Chapter 18 #6
“No, recently I was living in Bozeman, but after my car got stolen along with most of my things, I got on the first bus that came into the bus station. It was coming here.” It almost sounds romantic when I say it like that, like me ending up in this town was fate or a miracle, and I like the fairy tale better than the truth.
That I was sleeping in my car and got on a random bus because I didn’t know what else to do.
“My RV broke down on my way to one of the mountain resorts. This is the first place I’ve lived for longer than three months since I was eighteen,” Alice says, her voice quiet but oddly intense, like she doesn’t say much, but when she does talk, everyone listens.
“I used to live in Bozeman. It’s a scary city. It’s much nicer here,” Henry offers.
I’d been expecting an interrogation, but instead of just expecting me to answer their questions, these ladies and Henry have offered something of themselves up in return. It’s unexpected, but really nice.
“So how did you and Warrick meet?” Missy asks.
“I’ve been volunteering with the ranger service, mainly to give me something to do while I’ve been looking for a job. I was directing traffic in the parking lot on the trailhead, and I gave him a map when he was there for a hike.”
“Warrick was hiking?” Parker laughs. “I thought he just lifted weights and cars and elephants to keep those guns the size of tree trunks.”
I shrug. “He came the first day, then came back the next day too. That’s when…” I trail off, unsure how much I should tell them, or how pathetic I’ll make myself sound if I admit I was sleeping rough in my tent.
“Let me guess, he told you you were getting married or he was taking you home or something completely crazy?” Lulu laughs.
“I was wild camping. He found my tent in the woods and told me I was basically breaking the law. I started packing up to move, and he told me I could move into his spare room.”
“Did he even tell you about the insane stuff that this town does to guys first, or did he just throw you over his shoulder like a caveman?” Bonnie asks.
My brows furrow, but as I scan the table, it’s clear that I’m the only one who has no clue what she’s talking about.
“He didn’t tell you, did he?” Cora asks, clearly amused.
“Tell me what?”
“About the crazy Barnett legacy.”
Slowly shaking my head, I look from one face to the next, then finally settle on Cora again.
“Okay, so this is all going to sound completely insane, but after I’ve finished explaining and you think everything I’ve just said is bullshit, I want you to look around this table and realize that this has happened to all of us. Okay?”
“Okay,” I say, elongating the word.
“Right. So Papa Barnett saw Mama Barnett, and the moment he laid eyes on her, he says he knew she was meant to be his. Full-blown, the clouds parted, choir of angels, the whole nine yards. He was so sure that he told her she was his, he married her a few days later, built her a house, and had seven babies with her. They were insanely in love until he passed away, and she said she never even considered looking at another man after he died because he was the only person in the world for her.”
“That’s so sweet,” I say.
“Yeah, I haven’t got to the insane part yet,” Cora scoffs.
“So Bonnie grew up on the ranch next door to the Barnetts. Hal is her dad, and he owns the land and the houses the jumpers live in. She had the biggest crush on Beau her entire life, but he literally never noticed her, until one day he did. He started coming to the coffee shop she worked at to be there when she opened up, and he’d come back when she closed up late at night.
He would literally follow her home to make sure she got there safely.
He did that for a year. After crushing on him for years, she finally decided enough was enough and flirted with another dude.
When Beau found out, he lost his shit and told her she was his, that he knew it with a certainty he’d never felt before. ”
“Okay.”
“After they got together, me and Bonnie went out dancing, and I met Huck and some of the other guys. Huck says the moment he met me it was like being struck by lightning. He basically stalked me until he got me pregnant. Granger saw Alice in her broken-down RV and knew the moment he looked at her through the window. He married her less than a week later. Penn literally spotted Lulu on the sidewalk, then showed up at her work, followed her home, and refused to leave. Teddy was a bit of an idiot, but once he saw Juni, he was totally gone. Bay found Missy sleeping rough in Alice’s broken-down RV and…
well, he fucked it up, but he says he knew the moment he saw her, he was just too much of an idiot to recognize a good thing.
And Cody lost his shit as soon as he saw Betty.
