Chapter 4
Nothing had ever hurt her more than what Kurtland Tyson the Toad Chase had done. It took Greer a few days to even be able to think about that night. Mostly, she’d just tried to block things out and had focused on her family. Especially her sister.
Genny had been going through some problems at work with Gene’s ex-girlfriend Mandy Kirby. Greer had focused on listening to her sister vent and taking Genny and their friend Chantal to the Barratt Finley Creek as a distraction. They’d even managed to get her oldest sister Giavonna to join them.
But now…she was back in her apartment. And thinking about things she didn’t want to think about.
Namely, Kurtland Tyson Chase. That rat.
She still had his sweatshirt in her things. He’d let her wear it when he’d taken her on a short walk around his ranch one night at midnight, to see the stars. He’d kissed her out there, under the moon. And she’d thought…believed…
She should have seen through him. She was smarter than that. She had five big brothers who had made certain that she knew what guys were like.
And…Gene had mentioned his dislike of Kurt before.
So many times. So had Grady. Even Guthrie had told her and Genny and Gia to stay away from Kurt a few times.
Guthrie practically got along with everyone—except possibly Genny’s bestie Aubrey.
For some reason Guthrie had some sort of problem with her.
Genny had mentioned it to Greer, since Aubrey’s baby sister Ayla was one of Greer’s two closest friends in the world.
Neither of them understood it—Aubrey was one of the kindest women Greer had ever met.
She did happen to look like Guthrie’s ex—Genny thought maybe that was it.
And…then there was Hala. Hala was coming back to live in Value.
Hala was on her way to Greer’s—she was swinging by Ayla’s house to get her on her way.
Hala was super-excited. She’d just accepted a full-time position to fill in for a teacher at the school who was retiring next month.
Hala needed to find an apartment or townhouse—there were four available in Greer’s complex, Hala was going to look at one in the morning—and then her bestie was going to move from Finley Creek to Value.
They were going to watch Hunter Luis Clark and Davis Brothers’ movies and celebrate tonight. Ayla was super-drooly over Royal Davis. It was really funny to watch.
Greer needed to be with the people who truly cared about her right now.
She was going to put that jerk behind her forever, no matter what happened. Period.
She was going to focus on building her life now.
She was about to graduate fully with her degree in social work.
She had a job waiting for her—she already worked for the county part-time.
Once she was out of school, she had two eight-week classes she was finishing up right now, she would go full-time and actually make a difference for the kids in Barratt County.
Like her family had tried to help before Greer was nine and everything had happened when she had almost died.
After that day her parents had stopped taking in fosters—they’d focused on helping Greer recover instead. She would never forget the almost three years her parents and brothers and Gia had devoted to helping her heal.
Greer had a plan for her life—and Kurtland Tyson the Toad Chase was never going to be a part of it again.
Maybe…the best thing she could do was just concentrate on moving forward?
Even though it felt like her world had been ripped in two.
She wasn’t going to let herself care about him any longer.
Greer just wasn’t. No matter that she had never felt that way about a man before. She just…didn’t know if she ever would again.
Kurt had broken her. And she didn’t know how to make the hurt go away.
Her phone rang. She grabbed it. And…there it was.
Kurtland Chase. Right there on her screen.
Why hadn’t she blocked his number?
She hit the button to decline.
And…blocked him forever.
This…it hurt. So much.
The jerk. He never should have been able to do this to her so quickly.
She wasn’t in love with him, it was far too soon for that, and any love she had been developing had died the moment he’d told her what had between them was nothing more than a mistake. She wasn’t going to fall for some man’s lines ever again.
And eventually, Kurt Chase would be just another bad memory.
No matter what.
She was going to get through this. She’d just surround herself with the people who mattered most, the ones who truly loved her. And the ones she loved in return.
For now…Hala and Ayla were on their way. She had popcorn to pop, and she thought there were those ice cream bars in the freezer Ayla loved so much. She was going to get ready.
And find out just what was going on with Hala. There had been something about Luis Sandoval mentioned…
And that man was beautiful and kind. Just like Hala.
Hala deserved a man who adored her. Greer just didn’t know who would fit the bill…
Maybe she’d talk to her mother. Her mom might have some ideas. Surely there were decent guys in Value for both Hala and Ayla somewhere?
A few hours later, her mom was right there. Staring at her.
“Okay, young lady, what happened?”
Greer almost spilled everything, but Hala and Ayla were right there, and Ayla’s sister Aubrey had shown up with Genny, and Chantal was with Gia—and Greer just wasn’t ready to share what he’d done.
She knew what would happen if she did.
Gia and Chantal especially—probably with Hala trailing after them—would go find Kurt and demand explanations for why he had been such a butt.
Then her brothers would get involved. Then…
there would be so much chaos. She didn’t want that.
