"Turn my back? She fucking walked away from me," Travis growled, letting the urge to rush his brother and take him to the ground pound in his veins.

"This time," he said softly. "From the way I see it, you got a little taste of your own medicine."

Travis felt as though he'd been sucker punched. The image of Kylie's face from ten years ago flashed before his eyes. The pain and confusion, the tears streaming down.

Fuck.

Without arguing further, Travis turned on his heel and stormed to his truck. He let his tires spin on the gravel as he floored it down the driveway on his way to town.

He needed to meet with McCoy, but then he had a couple of things to take care of.

Gage was on his third cup of coffee as he sat at his kitchen table with his laptop open. He'd spent the better part of the last few days talking to Cole Ackerley and Luke McCoy about a potential job opportunity. Still on administrative leave, he was starting to go batshit crazy which meant he needed to get back to work.

And with Kylie gone, he had no reason to stick around the house all day.

He reread the email he had pulled up as he sipped his coffee.

Gage, I've got some business to take care of in Austin on Thursday so if you're serious about the job opportunity, I'd like to meet with you while I'm down there. Let me know.

Cole Ackerley Gage had sent the email back the same day, letting Cole know he was interested. After spending the night with Travis the same as he had for the last several nights, Gage came home early, taking a shower and was now waiting for the call.

Seemed all he'd been doing lately was waiting. Waiting for Travis to come around, waiting for Kylie to call, and waiting for his heart to heal. The more time he spent staring at his phone, willing it to ring, praying for a call from Kylie, the more he knew it wasn't going to come.

He'd fought the urge to call her, although his fingers were itching to push the buttons just so he could hear her voice. He still couldn't believe she'd just walked out, never even giving him a chance to talk to her, to explain anything.

The day after she left, Gage had gone to Kaleb's and Zoey's, and they hashed through the details once again. Kylie hadn't given Zoey any specifics about how she was feeling, but her reaction had been palpable. As they made assumptions about how she felt when Zoey told her, they'd decided Kylie didn't like the idea of Gage having been in a relationship like that before.

"Think about it, Gage, this is new to her. She wants her happily ever after just like the two of you do, but she thought this was specific to her. That the stars aligned and everything came together like it should. It's how girls think," Zoey had told him.

Yeah, well, he didn't like the way Kylie was thinking. He wanted her to believe this could work, and, although Gage had been in other situations similar, never were they like what he had found with Kylie and Travis. He loved them both. He'd never loved anyone like this before, never suffered a pain so extensive that his chest physically ached.

Gage glanced down, realizing he was rubbing the consistent pain that had taken up residence. Didn't matter how hard he pressed, it never eased though.

His phone vibrated, distracting him from his thoughts, but it wasn't an incoming call. Gage hit the little envelope icon and pulled up his texts. One incoming from Cole: Stopping at diner in 10. Meet there.

Gage dumped his coffee in the sink and grabbed his keys. Time to figure out what he was going to do with the rest of his life because he damn sure wasn't going to sit around waiting anymore.

Kylie was furious that she had to drive to Coyote Ridge. When her sister called to tell her she wanted to come home, but she didn't have a ride, she'd been pissed. After giving Jessie hell about hooking up with guys who weren't interested in seeing to her well-being, Kylie had caved. She hated how she was purposely trying to hurt Jessie. No matter what happened over the last few days, Jessie didn't deserve it.

With the long, boring highway now behind her, Kylie was heading down the rural road that would get her to town. Based on the text she'd received a few minutes ago, Jessie would be at the diner waiting for her.

Of course she would. She'd probably just had breakfast with Brendon, and they were sitting around chatting while they waited for Jessie's chauffer to arrive.

Kylie should've been mad at her sister. And somewhere deep down, maybe she still was, but there was an overwhelming ache in her chest that continued to push the anger to the side.

When her father came to visit, Kylie had fallen apart. The conversation hadn't gone like she expected, but it hadn't been necessarily positive either. And surprisingly, Joe had been angrier for her not telling him the truth than for her getting married when she was just nineteen years old.

Pressing her foot on the gas, Kylie remembered the conversation from just two days ago: "You're still married? After ten years?" her father asked as they sat on the sofa in Kylie's living room.

