“That’s between the law and your brother,” Roy answered dryly.
It came across like Hayes was trying to be a badass, but it fell flat. Clayton’s laugh in response was bitter. He, like the rest of us, didn’t buckle under the way the Hayes family treated us. They liked to bat us around like a cat getting ready to eat a mouse, but we never let it defeat us.
“Then get back in your car, Deputy,” Clayton answered, nodding his head back to gesture toward the cruiser parked by the side of the road. “I haven’t seen my brother in weeks.”
The darkness that rolled over Roy’s face was as familiar as the nasty way he dealt with us. He hated he couldn’t get us to bow down to him. The tension among us was thick, crackling in the air like electricity ready to ignite. Roy took a threatening step closer.
“What reason do I have to believe a Montgomery boy?” he sneered. “You’re all the same.”
I walked over to stand beside my brother and leaned up against the fencepost, crossing my ankles in front of me and tucking my thumbs into my belt loops.
“Good old-fashioned country boys with hearts of gold, you mean?” I asked, flashing him a smile. “Or were you talking about our rugged good looks?”
A wave of red crept up his neck and he looked like he was about to explode. That was exactly the way we liked to see any of the Hayes men. Angry as a cat taken away from the mouse and stuffed in a wet burlap bag. Beside me, Clayton chuckled and poked me playfully in the ribs with his elbow.
His hands clenched in tight fists by his sides, Roy glared at us with darkened eyes and a jaw clenched so tightly I was surprised his teeth didn’t crack. “I’m not playing games, Jesse. Garrett hasn’t been making the best decisions as of late. And although I admit to enjoying every minute of tracking his dumb ass down, this isn’t personal.”
Clayton and I looked at each other and my brother rolled his eyes.
“Sure, it isn’t,” he mumbled. “Because you and your family have always been so kind and compassionate toward ours. I’m sure this is just purely professional.”
“Don’t you talk about my family,” Roy said.
“But you can spout your mouth off about mine?” Clayton rebutted.
I could see the situation between the two of them building up and I didn’t want it to get any worse. The last thing I needed on my first full day back home was my brother getting into a throwdown with the deputy. His family already did everything they could to make our lives a living hell. He wouldn’t hesitate to throw every bit of the law at Clayton and cause him even more trouble.
Stepping in between them, I blocked them from each other, shutting down the escalation. “Look, Deputy. We don’t know anything. I just got back home yesterday, and like Clayton said, nobody has heard from or seen Garrett in weeks. We can’t help you. So get back in your car and go find something to make yourself useful. Yeah?”
His eyes snapped with fury, but he knew as well as I did there was nothing he could do to me. He could make a fuss, but it wasn’t going to do any good. Unless he wanted to bring a warrant, he wasn’t going to go searching the ranch or digging through the house, and no judge was going to give him a warrant just because our family pissed him off and he wanted to aggravate us.
Roy stared at us for a few more lingering seconds, then took a few steps back before turning and leaving. It was obvious he wasn’t happy about it, especially when he looked over at Shannon and she just glared at him, her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face.
When the cruiser pulled away, I looked back over at Clayton.
My brother nodded toward Shannon. “You go on ahead with her.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“She asks about you every time I run into her in town,” he said. “It will be good not having to get through her awkward small talk while she pretends she isn’t just building up to asking about you. Just leave the keys and I will drive the truck back.”
I smiled, but then looked over at the fence. “But don’t you need help? I know Cassidy is expecting me to pull my weight around here until I figure out what I’m going to be doing with myself.”
“Don’t worry about that. I got along when you weren’t here. I’ll get along today. Go on. Get out of here. I’ll cover for you with Cassidy.”
I glanced over at Shannon again. Now that Deputy Hayes was gone, she didn’t seem to be so much on edge. Her arms had loosened and were propped on the hood at either side of her. She was looking down at her feet as she swung one of them slowly back and forth through the dirt of the road. It made her thick blonde ponytail swing, concealing her face. I looked back at Clayton.
“Thanks,” I said. “I owe you one.”
“You’ve been gone ten years, little brother. You owe me a hell of a lot more than one.” He gave me a smile as he made his way back over to the fence.
“Start making a list,” I said and took off at a jog through the gate.
Shannon seemed to hear the sound of my boots hitting the ground as I approached because she looked up at me, her eyes slightly widened like she was surprised I was coming toward her. Then a smile touched her lips and her face warmed, becoming like a memory I’d had in the back of my mind for years.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hi, you ready to catch up now?” I asked.
“Sure. Where do you want to go?”
My smile and the lift of my eyebrows was all the answer she needed. There was really no question.
“Let’s go,” she said. She swept the bakery boxes off the hood beside her and held them up. “I have snacks.”
Laughing, we hurried around the sides of the truck and jumped up into the cab. It felt like old times as we hooked our seatbelts and she cranked over the engine to get it roaring. As if she couldn’t stand the thought of wasting even one more second, she peeled away from the side of the road. The cloud of dust that came spinning up from her tires as she tore away made me laugh. That was Shannon.
