by Liz Isaacson
“There’s a ranch north of town,” Jeremiah said. “Huge operation, probably three times as big as what we’ve got here. They have two homesteads.”
“Brothers?” Skyler asked.
“Army brothers,” Jeremiah said. “Squire Ackerman owns the ranch. His buddy Pete Marshall runs an equine therapy unit there.”
Skyler stepped next to Jeremiah and said, “I want to do that. Do you do that?”
“I have, a few times,” Jeremiah said. “How’s—?” His eyes cut to Micah, and he realized everyone had a little secret. And they weren’t really secrets. Everyone had their own life, and they were living it. The family texts could get out of control, but not every little detail of everyone’s life was included. That would be complete overkill, that was for sure.
“It’s fine,” Skyler said. “I haven’t specifically told Micah that I’m seeing a counselor.” He looked at Micah. “But I’m seeing a counselor. Jeremiah’s counselor.”
“Do you like her?” Jeremiah asked.
“She’s blunt,” Skyler said. “But I kinda need that.” He left the office and opened the front door, going out onto the porch. Jeremiah followed him, and Micah brought up the rear, bringing the door closed behind him.
“What about in that field right there?” Skyler asked. “The driveway already comes up this way. We could branch it to the right too, around the oak tree, and have my place right there.”
“Are you thinking a place as big as this?” Jeremiah asked.
Skyler looked at Micah, who thought his idea for the house placement was sound. Jeremiah never planted that field, though he did sometimes put horses in it. “Probably not as big as the main homestead,” he said. “But decent. You’ll want something you can raise your family in.”
“Yeah, of course,” Skyler said, but his voice held a hint of falsehood.
“It’d be easy to put the driveway over there,” Micah said, seeing the second homestead come to life in his mind’s eye.
“Let’s do it,” Jeremiah said. “What are you guys doing now?”
“Goin’ riding,” Skyler said. “Can you come with?”
“Yeah,” Jeremiah said. “Let me go check on Whit and JJ, and I’ll be out to the stable.” He walked back into the house, and Micah kept leaning against the railing.
“Should we call Liam?” Skyler said. “Is that how things work here?”
“How things work?” Micah looked at Skyler. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you have to invite everyone to do everything?”
“Not at all,” Micah said. “Liam’s busy with his Marvel project. He’ll just feel bad if we invite him.”
“What does Tripp do these days?” Skyler asked.
“He works part-time too,” Micah said. “He comes out here a few days a week, but usually not until the afternoon so he can bring Oliver with him. They love to ride, and Ollie has his own horse and everything.”
“Maybe we should wait until then.”
“What else is on your schedule for today?” Micah asked.
Skyler burst out laughing. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Then you can ride this morning and this afternoon.” He knocked on the railing and straightened. “C’mon, let’s go saddle up.” Micah led the way down the steps and around the house, itching to get atop his horse. He could think more clearly when he rode, and he hoped inspiration for Skyler’s new home would hit him as Memory took him out into the Texas countryside.
“You want this one?” Micah asked, holding up the blue and white ceramic pot he’d been carrying for the past twenty minutes. Ophelia looked up from the armoire she’d been studying, her light green eyes bright. She was exotic to Micah, with darker skin and hair and those light, light eyes. She was new to town too, having come to Three Rivers as an interior designer as the town had started growing and expanding in the past few years.
“I think so,” she said, coming toward him. “I think it’ll look nice on my table.”
“What are you going to do with it?” He handed it to her, the scent of her perfume teasing his nose. He still hadn’t kissed her, but technically, this was only their fifth date. Shopping wasn’t his favorite thing to do, especially not at a home good store where everything was made from corrugated metal, burlap, and had colors like “shiplap cream.”
But he did like spending time with Ophelia, and she said she’d needed something from Homelife, the largest store in Three Rivers to find rugs, textiles, furniture, throw pillows, and more. Micah had even seen a whole wall of paint in the back corner, so people could match their throw rugs with their walls.
