At Wolf Ranch(106)
Ella made the last toast, making everyone tear up. Then she introduced the band, told everyone Lela would want a celebration, not a funeral, and she downed the shot of vodka like it was nothing. From that moment on, the drinks flowed, one of his favorite bands rocked the place, rattling the walls, and Ella and her friends had a blast.
Happy in her element and with those closest to her. By the end of the night, one thing was clear. Ella adored her friends, and they loved her. Not just friends, but family. She glowed. He’d thought Ella beautiful and strong from the moment he met her, but now she was thriving.
She belonged here. After all she’d lost, no way he could take her from everyone she loved and isolate her on his ranch in Montana. It would be too unfair. As much as he wanted her by his side, he wanted her happiness more.
She glanced at the clock beside the bed. “Why are you up so early? Come back to bed.” She reached for him, and he willingly leaned down for a kiss, but pulled back far too early for her liking. “What’s wrong? You’ve got a strange look in your eyes.”
He desperately wanted to make love to her again, close out the world and the inevitable, but restrained himself, trying to make himself get what he had to say out.
“It’s time for me to leave, Ella.”
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Now.”
“I’ve got a seven o’clock flight.”
She sat up, the sheet tucked under her arms and draped across her chest. Sadness and fear lit her eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“Yes, you do. Just like me, you knew my coming here was temporary. As much as I hate to leave you, I have a ranch in Montana to run.”
“So, what? This is it?”
“This is where we were always headed, city girl. You knew that as much as I did.”
“I’m caught between angels and cowboys. The city and the country. Work and you. I owe my family for everything I have.”
“You don’t need to make excuses for doing what you need to do, Ella. They left everything to you because they knew you’re strong and capable and smart enough to carry on all they started and hoped Wolf Enterprises would become. I know you’re going to be a huge success. I am so proud of you for everything you did to avenge your sister and parents’ deaths.
“You’re an amazing woman, Ella Wolf. You’re going to do amazing things with the company you now run. I’ve heard you talk about the projects you want to implement and the excitement in your voice about the launch of the new cosmetics line. You’ve found your place here, and that’s okay. This is where you need to be.”
“So, what, you don’t want me anymore?” Tears glistened in her beautiful green eyes, making his gut go tight and his throat ache.
“I’ll always want you, but I won’t ask you to live a life you don’t really want. I did that once, and it ended in disaster. I won’t let what we shared turn into fights and resentments and anger and hate because we can’t live with each other and have what we really want. I won’t do that to you, to us, knowing in the end you’ll hate me for it.”
“Gabe, no, I just need more time to settle things here. We can be together.”
“Ella, you and I both know your life is here, at the company and with your friends. This is where you belong, where you are your best, not on some isolated ranch in Montana. Even if we never said it, we both knew this day would come.”
“We can make it work. I don’t want this to be the end.”
He tried to ignore the tears in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. He hated to break her already battered heart. She had to know that every one of those tears he caused tore his soul to shreds.
“We’re partners in Wolf Ranch. Like you said, you’ll always know where I am, but we have to face reality. You and me and forever was never meant to be.” The words came out gruff, but he forced himself to swallow the agony and misery those words and the outlook of his bleak future caused.
He did the hardest thing he’d ever have to do and walked out the door, knowing he couldn’t ask her to be someone she wasn’t, and he couldn’t be a different kind of man. It didn’t bring him any comfort to know he’d done it for her, for him, and that it was the only way he knew how to preserve the love they’d shared.
The emptiness settled in his gut and spread through his heart and deep into his soul. The ache throbbed with every beat of his broken heart.
Chapter 33
Gabe stood beside Blake at the stall door, checking out the colt. Gabe’s nemesis these last weeks. “Thanks for coming to pick up Pain in My Ass for training.”