by Diana Gardin
“Yeah, we all know how perfect you and Ashley are, Finn,” Aston snapped.
She rose from the table and followed Sam outside the bar.
She caught up with him at the far end of the dock. He was peering out at the dark water silently lapping against the wet wood. She stood beside him, watching him watch the water.
“Look,” he said without glancing at her. “I’m sorry. I have a hard time watching drunk assholes treating women badly. Brings up a lot of stuff for me. I’m not going back in there.”
“No one said you had to,” Aston spoke softly. “But I’m not some helpless little girl. I can take care of myself. I don’t need a caveman.”
His eyes shot to hers, flashing with anger. “You’re calling me a caveman? Maybe you should go back in there and take another look at your man. All I’m saying is that I won’t watch him treat you like that.”
Anger flared up inside of Aston, a shocking fiery blast of red heat. “Why the hell do you give a shit, Sam? You don’t even know me. Or Princeton. Why do you care what he says to me or how he touches me?”
She took a step closer until she was able to jab a finger in his chest.
“Why aren’t you back home, Sam? Looking out for her?”
He stepped back, as if she’d shoved him. He stared at her for a minute, then at the finger she jabbed in his chest.
“Maybe I should be.” His voice sounded soft and broken. “Maybe I should be at home. But I can’t be there right now. I shouldn’t be here, either.”
He walked away from her. A tumult of emotions battered her chest as she watched him. Something in his voice squeezed her heart almost painfully for the second time that night. Hearing him sound so torn was wrong, somehow. She took a step to go after him, and then stopped.
Sam wasn’t her responsibility, and she wasn’t his. She watched him through the bar windows as he walked over and said something to Reed. Reed nodded and stood up, waving to their friends. She watched Reed and Sam trudge back out of the bar.
“Hey, sis,” Reed called to her. “I’m gonna head home with Sam. You gonna drive Princeton?”
She nodded. She’d drive Princeton home, like she always ended up doing, and then Finn and Ashley would bring her back to the ranch, like they always did.
As Sam and her brother drove away, her chest still ached from the expression she glimpsed on Sam’s face.
He never glanced back at her.
Early the next morning, Sam’s sneakers pounded along the trail winding around the pastures on the Hopewell ranch. He ran with the cover of the trees on his left, with a clear view of rolling grass on his right. Music blasting in his ears, he was met with his idea of a perfect morning.
He slowed as he neared the training ring where the polo ponies received their daily workouts. A large black quarter horse stood bucking in the center of the ring, a long rope attached to its bridle.
Sam paused. He knew they’d recently acquired the horse, and that it had yet to be tamed and broken. Aston stood across the ring, her small hands firmly gripping the rope.
Her worn jeans were a far cry from the polished outfit he’d seen her in the previous night, and his jaw fell open as he followed her movement around the ring.
She circled with the horse as he bucked wildly, pulling on the rope with the force she needed to keep him from knocking her to the ground.
Sam stood frozen to the spot, inspecting Aston as she expertly weaved a path around the ring with the wild horse. His body was taut, ready to run to her aid if she needed it.
She didn’t.
After several long moments, the horse slowly lay down on the ground, breathing heavily, his large nostrils flaring. Aston approached, moving as slowly as a toddler learning to walk.
She murmured calming words of appreciation as she grew closer to the horse, who tracked her approach with wary eyes. Crouching low, she reached out to him.
“Easy, boy. Easy. That’s it, you big, sweet thing. That’s it.”
When she was finally close enough to touch the giant, she stroked a gentle hand along its flank, continued words of encouragement and love reaching not only the horse’s ears, but also Sam’s.
Incredulity washed over him as he watched her with the now quiet horse. Large, grown men had been working with the horse all week and had yet to manage to get close enough to touch it.
Aston, with the power of a sweetness and gentleness he’d never before seen in her, had literally stroked a wild beast and nearly turned him into a harmless pet.
He swallowed hard.