"Yes." She had spent the last twenty minutes explaining to him how she met Travis and the brief details of their marriage. Luckily, there wasn't much to tell.

"Why?"

Kylie didn't know what to tell him. She knew she couldn't say that she'd never gone through with the divorce because she'd loved Travis so much that one day she hoped they'd find their way back to each other. It wasn't entirely true, but it was how she felt now. There'd been a reason it never happened, and maybe that's what the universe had planned for her, she didn't know. As the pain settled in her chest, she really wished the universe would've stayed out of her business.

"Ok, answer this if you don't want to tell me why. Are you in love with him now?"

Kylie stared at her father. She knew this was the easy part. Since Jessie had gone and lost her mind, telling their father that Kylie was in love with two guys, she knew the best was yet to come.

"Yes, I love him."

"Then why have you been crying?" Joe leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

She shrugged.

"Did Jessie ever tell you why she left? Or why she quit her job?"

Kylie was stunned by the change of subject, but if it would give her a reprieve, she decided to go along with it.

"Your sister was dating this guy. He came around every so often. Seemed like a nice one, but Melissa started to get concerned. Said Jessie was acting strange. Of course, I'm not there often, so she saw more than I did. I figured it was just one of those young love things and Jess would get over it and move on with her life. They didn't seem all that serious, but what did I know.

"A little time went by, and Jess stopped talking about him, so I figured they broke up. It made sense because she seemed a little down. One morning, Melissa left me a message. I'd had an early flight and didn't get it until I was sitting on the tarmac at O'Hare. Melissa said she'd thought Jess had already gone to work, and she was going into her room to get her sheets so she could wash them, which she does every week. When she walked in the door, Jess was pulling on her shirt.

"Your sister couldn't pull it down fast enough before Melissa got an eyeful of the bruises running up and down her back, some along her sides."

Kylie gasped. Her sister had never even alluded to the fact that there had been a boyfriend, much less an abusive relationship.

"Well, by the time I was able to return the call, Melissa had already panicked and confronted Jess about it. She was beside herself, so scared that your sister was going to get hurt worse. When Jess started to defend him, Melissa threatened to call the police on him."

Kylie would've done the same thing Melissa did except she wouldn't have just threatened. She'd have been on the phone before Jessie could've blinked. "That's why they fought."

"That and we found out this guy worked at the same place she did. When I got home, I lost it. Told her she wasn't going to see him again and if she didn't press charges then she was going to have to quit her job."

Jess had lied to her. Maybe by omission, but she'd still flat out lied to her.

"The moral of the story, Kylie," her father said as he looked up at her with sadness in his light blue eyes. "It's hard for me to be much of a father when my girls don't trust me enough. I hate that you felt you couldn't come to me when you decided to get married. I've always trusted your decisions. And yes, it hurt when your sister told me, but I knew there was a reason. When Jess was being abused, she didn't come to me either."

"It's not that I don't trust you," Kylie said, choking on the lump that had formed in her throat. "I know what Mom put you through, and I didn't want you telling me I was too young."

Kylie couldn't speak for her sister, but Jess' situation had been entirely different from hers. Thankfully, Kylie had never been in a position like that. One of these days, she was going to have a long heart to heart with Jessie because it was time they opened up a little more to one another.

Much to Kylie's relief, she and her father had both been too upset after that conversation to get into the whole two guys in her bed thing, so she had yet to talk to him about it. He went back to Dallas the same day and had called her twice since then, but she'd managed to avoid the questions on the phone.

Considering her relationship with both Travis and Gage was now nonexistent, she didn't feel the need to explain anything. And she'd told him as much. Joe hadn't been happy with her explanation, but so far he hadn't asked again. Kylie figured it was because he didn't want to push her back into the arms of two men.

Like that was ever going to happen again.

Kylie pulled into the parking lot of Ma's Diner and considered honking the horn to let Jessie know she was there. Figuring that would make her look stupid, she settled for sending a text. When Jessie didn't answer, she knew she was going to have to go inside.

Chapter Forty Nine.

Kylie walked into the small diner where she had lunch with Zoey just a few days ago and glanced around looking for her sister. When she didn't see her right away, she started around the corner, but a tiny, black haired woman with ice blue eyes stopped her.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Oh, hi. Sorry, I'm not staying. Just looking for someone."

