Can’t Hurry Love by Nadine Millard (primary phonics books .txt) 📕

to chew him out for his dangerous driving. But when the door opened, it wasn’t Josh who stumbled out.

It was his wife.

Josh walked out of the bedroom, feeling calmer than when he’d gone for his shower.

The romantic music was still playing on the stereo, making him feel vaguely uncomfortable. Passing by the kitchen he saw no sign of Elaine. Or the wine she’d been drinking.

Great.

She may not be taking anything, but she was clearly drinking a lot.

Preparing himself for a difficult night, he walked into the living room. It was empty. He frowned in confusion. He’d been using the only bathroom in the place. There was nowhere else she could be.

A flicker of panic started in his stomach.

Just then his phone rang. Rushing back to the bedroom to get it, his heart hammered when he saw Beth’s name on the screen.

“Beth,” he could hear the relief in his voice, but the timing couldn’t be worse. “I’m so glad you called and believe me, I really want to talk to you but—“

“I’m not calling to chat, Josh.” Her voice was as cold as he’d ever heard it. “I’m calling because you need to come and collect your wife.”

Josh froze as fear gripped him. He didn’t know Elaine’s true state of mind. He didn’t know how far she’d go when upset.

“Shit. Beth, listen to me — Elaine is— She’s troubled. Don’t do or say anything to upset her. I’ll drive out there now. You’re at the ranch?”

“She came in your car,” Beth said, but there was a note of fear in her voice now.

He didn’t think Elaine would hurt her, but he couldn’t be sure. She was drunk and erratic.

It was a miracle she’d managed to drive there in one piece with the amount of alcohol in her system. He cursed again.

“Where’s Grayson?” he asked, his brain running a mile a minute. “Or Zach, or Seth?”

“They’re all in town,” she said, sounding a little panicked. “They’ve been out on dates all week with the festival going on.”

So, she was alone out there with Elaine.

“Alright,” he kept his voice calm and even, not wanting to frighten her more. “That’s good. That means I can take one of their cars. I’m gonna go find one of them and drive out there. I’ll be there soon, sweetheart, I promise. Just hang tight.”

Beth didn’t say anything else, just hung up, and he tried not to think it was for any reason other than she was still angry with him.

It took only minutes to track down Grayson in Joe’s Bar & Grill. He was sitting across from a brunette Josh didn’t recognise, and from Grayson’s stony expression, he couldn’t tell if the other man was enjoying himself or not. He hoped not, so he wouldn’t want to kill Josh for ruining his date. Because he’d already have reason enough when he heard why it was being interrupted.

“Grayson.”

The rancher looked up and frowned at Josh.

“I need to take your truck,” Josh didn’t even bother apologising.

“What’s going on?” Grayson asked, standing up.

He was slightly shorter than Josh’s six feet, two inches, but he was broader.

Josh sighed, hoping that Grayson would wait until after they’d made sure Beth was okay before punching his lights out.

“My ex drove out to the ranch. I don’t know why but she’s drunk and — and a little troubled. I don’t think she’ll do anything dangerous, but I need to get out there, and she took my car.”

Grayson swore under his breath, and with a fleeting apology to the brunette, he stormed out of the bar, Josh hurrying in his wake.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Beth ended the call to Josh and turned to face Elaine. She really was beautiful. There was no denying it.

She towered over Beth even more now, given that she was wearing three-inch heels, and Beth was barefoot. Her dress was skin-tight and expensive-looking. Beth was in pyjama shorts and a t-shirt that said I heart Mr. Darcy. The difference was miserably striking.

Josh’s warning, the panic in his voice, were rattling around in her head. But the redhead didn’t look dangerous, a little unsteady on her feet, but that could be the heels as much as whatever she’d been drinking.

Still, Josh had sounded genuinely worried…

What was the social etiquette for your boyfriend’s ex-wife, who he may or may not be reconciling, with turning up drunk and uninvited at your home?

“Um — can I get you something?” Beth ventured.

“This place is quite impressive,” the other woman said by way of an answer. “I mean, for Colorado.”

Beth didn’t know what to say. “Er — thank you?” she ventured.

“Nothing compared to my family’s properties, of course. Or Josh’s.” She flashed a look full of contempt at Beth. “You know Josh comes from an excellent family?”

Beth didn’t even know what that meant.

“That’s why you’ve tried to get your claws into him, I imagine. Because you know he comes from money. I’m only surprised that it seemed to be working until I got here.”

There were so many insults in that sentence that Beth had trouble deciding which one to object to first. “I don’t care about Josh’s money,” she finally said with as much pride as she could muster. “But I didn’t know he was married. He — he never told me.”

The other woman raised a haughty brow, and Beth found herself wishing Brooke was there. She could match this woman’s icy composure. Even Zoe being British had that stiff upper lip thing when she needed it.

Beth just didn’t have it in her.

“Men,” Elaine tittered. “It seems they’ll take any opportunity that comes along. Even if it means slumming it for a while.”

Okay, now she was getting angry.

“Look, I’m sorry about me and Josh. I didn’t know about you, like I said. And I didn’t know that he was planning on going back to Chicago. He — he didn’t tell me that either.”

Ugh, she felt like such an idiot.

“But to be honest, I don’t know what you’re doing here. If you’re trying to rub my