When she finally led the horse back to his stable, Sam followed, approaching the large double doors as she was exiting them. She started at the sight of him, placing her hand on her chest.
“That was impressive.” He leaned against the barn door, taking in her flushed skin. Her long, dark hair was pulled into a ponytail high on her head, with tendrils of loose strands hovering around her face. Her turquoise V-neck tank hugged her curves, and her battered leather boots had seen better days.
A small smile pulled at her lips. “You think so, Waters? Just a little breaking-in.”
Sam chuckled. “A little breaking-in? I saw that horse make grown men cry this week. It could’ve turned on you.”
She laughed and reached for a water bottle sitting on a barrel. She brought the plastic to her lips and sipped, keeping her clear blue eyes trained on Sam.
“You think that’s the first horse I’ve worked with? I’ve been breaking horses for years, Sam. I didn’t need any help with this one. The guys did all the hard stuff earlier in the week, anyway.”
“So.” Sam ticked a list on his fingers. “She…is a genius at school. She manhandles her drunk boyfriend. She changes her own tires. She breaks wild horses. Is there anything else I need to know about you before I say or do something that might have you kicking my ass?”
Aston sized him up, allowing her gaze to travel from his legs, up his bare stomach and chest, and finally looking way up to meet his stare. The corners of her mouth twitched upward as she tried to fight a smile. She lost the battle, and a huge grin broke out on her face.
A grin that nearly stole his breath. Seeing her smile like this was rare, and he wanted to pluck it from her lips and place it into his pocket for safekeeping.
She should smile like that more often. She should smile like that every damn day.
“You have absolutely nothing to worry about, Waters.”
He tried not to stare as she walked away.
Tried, but failed.
Four
Dear Sam,
This long-distance thing sucks. I’ve never been away from you for a day, much less months at a time. It’s killing me, Sam. Thank God I have Hunter here. Without him I think I’d go crazy.
I’m going to be honest. Life with Daddy gone is…eye-opening. Every night when I lie down without wincing in pain from what he’d done to me, I breathe another sigh of relief. Thank you for giving me the strength I needed to live this life.
I finally went back to work at the bakery. You know it’s the only thing I know how to do, and getting back to work is helping me adjust to everything. I have a new friend. Her name is Rilla and she opened a florist next door to Sugar Coated. We even went out to a bar!
It feels weird knowing you are there, living this new life by the beach. Sun and sand compared to fishing by the creek? Sounds like a vacation. I haven’t heard from the sheriff’s office in weeks. Don’t you think it’s time we figured out what to do next? Maybe we can even find a way for you to come home. I have to go, Sam. Hunter is walking in the front door.
I love you.
Ever
He placed Ever’s most recent letter in the desk drawer. His feelings about the letter were jumbled. He still got the aching in his heart whenever he read a letter from her. But the daily living without her was getting easier. He was getting used to not waking up panicked if she wasn’t in his room with him. On those mornings, he’d ride his bike as fast as he could over to t
he house she shared with her father and check to make sure she was still breathing. Her father would be passed out on the couch, and Sam would creep back to her room, having to encounter whatever new horror would present itself to him that morning in the form of a bruise, cut, or broken bone.
Their childhood together was horrible. And apart from Hunter, they were all the other had.
Sam had stumbled onto this life of hard work, yes, but also comfort and relaxation. When he stepped into the little tack house he occupied, he would breathe deep and sigh, because he was alone and he was safe. It was strange and exhilarating.
Guilt enveloped him. Guilt, for liking life without Ever here to enjoy it with him. But she’d be here eventually. He’d promised her that.
He stepped out of the tack house front door and locked it behind him, whistling as he strode toward the main house.
Today marked a week and four days after the night out at Sunny’s. Despite the drama with Princeton that night, he’d felt at home among the group. He and Blaze had talked football, and he’d taken a shot with him and Tate. He never took shots, so it was a new experience. In Duck Creek, on the brief occasion he’d been at a bar, he’d refused to lose control in case he had to face Ever’s dad when they arrived back home. So the freedom to drink with friends had been nice. Tamara was adorable and so easy to talk to, and he’d admired the easy and carefree love Ashley and Finn shared. He and Ever had the love part down, but easy and carefree? Never.
