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‘It’s how our family works Ever since that quad-bike accident they’ve made me think I owe them for the trouble it caused and that I can never repay the’

Hunter had just stolen any words she ht have been about to utter Their relationship wasn’t being taken into consideration Not at all

‘Hunter, we’re a couple—for better and for worse,’ she gasped through frozen lips

It was happening again So her

‘Would you pack up and move out here to join me?’ he whispered

Anger flared How dared he ask her that? ‘You knoould—after I’ve finished my exams and when my dad’s’

The thu a pain under her ribs and a knot in her belly Dad Herto understand how her ain Not once

‘Oh’

‘Exactly We’ve both got tooaside yourdoctor, Bren, and you have to finish what you’ve started’

Did he have to be so nice when he was breaking her heart?

‘As for leaving your father now that he’s been diagnosed with de Not onit Not easily, any rate’

He had her there Danored the with her step there for theh this black time All the love he’d spoiled her with since her h the bad ti the same for him

But she loved Hunter He was hermarried when she qualified Hunter loved her He’d said so often Yes, he did love her There’d never been anything false about his declarations They could make this work They had to

‘Brenna, there’s no easy way to say this so I’ll be blunt We are finished We have to be We can’t hang in limbo for the next however s have changed for you I am truly sorry, but there is no alternative’

When Hunter called her Brenna there was no arguing with hih what more did she have to lose? Seemed she’d just lost the love of her life

There was nothing else essential other than breathing Dragging in air to , she closed her eyes and strove for soo away

Not happening

She could go crazy: cry and yell, plead and beg Or she could dig deep for dignity, and not lad he’d called it quits

‘Bad ti, huh?’ she sniffed

‘The absolute worst, sweetheart’

The endearment curdled Hunter’s stomach Brenna was the love of his life, the sunshine and the warmth, the reason he worked so hard to put aside money, so he’d be able to buy a home for her—for them—in the near future

You don’t have a future with Bren any more

The urge to hurl the phone across the yard had his ar He needed to hear it s But he held on so tight his fingernails were digging deep into his pal into his ear

It was thepossible to have this happen to his parents, to Brenna, to him Bren didn’t know about his father’s mental instability in ti and selfish his parents had been with hi up, and that that had been his reason for ht he’d escaped, that they’d finally accepted he had his own life to live He’d been wrong, had been drawn in once ardless of his aspirations

It was an insurmountable probleive himself if he remained in Vancouver and his father carried out his threat to take his own life And Brenna could not leave her father when he had de him, Brenna was so close to her father she wouldn’t drea away Neither could he ask her to put her o He’d never forgive hi that It was bad enough his own para on the back burner

‘Hunter? Stay in touch Please’

That would hurt worse than anything To see Bren, talk to her, and not be able to share the future they’d started planning together would be hell on wheels ‘No I can’t do that It has to be a clean break Over and done as of now So sorry, Bren, I really am’

Do it Now Before you lose the courage

‘Goodbye’ His finger stabbed the off button, re froain

No woman had made him so happy and carefree and yet so determined to succeed No woman, no person, had believed in him as much as Bren had Her only expectations had been that he be hi his parents had never allowed

He loved her beyond all reason, and yet he’d just put her aside for his family’s problems Old habits did not disappear in a cloud of happiness after all If only he could be that man Bren believed in If only he couldto help the day when he’d overheard his father be how he couldn’t shift the cattle himself because of his headaches

Hunter had taken the quad bike out to round up the ca

ttle and shift theone well until a bull had charged the bike Only eleven, he hadn’t been able to control the heavyand angry parents who’d said he’davailable to help around the orchard while his bones healed From then on, they’d continued to make him pay for his misdemeanour with more and more demands

None of this ht’s decision about his relationship with Brenna easy This time his father had threatened to s a bottle of paracetamol, and as he’d done it once before they couldn’t take any chances Not that he was telling Bren about his father’shi hi about that He loved Bren with every fibre of his body

His only hope was that by doing the right thing for his parents it would keep hih Because it was going to Not a doubt in the universe His own plans and needs and love would be shelved Didn’t side his

The phone lit up Bren’s nuan He pressed Off She tried again And again

Then Hunter did hurl the phone with all the frustrated strength he had It soared over the back yard, across the fence to land with a splash in the trough

‘Goodbye, Bren Love you’

The back of his hand slashed at his face as he hunched over, letting the rain soak his clothes, chill his skin further Not caring what happened to him But he had to He was needed here There was no choice

CHAPTER ONE

Six years later

HUNTER FORD LEANED his shoulder against the doorframe and watched his son’s tiny chest lift and fall under the light bedcover as he slept, and sighed with relief ‘You’re happier already, aren’t you, h a thick throat