Numbness had descended on Ben as soon as Rae had torn out of the parking lot at Steeple Ridge. He wasn’t entirely sure how long he stood in the shadows of the farmhouse before heading back to the barn, where he’d been working when Rae had shown up unannounced.
His hands lifted bales of hay. Moved horses from one stall to another to clean. His legs carried him up the aisle and back down. To the wash stalls and back. Out to the pastures and back to the barn.
He didn’t see Sam or Logan or Darren, and he didn’t expect to. The twins were out in the fields, and Sam was in the office making travel plans for his trip to Wyoming.
Ben seized onto the thought of Wyoming and abandoned his job in the barn without a backward glance. “Sam,” he called as he entered the house. He leaned in the doorway o