I was starting to feel more at home.
As we raced down the road toward the old swimming hole, I rolled down the window and tucked my head close so I could feel the rush of the air against my face. It was still hot, but the wind made it bearable, and the sun shining down felt good on my skin. I closed my eyes and breathed it all in. The feeling of the wind and the sun. The smooth leather of the truck seats. The sound of the tires grinding down the dirt road and the engine rumbling beneath us.
All those years I spent on tours, I never thought I missed the ranch. Of course, I thought about my brothers and sometimes wished I could see them. There were certain things I wished I could do like see the snow that blanketed the ranch at Christmas or have Thanksgiving sprawled out through the living room.
Now I realized there was so much more I’d missed and just hadn’t let myself think about it.
Chapter 10
Shannon
Maybe it was all in my head. Maybe none of it was actually happening and I just conjured it up in a really intense daydream. I couldn’t believe I was driving my truck through the Montgomery ranch with Jesse sitting there in the passenger seat right beside me.
I looked over at him and watched him turn his face into the sunlight coming through the window. He lounged against the door casually, his arm bent in the same familiar way it always did when we rode together. It wasn’t a coincidence or happenstance. He had left his brother to come spend time with me. He’d jumped up in the truck with me and was eager to go back to the favorite place we used to share.
It felt too good to be true.
I had been dreaming about Jesse coming home for years now. Without telling anybody, without giving any indication of what my heart really held, I imagined what it would be like for him to show back up in my life and be a part of it again.
After everything that happened, my heart and my mind still longed for him and to understand what had gone on between us. I dreamed about him being back in Green Valley and what it would be like to be close to him again. Now that he was finally here and i
t was really happening, I was at a loss for words.
As if he could feel me glancing over at him, Jesse opened his eyes and looked over at me. We exchanged a slight smile and he reached over to turn on the radio.
The volume setting was high, just like it always was when I drove alone, and one of my favorite country songs poured through the old speakers, filling the space around us. Both of us spent a few seconds bobbing our heads and singing along under our breath.
This wasn’t one of the songs from the new type of country that sounded like the music had lost its way and was far too close to the mainstream rock and pop music for my taste. This was an old, crooning song that sounded like home and made goosebumps come up along my arms.
Wind whipped around the cab through the open windows, blowing my hair around. I took hold of it and tucked my ponytail down again to try to get it under control. Jesse looked at me from the passenger side, and when I glanced his way, he smiled at me again.
He was still the same Jesse, but the differences were distinct. They stood out against the familiar situation of being in the truck with him and flying down the road toward the swimming hole. He looked older and more dignified, stronger in a way. His skin was slightly darker, and his body was harder, taking up more space beside me.
“You look good,” I told him.
He glanced down at himself like he’d forgotten what he looked like. “So, do you,” he said. “Like you haven’t aged a day. And I have to say, the oil and grease is a good look for you.”
It was my turn to look down at myself and I realized there were stains from the shop smeared across my shirt and jeans. Every so often, I came up with the idea of getting coveralls so this didn’t happen, but they were hot and uncomfortable, and it was so much easier to just work in my regular clothes. Most of them already had the grease and motor oil on them, so there was little point in avoiding it.
I giggled and nodded. “I guess you’ve probably figured out I’ve been helping Daddy at the shop for a while.”
Jesse nodded. “I had heard that. I didn’t realize being a mechanic was what you wanted to do.”
“I don’t know if it is, exactly. I mean I enjoy it, for sure. But it’s not like a dream of being a mechanic is what led me into it. I’ve always kind of figured the shop would be mine one day, and Daddy’s needed me more recently. It’s getting harder for him to keep on top of things, and having an extra set of hands keeps the money consistent, you know?”
Jesse nodded. I knew full well he understood the importance of everybody doing their part to keep a family afloat. The eight Montgomery boys had to overcome a lot, but they managed, and they had a thriving ranch to show for it.
“How long are you here for?” I asked.
I let the question tumble out of my mouth before I thought all the way through it and let myself get too afraid to ask it. The truth was, I was scared to find out the answer.
When Sara told me he was on his way back, she said he was coming home for good. But that didn’t necessarily mean he was going to be in Green Valley permanently. I took it to mean he wasn’t going to be returning to the military. That just meant he had his whole life ahead of him to plan and come up with new things he wanted. What if that meant he planned on leaving right away and being gone again? What if a ranch and the hills and the mountains weren’t enough to tie him down?
What if I wasn’t enough?
I braced myself for his answer. I told myself if Jesse said he was only going to be around for a few days and then would be moving onto something else, I’d be fine. There wouldn’t really be any choice other than to be fine, but I could decide to not dwell on it. Not be sad about it and let it drag down my life again the way him leaving before did.
If he told me he wasn’t going to be around anymore, I could just accept it and be happy I had today with him to reconnect.
