CHAPTER NINE
Katarina
“Thank you all for joining me this evening,” I began, staring into my sisters’ sweet faces.
“I already don’t like what’s happening right now,” Maddy piped up.
“Should I be here for this?” Leo asked, glancing across the table. We sat three on each side.
Maddy clanged her cutlery down on the table. “Why? Should you be somewhere keeping more secrets?”
Leo sighed. “Mads, it was one secret.”
“Two. You didn’t tell me you were dating Booby Barbara,” she sniped at him. “I had to find out from Insta!”
Oh shit, trouble in Best Friend Paradise.
Leo smirked. “We’re not dating , exactly.”
Maddy’s mouth snapped closed and she huffed.
“Ahem,” I coughed, jerking my head towards Tilly, and glaring at Leo.
He ducked his head. “Sorry.”
“As I was saying, thank you for coming to Sunday dinner, which I propose to be a new family tradition by the way,” I started again but my mouth dried up. I had been stalling all weekend about telling them Jack would have the cabin. I knew Maddy wasn’t bothered but I didn’t know how the others felt. I should have checked with them before I agreed to it but I was desperate. I’d just let go the two ranch hands that were taking care of everything and now, we were officially fucked. Jack had suddenly turned into our savior and trust me, no one hated that more than I did.
I decided bringing everyone together in a family environment would be best, that way someone would protect me from any wrath I incurred, hopefully.
“I need to tell you all something—”
“You’re pregnant!” Daisy interrupted, gleefully.
“She needs to have sex to get pregnant, dummy!”
“Thanks Tilly,” I rolled my eyes, cheeks flaming.
“I knew she wasn’t getting any,” Maddy whispered, and the girls tittered until Leo knocked his hand on the table, drawing their attention back.
“This is hard for me to say but, while going through Daddy’s office I found some paperwork. Y’all know Daddy was visiting Jack Drayton? Well, it seems like they struck up a friendship and Daddy was looking out for Jack. He had the deed of the cabin transferred into Jack’s name, ready for when he got outta prison.” I paused, allowing time for this to sink in.
I met Maddy’s eye and she smiled softly at me, knowing that paper wasn’t signed when we last spoke and something had changed.
“So, what are you saying?” Daisy asked, caution in her tone.
I swallowed. “I’m saying that, as of tomorrow, Jack will be living in the cabin behind the house.”
I looked around, Leo wasn’t fazed and neither was Maddy, Tilly was already on her phone again and August just nodded sagely.
Daisy however, was another story. “Like hell!” she spat.
My hands started to shake, I knew I should have talked to them about it sooner. But I’d buried my head in the sand. I couldn’t help but feel I was making all the wrong decisions at the moment.
“Daisy, it’s a legal thing, we can’t—”
“We can and we will! I’m not having him here!” Her red ponytail flicked defiantly.
“I’m sorry, honey, but you don’t have a choice.” My words were firm. There was no going back. Was my butt sweating? It felt like it was sweating. Could butts sweat?
“First that damn Duke Raleigh, and now this?”
“Jack will be working at the ranch, for free, so he’s helping us out.”
“I hope he likes horses,” August spoke softly.
“I hope he gets too close to Marshmallow and he kicks him in the balls,” Daisy growled, folding her arms over her chest.
“Marshmallow would never!” August defended her beloved horse.
Leo snort laughed until I slapped the back of his head.
“I should hope it is for free, he owes us. Keep him away from me,” were Daisy’s final words on the matter.
“I don’t see that he would have reason to speak to you, but I’ll tell him to stay away,” I agreed, instantly dreading that I would now have to go out of my way to speak to him again.
“Is that all?” Maddy asked. I nodded and she added, “Then I’ll leave you all to it,” and shot Leo a snotty smile as she left the room. He shook his head muttering something under his breath about women .
Once plates were cleared of food, the girls dispersed to go watch a movie or scroll TikTok, and Leo went home. I grabbed a wine, I’d been having a lot recently, and made my way out onto the porch, sitting down in the Adirondack chair and folding my legs under me.
I sipped the wine slowly, enjoying the flavors spilling over my tongue. The night was still and peaceful. The clouds sparse and the stars bright. Owls hooted in the distance. It was a night that I would have loved sitting out here with my father. We would have sat in silence, not needing to say a word, just bonding in the peace of the moment. Then he would have come and kissed me on the head and said goodnight.
I ached to feel that moment again and the idea that it would never happen stole my breath. It had only been two months but it felt like a lifetime. There were fewer tears in the house now and I sometimes forgot to allow myself to grieve, too concerned with making sure all my sisters were okay, so that moments like this took me by surprise. Like I’d forgotten, or something.