All at once, he wanted to talk to the manager. He should be using a place like this in his luxury ranch homes, and he looked around for the customer service desk. “Do you know who owns this place?” he asked Ophelia.
“Yeah,” she said. “A woman named Ashley Rivers.” Ophelia looked around too. “She’s usually here during the day.”
“Ashley Rivers,” Micah repeated, wondering if he could hold the name in his head. Probably not, so he took out his phone and started tapping in the information. There were plenty of people in the store for a Friday night, most of them couples like him and Ophelia.
He looked up, realizing she’d wandered off to look at something else, and Micah caught up to her, slipping his hand into hers. “You ready to go eat, sweetheart? I’m starving.”
Ophelia lifted those beautiful eyes from the picture frame she’d been looking at to his, a smile lighting up her whole face. “Yeah, let’s get this, and then we’ll go.”
“Great.” Micah squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. He felt like he’d just taken a giant step forward in their relationship, and he turned to step back onto the main aisle of the store.
“Oh.”
He pulled up before he rammed into the woman standing there. His brain misfired several times while he stared into the deep, dark depths of eyes he knew very well.
“Simone,” he finally said, every part of his body rioting. He looked at Ophelia, who was clearly waiting for him to introduce her.
Chapter Fifteen
Simone stared at Micah Walker. He didn’t really belong in a place like Homelife, but at the same time, he did. She scanned him, her eyes catching on the way he clutched the hand of the woman he was with.
He was dating someone else.
Sharp pains jabbed through Simone’s chest, her back, her throat.
Micah cleared his throat and dropped the woman’s hand. He took a step away from her as he said, “This is Ophelia Montgomery. Ophelia, this is my neighbor, Simone Foster.” He gestured between the two of them.
Ophelia was beautiful in a classic way, with high cheekbones, and a perfectly symmetrical smile. Nothing sat out of place—not even an errant eyebrow hair, and Simone thought of her messy bun and how she hadn’t groomed her face in weeks.
No need now that every man in her life had left.
“Nice to meet you,” Ophelia said with a smile. “I’ve heard about your sisters. They’re married to Micah’s brothers, right?”
“That’s right,” Simone said, her voice like a rusty pipe. She could barely swallow, and she couldn’t stand seeing Micah with someone else. At the same time, she knew she was to blame for their failed relationship. She wasn’t really keeping track, but he’d kept her in the friend zone for a while the first time, and she wouldn’t go out with him the second time, and she’d refused to take their relationship public the third.
Could there be a fourth time?
Simone’s thoughts turned to dust when Micah stepped back to Ophelia’s side, took her hand in his again, and leaned into to say something quietly in her ear. She nodded at him and said, “Well, I’m going to go buy this. It was lovely meeting you, Simone.”
“Good to meet you,” she blurted out as the woman walked away. She pressed her eyes closed. The sexy cowboy in front of her had kissed her many times. Made her knees weak. She’d lain awake in bed thinking about him, both before they’d d
ated, during, and after.
Regret lanced through her, and she hated that her own misgivings and worries may have robbed her of a future with him.
“How are you?” he asked, and annoyance sang through her. She didn’t want his friendship. She didn’t want his pity. She didn’t want his kindness.
“I have to go,” she said, turning away from him.
“Simone,” he said, plenty of frustration in his voice too.
“I’m fine, Micah.” She walked away from him, the self-consciousness almost tripping her. Was she walking funny? Did her bun wobble?
His footsteps came behind her, and Simone almost broke into a run. “Where are you going?” he asked.
Her mind spun. She’d just arrived at Homelife, because they had their candles on sale this weekend, and she’d wanted to get one for Callie’s birthday. And her shop. The grease and sawdust scent had started to bother her. But she could come back when the place was Walker-free.
And it wasn’t even all the Walkers she didn’t want to see.
Just Micah.
