Corey had remained quiet, other than to ask questions about the irrigation we worked on. I’d specifically picked him to ride out with me for that reason. As the sun tipped toward evening, we finished up and headed back toward the barn. The low thud of the horses’ hooves on the ground and an occasional squawk of a bird were the only sounds around us. I hadn’t heard the rustle of wildlife in days.
Until Corey decided he’d been quiet long enough. “Ain’t none of my business,” he started without looking at me.
My chest expanded as I took in a deep breath. “Probably not.”
“That limo, and what it brought with it, what’s bothering you?”
I could have lied. I could have told him I didn’t want to talk about it. Yet something told me Corey wasn’t asking to gossip or share with the other guys. So, I nodded.
“She mean something to you?”
I didn’t realize he’d even been around when Randi and her boyfriend had appeared on Jack’s doorstep. Tommy was the only one I saw, but Corey had been with me since he pulled in this morning. And I knew he and Tommy didn’t talk outside of work.
“Used to.”
His head bobbed in my periphery. Corey was a soft-spoken man. Kept to himself. I believed that was due to the reasons he was in Mason Belle and what he was trying to accomplish. He wasn’t here to make friends. It was all about his wife and daughter—that was it. “Who is she?”
“Jack’s daughter.” If it had been anyone else, they would have given up with my clipped answers.
“I didn’t realize he had two. I thought Sarah was it.”
I scoffed. “Might as well be.”
“She stayin’ long?”
I wished I had an answer to that question for my own sanity. “Knowing her, not likely. Not really sure why she came to begin with.”
He didn’t say anything for a long time, and when he finally spoke again, there was emotion in his voice I couldn’t identify. “You’re a good man, Austin. I don’t pretend to know what she did or why she left. But I’m guessin’ if she meant something to you, she’s pretty special.”
I clenched my jaw and ground my teeth together. Corey wasn’t the person to lash out at. He didn’t know our history. He didn’t know any of the history in Mason Belle. Although, I’d bet if he were to make a trip into town, he’d get an earful.
“People make mistakes. I’m livin’ proof of that, Austin.” He was right, but that didn’t change anything for me. “Lovin’ them means findin’ a way to forgive ’em.”
“Forgiving and forgetting are two different things, Corey.”
“Don’t sound to me like you’ve done either.”
My nostrils flared as I kept my temper under control. Corey didn’t wait for a response. The farmhouse and barn were in sight, and with a tap of his heels into his horse’s haunches, the animal picked up the pace, leaving Nugget and me behind. I didn’t chase after him. In fact, I pulled back on the reins to slow the palomino beneath me.
Just as I had hoped, by the time I got back to the barn, the other guys had left. Alone in the barn, I unsaddled Nugget and brushed him out. When I glanced at my watch, it neared five o’clock. I’d tried to time my day to avoid Randi. She wasn’t up at the crack of dawn, and I made myself scarce around the property at the first sign of life in the house until I was certain she’d be heading back from the hospital by the time I got up there.
I closed the barn door behind me and glanced at the house. Not seeing anyone there or a car out front, I hopped in my truck. With a quick shower, a layer of baby powder on my sides that were indeed raw, and a fresh set of clothes, I took off to the hospital. It wasn’t exactly close, which made all of this even more difficult.
Jack had been airlifted to the nearest facility after I’d found him and gotten close enough to the house to get a signal on my cell. It wasn’t quite in Laredo, though it might as well have been. Thankfully, it was outside the city limits, and therefore, not nestled in the heart of traffic. A couple of miles farther and it would have added another half an hour to the already thirty-minute drive.
As I made the trek, I wondered what kind of toll this was taking on Sarah. I hadn’t had the time to check on her since it had all happened. She had Charlie. Charlie had my dad’s backing at the farm. I was Jack’s only line of defense at Cross Acres. With three kids who adored their papa, I couldn’t imagine how her heart broke. Add to it the physical strain of chasing that horde around, and it would quickly take its toll. Sarah was a strong woman, but everyone had a breaking point. And her daddy was the apple of her eye—she loved that man. No one, not even an adult, ever wants to be orphaned. If she lost Jack, that was precisely what she’d become. I doubted she’d recover.
By the time I arrived at the hospital, it was a little after six, leaving me about two hours with Jack to myself. The parking lot was relatively empty. I didn’t see Sarah’s SUV or Charlie’s truck. And thankfully, there wasn’t a limo in sight. Thinking about Randi having the audacity to traipse through town in that showboat did nothing other than irritate me.
“Good evening, Mr. Burin,” the receptionist greeted. That was the great thing about small towns. It didn’t take long for the locals to learn your name.
I tipped my head and gave her a bit of a smile without saying anything. She was young and cute, and there was no need for me to encourage anything beyond being polite. A few strides later and I was in the elevator, on my way to the third floor. Jack’s door was down the hall on the right past the nurses’ station.
