Storm Warning (Broken Heartland)

by Quinn, Caisey

  “Well, here it is. Downtown,” his grandfather announced like they’d entered Times Square.

  “Jesus.” Hayden barely kept himself from letting out a few words he knew might get him backhanded by the old man. Hope’s Grove was the town that time forgot. Time must have downright hated it. Everything was faded. Stop signs—the two they had—storefront displays, all of it. He counted a hardware store, a grocery store, a gas station, a church, a bar, and a video store. For God’s sakes, have these people never heard of Netflix?

  “Used to be the Logans’ Dairy Farm,” Pops told him, pointing a bony finger at a huge empty field as they turned down a back road. “We went there a few times when you were younger. They went under last year.”

  Great. Even the cows were smart enough to get the hell out of this godforsaken place.

  How in the world was he supposed to entertain himself all summer? He glanced down at his phone only to see that he had zero service. No signal whatsoever. Big shocker. He’d bet the odds of his grandparents having Wi-Fi weren’t too great. And he knew plenty about betting.

  One thing was for sure. This summer was going to be pure hell.

  “IT’S not like I’m moving to the moon, EJ. Relax.” Lynlee Reed soothed her friend as she folded her last skimpy tank top and stuffed it into her suitcase. “There’s Facebook and Skype and Snapchat and a ton of other ways to keep in touch.”

  Ella Jane Mason sat at the end of the bed with tears stinging the backs of her eyes. “You might as well be. California is a million miles from here. It’s practically on another planet.” She stared down at her hands. Everything was changing. She hated change.

  First, her dad had moved out and her parents were in the middle of destroying each other in every way possible in the divorce. Her brother had received a full scholarship to OSU and had left for football camp last week. He’d be home on weekends but it wasn’t the same. Nothing would ever be the same. And now her best friend was moving to California because her dad’s job had closed the Oklahoma City office location and transferred him to Los Angeles.

  Lynlee huffed out a sigh. “Don’t be so dramatic. I’ll come back as much as I can. Mom said we’d visit Gram and Gramps before the end of summer, so I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Ella Jane forced a smile and nodded as she choked down the lump rising in her throat. The two girls lugged Lynlee’s suitcases down the stairs to where her parents were waiting. She tried to focus on each step through the moisture gathered in her eyes so she wouldn’t trip and break her neck.

  After the bags were loaded in the car, Lynlee turned to her and rolled her eyes. “God, you’re such a sap. Toughen up, chick. We’re not five years old anymore.”

  Ella Jane twisted a long strand of her blond hair between her fingers. “Y-yeah. I know. You’re right. It’s just…” Pulling in a lungful of air, she glanced at the now empty house where she’d spent summers learning to swim and gossiping about boys until all hours of the night. Where she’d finally confessed her lifelong crush on her brother’s best friend. “Lots of changes this summer.”

  Lynlee gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, some of those changes are good though. Like you’re finally in a C-cup and I’m off to hook up with hot California surfer dudes.”

  “I’m still a 34-B, thank you very much,” Ella Jane whispered, feeling the blush creep up her neck to her face.

  Lynlee had always been the daring one. The bold one who said whatever was on her mind. Ella Jane, not so much. She usually let her older brother Kyle or Lyn do the talking for her. Without them, she had no idea how she was going to survive the summer, much less her junior year of high school.

  Hope’s Grove was small. Everyone knew about her parents, and she was already dreading facing them since the news of her dad’s affair had hit. But facing them without her brother and her best friend would be her worst nightmare.

  After the girls had said their goodbyes and she’d watched her friend’s taillights fade down the drive, Ella Jane scuffed her boots along the winding dirt road that led her home.

  She was about halfway there, watching the sun sink low in the evening sky, when the unmistakable rumble of a pickup truck came barreling down the road behind her. She stepped aside to let it pass without looking back. But it didn’t pass. It slowed practically to a stop right next to her.

  She turned, wondering what the heck the driver’s deal was. There was more than enough room for him to go around. But the smiling face beneath the backwards trucker hat sent the words on the tip of her tongue swirling away with the dust the truck had riled up.

