He tried not to sigh in frustration.
    Everyone in town knew Savannah was an attention seeker. And since he was getting a lot of attention around town for recently returning home, she had been hanging on him a lot.
    “ Well, isn’t this a coincidence, running into you here.” She ran her hands up and down his biceps. “And just look,” she pointed to his cart, full of items from his list. “It looks like you’re getting ready to have a dinner party. I sure hope I’m invited,” she purred in his ear loudly enough for anyone else in the small store to hear.
    “ Hi, Savannah.” He tried to move away from her, but she had too tight of a grip on his arm. “No, just getting some basics for the place.”
    “ Oh, well.” She pouted a little. “I heard you’re living out at Saddleback in one of the hired hand places. Surely we can