Oh shit, was she trying to find a way to tell us something? Hell, they weren’t even supposed to be having sex yet. “Are you already talking about a second baby?” I was shocked that my sister, who’d never wanted to be a mom, was so eager to be a mother of two.
“Yeah, we don’t want to wait too long. I love having you two as sisters, but it would have been more fun had we all been closer in age.”
I nodded, totally agreeing with London, then turned back to removing the bacon from the grease. We were each three years apart, so we didn’t fight about typical girl stuff, like borrowing each other’s clothes, since we were never close to the same sizes while in school, and we never fought over boys, since we weren’t usually in the same schools. But we did fight over sister stuff, like being in each other’s space, or who got to watch what on television. Once, Dad had threatened to tape Holland and London together if they didn’t stop arguing over who was looking at whom for too long.
Truthfully, though, it would have been nice to double date, go to football games, or hang out with my sisters at school. At least I thought it would have been. I’d probably feel totally different if we’d have been close in age.
“Did you tell her?” London whispered to Holland while I was trying to consider age gaps in siblings.
“Tell me what?” I handed a giant plate of bacon to London to take to the table, then filled three bowls with grits.
I let out a sigh as I stared at the simplicity of the grits and bacon. Just over a week ago this never would have been our breakfast, it never would have been so simple. Once upon a time, not so long ago, like less than a month, we had a house full, with Asher and Marcus and usually Braden with us.
Tuning in to London and Holland, who were still whispering, I asked, “Tell me what?” I took my seat then dropped a dollop of butter into my bowl of grits and started crumbling some bacon on top of it.
“Paris, you really don’t feel anything for Asher?” Holland asked.
“He’s my best friend—or rather, he was. Of course I feel something for him. But he was willing to sacrifice almost thirty years of friendship all because of some misguided notion that he loves me.”
“Are you absolutely, positively sure you don’t feel anything for him, as in, being in love with him?” London’s eyes bore into me as if she were searching for some unannounced truth. But I wasn’t lying. I truly loved him, but as my best friend.
“I want more. I want to be wooed. I want love notes and flowers and poetry. I don’t think romance is too much to ask for, do you?”
“No. But have you ever really given him a chance? You two could take things slow?”
“Slow? They’ve taken twenty-nine years,” Holland added.
“What sort of boundaries? Asher wants more than I do. And how well would that work out if I realized before him that we were on a path of destruction, but he thought we were bound for happily ever after? No.” I shook my head, resigning myself to my decision. “I’m not in love with him. Anything that I do will be unfair to Asher. I’m not sure how many times I have to explain that to everyone.”
London shook her head, obviously disappointed in my answer.
“Well, then you’re not going to care that Asher left the bar with some blonde last night.”
Wow, it was as if she’d just exploded a bomb in the middle of my chest. I was mourning the loss of our friendship, and he was dicking around. “I wouldn’t care. I would feel vindicated. He claimed to have been in love with me since we were in middle school, and he is already picking up another woman? It just proves I was right.” Yeah, that was what it proved. “How do you know he took someone home last night?”
“Remember Cassie? She graduated a year before me. She sent me a text. For some reason, she thought you and Asher had gotten married, so when she saw him leave with someone who wasn’t you, she was worried and thought someone in the family should know.”
Fuck. It was hard to breathe. “I’m not feeling so well. Maybe I’m coming down with a cold from being in that freezer for so long. I’m going to go lie down.” My excuse was weak, but it was all I could think of. I just needed to get away from everyone at that moment.
“Wait.” London grabbed my hand, and I turned and met two sets of chocolate-brown eyes. They were identical to mine. “Do you want to talk about this?”
“What’s there to talk about? I’m fine. I just don’t feel well. And Asher can sleep with whomever he wants.” I pushed back my chair but froze when my eyes caught sight of a car pulling in front of the house. “Who drives a Ford Focus?”
“That’s Mom’s rental car.” Holland stood to confirm her answer.
“I’m leaving.” London pushed back her chair.
“No. You need to be here. We need to get through this and figure out what we’re going to do.” I tried to stay calm, torn between wanting to lay down and just sleep and wanting to piece my family back together. I was losing everyone . . . my daddy, Asher . . . I couldn’t lose anyone else. We needed to stay together.
“What do you mean, what we’re going to do? The woman suddenly reappears after more than twenty years and blames it all on Dad, how convenient. I’m sorry, but if Braden turned out to be an ass, you better believe I’d have his ass in court and would have Tera with me. I would never leave my daughter behind. And I definitely would not be accepting checks from him. We don’t need her in our lives. Don’t tell me you want her around.” London peered at me, waiting for an answer.
“Well . . .” I looked out the window and watched her climb out of her car. I was fidgeting, and I knew it. “I’d like to see if there’s any truth in what she’s saying. We all view things differently.” The doorbell rang, but no one moved to answer it.
“I don’t care one way or the other. I don’t remember her, and I don’t want to know her, so she can stay or go, makes no difference to me.” Holland returned to eating.
“Fine, I’ll answer the door.” I headed off. Rolling back my shoulders, I inhaled deeply, the smell of fresh-cooked bacon still heavy in the air.