Which made no sense. Her feelings whiplashed around inside her body, and she just needed to get out. Get away.
“I have my theater company class,” she tossed over her shoulder, pushing through the door and escaping into the Texas night.
“Simone,” he called after her, but she kept on striding away. Thankfully, he didn’t follow her through the parking lot, and she managed to get behind the wheel of her car without talking to him again.
Her pulse sprinted through her veins, and she gulped greedily at the air. She’d made it to safety.
But she’d had to lie to do it. Her theater company classes were on Thursdays, and the cast for the next play hadn’t been put up since last weekend’s auditions.
She groaned as she leaned her head against the steering wheel, her prayer starting down in her stomach. “I don’t know how to deal with him,” she whispered. “What do all these feelings mean?”
He’d accused her of being embarrassed of him, but the man clearly had nothing to be embarrassed about. No, Simone was the one with the issues. She felt stupid for being interested in Micah Walker when both of her sisters now bore that last name. It was ridiculous that she couldn’t get a boyfriend other than the closest cowboy, and the brother of her brother-in-law.
She pulled out her phone and dialed Evelyn, hoping she hadn’t gone to bed yet. It wasn’t that late, but Evelyn rarely stayed up past eight-thirty or nine. “Still plenty of time,” Simone muttered to herself as Evelyn’s phone rang and rang.
“Hey,” her sister said, out of breath. “Sorry, I was out on the deck.”
Simone took a deep breath. “I need you to match me with someone.”
A beat of silence passed before Evelyn said, “What?”
“I need you to match me with someone,” Simone said again, setting her jaw as she stared at the cheerily lit home store she normally loved. But if she had the possibility of running into Micah here, she wasn’t sure she could ever come back.
“I don’t do that anymore,” Evelyn said. “It’s been years, Simone.”
“You can still do it,” Simone said. “It’s like riding a bike.”
Evelyn sighed, but Simone wasn’t taking no for an answer on this.
“Please,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Simone, what’s going on?” Evelyn asked.
Simone didn’t want to cry, not over Micah. So she laced everything tight, tight, and said, “I need a girl’s night.”
“Tomorrow?” Evelyn asked, too much hope in her voice. Simone knew she loved being a mom, and she spent all of her time with Conrad, who would turn two in a couple of months. But Evelyn craved adult conversation too, and she, Simone, and Callie had started having girl’s nights at the Shining Star every month. Sometimes twice a month.
“Tomorrow,” Simone said.
“I’ll call Callie,” Evelyn said, too much excitement in her voice. The call ended, and Simone sighed. What was she going to do with her Friday night now? She’d been planning to waste a couple of hours in her favorite store, gathering ideas and inspiration, and then grab her favorite chicken salad, head home, and watch a movie.
It sounded lame now that those had been her plans.
“Stupid Micah Walker,” she muttered, though she knew nothing that had happened between them was his fault.
No, all the blame landed squarely on Simone, and she honestly didn’t know how to shoulder it.
“I have the guacamole,” Simone said the following evening as she went in the back door of the house where she’d grown up and used to live. She now had her own cabin out in the row with all the cowboys and cowgirls who worked the ranch.
The place smelled like smoked meat and cheese, and happiness kicked through Simone. There were no crying babies or fussy toddlers. No cologne, cowboy-hatted men. When they held girl’s night, Callie and Evelyn left their kids with their husbands.
“Where’s Liam tonight?” she asked Callie, who stood at the counter stirring a pitcher of sweet tea.
“He took the girls to see his mother.” She smiled at Simone, and something wise lived in her sister’s eyes now. Sometimes Liam went next door with Jeremiah and Whitney. Sometimes he took the kids out to his twin’s house. Sometimes he went to Rhett’s, and they let their kids spend time together. And obviously, sometimes he went to his mother’s. He had plenty of options, that was for sure, and Simone didn’t feel bad about misplacing him for a few hours once or twice a month.
Callie came around the counter and hugged her. “How are you, Simone?”