  She bit her lip and grinned. Warm brown eyes gleamed in her direction. “Hey there, Ellie May. Need a ride?”

  She rolled her eyes. Why Brantley Cooper couldn’t call her by her actual name was beyond her. But as long as he was talking to her, she really didn’t care much what he called her. He can call me ‘flower’ if he wants to.

  He was a year older than her and a year younger than her older brother, Kyle. Smack in the middle of their ages and grades in school and usually smack in the middle of their arguments. Coop kept the peace. Balanced them out perfectly.

  The three of them had met at the same time as kids but Coop and Kyle had become like brothers instantly. She’d always tagged along wherever they went. Kyle had whined about it when they were younger but Coop always made her feel welcome. He held doors open for her so she didn’t get left behind, made sure to invite her despite her brother’s protests, and lately he’d even stopped by and hung out even when Kyle wasn’t home. And this year, she’d be a junior and Coop would be a senior. With her big brother away at college, she couldn’t help but fantasize about what might happen if she and Coop spent time together alone.

  “Hey, Coop. Lynlee just left so I was just…” She glanced toward home. Kyle wasn’t back from football camp yet, and her mom was baking herself to death, trying to keep her mind off of everything.

  “Yeah, I heard the Wicked Witch was moving west. You up for some fishing? I have to drop my bike off at the house but we could swing by the lake after.”

  She should get home. She knew she should. Should order a pizza and convince her mom to take it easy for a night. Except…it was Coop. And in all her sixteen years, he was the one boy she’d never been able to say no to.

  “Yeah. Yeah I’m up for it.”

  THAT’S Kyle’s little sister, man. Remember, your best friend? The one who’d kick your ass if he knew what was running through your mind right now? Oh yeah. Him.

  But when Ella Jane Mason climbed into his truck, she wasn’t anyone’s little anything. Her cut-off shorts were just short enough for the tips of her pockets to peer out the bottom. And damn, those legs. Toned and tan and went on forever.

  He swallowed hard and took a quick swig of the Dr. Pepper in his drink holder. Sure it was warm as piss but at least it was wet. Oh God. Wet. Not a word he should be thinking about when the most beautiful girl in Hope’s Grove was riding shotgun.

  “You race today? I would’ve come and watched if I’d have known.” The windows were down since his piece of shit didn’t have a working air conditioner. EJ didn’t complain though. She just grabbed a faded John Deere hat from his dash and pulled it on over her hair. Backwards. Day-um. His mouth went instantly dry again.

  “Naw, just practice,” Coop told her, adjusting himself in his seat. “But I have a few races coming up. I don’t know if Kyle will be in town for you to tag along with, but you know you’re still welcome to come.”

  Something flashed in her eyes when he glanced over at her. Excitement, maybe? Was she glad that her brother might not be there to chaperone?

  Because if he was being honest with himself? He was sure excited about it. Way too excited for comfort.

  “You know I’ll come.” Ella Jane’s words stirred a part of him he knew he shouldn’t be thinking about.

  “Awesome,” he blurted out with a little more enthusiasm than he’d planned. “I mean…” He cleared his throat. �
�That’s cool. I have a race next Saturday over at Hillside.” Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he trained his eyes on the road he could’ve driven blind.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I get off work.”

  “Great.” The idea of having Ella Jane cheering him on from the pits at Hillside made him smile. A win there was a sure thing. He’d worked his way up on the local circuit, and there wasn’t a track in the state of Oklahoma he hadn’t dominated at. There were a couple sponsors courting him—nothing big yet, but still. Someone wanted to give him money to do something he loved because they believed in him. The same way the pretty little blonde next to him did. EJ and Kyle were Coop’s biggest fans. The two of them had been his unofficial pit crew since he’d started racing as a kid.