At least, that was what I tried to tell myself. If I was really being honest, that was a bunch of bullshit. Having both Sara and Deputy Hayes tell me Jesse was home for good filled me with optimism. Now that I’d gotten over my fear and come to see him, I saw that Jesse was happy to see me, and I couldn’t bear the thought of him leaving again. I was set on him staying here at home and having a life again.
Jesse shrugged. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be around,” he said. “I don’t have any specific plans. I’m just going to try to slow down for a while. Take it one step at a time and see what life presents to me.”
“That sounds nice,” I said. “I can imagine you’ve been through a lot over the last few years and it would do you good to just ease back into life. You don’t have to make any life-changing decisions immediately.”
I realized I sounded like a debriefing brochure and stopped myself from babbling any more of the platitudes. At least I hoped they meant something to him. A bit of stress flickered on his face, an uncertainty that crossed over his eyes, but in an instant, it was gone.
I hoped he was able to keep it gone, to not have to think about his past hovering over him or his questions about the future looming ahead. I turned the truck onto another dirt road that wound through thick trees on either side of us. This was a much smaller dirt road, more a path than anything. But it brought us right where we wanted to go.
At the end of the road, we parked on a patch of grass near the swimming hole and climbed out of the truck. Somehow, it seemed to have gotten even hotter since I got to the ranch, and just standing there felt like we were roasting. Beads of sweat were popping up on my skin all over my body.
This was the type of blistering day we would have waited for in the summers all those years ago. When the temperature soared, the swimming hole called to us. It was nothing elaborate, nothing manmade or fancy. But it was the site of the most fun memories of my childhood and teenage years. Taking off my shoes, I rushed down to the edge of the water and dipped one toe in.
It was cool and refreshing, and just that little bit made me want more. I sat down on one of the big rocks along the edge of the water and dunked my feet all the way down in. Instantly, my body temperature lowered, and my mind cleared from some of the intense heat fog. I glanced over my shoulder at Jesse.
“I think we should get in,” I told him. “It will be much cooler down there in the water than it is up here on land.”
“We don’t have our suits,” Jesse pointed out.
I gave him a knowing look, the type of expression people gave to each other when they hold a shared memory. “That never used to stop us before.”
I knew the words would bring up memories for him the same way it did for me. There was no way he could escape them. This was a place that meant everything to us, a place where we shared so much. He couldn’t have just pushed all that out of his mind and forgotten.
By his reaction, I knew that wasn’t the case. He got a sheepish grin on his face and looked down, rubbing the back of his neck the same way he used to when we were young and he was feeling bashful. It was one of the things I fell in love with. It was so cute watching him shift around and not know what he was supposed to think or do.
“Well,” he started, taking a few more steps closer to the edge of the water.
I kicked at the water so it lifted droplets and cast them over at him. “Come on! Don’t be a baby.”
He hesitated again.
I shrugged. “All right. Just stand there and burn up into a crisp. I’m going to cool off.”
I pulled my T-shirt off over my head and dropped it into the grass at the edge of the water, far enough away that it wouldn’t slip down into the creek. Standing up, I unbuttoned my jeans, lowered the zipper, and stripped out of them, kicking the jeans aside to sit with my shirt. I glanced over at Jesse and saw him staring at me, seemingly shocked. But I didn’t care. I walked to the edge of the giant rock in my bra and panties and jumped in.
The cold water engulfed me, instantly dropping my body temperature and waking up my brain. This was the way it had always been, finding refuge from the torturous heat of the long
summer days in the fresh, clear water of the creek.
It moved swiftly for a creek and was deep, meaning it never got stagnant and never warmed up. The water here was clean enough to see right through to the bottom unless it was in the days right after a heavy rain or a snowmelt. Many days, I spent long afternoon hours watching tadpoles swim around in shallow pools at the side of the creek and trying to catch the tiny fish that sometimes made their way this far.
But I wasn’t thinking about any of that now. I broke through the surface of the water and turned to look at Jesse. Reaching up behind me, I pulled my ponytail holder out of my hair and dunked my head back to let the water slide through the strands and rinse the sweat away from my scalp.
When I rose up again, Jesse was staring at me and my breath caught in my throat.
Chapter 11
Jesse
Ten years ago…
“Come on, don’t be a baby!” Shannon yelled as she ran through the grass toward the edge of the water.
There was nothing quite like seeing the afternoon sun drip like melted butter down from the sky and run down over her body as she threw off her clothes and dropped them to the ground without a hint of hesitation.
That was Shannon. As free and wild as the grass beneath her feet and the breeze that ruffled her thick blonde hair as she pulled the band from her ponytail and let it tumble down around her shoulders. At nineteen, she was old enough to know exactly what she wanted and how to get it—and too young to have any inhibition. Long summer days warmed her from the inside and woke her up so there was nothing holding her back—especially when she was with me.
There was something special about that to me. I knew what she was like with other people. She would never be the quiet and demure girl so many of the guys said they were after. That would never be Shannon. She was never going to be the type to put on a ruffled pink dress and bake a pie to impress me.
His Reckless Heart (The Montgomery Boys Book 1) Page 6