by E. M. Moore
I lie my head back and close my eyes, wondering what horrors Wyatt has had to go through and just how far in his past these things happened.
We could drop a pin in the car and hear it hit. That’s how silent the car ride back to Jacobs Manor is. When we get there, Stone and Lucas get Wyatt to his feet. He’s combative at first, even taking a swing at both of them. He’s too drunk to do any real damage, and it allows Stone to wrap him up, leading him toward the house.
I lag behind, watching the whole thing as they take Wyatt to his room and close the door behind them. I stand in the hallway for a little while. I hear the pipes start to run water and then a string of curses travels through the walls as Wyatt pitches a fit.
Fingering the brim of Wyatt’s hat, I take it into my room with me. I set it on the nightstand and then strip, putting my PJ’s on, so I can slip into bed. Despite wishing sleep would come, my mind keeps wandering to Wyatt and what he said to me at school and how the night ended. I’m upset still, but I also long to know what makes that boy tick. All of them, actually.
I’m easy to figure out. Poor girl with barely any history. I mean, how much history can you have if you’ve barely ever left the house let alone the small town you live in? I’ve only started to gather a history since meeting the guys.
Here I thought I was on this grand adventure ever since I was a little girl, but now I know mine is just starting.
Halfway through the night, my door opens, and Wyatt steps in. He’s dressed in nothing but a pair of long pants that dip well below his belly button. He tiptoes through the room to grab his hat, but when he looks at me, he realizes I’m watching.
He stops, his shoulders sagging. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
I move back to get a better look at him, bringing my knees to my chest. “Which part?”
“The part where I yelled at you.”
How did these guys enter my life and end up turning the whole thing upside down? I don’t even know if I should be mad at him anymore. Maybe I should be mad at my dad, but even that seems kind of fruitless considering he’s not even here...and maybe he won’t ever be coming back.
“It’s okay,” I say, even though it’s not. Even though those aren’t the right words at all, but I’m not equipped to know the right words. My experience with people is so limited that I’m not sure what’s what and how I should be reacting to anything. It’s sad when you can’t even trust yourself.
Even though I don’t say more, I think Wyatt knows those words were just empty. Just something people say. His gaze drifts to his hat and then back again. “Can I lie next to you?”
I move back, practically plastering myself to the wall, but who am I to deny Wyatt? Not after the night he’s had. He moves into place, staying on top of the covers.
“I was talking to Lucas about his magic fingers when he told me you were the one in the backseat with me. That was kind of awkward.”
I grin at him, thinking it funny he thought I was Lucas, but in the same token, I could see Lucas taking care of him too, running his hands through his hair just like I had.
“It helped ease some of the thoughts in my head,” he says, and for the first time, his vulnerability shines like a spotlight.
I bite my lower lip. “I can do it again, if you want.”
Wyatt shuffles closer, still sporting his innocent face. I move up, placing my pillow up under my rib cage, so I can lie in an elevated position. Wyatt closes his eyes, and I hesitate at first. This seems far too intimate now. Not like before when I knew he needed it but also that he probably wasn’t ever going to remember. He’ll remember it this time. He wants it.
With a breath held in my chest, I work my fingers through his thick, dark hair. He lets out a breath that I swear is more like a sigh or a kitten’s purr. I skim my fingers all the way to the back of his head and then start again. After several minutes, Wyatt turns to his side, facing away from me. I lie my head against my arm, shifting into a more comfortable position while still running my hands through his hair.
On my second pass through, though, my fingers run over a bump. They still for a moment, but keep going, running over that same spot until I realize it’s more like a raised ridge that’s about four to five inches long along the crown of his head. I frown as my fingers run over it time and time again.
What happened to you Wyatt Longhorn?
This will be one of the few times I don’t make up some fantastical story in my head because I’m pretty sure the real story is beyond anything I can imagine.
