Chapter Eighteen
I enter the barn in search of Carla with a receipt for the parts I picked up for the tractor this morning and see Matty Storm coming out of Caison’s office.
She doesn’t see me right away.
Her hat is pulled low, brim hiding her eyes, but I can tell something’s off immediately. Her shoulders are tight, jaw clenched, one hand pressed flat to her stomach. She’s breathing shallow, like she just finished sprinting.
“Hey,” I say as I approach.
She startles hard.
She jerks to a stop and spins toward me, eyes flashing before she schools her face into something cold.
“Geezus,” she snaps. “Don’t do that.”
“Sorry,” I say, holding up a grease-stained hand. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
She exhales through her nose, already turning away. “It’s fine.”
I blink. “You okay?”
“I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“I said, I’m good,” she repeats, sharper now. “I’m just looking for Caison.” Her voice is tight.
“Oh, uh …” I nod toward the open doors. “His truck’s outside, so he’s gotta be somewhere around here. I can call him for you,” I say, pulling my phone from my pocket.
She snorts. “Jeez, I hadn’t thought of that.” She raises the phone in her hand and waves it in the air. “Straight to voicemail.”
Okay. So, we’re doing this.
I ignore the sarcasm. “Means he’s somewhere on the ranch where reception is bad. Signal drops all the time out past the north ridge.”
“Great.”
“Want me to grab one of the ATVs? We can—”
“No, thanks.” She huffs the words like she’s ticked I even offered.
I hesitate, then say, “Did I do something to offend you?”
She stops short.
Slowly, she turns back to me.
“No,” she says flatly.
I hold her gaze. “You sure? Because I’ve got a little bit of experience with pissed-off women, and you’re kinda giving off that vibe.”
Her mouth curls. “I bet you do.”
That one lands. Harder than she probably meant it to. Or maybe exactly as hard.
I open my mouth to respond, but she beats me to it.
“Leave my sister alone.”
“What?”
“I said, leave her alone.” Her eyes are blazing now, cheeks flushed, breath uneven. “You had your fun with her. You don’t get to just—”
Fun with her?
“Whoa,” I say, genuinely lost. “Matty, I don’t—”
She suddenly bends forward.
Hard.
“Oh no,” she mutters.
Then she’s running.
She bolts toward the open barn doors, one hand clamped over her mouth, the other gripping her stomach. Instinct kicks in, and I take off, following her at a jog.
She barely makes it past the threshold before she’s on her knees, retching violently onto the dirt just outside the barn.
“Hey, hey,” I say, crouching beside her. “Easy.”
She doesn’t hear me.
Her whole body convulses as she vomits again and again, harsh and uncontrolled. Her hat slips off her head and tumbles to the ground beside her.
I reach for her hair without thinking, gathering the long blonde strands at the nape of her neck and holding them back so they don’t fall into her face.
“It’s okay,” I murmur, even though I have no idea if it is. “I’ve got you.”
She retches until there’s nothing left, and my chest aches as I watch her. I rub her back, slow and steady, feeling the sharp rise and fall of her breaths under my palm.
When she finally slumps back on her heels, trembling, I grab her hat and set it aside, then help her up carefully.
“Steady now,” I say quietly.
She lets me guide her to a bench just inside the barn, near the tack room. She sits, elbows on her knees, head hanging as she takes deep, shuddering breaths.
I don’t ask questions. I just move.
I jog to Caison’s office, grab a bottle of water from the cooler, twist the cap off, and hurry back.
Her hands are shaking when I pass it to her.
“Thanks,” she mutters, voice hoarse.
She takes a sip, winces, then swallows again.
After a few minutes, she looks up at me, eyes sharp again despite the paleness in her face.
“Don’t think waltzing back into town with a little girl, playing all sweet and reformed, is gonna fool anyone.”
I blink. “I’m not playing anything.”
She scoffs.
“I know I’m not sweet,” I continue. “And I’m damn sure not reformed. But I don’t know what I did to make you so mad that you’d throw up on my boots.”
That gets a weak, humorless huff.
“I didn’t throw up on you. And you didn’t do anything to me,” she says. “But anything done to one of my sisters is worse than doing something to me.”
My stomach tightens.
“What did I do to your sisters?”
She looks at me like I’m an idiot.
“Sister,” she corrects. “Shelby.”
My confusion deepens. “And what is it you think I did to Shelby?”
Her face drains of color.
She swallows hard.
Then her hand flies back to her stomach.
“Oh God—”
She barely makes it off the bench before she’s kneeling again, gagging violently. I’m right there, one hand on her back, the other steadying her shoulder as she loses the few sips of water she just swallowed and then begins to dry-heave.
“It’s okay,” I murmur. “Breathe.”
She coughs, wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, and leans back against the bench, exhausted.
“You and Shelby,” she mutters. “In the barn.”
That? Really?
“What?”
