Chapter 4
Riley
Stacey hands me my coat as I wait in the foyer to say good night to her parents. A shoulder slams into me as Spencer rushes from the drawing room in a bluster of curses.
“Fuck, sorry, I—” he mutters.
He rips his coat from the hook and flies out the door. It bangs against the wall in his wake. The chilly air from outside swirls in over the threshold, bringing light flakey snow with it.
The dinner may have well been a standoff of sorts; nobody spoke unless spoken to. Now I get what Stacey was saying about her family being a lot. I’ve never met two people who could communicate so much without breathing a word. And none of their sentiments were loving, or even friendly.
“You ready?” Stacey says, hooking her arm through mine.
“Absolutely. I’m dead on my feet, if I’m honest.”
I truly am. It’s been a long day and the last hour alone felt like an entire week. But if it’s the price I have to pay to keep a roof over my broke-ass head, I’ll suffer through it. Maybe, with a little more observation, I’ll figure out why this family is as cold as ice.
Maybe.
“Spencer left his hat.” She groans, plucking it off the wall and shoving it onto my head.
A little bewildered, I slide it off and look it over, turning it in my hands. It . . . smells divine. Like aftershave, all woodsy and sharp.
“He can pick it up tomorrow before he takes off to his midway full of dirt and cow shit.” She leaves the house, me following behind, white cowboy hat still in my grip.
“Bullshite.” The word blurts out as I close the door behind us and walk cautiously for the car over the white, slippery ground.
With a chuckle, she turns back. “What?”
“Well, technically, since he’s a bull rider, it would be bull shite, not cow shite.”
“Ah, yeah, right.”
She rounds the car, and we open the doors and slide in as quick as humanly possible to escape the cold, falling snow. I secure the seat belt over my chest and click it in before twisting to place the hat on the back seat.
“I have a half day of classes in the afternoon tomorrow, and my morning will be catching up on study I’m behind on,” I say as we pull out of the Lockwoods’ impressive circular drive.
Stacey grips the wheel with both hands, and I can’t help but curl the fingers of my left hand around the edge of my seat, my other hand clinging to the door handle.
Like that would save me.
“Well, you will have the place to yourself. I have a full day of classes and then my shift at six. I’ll let Spencer know you’ll be home so he can collect his hat in the morning.”
“Sure.”
I let my gaze drift out the window, the snow-laden trees of the sprawling estates moving past as we drive along.
Twenty minutes later, Stacey pulls into the parking lot on campus, and we file out, rushing inside to keep the warmth. Cowboy hat in hand, I push through the door, and we shuck our coats. I swear Stace breathes a sigh of relief.
“Your parents are kind of intense,” I offer.
“You’re telling me. They’ve always been that way. Thanks again for coming tonight.”
“It’s not a problem. I hope your brother is okay. He seemed flustered when we were leaving.”
She huffs a laugh. “I’m sure he’s fine. My big brother doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to. Including his job, his degree, and whatever else our parents expect from us.”
I purse my lips, a hard question teetering on the tip of my tongue. When I don’t speak, Stacey flops onto the sofa and taps the remote for the flat-screen in our small living area. “Spit it out, Riles.”
With a tentative sigh, I round the sofa and sink into the cushions. “Can I ask you something a little intrusive?”
“You’re going to anyway.” She turns on her seat, tucking her legs up underneath her, as if bracing herself for whatever I’ll say next.
I mull over my choice of words before deciding on, “Why do you criticize your brother so much? I mean, he’s the only sibling you have.”
A forced smile pushes her lips up.
“He’s eight years older than me. Growing up, I looked up to him, you know.
Then in high school, he acted up. Did a lot of shit to piss off Mom and Dad.
Spoiled little rich boy shit. I guess the level of adoration and respect I had for him dwindled.
He hasn’t given any of us a reason to think anything different since. ”
“Ah, I see. It must be very lonely for both of you.”
Her head jerks back a little, face twitching with something like confusion before rendering understanding.
“Well thanks, Dr. Phil, think I’ll get to bed.”
She stands, switching the television off and leaving the remote on the arm of the sofa before walking to her room.
Geez, that went well.
Something hums in my bag by the door.
Oh, bollocks. Chloe.
I rush to the side table at the entry and grab up my bag. I have my phone out just as the incoming video call ends.
I tap the screen and call her straight back.
She picks up on the first ring. “Riles! Riles, you have to help me. Please.”
Her sweet face is flushed with color, tears lining her eyes.
“Baby, what happened?” I pad to the sofa and settle in.
My heart is in my throat. She’s so upset, and I’m so fecking far away.
“Tell our stupid brother to keep out of my love life,” she says with a groan.
Her love life?
Well, that snuck up on me.
“Chlo, you’re twelve, sweetheart, what are you talking about a love life for?”
She releases a heavy sigh. “Danny from form class. He asked me to the change-of-season dance, and Dec-head won’t let me go. He says the boys in my class are no good and I’m not to talk to any of them. And over his rotting carcass am I going anywhere near that lot.”
Oh, geez.
Danny, the guy she’s had a secret crush on since she was eight.