31
My hand shifts on its own, making me stir from sleep. The bed depresses, and I blink awake to find Wyatt’s back to me. There are freckles sprinkled over his cut form, and I resist the urge to reach out and touch his taut skin.
He stands, pulling his pants up. I almost got a glimpse of the curve of his ass. Instead, his tapered waist is all the view I’m getting. I shift down the bed, and he stills. There’s a pinch in my neck from how I fell asleep. Making him comfortable had been my number one priority, but I hadn’t expected him to stay in my room all night.
He looks toward his hat, then grabs it up, holding it south of his belly button as he turns toward me. He shrugs with a playful grin on his face before glancing down. “I woke up next to a beautiful woman.”
My face colors as I realize what he’s saying. It’s like when I woke Lucas up. He was already hard and waiting for me. This isn’t the same scenario though. My core still heats with his words, but the last thing I need to do is to fall into bed with Wyatt, especially not with all the unsaid words between us.
“I think I had the best sleep I’ve had in a while,” he says, a yawn splitting his lips apart. He looks away, holding his free hand to his mouth and shakes his head like he’s coming out of a coma.
“It must have been the alcohol,” I tease.
“I think it had to do with something way different than that.” A hint of color hits his cheeks. “I’m gonna go now, Dakota. Thank you,” he says, rushing the words out like he’s almost embarrassed to say them. He leaves, the door clicking into place behind him. I spread out on the bed. It isn’t a tiny bed at all. Way bigger than the sofa I’d been sleeping on my whole life, but when you share it with a big cowboy, it feels smaller.
I check the time on the small alarm clock in the room. My eyes bug out of my head when I see it’s well past the time we all should’ve been at class. I drag myself from bed, take a quick shower, but not too quick as to forego my new hair routine. That would be blasphemous. Once I get it styled, I put on a new outfit and slip from the room.
The smell of bacon wafts through the air. I’m confused until I move into the kitchen to see Stone and Lucas shoulder to shoulder, trying to cook. They’re whisper arguing about something, and when I step a certain way, the floor creaks. They turn quickly and then both sag in relief. “We thought you were Wyatt.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“No,” Lucas says quickly. “We were just trying to make him breakfast.”
Stone scrolls through his cell phone. “Why does the recipe say between ten and fifteen minutes? Why can’t they just say it takes this long, flip once at the halfway mark, and then boom, you got yourself some good bacon?”
I chuckle to myself, and Stone gazes at me, arching a brow. “Do you think you can do better?”
“We only had bacon on Christmas or at Dickie’s, so no, I’m not the girl you want to cook for you.”
Footsteps sound behind me, and Wyatt sighs. “Nooo, what are you doing?” He pushes forward, standing in front of the stove until the boys move. “I swear you do this just so I’ll come in and save your asses.”
Stone pockets his phone. “We were trying to be nice.”
“Go be nice at the bar where Dakota’s fine ass is.”
“Hey, I thought I was Tits.”
He grins at me over his shoulder and winks. “After last night, I have a lot of different nicknames for you.”
“Magic hands?”
Stone stiffens
at my words, and Wyatt cracks up. “Calm your horses. I didn’t fuck her.”
Stone takes a sobering breath. Once he’s under control again, he says, “I don’t care.”
Even I recognize the lie when it flies from his mouth, I just don’t know why he does care.
“Good because if I did fuck her, the whole house would know.” Wyatt turns to wink at me again, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Despite the night he had, he seems to be full of it this morning.
Lucas laughs. “Even Dakota is calling BS on your bullshit.”
I watch the scene in front of me with new eyes. It’s like wiping the rain from a windshield. I see how they interact with each other. Lucas and Stone trying to help Wyatt while Wyatt puts on airs that he doesn’t need help while secretly wanting help. They’re like a family. A disjointed one, sure. Not your typical parents and siblings, but hell, my father and I were never the typical family unit either. Everything about us was abnormal.