“And then you ignored her,” she continues weakly. “Like she was nothing.”
I shake my head, baffled. “I apologized for that.”
She glares at me. “For what?”
“For … the barn,” I say. “When I scared her. And she honestly paid me back when she nearly drowned me with the hose.”
She lets out a broken laugh. “No. Not that time.”
She looks at me again, eyes glassy.
“When you took advantage of her in this barn,” she says, “and then walked out like nothing happened.”
I feel like the floor just dropped out from under me.
“I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb,” she snaps weakly.
“I’m not!” My voice cracks. “I swear to you, I don’t—”
Then she dry-heaves again, doubling over.
Before I can say another word, hoofbeats thunder into the barnyard.
I look up just in time to see Caison ride in on Midnight, the big black horse snorting as he skids to a stop. Caison swings down in one smooth motion and rushes toward us.
“What happened?” he asks sharply, dropping to Matty’s side.
“She was looking for you,” I say. “Then she just … lost her lunch.”
Caison presses a hand to Matty’s back, murmuring softly to her, all worry and tenderness. He looks up at me. “Can you take Midnight?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
I grab the reins and lead the horse away, glancing back once as Caison helps Matty to her feet and guides her toward the house, arm firm around her waist, head bent close to hers.
They disappear inside.
I stand there longer than I should, Midnight shifting beside me, my mind replaying Matty’s words on a loop.
Barn.
Shelby.
Midnight bristles impatiently beside me.
“Women,” I whisper as I scratch his nose. “They’re all crazy.”
He snorts.
“You agree, huh?”
I lead him inside the barn and get him settled before returning to my search for Carla.
By the time evening settles in and the chores are done, my head is pounding.
I make my way back toward Caison’s office before heading to the house to pick up Ruby. The light is still on.
I knock once and step inside.
Caison looks up, tired but smiling.
“Matty okay?” I ask.
He leans back, rubs his face, then breaks into a wide grin. “Yeah. She’s fine. I took her over to my place, fed her some soda crackers and ginger ale, and left her napping.”
I nod. “She was in a bad way.”
He exhales. “She’s pregnant.”
The words land heavy.
“Oh,” I say. Then, “Wow. Congratulations, man.”
He chuckles softly. “Thanks.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since the night you arrived home.”
I drop into the seat across from him. “Well, I guess that explains the pharmacy stop,” I say. “And why you forgot I was waiting in the truck.”
He laughs. “Yep. She began to feel funny after a glass of wine with the girls and started doing the math. She freaked out and called me to go get a test.”
“You happy?”
His smile softens. “I really am. Just … stressed. She is too. Wedding was set for spring. She wanted to wear her mom’s dress. Can’t do that while she’s eight months pregnant.”
I nod, listening.
“And then there’s the house,” he continues. “Wasn’t supposed to be ready till summer. We planned to move in after the honeymoon. But now I want it done before the baby comes.”
He blows out a breath. “I’m freaking out. Just trying not to let her see it.”
I nod. “Trust me, life can throw some curveballs. But a baby? That’s the best kind.”
He smiles. “Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“Listen. Just … keep it to yourself for now. We haven’t told her family or my mom yet.”
“My lips are sealed,” I say. “Last thing I need is another reason for Matty Storm to hate me.”
He chuckles. “You’re definitely not her favorite person.”
I frown. “I don’t understand why.”
He hesitates. Then sighs.
“She’s protective of the girls,” he says. “She found out what happened between you and Shelby, and she’s having a hard time with it. I told her it was a long time ago and that it’s not really any of our business, but she’s a momma bear.”
My stomach drops.
“I did nothing to Shelby.”
He gives me a look. “Come on, man. You think drunkenly having your way with her little sister and then never speaking to her again is nothing?”
My breath leaves me in a rush. “What?”
Caison’s face is serious now. “She told Matty that the night of your graduation party, you had sex with her in the barn. Then you went back to the party and left her there.”
“No.” I shake my head. “No. That didn’t happen.”
“Can’t imagine Shelby would lie about something like that.”
My mind races as I think back on that night.
Nothing.
No memory. No flashes. Just empty space.
“I don’t remember much about that day other than getting into it with Pop after the ceremony,” I say. “He was pissed because I’d told him I wasn’t going to the University of Wyoming in the fall.”
It was a hell of a fight. Momma got upset. I almost canceled the party, but it was too late.
“Rick Morris brought a case of corn liquor he had stolen from his grandfather’s basement, and we sat out at the bonfire and got wasted,” I say. “Next thing I remember is waking up in the hammock on the back porch the next morning.”
“Well, somewhere between the bonfire and the hammock, you—”
“No.”
“I think maybe you need to talk to Shelby.” He sighs. “And we both need to brace ourselves because she’s gonna kill Matty, who will then want to kill me.”
My head is spinning, and suddenly, every interaction I’ve had with the Storm sisters starts to make a terrifying kind of sense.