“I just…a guy did something that hurt, that’s all.
Aren’t there any good men left around here? ”
“If there are, I’d like to get in line,” Chantal said drily. She looked a little flushed, and Genny was hovering. Greer was starting to suspect something had been going on with Chantal lately. She just couldn’t figure out what it was. Aubrey, too, was watching Chantal closely.
“I have only met a handful of good ones at the hospital, and they seem to all be taken,” Aubrey said. Aubrey was the head of the ER where Genny worked. She was really kind and shy and Greer thought she was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.
She hated that Mandy Kirby was causing Aubrey so much trouble. Apparently, Mandy had started rumors that Aubrey was shacking up with a married man in Finley Creek now. Greer suspected Aubrey was more bothered by it than she was letting on.
Genny was practically breathing fire—and Chantal was threatening to find Mandy and have Gia rearrange her face again. Apparently, there was a story there Greer was not aware of. Gia had broken Mandy’s nose or something, when they’d been girls?
Her sisters could be so wild sometimes.
“Not that you’d date them even if they weren’t,” Genny added. “Aubs has a strict ‘no dating guys she works with policy’.”
“With good reason,” Aubrey said. “Although, if Caine had another brother…maybe I would change my mind. That man…”
“One of a kind. He’s also just as hot as a Davis brother. He even looks like them—like, a lot like them. Enough to get a girl really…hyperventilating sometimes,” Genny said. “Ayla…have you ever seen him?”
“I’ve met him and his wife at the library a few times.
” Ayla was almost teetering on the bar stool.
Greer steadied her gently. Ayla struggled to keep her balance sometimes when she was really tired.
Greer remembered what those days had been like.
She had made a nearly complete recovery by the time she was fifteen.
But Ayla had told her once how close it had been for her.
She freely admitted she was lucky to even walk at all.
“He is as beautiful as Royal Davis. But what is truly amazing is how he and his wife look at each other sometimes. I want to be loved like that someday. You know…when I’m really old. Like Aubrey. She’ll be thirty soon.”
“Very, very old,” Gia said. “I feel your pain, Aubrey. I do. And…there really aren’t that many guys in Value. Not that I am looking or anything.”
Gia was going to be thirty soon, too. She was focused on her career—she’d said that a dozen times before.
“If you two—two successful, beautiful, amazing women—a lawyer and a doctor—can’t find decent guys around here…” Hala just stared at them all. “That really doesn’t leave the rest of us much hope, you know.”
Well, Greer agreed there. If those two couldn’t find decent guys to be with…probably none of them could. Great.
Greer’s mom hugged Hala. She and Hala had always been close, especially since Hala’s parents and sister had been killed in an accident when Greer and Hala had been almost eighteen.
“Sweetie, well…all of you girls, listen. When the right man comes along, you’ll just know.
It’ll feel perfect and right and the first time he holds you…
beautiful. Amazing. That’s what I want for all of my girls.
All of my boys, too. You girls—not my daughters, that is—you all know that I have four beautiful sons still going to waste, right?
Yours for the taking—handsome, strong, reasonably wealthy, intelligent and successful.
And I raised them to be gentlemen. Just take your pick. ”
“There are a few who I would consider,” Chantal said. “But they’d need seriously proper training first.”
“Yeah, probably not,” Hala said. “No offense, or anything. I think I know those boys a bit too well for romance to ever happen.”
Well, Greer actually didn’t think that was such a bad idea. “You could marry one of my brothers, Hal. Then we’d be sisters forever.”
“We’re sisters forever anyway. Although…Guthrie or Gunn, once properly trained…maybe. Just maybe.”
Aubrey made a bit of a strangling sound at that. From what Genny had told Greer, Aubrey and Guthrie weren’t getting along too well.
“Sweetie, there is always Grady,” Greer’s mother said. “He’d be perfect for you. If…you just didn’t think he was a troll, anyway.”
Greer laughed out loud at that one. Grady and Hala? That would definitely be a grumpy-sunshine thing there. And it would never happen. “That is never going to happen, Mom. Never going to happen.”
As Genny and Chantal and Aubrey grabbed Ayla’s things and helped her get out of the chair and balanced on her crutches, Greer couldn’t help but feel a rush of emotion for the people surrounding her.
She hugged her mom one more time. Her mom was going to head back to Greer’s dad for a date night. She’d been super-excited to tell them all about it. Greer and Genny had fixed her hair.
Greer was lucky. She had people who loved her.
She’d get through this. And put Kurtland Chase behind her forever.
When he called an hour after Hala had crashed out on Greer’s couch, this time she didn’t have a single guilty moment for hitting decline.
It was time to put Kurtland Chase behind her forever. That cowboy could go chase his own tail. She was getting on with her life, starting right now.