Chapter 12
12
JOHNNY
The inside of Rory’s car is impeccable. It’s clean and organized, with everything in a designated spot. Tiny pink garbage cans rest inside both front doors, and a thick bottle of hand sanitizer is nestled in the small storage slot below the dash.
It smells like vanilla and the cotton-candy-blue, tree-shaped car freshener swinging from the rear-view mirror. I don’t remember the last time I hung an air freshener in my truck. Too long ago, that’s for sure.
Aurora reaches across her body and clicks her seat belt into place before jamming the key into the ignition. The engine putters slightly before coming to life. I keep quiet and buckle my belt.
Movement at the front window of the house catches my eye, and I see Eliza peeking through the slats of the blinds before she notices I’m looking at her and the blinds slap shut again.
“How are you liking the new job?” I ask, opting out of telling Aurora that her boss was just watching us.
Aurora rolls down her window before shifting the car into reverse, and we move away from the house at a creeping pace. “It’s fine. The Steeles are nice people.”
“They are,” I agree, waving at Joker from where she roams in the open field behind the stable, watching us. She’s pissed that I locked her up outside instead of tucking her into the stable like usual, but she can take one for the team right now. “How long are you planning on working here?”
“As long as I need to.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s the only answer I’ve got right now.”
Turning onto the gravel road, she drives us through the ranch, past the construction crew packing up for the day, and out the open gate. It’s hot enough that the air ripples above the hood of the car, and the dust kicking up behind the tires remains stagnant in the air, lingering for miles as we drive. The inside of the car isn’t much better.
With a wave of my hand in front of the vents that should be blowing air-conditioned air by now, I feel nothing but heat against my palm.
“Does your AC work?” I ask, my brows knitted together as I start to fiddle with the climate-control knobs, turning it to full blast and down again.
“Sometimes,” she answers gruffly.
My eyes bulge. “Sometimes? In this heat?”
She straightens in her seat. “I don’t need a lecture from you, Johnny.”
“I wasn’t gonna lecture you, darlin’. Just wanna make sure you’re taken care of is all.”
Softening a bit, she rolls her pink lips before saying, “Thank you. I just haven’t had a chance to get it into the shop yet. It blew on the drive down here. Maybe it was a sign from the universe that I should have just turned around and stayed.”
“Nah. I don’t think so.”
“I haven’t exactly had much luck here since I arrived. Haven’t done what I set out to do either,” she grumbles beneath her breath.
“Did you have big plans, then?”
Her laugh is sarcastic. “Yeah. You could say that. ”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” I offer.
She releases a tight breath, shaking her head. “I brought this on myself.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to do it by yourself. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not that bad. And even if it is, I’m up for the challenge.”
“I heard that you ride bulls.”
I fold my hands in my lap and watch her with an easy stare, curious to see where she’s going with this. And I damn well like that she’s been listening to things about me. Maybe even asking. Either-or, it makes my confidence grow two sizes.
“Yeah, that’s right. Sometimes. It’s a hobby that drives my moms nutty,” I answer.
She tips her chin and flicks her blinker on before turning onto the road that leads right into town and down Main Street. “Well, getting to know me isn’t like riding a bull. I may attack like one, but there won’t be any glory in spending the allotted time with me without injuring yourself. Because you will get hurt, Johnny. Maybe not the same way you would getting tossed from a bull’s back, but it’ll hurt all the same.”
The warning is meant to be subtle but is still as obvious as if she had screamed it at me. It’s a real shame her warnings don’t matter much to me.
“It’s only fair that I make that decision for myself, though, right? And if I decide that it’s worth the pain, then that should be the end of discussion.”
“If you willingly sign yourself up to get hurt, you’re either stupid or reckless.”
“Do I get bonus points if I’m both?” I tease.
I’m rewarded with a slight smile. “No. You don’t.”
“Worth a shot.”
There’s a pause between us as she slows the car’s speed, following the limit sign at the corner of the road, and we turn off Main Street. The towering house she’s staying in grows larger in size the closer we get to it, and my gut tightens. Despite the groups of nice homes that we pass, I can’t drag my eyes from the total eyesore at the end of the block.
“The only person who knows why I’m here is Eliza,” she admits.
“She’s a good one to trust. I can see why you’d tell her.”
“And you want me to trust you.”
I nod. “I do.”
“Tell me something about you to make us even, then. Something nobody else knows.”
“Shit, that’s tough.” Running my palm over my mouth and jaw, I consider what to say. “I’ve always been an open book with everyone I know.”
“You have to have at least one thing. Nobody is that open.”
I chuckle, dropping my hand back to my lap. “Fair enough. Alright, when I was thirteen, I snuck onto Steele Ranch through a hole in the far-west fence and took one of the tractors for a joyride. Scared the shit out of a few cows and their calves before Brody found me and joined in. We stayed out ripping around the pasture until an hour before we knew Wade would be up, and then Brody smuggled me back out.”
“What?”
The horror in her tone has me barking a laugh. “Oh yeah. Brody was a shit disturber in his young adult years.”
A soft amusement fills her expression. “I can picture you driving around in a tractor and causing mayhem. I’d bet you did it often.”
“As often as possible. I still try and have fun. Maybe that’s why I find myself on a bucking monster’s back from time to time.”
“Have you ever hurt yourself riding a bull?” she asks, her teeth digging into her lip.
I keep my eyes trained on those straight white teeth, my belly growing hot. “A couple of times. Nothin’ serious.”