When my legs began to ache from their crunched position, my wine was all gone, and the owls had quieted, I knew it was bedtime. I went inside, switched off all the lights and just reveled in the silence of the house before trekking upstairs.
I lay there most of the night once again, thinking about everything I needed to do. I felt guilty about not being there more for the girls. Not doing more and being present. Tilly was back in school tomorrow so I made a mental note to drive her myself and give her a pep talk on the way. Maybe find some words of love and encouragement like Daddy would have. Or a lame joke like Leo would.
Then I would figure out what to do with the ranch. Maybe we needed to sell off some livestock for the time being, just until we were in a better place financially. Or sell some land. The thought immediately stuck in my brain. I couldn’t bear the thought of selling off any of our land.
I tossed and turned, slipping off to sleep only to wake two hours later when the sun came up and it was time to go outside to work on the ranch. I came in from the pasture with only ten minutes to spare until I needed to take Tilly to school.
“Crap,” I hissed, running for the shower. I lingered too long under the warm water and when I was standing in a towel, wiping the condensation from the mirror I heard Tilly call out, “See you later!” from downstairs.
I threw open the bathroom door and ran down after her, stopping on the porch outside. The cool spring air tickling my still damp, bare legs.
“Tills, wait! Let me drive you?” I called after her.
She turned, her blonde hair slicked back from her head and she had thick, dark eye makeup. She looked amazing and badass and everything I wished I was but it was such a change from her normal look, I wondered what had provoked it.
“Nice towel, sis,” she snorted.
I glanced down at the too short pink towel with yellow duckies on it, refusing to feel ashamed. Until I saw Jack Drayton appear in the distance. He was walking down the gravel drive, a little pep in his step compared to the way I’d seen him trudge recently.
“Ah shit,” I hissed. Tilly followed my gaze and smirked when she saw Jack, who still hadn’t spotted us yet, too busy gazing at the trees around him.
“If you can put some clothes on then I guess you can take me!” Tilly shouted loudly, drawing his attention. The moment he spotted us, me in my towel, his steps faltered and he tried to wipe the smirk from his face but I saw it.
“I’ll get you for that,” I growled at Tilly.
“Mornin’,” Jack said as he drew closer, his eyes doing a lazy perusal of my legs. Had I shaved them? Ugh, did it matter?
“I’ll be back soon, I just have to take Tilly to school.” I turned and waddled back to the house, trying to pull the towel down at the back to hide my ass. I threw on some clothes and made it back a few moments later.
“Get in,” I growled at a still-smirking Tilly and gestured to my Chevy truck. There was a silence as we drove, I was reluctant to break it, still feeling humiliated and embarrassed at Jack catching me in far too little clothing, but I needed to make sure Tilly was okay.
“So, how are you feeling about going back to school?” I asked, forcing some enthusiasm into my tone.
She didn’t look up from her phone. “Fine.”
Okay then. “I like your hair like that.”
She grunted.
“Did you find that style on the clock thing?”
She hit me with an are you stupid stare. “You mean TikTok?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, it has great tutorials.”
“Great! You can show me some later on tonight then, I need to change up my hair. ”
She hit me with a sly look. “Why? For Jack?”
“Absolutely not!” I spluttered. “I hardly think dating our mother’s killer is appropriate.”
Although I didn’t take my eyes from the road, I could sense Tilly withdraw. Ugh, yes bring up our dead mom while you’re trying to connect with her.
“Is the eye makeup to impress anyone in particular?” I tried again. “Like a boy at school, maybe?”
Tilly snorted. “Boys are lame.”
True. But I couldn’t help but notice that her new look was a little bit like the type of women I’d seen Max flirting with at The Lonely Bison.
“You’re not trying to impress a certain bartender who’s eleven years older than you, are you?”
“Oh my God, can you not!” Tilly groaned.
“I’m just saying, he’s too old for you. You can think about men when you’re eighteen, and you need to let me and Leo check them out first. Maybe we need to talk about sex?”
“I think I’ll take advice from someone who has it, thanks.”
“I have it!” I defended myself and I don’t know why, it wasn’t true.
Teenagers are mean.
Tilly snorted again and before she could say more, I pulled up outside the school. She was opening the door before I even came to a stop.
“Have a great day, honey!” I called after her and she just waved without looking back at me. I watched her walk past a small group of girls who all began whispering and giggling at her. My heart constricted at the idea of my little sister being bullied. I made a mental note to talk to the principal about it when I saw Tilly give them a saccharine smile and flip them the bird, with both hands.
