Redemption

Prologue

Prologue

Five weeks earlier.

“Marry you?” Colt watched Bliss stagger back a step.

He’d actually confessed that he loved her right there. There was no sidestepping it this time. This wasn’t the reaction he expected.

“Yes, marry me. Is that a shock to you?” Colt asked.

Bliss’ eyes grew wide as she nodded “It’s so sudden.”

“Sudden? I’ve been hinting at you for two years now,” the look in her eye felt so much like a rejection that Colt‘s insides began to tear apart. “You never even caught on. It’s enough to drive a man plumb crazy.”

Bliss shook her head. “I’m sorry that I’ve done this to you, Colt. I wish you would have just come out and said something to me earlier.”

“What does that mean?” Colt rose from his position on his knee and looked her in the eye.

“It means that I could never do that to you. We are good friends, Colt. You’ve always been there for me when I needed you most. I can’t deny that you’ve been a blessing to me from the very beginning, but I can’t marry you and rob you of true happiness,” Bliss didn’t meet his eyes.

A physical pain in his chest spread throughout his whole body. He wanted to turn back the time and give her another chance. Maybe she didn’t mean what she said. Maybe she was just as confused as he was.

“D-Deny me? I don’t understand,” he said.

Bliss placed a hand on the side of his face and her eyes bore into his. “You’re a good man, and you deserve a woman who is going to love you with everything she has inside of her. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that. My heart belongs to someone else.”

Colt pressed his lips together in a thin line. “It’s Slade, ain’t it?”

Bliss put her head down.

“It’s aright. I guess I figured as much,” Colt’s words brought her head back up. “You couldn’t do much better for yourself.”

Clint was a good man. It still stung that she chose the man over Colt, but it helped to know that she would be taken care of.

Bliss’s eyes clouded over with tears. “I’m sorry if I lead you on. I never meant to…”

Colt shook his head to interrupt her words. “No. You never did. I can honestly say that I came across these feelings on my own.”

Bliss wrapped her arms around him and hugged him briefly. “You’ll be fine, Colt. Someday you’re gonna meet a lovely lady and she’s gonna love you more than I ever could. When she comes along, I won’t be able to hold a candle to her.”

Colt nodded, but he knew the words weren’t true. He would never love a woman as much as he loved Bliss.

　

　

　

Hey, I know you all recognize this, but I edited it a little bit for Colt's POV. Chapter 1 coming up soon! Vote/comment and all that good jazz!