Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I picked up a little yellow packet of fake sugar, tapping it on the table.
“Back,” she said as she sat down. “Anyway. Yes, we broke up, and no, I’m not too bent out of shape about it.”
“I’m surprised he made that long-ass road trip out from Montana with you, if things weren’t going well.”
She shuddered. “Way too long of a road trip. I’m glad I’m flying back.”
“You’re not driving back in his truck?”
“Well, that’s the other thing. He wanted to get out of Montana,” Lily explained. “He might be staying here for a while, even after I head back.”
Lily looked like she was holding something back now.
My sister was more spontaneous than me, but she was also a nice person—too nice—which was part of the reason I couldn’t understand why she was dating someone like Draven in the first place.
“Why do you look like you’re about to give me a death sentence?” I asked her.
“You know Mr. Marsden?”
I nodded. “Old man? He comes into the bar sometimes.”
“You remember his house? The run-down one at the corner of Ridge Road?”
“Of course. I love that old house.”
Lily bit the inside of her cheek. “Draven bought it. He’s going to fix it up.”
I dropped the packet of sweetener onto the table. “That house? That house has been on the market forever. If I saved up enough money from bartending, I said I was going to finally give Mr. Marsden a deal on fixing it up myself, in a couple of years.”
“You don’t like the barn?”
I leaned back, running a hand through my hair. “The barn? I love the barn, but being on Mom and Dad’s land isn’t exactly a forever-home prospect for me.”
“I never knew you were interested in Marsden’s old house.”
“I didn’t know fucking Draven was, either.”
“Well, it’s his, now.”
“Who the hell buys a house when they’re on vacation somewhere?”
Lily waved a hand through the air again, like that shouldn’t have even been a consideration. “Draven has family money. They buy and sell houses out in Montana like they’re trading cards. But I don’t think he wants to go back home right now.”
I looked out the big picture windows at the intersection of Laurel Ave and Second Street. I could see the outside of the Hard Spot from here. I could also see the candy shop I used to frequent as a kid, and the old computer parts store that had turned into a hair salon, and the Chinese restaurant that had once been a different Chinese restaurant.
I liked being friendly with everyone in town.
Knowing their names and caring about their lives.
And if some hotshot cowboy who thought he was a hardass was going to actually live here, in my town, on these streets I knew better than my own hands?
I was going to fuckin’ kill him.
“Lily, we used to tell each other things,” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me you were having problems with Draven before you came to town?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Because it’s embarrassing.”
“I don’t judge you.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I mean, you kind of do. Sometimes.”
“I don't judge you. I’m… envious of you. Traveling around the country, having such a high-impact job.”
She smiled softly. “You love being in Bestens, though. You love bartending, too.”
I let out a long sigh. “I know I do. But that doesn’t mean I judge you.”
“I know it’s old-fashioned, but I always thought I’d be married by 26,” she said. “It just seemed like a good number. I’m 27 now, and he’s 30, and… let’s just say marriage wasn’t really in the cards.”
I gave her a look, trying to hold back from rolling my eyes. “He’s not husband material. Don’t know what drew you to him in the first place.”
There was something hidden behind her eyes. Growing up, people had always said my eyes were blue like a pretty sky, and Lily’s were a little greyer.
Right now, her eyes just looked sad.
Like there was something she felt for Draven that she couldn’t say.
Fine.
If she couldn’t be open about it, then I’d make him tell me the truth.
I’d force it out of him.
Chapter 6
Draven
The back of the saddle was foreign, too fresh, not even close to broken in yet.
The curve of the leather pushed up against my thighs, an ache I slowly started to ignore as I took Ember out around the fresh path I’d finally carved out around the rim of the property.
It was different.
Tennessee wasn’t Montana.
Ember wasn’t Veil.
But the moment the steady clop of her hooves started to pick up, and the breeze could do more work along the ridge of my hat, everything began to settle into place.
The sky was hazy blue all around me, with thin, low clouds brushed over the atmosphere like a wash of white paint.
And I was riding again.
It had only been about ten days, all told, since I’d last been able to ride, but I’d needed it like a fucking cold glass of water on a burning hot day.