Dec-head. The term we lovingly—mostly—appointed the oldest of our brothers. Declan earned the title fair and square, but still, I should have nipped that little bad habit in the bud before it stuck.
Too late now, I guess.
“I told him if you were here, you’d let me go. So, he shouts back, ‘well, she ain’t here is she, and I said no.’ Riles, please talk to him, I can’t miss this. Pretty, pretty please?”
I smile at her, at the emotion and the fight she has. She’s so much like Mom. We both are. She was just a baby when our parents died, and we’ve spent every day together since then. Until now.
“Chlo, I’ll talk to him, okay? But you have to promise me you’ll be safe at this dance if you get to go. And you have to promise me that you will be mature about this if we can’t come to an agreement. Okay?”
She huffs a sad sound and dips her head. “Fine. How many more days til you come home?”
I chuckle. “You know this, baby. I’ll be back before Christmas. It’s only one year, then the rest of our lives are set up.”
“I know, I remember everything you planned. It’s just . . .”
“It’s what, Chlo?”
Her chin wobbles, and she flicks her gaze from the screen. “I-it’s so much harder than I thought it would be with you gone.”
Her sobs fill the quiet space around me, and I can’t hold back my own tears. “I know, kiddo, but Deccy will take care of you. I know he will.”
She rolls her eyes and swipes at the flow of tears the motion brings.
“Hey,” I say, leaning into the camera. “The time will pass so quick. Besides, you will be busy with school and Danny.” I wink at her.
She scoffs a strangled laugh.
“How’s Connor getting on with the animals by himself?”
“He found a backpacker to help. It’s going okay, I think. She sleeps in your room, Riles. It’s weird.”
“As long as you’re all alright, that’s all that matters, hey?”
“The animals miss you.”
“I bet. Tell me more about this backpacker? Where are they from?”
Chloe tells me all about the girl from Texas who is helping our brother with the farm in exchange for room and board.
My eyes grow heavy as she moves on to what our twin sisters, Elouise and Lizzy, have been up to.
Both seniors in high school now, they are so busy with their extracurriculars that I’m glad Declan is running things while I’m away.
Homesickness descends in waves, and I have to say goodbye before I have our littlest sister in tears again.
“Night, Riles. I miss you, and I love you so much.”
Her chin wobbles. My cue to go.
“Night, Chlo. Love you too, baby.”
She kisses her palm and presses it to the screen.
I return the gesture and tap the hang-up button.
Night, baby girl.
God, I miss my family something fierce.
The loud knock on the door startles me from my studies and I jump, sending the desk rocking. I snap a hand onto it, managing to grab my coffee mug before the lukewarm liquid spills over my notes.
It takes me a second to realize it’s probably Stacey’s brother, here for his hat. I rise from the chair, letting my stiff body clunk its way to upright as I call out, “Coming.”
It’s then I remember I’m in only my leggings and sports bra after a short stint at the campus gym early this morning to blow off some steam. To get my head in the game for a subject that I loathe. Economics.
I rush from my room, heading for the sofa where I left my sweater.
Messy bun in true disarray from worrying my hand through it over the math that is doing my head in, my vision is occluded with dark strands.
I slam into something hard.
Something that shouldn’t be there.
Something warm . . .
Woodsy scents infiltrate my senses as I stumble backward. I snap my focus up. “You couldn’t wait for me to answer the door?” The words are sharp.
Blue eyes and blonde hair over a playful half smile and angled jaw—
“Sorry. You said come in, so I . . . did?” Spencer runs a hand behind his neck. His playful expression falls, giving way to concern.
His gaze drops before he tugs it back to my face quickly and takes a full step back, eyes diverting to the kitchenette.
Oh, bollocks.
Right.
I wrap my arms around my body and lunge for the sofa before sliding my sweater around my shoulders.
“For your information, I called out coming. Not come in. But since you’ve barged your way in regardless.” I pad to the coffee table where the hat sits and pluck it up. “Here’s your cowboy hat.”
He’s turned around to face me.
I’m being rude.
In my defense, he startled me, walked in on me half dressed, and then that look on his face . . . There was no malice or ill intent in it. In fact, it was disarming. In an alarming kind of way.
Nope. Not going there.
Not with Stacey’s older brother, of all people.
“If that’s everything,” I say, extending the hat to the man currently lost to speechlessness.
I’m sure the feeling is unfamiliar to him.
He looks like the type who has women clawing to get a glance or a single word from him.
Not this woman.
“Ah, thanks,” he rasps, taking the hat by the brim. He lets it hang in his hand.
We suffer a moment of awkward silence before I tilt my chin up. “Well, I have study to get back to. See yourself out.”
He huffs a strained chuckle and nods. “Sure. See you ’round, Riley.”
I tamp the need to roll my eyes at his old western vernacular.
Clearing his throat, he turns for the door. I stand rooted to the spot. The man absolutely can see himself out.
His hand slides around the edge of the door as he pulls it closed.
God, I was an utter ass.
“Ye blithering eejit,” I mutter to myself. I’m not usually rude. I’m also not usually affected by people I’ve barely met.
As heavy boot-laden steps fade down the hall, I let out a groan. What the hell was that?
Nothing the dull torture of Economics 101 can’t cure.