“I’m getting Tera, and we’re going to my house. I’ll use the back door.” London headed off.
I twisted the large brass knob and stepped back as I opened the door. “Hi, Cora . . . Mom. Come in.” She reached up and placed a quick kiss on my cheek.
“Hi, darling. I missed you.” She walked in and glanced over at the kitchen. “Hello, Holland.”
“Hmm.” Holland gave her a mock salute and kept eating.
“London isn’t here? I thought I saw her through the window.”
“She went out the back, she needed to get home.”
“Oh. Sorry I missed her.”
I didn’t want to say anything, but that was the understatement of the year. “So, what brings you by?”
“Can’t a mom just come over and see her girls?” She headed toward the kitchen table and dropped her purse onto the counter.
“Yeah. I guess so. This is all just so new to me, and it’s a lot to get used to. But we will learn, no worries.”
Cora made herself comfortable at the table while Paris grabbed her a plate and dished out some food. Cora started eating before Paris had even sat back down. Holland looked like she wanted to say something, and I just watched in uncomfortable silence. We allowed everyone over, people never knocked on the door, why not her too?
Holland stopped eating. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, anything.” Cora sounded as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
“Where have you been? What have you been doing since you left us when I was three?”
“When I first left, I took a bus to Nashville. I waited tables and met some country singers. Nashville is beautiful, everyone has a dream of making it big and signing. A lot of the restaurants and bars had open-mic nights, and talent scouts would come in and just sit and listen. I always wondered if I was waiting on the next Randy Travis. But I always thought about you three girls.” Cora put her fork down long enough to pat my hand, as if to emphasize
her point. “From there, I headed out west. I stopped in Vegas and was a card dealer for a while. Did you know that men will toss you coins worth five and ten thousand dollars just for a lucky kiss? But it wasn’t for me. I wanted to be an actress, so after that, I spent some time in Los Angeles. But I wasn’t one to be tied down, so I didn’t stay there long. But you three girls were never far from my mind. I always wondered what you were up to.”
I looked at Holland, and she rolled her eyes. Clearly, she didn’t believe Cora, but I wanted to believe her. What mother wouldn’t be thinking about her children?
Asher
Did we at least shoot the horse that kicked me upside the head? ’Cause, seriously, I felt like my head was going to explode. “Fuuuccckkk.”
“Ah, you’re awake.”
I focused on trying to open one eye just a crack, but my eyes felt crusty. “Marcus?”
“Do I sound like Marcus?”
I racked my brain for what in the fuck Marcus sounded like, and after I managed to clear away the haze, I finally realized that, no, it didn’t sound like Marcus. “No?”
“Of course no, you idiot. Do you not remember anything from last night?”
I thought back.
Bar. Drinking. Blonde girl. Tequila.
“Ellie?”
“Do I sound like a fucking Ellie?”
“No?”
“Would you just open your damn eyes? It’s me, Reid. I’m Ellie’s brother. I brought both of your drunk asses home last night. Fuck. You two were exhausting. Anyway, here’s some water and aspirin. Drink up.”
I reached out, patting for the bottle.
“Open your damn eyes.”
“It hurts.”
“Yep, and you two deserve it. Fucking idiots. Breakfast is ready, or should I say lunch?”
“Lunch?”
“You really are a man of few words, aren’t you? Yeah, lunch. It’s almost noon. I hope you weren’t working today because, if you were, you’re late. I tried to wake you earlier, but I gave up after about thirty minutes.”
I leaned up and rested on one elbow and took the aspirin and water from him. “Thanks, Reid. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I’ll add it to my bill. I’m going to go try to wake the she-beast. Why don’t you get yourself up, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” I tried to give him the peace sign, but I wasn’t sure whether it was with one finger or two. And the way my luck was running, it was probably the wrong one sticking up. The last thing I needed to do was piss off the guy who rescued me.
I swallowed the aspirin and downed the bottle of water, wishing I could sleep for the rest of the day but knowing it was no use. After I was sure I wasn’t going to vomit, I hauled my hungover ass out of the bed I was in.
I looked like hell, but at least there was a brand-new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste waiting for me in the bathroom. I patted my hair down the best I could, then brushed my teeth twice to get rid of the grime coating them, and the rank taste in my mouth. I swore I could smell the Elbow Room leaking out my pores, and it sure as hell was imbedded in my clothes.
After giving myself a quick look over in the mirror and finally deciding this was the best I was going to get, I followed the noise to the kitchen. Reid and Ellie were sitting at the table. Ellie, who looked like I felt, was wearing sunglasses inside and clutching a mug to her chest.
“You two look like shit. Here, you can have these back now.” Reid set my phone and what I assumed was Ellie’s phone onto the table. “Next time you two decide to get drunk, leave your phones at home.”
Ellie let out a giggle.
“Ah, god no.”
“God yes. Look at your call logs; they are extensive. You’re going to have some serious explaining to do today.”
I scrolled through the dialed numbers: Paris . . . fifteen seconds, Paris, Paris for twenty minutes. Paris, Paris. “Holy shit. I called Paris five times.”