Simone’s first reaction was to push Callie away. Lie. Deny everything. Instead, she clung to her sister and said, “I’m hanging in there.”
Callie stepped back and held her at arm’s length. “Micah?”
Simone pressed her lips together and nodded. She didn’t want to say anything bad about him. She didn’t want to comment on how the Walker brothers had moved in next door and blown up her whole world.
The truth was, she missed her sisters. She missed living with them. She missed how the three of them had relied on each other—and only each other—for so long. They’d gone out into the tornado to mark all the livestock. They’d gotten by on very little over the years, combining their money to make ends meet. They’d had a strong bond since the day their mother died, and even now, they all took care of their father and grandmother as a trio.
But Simone felt like the odd woman out. She didn’t have a best friend anymore. She didn’t have a husband to confide her deepest fears and worries to. She didn’t have children looking to her for their care, their every need. Both Callie and Evelyn had that, and Simone didn’t know her place in her own family anymore.
And among the Walkers?
She didn’t belong at all.
“I’m here,” Evelyn said from the front of the house, and Callie’s attention got diverted. Evelyn came into the kitchen carrying a huge chocolate cake, which caused Simone’s mouth to water.
“I’m eating that first,” she said.
“I have seasoned beef,” Callie said. “One of our own cows. Chips. Cheese. Salsa. Everything for nachos.”
Evelyn set the cake on the counter and looked at the other two. “Did I miss anything?”
“Simone just said it was about Micah,” Callie said, almost like an off-hand comment. Like the topic of Micah Walker could be thrown around for a minute or two and then they’d move on.
“That’s why you want me to match you with someone,” Evelyn said. “You found out Micah’s seeing Ophelia Montgomery.”
“How did you know?” Simone said.
“Oh, someone saw them at the steak house a couple of weeks ago.” Evelyn waved her hand like it was no big deal. But she was obviously still in the gossip circles around Three Rivers.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know I needed to,” Evelyn said. “You two are friends. I figured you knew.” She looked at Callie, who said noth
ing.
“He’s…I just need someone else too,” Simone said. “I don’t know how to meet men. Everyone I’ve gone out with in the past few years has come from right next door—literally.”
“What about one of your theater friends?” Callie asked. She arranged some chips on a plate and handed it to Simone. But she didn’t want nachos; she wanted cake. Still, she dressed up her chips with all the fixings and let Callie put the plate under the broiler while Evelyn cut the cake.
“Yeah, a theater friend,” Evelyn said.
“I’m not interested in any of them,” Simone said. “A lot of them are married or in relationships. And the ones that aren’t…I’m not interested in any of them.” She didn’t want to call them weird. She loved the little bit of singing and acting she did, and she loved the people in the company with her. But the men that were single…there were reasons for that.
Maybe there’s a reason you’re still single too, she thought, and the idea cut deeply. She felt like she was falling, and then she hit a huge, dark lake of water. With the air knocked out of her, she couldn’t breathe, and even when she did, she only got a lung full of water.
“There’s that masquerade ball coming up,” Evelyn suggested. “Part of the Valentine’s Day thing in town.”
“And do you really think there will be someone there?” Simone asked. “Looking for someone like me?”
“What does that mean?” Callie asked. “Someone like you?” She paused in her own assembly of her food to stare at Simone.
“Oh, come on,” Simone said, not amused. She bent to get her plate out of the oven. “I’m at least twenty pounds overweight.” Thirty, if she were being honest. “I’m not in my twenties, and I don’t have a real job.”
“You do too have a real job,” Evelyn said. “And any man who looks at you and only sees weight isn’t worth having anyway.” She stepped over to Simone, who had never felt so much like an ugly duckling as she did in that moment. “Now, stop it. What did Micah do to make you feel like this?”
Tears filled Simone’s eyes. “Nothing,” she whispered. “He was wonderful, and kind, and I’m the one that ruined things between us.”