Seven Barnetts all followed in their daddy’s footsteps and fell in love at first sight with so much certainty that every other woman on the planet stopped existing after they met the one they were meant to be with. ”
“Buck and I first met at what was supposed to be a breakfast meeting. He says that his heart stopped beating when I walked in,” James says with a soft smile.
“Nero wasn’t my biggest fan, but even though he kind of hated me, he says he still knew I was his.” Tori laughs.
“Oz is my stepdad’s son,” Etta starts to say.
“Stepbrother,” Octy cough-speaks.
Flashing a narrow-eyed glare at Octy, Etta ignores her and turns to me again. “He was my tormentor when we were kids. I hated him, and he hated me. But when I showed up here, he says the moment he saw me again, he couldn’t look away.”
“Danny and I had been online gamer friends for years and we went to the same high school, but he was a few years older than me. He says he fell for me the moment he saw my photo,” Parker says, smiling softly.
“Anders saw me having dinner with Parker through the diner window. He told me he fell in love with me right then and there,” Henry says, sighing wistfully.
“Knight came to me, and he saved me. He brought me home and showed me what it means to really love someone. He’s a decisive man, but he says he knew I was his the very first time we met.
He built me a house, married me on day two, and got me pregnant within a month,” Octy says, picking up her virgin margarita and toasting with it.
“I don’t understand,” I tell them all.
“He found you living in the woods, took you home, and I’ll bet he’s already talked about marrying you and getting you pregnant.
That’s what happens to the guys in this town.
It’s what happened to Warrick. He saw you, and everything clicked into place for him.
You’re his, and he’s yours, and if he’s acting like a crazy person, the Barnett legacy is why,” Cora says, straight-faced.
Shaking my head, I deny her words. “That’s ridiculous.”
Snickering, she nods. “Completely insane. But it doesn’t make it any less true, though. Call him. I bet he won’t deny it.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Do you want me to prove it?” she says, arching an eyebrow in challenge.
“Sure.” I laugh.
Pulling out her cell, she taps at the screen, then holds it out in front of her while the sound of ringing fills the air. “Peaches,” a male voice answers.
“Hey, quick question. When did you fall in love with me?”
“The first time I saw you, drunk off your ass and dancing with Bonnie,” Huck says, and even though I can’t see him, I can hear the smile in his voice.
“Are you with your brothers?”
“Yeah.”
“Hand the cell to Cody,” she orders.
“Hey Cora,” someone that I’m assuming is Cody says.
“When did you fall in love with Betty?”
“First time I saw her when she showed up at the bank on Missy’s birthday,” he answers easily.
“Hand the cell to Bay.”
“Cora,” Bay answers. “I knew Missy was mine the moment I laid eyes on her. I was an idiot and I pushed her away, but I still knew she was the only woman in the world for me.”
“Thanks, see you later,” Cora says, ending the call. “Call Warrick, see what he says.”
I shake my head. “No, I can’t.”
“Did he ask you to marry him yet?” Octy asks.
Swallowing thickly, I debate lying, but what would be the point? I like everyone at this table, and if I do end up staying in a relationship with Warrick and he ends up building the house he talked about earlier, then they’re all going to be my neighbors. “Yes, he asked me.”
“So you’re engaged?” James asks excitedly.
I shake my head. “No. I said no.”
“You said no?” Etta asks slowly.
I nod.
“Why?” Bonnie asks.
“Lots of reasons, but mainly because I’ve only known him for a week.”
The entire group apart from me starts to laugh.
“It’s so fucked up that none of us think it’s crazy to agree to marry someone you’ve only known for a matter of days,” Parker says, grinning widely.
The food arrives, interrupting this insane conversation, and for a while no one asks me anything else about Warrick, and I’m grateful. Instead, they talk about babies and work and normal stuff. I don’t have anything to contribute, but I enjoy the normality of it.
“Do you love him?” Henry asks, quietly enough that unless they’re specifically listening, I doubt anyone else heard him.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I turn to look at him and shrug. “It’s been a week.”
“I know. These guys move fast, but even though I was terrified of Anders, I still knew how I felt about him. He’s the first man I’ve ever been in a relationship with. He was my first anything, to be honest.”