"Your sister?"

"Yes, actually," Kylie said as she continued to peer around the corner. "If you'll just tell me where she's at, I can find her."

"Kylie, my name's Sierra. Mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

Kylie glanced down, noticed the woman was not wearing a nametag, so she wasn't even sure she worked there. Considering her outfit, which she wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed before, Kylie doubted the woman was a waitress at the diner. "Where's my sister?"

"She's not here right now," Sierra explained.

"Is Jess all right?" It was the only logical explanation as to why this woman knew who she was and she was suddenly scared that something had happened to Jessie.

"She's perfectly fine. Come on, sit down. You look like you're about to pass out."

Yeah, well, she just might. Kylie lowered herself to the chair that was directly behind her, and Sierra took the seat beside her at the table.

"Do I know you?"

"No." Her answer was simple, but the look in her eyes certainly wasn't.

"Then how do you know who I am?"

"A friend of yours asked me to talk to you."

Kylie didn't have any friends, especially not in Coyote Ridge, so she had no idea who this woman was referring to. "If Travis or Gage " Before she could finish the sentence, Sierra stopped her, a gentle hand touching the top of hers.

"Just give me a few minutes, ok? That's all I'm asking for."

Kylie turned in her chair and faced the woman as a waitress brought two coffee mugs and a coffee carafe, leaving them all on the table and disappearing. Good thing Kylie wasn't hungry.

"I'm not sure if you know this, but there are a lot of people in this town who care about you," Sierra began. "And before you tell me that couldn't possibly be true, just trust me."

"Are you friends with Travis?" Kylie wanted to get to the bottom of this, and she was sure she could let this Sierra woman talk, but she didn't particularly care what she had to say. She was more interested in finding her sister and once she confirmed Jessie was all right, she was going to wring her neck for setting her up like this.

"I know Travis, yes. But I guess you could say I'm better friends with his brother's wife than with him."

"Zoey?"

"Yes."

"She didn't mention you," Kylie said snidely, unsure why she was feeling so defensive.

"No? Did she happen to mention my husbands?"

"Your " Wait, what? "Husbands? As in plural?"

"Yes. My husbands. Cole Ackerley and Luke McCoy."

Kylie had heard Travis and Gage mention the name Luke, but she wasn't sure if it was the same guy. Common name, could be a coincidence.

"You have two husbands?"

"I do. And we have a daughter, her name is Hannah."

"Pretty name," Kylie said, feeling her defenses go down as she stared at Sierra. Truthfully, she was too tired to fight this woman she didn't know.

"Thanks."

They sat in silence for a second and Kylie watched Sierra, a million questions suddenly running through her head, but she wasn't about to ask them. She bit her tongue and kept her mouth shut, scared of what might come out if she opened it.

Sierra poured them both a cup of coffee, pushed one of them toward Kylie and then sat with her hands wrapped around her mug, her forearms resting on the table as she leaned in. Kylie felt as though the woman was giving her full attention, but she had no idea why.

"See, when I met Luke and Cole, I'd never been in a relationship that involved three people," Sierra began, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Kylie was ready to bolt.

That, or Kylie was going to pelt Sierra with questions that she knew were better left unanswered. She'd learned her lesson already.

Sierra continued, "They had quite a bit more experience than I did though. In fact, they'd even been together before I came along.

"I have to say, it wasn't much fun meeting a few women who'd been with them in the same capacity that I had. The threesome thing seemed a little out of the realm of normal for me, so I didn't think that it was quite so... popular. One day you'll have to come to our club and meet some of the other people who share the same lifestyle that you and I do."

"I don't share that lifestyle," Kylie said defensively. She clamped her jaw shut as soon as the words escaped.

"I beg to differ, but go ahead, ask me any questions you might have."

Kylie was hanging on every single word, but she didn't want to be. "When you say you met the women, how exactly did you meet them?"

"One of the women that they were both with happens to be my sister-in-law. She's also one of my best friends. And no, I didn't like the idea at first, but Sam is an incredible woman and never once did she share any details with me that she felt would intentionally hurt me. Nor did I ask."