Rapping my knuckles on the door didn’t get a response from the other side. I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief when I realized Jack was alone. He was also asleep. That was fine with me. I was perfectly happy to take a seat next to his bed and hang out. I hadn’t ever been hospitalized; although, if I ever were, I thought it would be awful to wake up and not have anyone there. I couldn’t stay all night—they wouldn’t let me—but I could put some time in. Jack was family, and not just because my brother was married to his daughter. I’d known the man my entire life. He was close to my parents. My connection to him ran deeper than Randi or Sarah. I had worked day in and day out with him for years. I’d been around for every significant event in his life since the day I was born. It just bonded people.
He didn’t look good, although I guessed that was relative. Jack appeared a helluva lot better than he had lying with his nose planted in a cow pasture. However, his face remained ashen. Even his lips were nearly white, and they were so severely chapped that I wondered how they hadn’t cracked and bled. His color wasn’t the worst part, though. It was the wires, the machines he was connected to. The bandages, the bruises.
I sucked in a fast, deep breath, trying to calm my heart. Regardless of what had happened with his wife and then later with Randi, Jack was a good man. He believed in God, treated people right, and worked hard. Seeing him so broken in that bed could have only been worse had it been my own father. Leaning forward, I scooted the chair I’d sat in so I could hold his hand. I didn’t care if it wasn’t manly. There were times I still felt like a child, and this was one of my childhood mentors. I carefully wrapped my fingers around his and tucked them into his palm, making sure to avoid the IV. And then, I dropped my head to the mattress and prayed.
When I finally sat up, I found two sets of eyes concentrated on me. She was like a damned ninja. She was also the last person I cared to see.
Randi’s chest deflated, and her shoulders slumped when our sights met. “What are you doing here?” There was no accusation in her tone, only confusion.
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response.” Yet, I didn’t move. I held her attention with her father’s hand in mine.
Her boyfriend shifted awkwardly next to her. I didn’t know him, but he didn’t seem to be the type to get unnerved around strangers, which made me wonder what exactly he knew about me. His movement caught my attention, and I dropped her stare for his.
“You want some coffee, man?” He pointed his thum
b over his shoulder. “I could go get us all some.”
I didn’t have a clue how to answer that. There was no way in hell he should leave his girlfriend alone with me. This was the same man who’d asked me to give her a break last night. Now he trusted me in the same room with her without him around. Things must be done way different up north than they were in the South.
“Nah. I’m good.” I could use a cup of coffee. Desperately. I did not, however, need any time alone with the woman at his side. “Thanks.”
“Why are you here, Austin?” It was like she was a CD stuck on repeat and someone needed to nudge her to get her to move on.
I let go of Jack’s hand and leaned back. “Checking on Jack.”
“How long have you been here?” Neither she nor Easy-E moved from the spot they’d stood. It wasn’t like I had leprosy. They weren’t going to catch anything sitting near me, yet they kept their distance.
No part of me felt as if I owed her any explanation nor that she deserved one. Yet for whatever reason, I answered her, although there wasn’t a hint of warmth in my tone. “Not long. I came after I left Cross Acres. I assumed you’d be on your way back by the time I got here.” I could only assume by the look on her face that my expression was just as cold as my voice.
“Sarah and I are taking shifts. I didn’t get here until lunch. She’s got mornings after she drops off the girls.”
The girls. Unless she’d met my nieces this morning, she had no right to present any type of familiarity to them.
“Hmm.” It was all I could muster without being snippy or rude.
Randi was uncomfortable. I doubted the guy at her side even realized it. If he had, certainly he would have shielded her from it. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and my sight drifted from her chin-length cut down her slender neck to the teal, silk tank top hanging from her shoulders. It did nothing to flatter her, even if it looked like it cost a fortune. She was too skinny, and it only accentuated her bony shoulders. The black slacks didn’t do anything, either. Add the black-patent leather heels, and her legs looked like pencils attached to her waist. Oddly, she was exactly what I would have expected him to have on his arm, and they were the picture of society—high society.
“Has he been awake?”
“Not since I’ve been here. Not today, I mean.” I shouldn’t care, but I asked anyhow. “You talked to him?”
Instantly, her attention met the floor, and the dress-shirt-covered arm slid around her waist the way it had yesterday. I couldn’t bring myself to attach it to the man moving it. In my mind, that appendage needed to stay an inanimate object to prevent me from ripping it from the socket. Randi’s hair moved with the shake of her head. That was a demon I didn’t have any desire to witness her facing.
I huffed out through my nose, and a snide smirk rose on one side of my mouth. “Good luck with that, Randi.”
“Miranda,” GQ corrected me.
I got to my feet and made a mental note to visit in the morning when Sarah was on duty. “Whatever you choose to call her. You won’t be able to protect her from that fall.”
She turned into his side without lifting her face. The shake of her shoulders indicated her emotional state. If I’d actually seen the tears fall, it would have shredded me. Since she had spared me that visual, my heart hardened, and a chill filled my chest.
“No boyfriend can fix it. She’s going to have to face it on her own. And crying on your shoulder won’t change that.” I had to leave before this got out of hand. The last thing I needed was to be banned from visiting.