Wyatt finishes the breakfast, and even though we should be hurrying to make it to at least some of our classes today, we settle in like it’s the weekend. We take the plates and the food out to the patio like the morning after I first arrived. The guys talk easily, telling stories about other times when Wyatt was drunk off his ass and how they had to drag him home. Then, the stories expand to Lucas, and then even Stone. Stone’s story surprises me the most. I didn’t think he ever gave up control willingly. To get drunk, you have to give up the biggest control of all, yourself.
Despite the good-natured jabs, Stone immediately changes the subject when it veers toward him. He might as well be a warden from that prison last night for all he lets get free.
When we finish, I pick up the plates, even at Stone’s disapproval, and move them to the kitchen. When I come back out, the contract is sitting in front of me. I’m not sure which one of them saved it last night, but they’re all eyeing me expectantly.
Even more so than yesterday, I feel comfortable signing this document. There’s just one thing bugging me. One thing that’s not directly stated in the contract, but I want it to be.
“What do you think?” Stone asks. “Are you all in?”
I worry over my lip. My stomach dips low, surprising me with the feelings of how momentous this is. I went from being by myself, sticking to the shadows, to being front and center of three gorgeous men. Our plan revolves around me, and it gives me both a high and an overwhelming feeling that I’ll never be able to measure up. What my family knows about the treasure didn’t come from me.
My father always said I’d put my stamp in history when it came to the treasure, all I had to do was wait.
Me? I just thought that Dad would find it. He worked so damn hard on it that if anyone deserved to put their mark in history regarding the treasure, it was him.
Maybe it is my time now though.
I gaze up at Stone. I understand what’s riding on this for him. Sometimes, I can see the panic in his eyes. The feeling that he doesn’t have a hold of the reigns like he would prefer. “Is it just the four of us?” I ask.
Stone cocks his head. “What do you mean?”
“All this talk in here about never letting slip what my family knows, I want to make sure it’s just the four of us.”
He narrows his gaze, and it’s not just him. Stone and Wyatt look confused as well. “Dakota, you’re going to have to be more specific.”
“When we’re talking about sharing information, how far does it go? Does that extend to your dad?”
I don’t care if he is Stone’s father, I don’t like Lance Jacobs. Call it that gut feeling. Intuition. My father always said I should follow it, and I will. Spending time with Lance won’t even change the way I feel, not like it has with these guys.
“My father would like the information, yes.” His jaw clenches as he swallows. “If you’re asking if the information can stay between us four... You, me, Wyatt, and Lucas, then we’ll do that. My father is the reason we’re in this shit anyway.” My fingers buzz as he takes a pen and moves the contract in front of him. On the last page, he starts writing, then makes four underlines. “I added a new clause. If we all initial the new clause, it will be binding. If you want to make sure, I’ll give you the number to a law—”
I hold my hand up to stop him. I trust him. God help me, but I fucking trust Stone Jacobs. “I believe you.”
His eyes spark with emotion. He turns the contract to me and hands over the pen. I read his new clause, which states that the parties the contract refers to are the four signing parties, and that no other party shall be privy to any information shared within the group or even contained within the contract. “You’re not going to tell your dad about this?”
“I’m saving my friends and the people who were pulled into this. That’s it. I’m not here to save my father’s ass for his poor business decisions.”
A cold sweat breaks out across my forehead. There’s still part fear, a long-held belief that there’s no way I should be signing a contract with a Jacobs, but there’s also encouragement too.
I sign my name on the first line and date it. Then, I initial in the spot Stone left for me.
Stone indicates that I give the papers to Lucas who signs it without reading it before passing it to Wyatt who does the same. When Stone gets it, he smiles. It isn’t huge. It doesn’t reflect on a happy occasion, it’s just a look of solidarity between us all. He signs the paperwork with the most pristine handwriting you’ve ever seen, each letter almost choreographed to come out perfectly. The rest of our signatures look like kindergartners got a hold of it while his is one for the record books. When he finishes, he caps the pen and sets it next to the contract. “I’ll get this filed and give everyone copies.”