And then there was Aston. He had known love. True, deep, devotional love. He’d been devoted to Ever since before he knew what devoted meant. So the farce of a relationship she was sharing with that tool, Princeton, was baffling to Sam. And it drove hot, angry fire through his veins, too, because even though he had only known Aston for a little over a week, he felt he already saw her much more clearly than Princeton did. The way she and Princeton had greeted each other when he’d found her crying by the state highway the night of her welcome-home dinner had been a joke. They hadn’t kissed or even hugged. Hell, he’d expect a girl who’d been separated from the man she loved to go running straight into his arms the moment she saw him. And he’d expect a man who’d been apart from the girl he loved to scoop her up in his arms and never let go. That was what a girl like Aston deserved, and she clearly wasn’t getting it from Princeton.
Sure, he knew she was tough. He saw straight through her hard exterior to the little girl underneath who had never found the kind of love she wanted to believe existed in the world. And he bristled, acknowledging that Princeton didn’t see that in her.
She deserved better.
Sam was mulling all of this over in his brain as he approached the main house for his first day working as Mr. Hopewell’s business assistant at home. Mr. Hopewell had asked him to meet him in his home office first thing this morning so he could further explain the tasks Sam would be expected to complete.
Sam stopped short as he cleared the tree line beside the driveway. He noted a sheriff’s cruiser parked directly in front of the steps leading to the front door. His heart banged inside his chest as he stared at the vehicle.
What the hell? Why was the sheriff here? Could they have put it together? Had he been careless going out last week, meeting all of those people? Princeton had indicated he suspected Sam had something to hide. What if he’d done some digging and discovered what the Duck Creek sheriff thought he’d done?
The front door creaked open and Sam ducked back behind the line of trees for cover. He peered out as the sheriff himself came walking out of the house with Mr. Hopewell. Sam couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he watched as they shook hands and the sheriff climbed into his car. He drove slowly around the driveway and down the road leading off the Hopewell estate.
Mr. Hopewell looked in Sam’s direction. “You can come on out now, Sam. He’s gone.”
Sam’s pulse stuttered before it began beating more quickly than ever. He stepped out from the cover of the tree line and headed toward Gregory Hopewell. He felt his face redden as he approached, and Mr. Hopewell’s grim expression did nothing to slow the rapid pattering of his heart.
“I think we have some things to discuss, don’t we?” Mr. Hopewell turned and strode up the front steps. Sam stood frozen down below, watching his mentor walk away.
Gregory turned around at the top and indicated that Sam follow. “Aren’t you coming? It is the day I asked you to meet me here, is it not?”
Sam took a deep breath, let it out, and followed.
As the office doors closed behind them, Mr. Hopewell took a seat at his impressive mahogany desk and gestured toward the chair situated in front of him. Sam sat.
“Sam, that sheriff wasn’t here for you. I spotted you out of the corner of my eye the second we emerged from the house, and the fact that you hid confirmed some of the suspicions I already had.”
Sam set his jaw in preparation for fight-or-flight. If Mr. Hopewell had suspicions about him, then why had he invited Sam here? Why was he allowing him to work on his property? And now in his office?
“Get comfortable, Sam. Let me tell you a little story.”
“I’ve got to ask you, Aston. Point blank, okay? What’s going on with you and Sam?”
Aston curved her slender hand to shade her eyes from the sun. She craned her neck forward so that she could zero in on Ashley’s face. Then, deciding the angle she received wasn’t good enough, she sat all the way up in her lounge chair and stared at her friend.
“What the hell are you talking about, Ash?”
Ashley lifted her sunglasses so Aston could see her face. She wore a solemn expression, but the corners of her mouth twitched as she evaluated Aston’s hostile posture.
