CHAPTER 17
Billie
I didn’t know what to expect after that interaction but it wasn’t Brad showing up at my house that night with a bottle of whiskey and a smirk. I welcomed him in, hoping the guys wouldn’t see and come running to make me look stupid. Turtle bounced up and down at our feet, demanding attention and Brad dropped to his knees to give it to him.
“Who’s this little guy?” Brad looked up at me and smiled. “You finally got a dog, huh?”
Unexpected tears filled my eyes that I turned away to hide but Brad had already seen them. He stood up and wrapped me in a hug while I groaned. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around someone who knew Mom and Dad well enough to know I couldn’t have a dog because Mom was allergic.”
He turned me around so he could fully embrace me and rested his chin on top of my head. “Are you okay? I was shocked when that big fucker opened the front door this morning. I’d heard about your parents but I just expected to find you here, still plugging away.”
I sucked in a shaky breath. “There was so much debt…I couldn’t pay it all off and the bank took the ranch from me and practically gave it to them. It was mine one day and theirs the next.”
“Shit.” Brad had lived in the carriage house when he worked the ranch so he had no problem leading me to the living room. He pulled me down next to him on the couch and wiped my cheeks as more tears streaked down them. “I’m so sorry, Billie. I know how much this place meant to you.”
I blew out a frustrated breath and shrugged. A sense of shame hit me as I said my next words. “I hate them. They took everything.”
Brad nodded. “I kind of got the impression the guy in the parking lot today felt a sense of ownership over you, too.”
My body heated with more shame. I hated that it suddenly felt wrong to talk about them with Brad. I didn’t owe them anything, yet I didn’t want to insult them in front of him. “I don’t know what that was. I think he was just being protective, maybe.”
“Is there something going on there?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Is there something going with anyone else?”
I looked up at him and shook my head. “No.”
“Good to know.” His smile was slow as his eyes searched my face. “How about we drink to old times?”
I forced a smile and nodded. “If we’re going to truly drink to old times we need to get Eve here. She was always here with us.”
“Is she still around? I thought she moved off for school?”
I stood up to find my phone, grateful I wasn’t nearly in his lap anymore. “Sheriff Michaels got sick and she moved back here about a year ago to help him.”
“Let’s get her over here, then. It sounds like both of you could use a drink.” Brad went to the kitchen and I heard him opening and closing cabinets while I dialed Eve. “You rearranged everything! I can’t find the glasses!”
Eve answered after a few rings, sounding out of breath and strange. When I asked her if she wanted to come over to have a few drinks with me and Brad, she was oddly eager. “I’ll be there in ten minutes!”
I stared at the phone after she hung up and shrugged. Maybe she was sick of her grandpa and just needed to get out. I joined Brad in the kitchen and pointed him to the correct cabinet while I got out a few candles and lit them.
“Setting the mood?” He winked at me and I honestly tried to feel something in response to it but there was nothing.
“We’re old enough to drink together now so I figure we should do it right. I’m going to turn some music on, too.” After doing just that I took Turtle out for a walk and while we were outside waiting on him to do his business, Eve pulled up.
Her long black hair hung in a straight wave down her back and her normally pale skin was bright red as she rushed across the yard to greet me and Turtle. Her eyes were so pale they were almost alarming but right then, they were red-rimmed and a little wild. She went to her knees in front of Turtle and immediately hugged him to her chest while looking up at me. “You got a dog!”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “Have you used the watermelon lube yet?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t thought twice about it. “I’m assuming you did. Was it not good? Margaret’s lubes normally taste so good.”
“Throw it out, Billie. For the love of god, don’t use it.” She shuddered. “I just met the newest members of the fire department, who also happen to be my neighbors. Want to know how I met them? I had to call the emergency line because Margaret’s lube wasn’t lube at all. It’s glue. It’s glue, Billie.”
My mouth dropped open. “No.”
She nodded and wiped a stray tear. “My neighbors just saw more of me than anyone in the world ever has. I can never face them again. I think I have to kidnap Grandpa and leave town.”
I sank to my knees in front of her. “What…What did you use the lube on, Eve?”
“A new toy. I couldn’t get it out, Billie.” She ducked her head and let out what I worried was a sob until I saw her shoulders shaking. “I am mortified! I’m going to kill Margaret!”
I snorted and grabbed her shoulders as we both burst into a laughing fit. “I’m so glad you’re laughing right now.”
“What are you two giggling about?” Brad walked out on the porch with three glasses in his hands.
“Nothing!” Eve shot me a look. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Still keeping secrets, I see. I never was allowed in on all the good stuff.” Brad sank into the rocker and held out our drinks for us as we sat with him. “Maybe tonight’s the night I can get a few of them.”
To get the pressure off Eve I took my glass of whiskey, threw it back, and coughed once before I was able to speak again. “Well. One of my secrets was that I mowed the mailbox over that time Dad blamed Jim.”
Eve gasped. “Are you serious? You never told me that!”
“I never told anyone. Dad ripped Jim up one side and down the other. I wasn’t going to tell him I was a liar and he had to go apologize to Jim.” I shuddered. “He would’ve murdered me for making him look stupid.”
Brad grinned at the memory and nodded. “Yeah. He would’ve.”
“One of my secrets was that I had a huge thing for Billie’s dad.” Eve threw back her drink and grimaced. “God, that burns.”
I let out a horrified scream. “No, you didn’t! Oh, my god! No! Eve!”
She laughed and nodded. “Yeah. I’ve always had a thing for older men, I guess. I used to journal about being your stepmom one day.”
Brad let out a bark of laughter as I screamed again. “I’m getting the bottle.”
“Eve! I’m never going to be able to look at you the same way again.” I shook my head and held Turtle as he climbed into my lap. “You nut.”
She waggled her eyebrows at me, back to her usual self. “Respect your almost stepmother.”
Brad came back with the bottle, still laughing. “That is not something I expected to hear tonight.”
Eve nodded at me. “Well, Billie? Who was your crush back then?”
Brad cast a long look at me and smiled. “This I’m dying to hear.”
I took a swig straight from the bottle and groaned. “You already know!”
“Say it anyway.” With a light shrug, Brad sent me a knowing look. “Maybe a guy needs an ego boost every so often.”
Rolling my eyes, I covered Turtle’s ears. “I, Billie Myers, had a massive crush on Brad Flowers. There. Happy now?”
Brad stood up and bowed. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
Eve took the bottle and giggled. “I won’t lie. I always expected a call from one of you while I was away saying that you were together.”
“I must’ve been such a fool back then, chasing you around. Everyone knew, didn’t they?” I leaned back in the seat and laughed. “God, I needed this tonight. I don’t laugh enough anymore.”
“Same.” Eve reached over and squeezed my hand. “Let’s change that.”
“I had a massive thing for you, too, Billie.” Brad admitted quietly, like he’d been mulling over the words and hadn’t fully committed to saying them out loud. “Your dad threatened me away from you on more than one occasion.”
Eve gasped and clapped her hands together, startling Turtle. “I knew it.”
I was floored, mainly at hearing my dad had threatened him away. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah. That was why I left in the end. Your dad fired me. You’d just turned eighteen and your dad caught me trying to sneak into your room. He almost shot me.” Brad rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Can’t say I wouldn’t have reacted the same way if I saw someone trying to crawl into my imaginary daughter’s window.”
“You tried to sneak into my window?” I snorted, thinking of how much earlier I could’ve lost my virginity if Dad hadn’t caught him. “Damn. You would’ve made eighteen-year-old Billie’s life.”
With a heated look, Brad held the bottle out to me. “There’s still time.”