I had a feeling the principal would be wanting to speak to me soon enough.
*
When I got back to the house, I spotted Jack perched against our porch like he owned the damn place.
“So nice to keep bumping into you, Mr. Drayton,” I gave him a smile with teeth.
“Thanks for putting on clothes,” he drawled, my cheeks heating when I was sure I heard him mutter, “not that I minded.”
“Something I can help you with?”
He tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and his too small t-shirt pulled tight across his chest. Did he not own clothes that fit? One pec jumped under my perusal and my eyes flicked away.
“Working on the ranch? I came to see what you wanted me to do first?” His pale blue eyes twinkled in the sun, light and gentle, disarming me.
I folded my arms across my chest, I’d Googled power stances to help me feel more in control and this was a pretty good one. Now I felt like a badass bitch. “I figured you would want some time to settle in first?” When really, I needed time to get used to the idea of him being here. “Then we can start and you can shadow Gus, he can show you the ropes.”
He nodded slowly. “Because this is a cattle ranch, right? The practice of raising herds of animals on large tracts of land?”
I wrinkled my nose. “You sound like you swallowed a textbook.”
“I kinda have. I spent the weekend at the library.” He rubbed the back of his neck, with an embarrassed expression on his face. His bicep flexed with each stroke of his neck and I was suddenly very aware of what everyone kept pointing out: I hadn’t had sex in a while.
I shook my head. “Really? Not out partying or getting laid after twelve years of celibacy?” My comment was catty and I expected a smart remark back, not the surprised look on his face or the way his cheeks flushed.
“Uh, not quite. I wanted to get ahead of the game, that’s all. I don’t really have experience with this.” He gestured to the ranch.
That makes two of us.
He seemed so confident that to see this uncertain side of him was…interesting.
“I’m happy if you just wanna take the week to get the cabin habitable and get settled in. Let me get you the keys. Where’s your stuff?” I looked around and he had nothing with him.
That sheepish look was back on his face. “I checked out the cabin while you were waiting, the door was pretty easy to pop open, but I’ll fix that.”
“But you only had one shoulder bag when you arrived?”
“Funny thing about prison, you don’t tend to accumulate a lot of stuff,” he joked then looked around awkwardly.
I didn’t know what I was expecting, just that he would have something . “Did your parents not keep any of your things from when you were a teen?”
“Wouldn’t know, haven’t spoken to them since the sentencing.”
I momentarily felt some sympathy for him and that shocked me. He had no one. That must be so lonely, especially now that my father had died. The reminder of my father brought me out of my empathetic thoughts for the person who had taken my mother from me.
“How about them keys?” he asked, like he knew we’d reached our maximum politeness for the day.
I went inside and dug around in the kitchen drawer for them. When I came back out he was once again looking at the land surrounding us.
“Here you go,” I held the keys out. He turned sharply, putting us closer together than I was prepared for. I noticed some freckles on his nose and a small scar that puckered his brow and wondered if it was from prison or a childhood incident. His light blue eyes shone and my stare locked on a ring of deep cobalt blue which held me captive. When he took the keys and our fingers brushed, I wasn’t sure if I imagined the electric spark that leapt between us.
Clearing my throat, I stepped away, ducking my head. “I’ll see you next Monday morning then?”
“Yep,” he replied, jingling the keys. “And, seriously Kat, thank you. I know you didn’t have to do this. Had the best reasons in the whole world not to do this, but this is a true lifeline and I’ll never forget it.”
His words were so earnest that I felt tears burn the backs of my eyes and decided this was enough proximity to him for one day. I went back into the house.
Later that night, as I sat in my father’s office, procrastinating instead of going through more statements and past due letters, I looked out the window. Normally I wouldn’t be able to see much in the dark but tonight, I could see the cabin, lit up with a warm light flickering like there were candles lit.
And then a moment later I saw a shirtless Jack wandering around.
He was tanned and toned, body built and strong, overpowering. I strained my eyes, was that chest hair I could see? Oh God, why am I staring at him? Why is he so attractive?
Just at that moment he looked up and through the window, our eyes connected. I squeaked and threw the papers I was holding in the air and ducked down onto the floor.
“Oh shit!” I couldn’t believe he caught me staring at him. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
Now I was in a pickle. I couldn’t get up in case he was still there. I crawled along the floor towards the door to the office and when I was safely out of view of the window, I flicked the light off and ran upstairs to my room.
I couldn’t work out if my pounding pulse was from the dash upstairs, being caught perving or who I was perving on. It was probably best for all of us if I didn’t think about it too closely.