“I mean exactly what I asked. What’s going on? You two most definitely had some fireworks sparking the other night.”
“Sam has a girlfriend back home. And I’m with Princeton. So there’s zero action going on between us.”
“I’m not saying you two have done anything. And hell, Aston, maybe you don’t even realize it. But there’s something about you and Sam. I’ve never seen it with you and Princeton. When we were sitting around the table at Sunny’s, you kept turning toward him when he talked, even if he wasn’t talking to you. And every time you got up to go to the bar, his eyes followed you across the room. I swear I could feel the electricity coming off the two of you in currents. It was weird, Aston. And kind of amazing.”
Ashley sat back in her chair and replaced her sunglasses, as if that was all that needed to be said on the subject. She knew Aston well enough to know that she’d have to have this conversation a few more times before Aston was ready to admit anything.
Aston’s back was ramrod straight in the luxe chair, her legs stretched out straight in front of her, her apple-red painted toes curled into the soft fabric of the seat. She crossed her arms rigidly against her chest as she stared at Ashley.
“I really wish you’d stop watching us so closely, Ash. It’s creepy. And Sam is just a guy here for the summer, working for my father. That’s all. Don’t read more into it. You can be so dramatic sometimes.”
Ashley let out a bark of a laugh without bothering to look at her friend. “Okay, A. I’ll humor you. But can you just admit one thing?”
“Admit what?” Aston sighed, her body slowly releasing its tension as she relaxed back into the lounger.
“Admit you think he’s hot.”
Aston closed her eyes briefly, glad they were hidden behind her aviators. “He’s hot, I guess. I mean if you like the whole big-muscled, six-foot-four thing. And the deep brown eyes that see right through you. And he does have all of that country-boy charm that he uses like a weapon when he wants to.”
“Right.” Ashley laughed. “All of that’s true. But you haven’t been looking at him or anything, right A?”
“Right,” Aston agreed, turning onto her stomach so the sun’s rays could warm her back.
“I love Princeton like a brother, Aston. We all grew up together; I do
n’t even have a choice at this point. But I don’t know how long you’re going to pretend he’s forever for you. You don’t feel the same way about him that I do about Finn.”
Aston rolled her eyes. “Not everyone is going to find what you two have, Ash. If I didn’t know the two of you, I wouldn’t even think it existed. But I sure as hell haven’t seen it anywhere else. So I have no illusions about the fact that Princeton is probably as good as it’s going to get for me.”
Ashley made a mental note right there to talk to Finn, ask him to get Sam alone. She wasn’t willing to watch her best friend settle. Aston deserved better than that.
“Well, Ashley White! I didn’t know you were here! Come on over here and give me a hug!”
Lillian Hopewell glided onto the patio smocked in a turquoise cover-up and donning her own pair of aviators. She held her arms open, and Ashley rose from her chair to greet her.
“Mrs. Hopewell, hey. It’s good to see you!” Ashley hugged the woman warmly.
She and Aston had spent so much time together here over the years; she knew all of the drama that had happened between Aston and her mother. In spite of all of it, she still loved the woman like a second mother.
“Oh, please, call me Lillian now. We’re all adults here these days, aren’t we?”
Aston remained frozen on her lounger, never bothering to acknowledge her mother’s arrival.
“What are we doing today, girls?” Lillian asked, settling comfortably onto her own lounger with a fruity drink in one hand.
“Oh, we’re just discussing Aston’s crazy attraction to Sam Waters.” She glanced sideways at Aston.
“Ashley!” Aston gasped, finally sitting up.
“Oh, Aston, don’t get shy. I am your mother, for God’s sakes. I hadn’t noticed an attraction, Ashley. Is it true, Aston?”
“You wouldn’t have noticed, would you?” Aston grumbled. “You were probably thinking of him as eye candy for yourself.”
The silence hung heavy in the sweet summer air. Ashley cleared her throat.