Ellie was still giggling.
“What’s so fucking funny?” I glared at her.
“I think it was my fault.”
“How was it your fault?”
“I think I convinced you to call her. We played Cyrano de Bergerac, and I was your wingman. I fed you all the lines to say.”
“We played what?”
“Cyrano. You know, he’s the one with all the words, so he hides in the bushes and feeds others the lines of what to say for him?”
“I know who Cyrano de Bergerac is, I just never imagined playing it. Please tell me that you remember what we said?” Because I had a voicemail from the ranch’s house number, and I was pretty sure I didn’t want to look at it.
Ellie wrinkled her nose and thought for a second. “No. I just remember you were shitty at repeating what I told you to say.”
Great. Ellie could have had me say anything. For all I knew, I cussed Paris out, or worse, made an even bigger ass of myself and drove a bigger wedge between us and confessed my love for her . . . again. I groaned and, knowing I couldn’t ignore it, I hit the transcript icon and read the message.
* * *
Asher, it’s Holland. Maleficent is looking distended. I think the insemination worked this time. When you get a chance, can you swing by? Need to know if I should increase her vitamins.
* * *
That was so much better than what I had expected to see, so I pulled up my texts.
* * *
Me: I’ll swing by today and check her out for you. It will be later, though, is that okay?
Holland: Thanks. Give me a heads up when you’re on your way and I’ll meet you at the stables.
Me: Will do.
Holland: Not to be nosey, but are you okay? I got a text this morning about you and a certain blonde.
Me: Oh god, don’t ask.
Holland: Believe me, I won’t. Just surprised.
Me: Not more than me.
Holland: Doubt that. Way to keep up your reputation, Doc.
* * *
Why the hell was Holland so angry? This had to be about more than just me getting drunk. Hell, it wasn’t that long ago I was driving her home from her own night of overindulgence. I turned and looked at Ellie, then shook my head. It couldn’t be. There was no way that Holland would think that me and Ellie…she knew me better than that. Fuck, she was fully aware that I was in love with her sister.
“Everything okay?” Ellie asked, clearly concerned that her little game had made things worse for me. “Paris pissed?”
“Everything’s fine. It was for work. It was her younger sister—”
Reid let out a groan.
“She asked if I could swing by and check on a horse. I guess I’ll find out how pissed Paris is when I get there.”
“Can I go with you? Please? I need to get out of here, and if I’m going to volunteer with you, then I might as well start now, right?”
I thought about what Ellie had asked and seriously doubted this being such a good idea but then halted. Maybe it was exactly what Holland, and more importantly, Paris, needed. If they had heard about Ellie, then they needed to meet Ellie and see that there was nothing between us.
“What?” Reid interrupted.
“Asher and I talked about this yesterday. I’m going to volunteer as his vet tech.”
Reid arched a brow. “And you two obviously made great decisions last night.”
I smiled at Reid’s candor. He sounded like London or Marcus when they were talking to Paris and me when we were younger. “We talked about it before we got drunk, thank you very much. I’ve been dying to do something. Besides, it isn’t as if I need the money.”
“I’m going to run home and get changed.” I slid my phone to Ellie. “Here, put in your number, and I’ll text you when I’m ready. I can swing by and get you.” I waited for her to enter her number and hand me my phone back. “Thanks for everything, Reid, I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime. You need a ride to go get your truck?”
“Nah, my brother should be home. I’ll have him take me. Y
ou’ve done enough. If I can do anything to repay you, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Go. You rescued me the other night with Holland. I consider us even. By the way, how do you put up with her?”
I wasn’t as fast as I had hoped, and it was almost four o’clock by the time I picked up Ellie and we were pulling down the drive and around the side to the Iron Horse Stables. Ellie let out a low whistle when she saw it. “Impressive.”
“It’s like a fairytale. At least that’s what Paris says. If you only knew the number of times she made me pretend to be Prince Charming and rescue her, whether she was Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or some other princess I can’t think of.” Paris was thirteen when her dad decided to build the new stable and replace the old barn. Thinking back, it probably wasn’t the best idea to have a ten, thirteen, and sixteen-year-old offering input. It was the one area that had stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the farm with archways, wainscot walls, and a gabled roof.
“Did she have to twist your arm to get you to play along?” Ellie winked.
“Shut up.”
“So, tell me about their stables.”
“Well, the stables started out as a hobby for them, but Holland—she’s the youngest of the three sisters—runs them. She teaches Western riding.”
“Holland, as in the bane of my brother’s existence, right?”
“Yep, one and the same. Anyway, they usually have ten to twelve quarter horses at any given time. Oh, just a heads up, the horses all have strange names. Maybe not so strange when you think about the whole fairytale aspect. But it is sort of funny. London, she’s the oldest—”
“Wait. London? So, there’s London, Holland, and Paris?”
“Yeah.” I let out a short laugh. “Their mom wanted to see the world, so she gave the girls names of foreign places. London is married, and she and her husband just had their first baby. She is totally opposite. She likes being right here, so she named her daughter Tera.”
“I don’t get it.”
Slow Burn: Iron Horse Series Page 7