McDreamy opened his mouth and simultaneously took a deep breath, expanding his chest. Clearly, Randi felt it because she pulled back as he started speaking. “I’m not—”
She caught his attention, but I couldn’t see her expression, so I didn’t witness the warning she’d issued. Whatever it was had halted him mid-sentence. Her hand on his pecs, the distance between her face and his—I’d been in his shoes more times than I could count. I couldn’t watch it with another man.
“If Jack wakes up, let him know I stopped by, and the ranch is in good hands. I’ll come back another time when Sarah’s here.”
And like our meeting the day before, she didn’t step up or speak out. Her gaze never left him. I’d been that white knight when neither of us knew what it meant—her armor, her shield. Now, every encounter with her was like another slap in the face. Each time I saw Randi go to him and him step up, I wanted to throw him on the ground and beat the ever-loving horseshit out of him right before I demanded answers from her. Neither would solve anything.
So again, I stepped around the two of them and walked out.
5
Austin
Past
“Austin, son, don’t forget Miranda’s present,” my mother called out to me when I was halfway up the Adams’ front steps.
It wasn’t like she couldn’t grab it from the back seat, but I knew better than to make that statement with my father rounding the bed of the truck. He’d backhand me into next week for sassin’ my mom.
“Yes, ma’am.” My shoulders slumped as I gave in and went to retrieve the bag.
Staring at the mounds of pink tissue that spilled out of the top, and the sparkly polka dots on the paper, I groaned as I took hold of the strings. Sure, Randi was a girl, but there was enough pink on this bag to make Pepto puke. And I wasn’t terribly interested in being seen carrying it into my best friend’s birthday party. It was bad enough my mom made me get her a doll that she would never play with. I ran as fast as I could back up the steps and into the house to find the first place I could to dump the stupid thing.
Luckily, the gift table was right inside the front door. I promptly left the offending bag with all the others as if I might somehow be contaminated with cooties if I didn’t drop it fast enough. My feet carried me as quickly as possible through the house to find my friends out back. Rounding a corner to my destination, I ran smack-dab into an Adams wall. Mr. Adams to be exact. “Oomph.” I was on my rear end before I realized what’d hit me.
Randi’s dad extended his hand to help me up. He’d always scared me—he was gigantic and hardly ever talked—today, he terrified me.
“Slow down, Austin. You ain’t gonna miss out on nothin’.” The words weren’t unusual. It was the look in his eyes and the fact that there wasn’t a shred of happiness on his face or in his voice.
I searched for my parents, praying they were close by and wouldn’t let him spank me. Not finding them, I returned my gaze to the brooding giant. “Yes, sir.”
He didn’t say anything else, just stepped aside and let me pass. I straightened my shoulders and eased by him as casually as I could. I didn’t let out the breath I held until I heard the screen door slam behind me.
It was a circus beyond the kitchen. I’d only seen stuff like this at the fair, and I wondered how on earth Randi had gotten her parents to spring for rides and bouncy houses that would have all had to be brought in from another town. Mason Belle didn’t have things like this. Scanning the property, I searched for my best friend amongst every kid in the entire county. Mrs. Adams always went all out, but this was over the top, even for her.
Near the white tent, where most of the parents hung out, I finally found Randi swinging in circles, hand in hand with Charity. Her mama was going to be ticked when she saw Randi’s hair and dress. At one point, she’d had a fancy, curled ponytail on top of her head. Now, it was loose and hanging near her neck in a tousled mess. There was no way Mrs. Adams would ever be able to get the dirt stains off the bottom of the white lace. I shook my head and chuckled to myself. I’d known Randi my entire life. Surely her mama knew her better. No one in their right mind would ever give that girl a white dress to play outside when she could have ruined it in Sunday school.
I hopped off the porch, my gangly legs strolling across the grass toward the birthday girl. A couple of people grabbed me along the way, and I had to be polite not knowing where my own mom was in the crowd. When I
finally had Randi’s attention, her face lit up like a neon sign, except it didn’t blink. It continued to glow.
She stopped short and dropped Charity’s hands, nearly sending the other girl to the ground with the loss of support. I didn’t hear what Charity yelled when she stumbled. All I saw was the flush of Randi’s cheeks from being in the sun and her wild hair blowing with the gentle breeze. I continued moving toward the two, and Randi left her friend to run to me. In true Randi fashion, she threw her arms around my neck and squeezed. She was the only girl who hugged me other than my mom. Even at ten years old, I was aware that she didn’t show anyone else the same affection—well, other than her girlfriends.
Every time she did it, my heart sped up a little, and my chest felt bigger. I was tall and scrawny, so anything that made me feel like I could conquer the world was something special, even if I didn’t understand it.
She pulled back to look me in the eyes, although she didn’t let go of my neck. I felt awkward holding onto her waist, so I dropped my hands to my sides and grinned at her like a possum eating persimmons. “You came!”
I laughed and shook my head. “Of course.”
Randi released her hold only to take my hand in hers. “Did you see the Ferris wheel?” Even if her excitement hadn’t been painted across her face, it was evident in her tone.
The ride was hard not to notice. It towered above everything else in sight. Not that it was huge, because it wasn’t. There were only ten carts on it. Still, Miranda Adams was the only girl I’d ever known who had a Ferris wheel at a party. “Yeah. Have you been on it?”
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