“Yet you still do it?”
“Sometimes a little pain reminds you of something you accomplished. A goal you met despite the hardships you faced along the way. I’ve got a body full of scars and bruises, Rory. I love each one of ’em.”
She falls silent again, so I add, “Does my admission pass inspection?”
With a fleeting glance, she meets my waiting eyes and nods. Some of the nerves in my stomach dissolve.
Her grip on the steering wheel tightens as we pull along the curb outside of her house, and the car comes to a gentle stop. After shifting into park, she drops her hand to the centre console, her long fingers decorated in a few rings that shimmer in the sunlight. Some are tucked above her knuckles, and a few are left just below them. All of the rings are silver, though. Without a single diamond in sight.
She taps a beat on the edge of the console and exhales, the weight of it staggering. “I found out the identity of my father when I was helping my mom organize the attic for a semi-annual garage sale her neighborhood always puts on. It was an accident. A massive one. I wasn’t looking for anything, and I certainly wasn’t interested in learning what I did. Everything, from piles upon piles of old photos and letters both unsent and returned, was inside of the box I found. There were years of time locked away inside of it. Stories I’d never heard.”
Surprise clamps down on my brain. I grapple for a decent reply, something helpful or sympathetic, but a stupid question stumbles out instead.
“And what you found led you here?”
She snorts. “More like shoved me here. I dropped the box of stuff in front of my mom, and she cracked like an egg, thirty years of secrets spilling like a runny yolk. She’s the one that told me to come here. Said I’d find my half-sister in Cherry Peak and she’d be able to tell me more and answer the questions that my mother either truly didn’t know or didn’t want to answer for me. ”
Before I can think twice about it, I reach for her hand on the console. She doesn’t yank it away.
Her skin is cold despite the heat, and as I wrap it beneath mine, I will it to warm. I ignore the rightness that follows the simple touch and focus on what she’s said instead.
“Have you found your sister?” I ask softly.
Her jaw tightens, back teeth grinding. “No. She’s long gone.”
“Who is it? I might be able to help. Maybe I know her.”
When our eyes meet again, the dimness in hers has me squeezing her hand. I don’t like it. Not at fucking all.
“Yeah, you do know her.”
My stomach sours. “Who, Rory?”
“Wanda Rose,” she says, her tone sharp. “It seems Lee Rose makes a habit of knocking up women and then disappearing from their lives.”
My breath escapes me in a surprised gasp that fills the car. I use the hand not tightening around hers to roll down my window and suck in a large breath of the muggy air.
“Fuck, darlin’.”
“Yeah, I am fucked. Royally fucked. Fucked worse than I’ve ever been fucked before.”
“You should take home the award for the most fucked in the history of fucking,” I agree.
Her frown twitches at the corners, a hint of a smile tugging at it. “Shut up.”
I sober a bit, my grin faltering. All jokes aside, she’s got to be torn up about this. Who wouldn’t be? This isn’t something that you learn about and move on from. Knowledge like this lingers forever.
“Are you okay?” I ask with a swipe of my thumb over the first bump of her knuckle.
Her throb strains with a swallow. “No. Not really.”
“Can I help?”
“I’ve never needed help before. ”
“It’s not a bad thing. Maybe you don’t need it, but it’s okay to want it.”
Staring out the window at the house beside us, she wets her lips with her tongue and flips her hand beneath mine before squeezing my fingers. It’s the quickest length of time someone has ever held my hand. One second, one breath, and then it’s gone, the touch a phantom in the wind. But the heat lingers like a brand.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Johnny,” she says, the sound of defeat heavy in her voice.
The seat belt clicks as she undoes it and makes a move to get out. I let her go, watching her push open the door and step out with my lips sealed shut and pulse racing. Wanting more and knowing that I can’t have it without risking sending her skittering off like a trembling mouse keeps me in my seat for a moment longer.
She steps onto the sidewalk and glances at me over her shoulder. Arms crossed beneath her chest, she lingers, waiting for me to get out of her car so she can go inside, most likely.
I swing my body out of the car and stretch my neck while softly shutting the door. Who knows if a slam would knock it clean off the hinges.
“Thank you,” she mutters.
Surprised at the words, I whip my head up to look at her and steady myself with the door. Spreading my fingers out on the top curve of it, I ignore the burn of the hot metal against my palms and flash her a soft smile.
“No need to thank me, darlin’. I meant my offer,” I say.
“I know.”
“And did you mean it? That you’ll see me tomorrow?”
Her expression shifts just enough for me to notice. A slyness that I haven’t seen before greets me, and goddamn it, I like it a whole lot.
“You do work tomorrow, don’t you? ”
I bark a laugh, my head dropping forward as I shake it. “Yeah, Rory. I work tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll see you. I suppose you’ll interrupt my lunch break again.”
“Only if you’ll let me in to join you. No cauliflower this time, though, right?”
She drops her arms from her chest and presses her palms to the curves of her hips before patting them once. It’s a fidget move, and I want to know if she’s doing it because I make her as nervous as she makes me.
I doubt it.
“No cauliflower,” she confirms.
“It’s a date, then.”
I throw the offer out and wait. Each second that ticks by without an answer is painful. The silence bites. But I don’t let myself take it back. It’s already out there.
And as she twists toward me, her expression open and honest, I know I made the right choice in asking. A brick to the back of my head couldn’t tear my attention from her when she speaks, voice low.
“We’ll see.”