“Thank you,” I say, my voice deep with meaning. It’s just a piece of paper with three lousy signatures and one masterpiece on it but it means so much to me. More than I ever could articulate right now.
Maybe it’s because those papers are a physical manifestation of what’s been going on in real life. In real life, these guys have wormed their way into my every day. I’m well aware I’m past the point that if they left tomorrow, that I’d be stranded. Not just because of the lack of money, but because in such a short amount of time, they’ve made me feel more comfortable in my own skin than I’ve ever been in my previous twenty years of life.
I’m finally accepted.
I swallow the emotion down, refusing to let them see how much I’m affected by this. I don’t think they could understand. They’ve always had each other. They can’t possibly realize what it’s like to be me. Obviously, with Wyatt’s stunt last night, I realize they might all come with their own sets of baggage, but this is mine. And I can keep it close to my heart if I want to.
“I want to head up into the mountains on Saturday,” Stone says. “I don’t care if we don’t even have a destination, I just feel useless down here. I want us going through those papers of your father’s every night. I want that shit categorized and filed into something that makes sense. School is a priority, but these assholes aren’t going to let us sit back.” He leans back in his chair with eyes like ice. “They’re dangerous, and if we don’t start moving, I have a feeling we won’t like their response.”
“But they can’t possibly think we’ll be able to find the treasure just like that when it’s been missing for over a hundred years, Stone,” I say, trying to reason with him.
“I’m guessing they think if the motivation is strong enough, we will.”
I never liked Marilyn all that much, but she’s still Stone’s mother. He must be worried sick about her. The worst part is the not knowing. I understand that more than anyone. She could be at their whim. Or she could’ve just left, deciding to spend time by herself after my father went missing. We don’t know, but I have a feeling Stone thinks the worst.
If he’s right, I feel sorry for her.
“I might have something else,” I say, my voice pitching low. My father and I always talked abo
ut the safe in whispers, even though it was always just us. Dad was paranoid on the best of days. The guys move forward, resting their elbows on the table as they lock gazes with me. My stomach clenches. I’m about to tell these guys something my father never wanted out. He only ever wanted it for Wilder’s eyes only, but the circumstances have changed. If he wouldn’t let me use what we have to help save the guys in front of me, surely, he wouldn’t mind if I used it to help save me. I’m just as much in this as they are. “My father kept his most important documents somewhere else. I know where,” I say right away because I can just see the question on the tip of Stone’s tongue. “I’ll show you,” I tell them, but I point to the contract, my heart seeping a little for what I’m doing to my father right now. “This is in full effect.”
“You have our word.”
When I look around the table, I don’t even need to hear them say it to know it’s true. We’re in this together. From here on out, we deal with everything as a collective, not a single unit among others. And I’m almost frightened by the calm that comes over me when I realize that’s what’s happening. I’m no longer the freak, Dakota Wilder. Well, I still may be a freak, but I’m Dakota Wilder with her trio of guys, and we’re going to search for the treasure until we find it.
We don’t have another choice.
32
We sit in the car in front of the house my grandfather built. I haven’t made a move to get out yet, so I guess that’s why everyone in the vehicle with me hasn’t moved either. They’re all waiting on my cue. They’re not pushing me to do this. It’s on my terms.
Guilt still churns in my stomach though. If it didn’t, I’d be worried about me. The number of times I’ve had it drilled into my head that these were Wilder secrets could probably amount to the gold we’ve been chasing.
Lucas squeezes my hand in the backseat. It’s not a nudge, it’s a motion to make sure I’m okay, but it does spur me into movement. I know what we need to do. It may not seem like it, but I’m doing this for my father. If he’s still somewhere up in those mountains, I’m going to bring him home. Alive or dead. If he got mixed up in the same thing the Jacobs have, then I’m going to find him and bring him home from that, too.