  He’d always be a farm boy, first and foremost, but if there was an opportunity to make something out of himself in motocross, he was going to try his damnedest to do it. Having EJ there in a tight little T-shirt with his name and number across the back was just the boost he needed. He made up his mind then and there. He’d impress the sponsors and her. He was determined now more than ever to win the race and the girl.

  “Promise I’ll keep my distance and not interfere with your groupies,” Ella Jane informed him as she popped open his glove box in search of gum the way she always did.

  He handed her the pack of Spearmint from his console. “Please do. I’ve got a reputation to uphold with the track bunnies.” He nodded, trying to convince himself that her keeping her distance was a good idea. The truth was he couldn’t give two shits about those other girls. He was too wrapped up thinking about the blonde within arm’s reach. He’d let Ella Jane ride on the handlebars of his bike if she wanted to.

  The barking dogs announcing his arrival at home greeted him. Ella Jane was out of the truck before he was, petting Roscoe and Blue, his two Australian Shepherds. When she kissed each of them on the nose and bent down to rub their bellies, he found himself oddly jealous of the old dogs.

  “I’ll unload the bike and grab the rods if you want to run inside and say hey to Mama,” he told her.

  She nodded and headed toward the house. As he watched her skip away, Roscoe and Blue close on her heels, he wondered exactly how mad Kyle would be if he actually made a move on his little sister. He was just about to talk himself out of it for the umpteenth time when she glanced over her shoulder as she was pulling open the screen door and offered him a small smile.

  Maybe it would be worth the ass kicking.

  THERE was something to be said for living in hiding—it sucked. It had been six days since her mom left for St. Tropez without her, and her father was shacked up with his assistant in the apartment he kept in the city.

  Cameron had given herself a manicure, a pedicure, facial and every other beauty treatment Sophie could find for her at the drugstore. To say that she was bored was an understatement.

  She decided it was time to rid herself of the tan lines she’d acquired this week while lying out by the one saving grace of her family’s home—the pool.

  “It’s beautiful here,” Cami said into her cell phone as she made her way across the patio. She tossed a stack of magazines down on the lounge chair she was planning on taking over for the rest of the afternoon. “The beaches are gorgeous,” she gushed, knowing she had to really sell it if she was going to convince her friends that she was actually on vacation.

  “I’m so jealous,” Raquel huffed through the phone. “Your mom should have totally let you take a friend. I have the hottest red bikini. Would have looked amazing in pics of me on the white sand.”

  “Totally.” Cami rolled her eyes as she agreed. Raquel managed to turn every situation around to be about her. Even hypothetical ones. “I’ve had quite a few guys check me out today and I’m just now heading out to the water.” She continued her charade as she kicked her flip-flops off and dipped her toe in the water. Not the salty ocean water her friend thought she was in front of, but the pool that was located only a couple blocks from Raquel’s house.

  “So things with Hayden are officially off?”

  “For now.” Cami shrugged as if her friend could see her. Thank God she couldn’t. “I mean, I’m sure when the summer’s over we’ll be back together. But for right now, we’re just doing our own thing.”

  “I didn’t actually think you’d go through with it. Hayden Prescott is kind of a big deal.”

  “Well, so am I,” Cami replied with the false confidence she feigned for her friends.

  “Oh, I know,” Raquel backtracked. “I just thought you might’ve changed your mind. You could’ve had a summer fling without telling him, you know. Aren’t you worried someone is going to snake him out from under you?”

  “Like who?” Cami fought back a laugh. She knew exactly who Raquel was talking about—herself. Raquel had been not so silently waiting in the wings, hoping that Cami and Hayden would part ways so that she could try and sink her hooks into him. And if Cami had told her “friend” about any of the flings she’d had behind Hayden’s back, she knew exactly who would be the first one to run give him all the juicy details.

  It was no secret that Raquel wanted Hayden. She’d even gone as far as to send him a couple suggestive texts. And one night when she’d gotten way too drunk at a party, she’d whispered in his ear all the things she’d do to him if she were his girlfriend. Because she was classy like that.

  Of course, Hayden told Cami all about it. She might have been okay with Hayden fooling around with other girls she didn’t know, but Raquel was out of the question and Hayden knew it.

  “I don’t know,” Raquel said evenly, playing it as cool as she could. “Anyone.”

  “I’m not worried one bit,” Cami answered. “Besides that, he’s out in some little Podunk town for the summer with his grandparents. Doubt anyone there is worth a second look.”

  “You’re probably right,” Raquel conceded. “If he was back home that might be a different story.”

  “Might be,” Cami replied. Raquel could think whatever she wanted. “I’m not going to worry about Hayden this summer. This summer is about me and the hot guy walking across the beach right now. I’ve got to go, Raquel. Talk later!” With that, Cami hung up the phone, letting Raquel think she had more important things to worry about. Which she did. Tan lines.

  She walked over to the small pool house, where the fresh towels were kept, and pulled her bikini top from around her neck. She had never been modest—she wasn’t raised to be—but she knew that Sophie was out running errands and the solitude of her private backyard retreat allowed her to walk out into the sunlight without worrying that anyone would see.

  With her shoulders back and her face turned up toward the warmth of the summer sun, her mind conjured images of the beach she was supposed to be on. Daydreaming, she made her way, towel in hand, toward the lounge chair that was calling her name.

  When her nearly naked body collided into something solid, she was pulled back to reality. He stood nearly a foot taller than her and the look of surprise in his sky blue eyes matched that of Cami’s.

  “Who are you?” she demanded, propping her free hand up on her hip. The fact that she was topless barely even crossed her mind. She was more concerned with the stranger standing in front of her wielding a pair of hedge clippers.

  Her eyes wandered from his hands up his strong forearms to the rippled muscles of his stomach peeking out from under the T-shirt he’d cut the sleeves off of.

  “What are you doing back here? How’d you get in?” She threw the questions at him while snapping her fingers in front of his face in an attempt to pull his eyes from her body.

  Once he finally closed his mouth, he shook his head, wiping off the awestruck look she was used to seeing on boys’ faces when she talked to them. She glared at him while he cleared his throat.

  Cami was the first to admit that she loved the attention members of the opposite sex gave her. In some way, it made up for the lack of it she received at home. She didn’t mind
the fact that he was staring at her, so it nearly blew her mind when he pulled the earbuds blasting music from his ears, placed the clippers on the ground, and turned his head.

  “Easy, girl,” he said, holding his hand up to block her in his peripheral. “I’m supposed to be here. Don’t be such a drama queen.”

  “Is that a fact?” she demanded, somewhat insulted that he was actually avoiding looking at her. She knew she looked good, despite the comment her mother had made about her weight earlier. And who the hell was he? Telling her calm down. He obviously didn’t know who she was. People didn’t talk to her like that.

  “Yes. It is a fact,” he told her as he reached out to grab the towel from her hand. His eyes found hers as he took a step toward her and her breathing stopped. She looked up into his gleaming eyes. A small voice in her mind cautioned her to be careful.

  She had no idea who he was or what he wanted from her, but some instinct she didn’t know she had told her that she was safe. She could feel the warmth radiating off his body against her skin as he wrapped the towel around her back. He pulled it closed, covering her chest. She contemplated reaching out and touching him, but his nearness had her frozen in place.

  “I’m Kyle Mason.” He stepped back after she took the towel with her own hands. “With Mason Landscaping. We’re scheduled to do lawn maintenance here on Sundays. I have a passcode for the gate.” He moved his hand up and took the bill of the ball cap he was wearing in his hand. As he moved it back enough to scratch the top of his head, Cami could see his blond hair shimmer in the sunlight. “I can come back another day if you want.”

  ”Don’t worry about it,” she snapped, shaking off his suggestion, not wanting to admit that it was nice to see someone other than Sophie for a change. Didn’t hurt matters that he was hot. “I’m just going to grab my top and then you can get to work.”

  She made her way over to the pool house and grabbed the pink bikini top she had left on the floor. A thought dawned on her as she made her way back into the sunlight and stood where Kyle could see her.