Chapter Eight
C haser was miles away in a stable at the ranch. That was the one thing that sucked about living in the center of town, he couldn’t keep his horse at home. The first thing Billy planned to do once they built their house on the creek was ride the chestnut gelding down to graze in his very own meadow. He’d already picked the perfect location for an adjacent paddock and barn.
Billy was nine the winter when Chaser found him. Checking fences with his brother, Kellan, and Tanner, the colt surprised him, nudging him on the shoulder with his nose. Tanner chuckled and said it was the strangest thing he’d ever seen—a wild Mustang making contact with a human like that. It was almost as if the horse had chosen him.
A coat of red mahogany, his mane and tail black, he appeared to be a yearling. Somehow separated from his herd, they haltered the lost little guy and brought him to the ranch. His nose pointed up toward the sun, he frolicked about the snowy paddock as if he were chasing it. Billy figured Sunchaser was a fitting name, but he called him Chaser for short.
Under Tanner’s guidance, he worked with the horse every day. First, leading him at a walk and trot, teaching him to stop on command, and standing tied—basic groundwork. By the time Chaser turned two, he was easily put under saddle. Ready to ride, young Billy and his faithful companion took to the mountain. The perfect pairing. Together, he and Chaser were one entity.
And it was then that he knew training horses was his calling.
Sorry, Ma.
Billy and Tanner had plans. Big plans. A vision for the future. He would study equine science in college after he finished high school, while he worked in the stables with Tanner, and Brooks Ranch would become known for not only raising the best beef cattle in the land but the finest horses, too.
“Hey there, Arien,” Billy said with a tip of his hat upon seeing her in the barn tacking up Daisy. “Goin’ for a ride?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna head over to Emily’s.” Brushing her hands off on her jeans, Arien looked up at him from the crossties. “She wants to take Ruby out for some exercise.”
“You two be careful, ya hear? It’s slippery with the ice and all. Nippy, too.” He chuckled, but he meant it. Arien wasn’t an experienced rider like Emily. “Tanner and Kellan know you’re goin’?”
“Wasn’t aware I needed their permission.”
“You don’t, but…” He hesitated. To say anything more would be interfering, not to mention it wasn’t his place to do so.
“But what?”
“That’s a darn nice saddle you got there.” Billy lifted his chin at it, changing the subject. “A real beaut.”
“Thanks.” And her face lit up like a Christmas tree. “I just got it.”
“Custom-made. The finest leather. Real sheepskin lining. Just look at that stitching,” he said, his hand sliding down the rise of the seat. “Your brothers got it for ya, I bet.”
“Yeah, for Christmas.”
“Knew it.” Billy winked. “Only the best for their girl.”
“I’m not their—”
With a squeeze to her shoulder, he smiled at her. “Yeah, you are. They care about you, Arien.”
“Because they got me nice things?” A single eyebrow lifting, she cocked her head.
“No, because they’re making the effort to really know you. They want you to be happy here.” Slipping his arm around Arien, Billy hugged her. “See, when you love someone, how they’re feelin’ matters to you.”
“They don’t love me,” she scoffed with a flip of her blonde waves. “Not like that, anyway.”
“No? Tanner tells me he and Kellan built you a coffee bar—brought your precious Starbucks home for you.” He gently turned her, looking her in the eye. “Love ain’t all flowery words like the storybooks, and it don’t always look like it does in the movies.”
“What is it, then?”
“Love is wonderful. It begins as an emotion and grows into a verb.” Arien stared back at him, a blank expression on her pretty face. “It’s being understood—the feeling that another person just gets you, ya know?”
She answered with a shake of her head.
“It don’t mean you agree on all things, but you still feel accepted despite your differences. You feel…seen—safe and comfortable in their presence. And that makes you wanna do things for them that might be out of character for you.”
Her brow knit in thought, and she smiled. “Like building a coffee bar?”
“Exactly like that.” You’re gettin’ it, girly. “You feel drawn to wanting to know them and you want them to know you, too. You find yourself sharing both good and bad news with them before anybody else. You think about ‘em differently and can’t imagine what your life would be like if they weren’t in it. Hell, you don’t even want to.”
“Is that how you feel about Emily?”
At the mention of his beloved’s name, a tender smile rose. Billy nodded. “I’ve loved her for as long as I can remember, even before I knew that’s what I was feelin’, ya know?”
Arien only shrugged.
“When you don’t have to ask yourself if you love someone, you know you do. Because love feels more like an answer than a question.”
Her lip disappeared behind her teeth, then she asked, “Do you think it’s harder for Jake to wait for something he’s never had, or will it be harder for you to wait to get it back?”
Billy didn’t need the reminder. Emily’s birthday was just a few short months from now. April. There wasn’t much time with her left.
“Don’t rightly know.” He swallowed, the saliva sticking in his throat, and helped Arien up onto Daisy’s back. “You and Em have a good ride now. See ya tonight?”
“Of course. And Billy?” She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks.”
Don’t mention it.
Emily hoped Jake loved the birthday gift she gave him. Meticulously wrapped in shiny blue paper, she’d chosen it with great care. He loved old things, so when she spied the leather-bound journal in the antique shop, its brittle pages just waiting for words to be carefully written upon them, she snagged it with the thought she’d found him the perfect present. A vintage desk set with a dip pen, ink well, and a pot of India ink completed it.
But then Emily thought her mama would swoon over the authentic Tiffany lamp she got for her desk in the office she rarely used. Hidden away in a dusty corner of the antique shop, she nearly squealed out loud when she saw a fifty-dollar price tag on it and TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK marked on the inside rim of the glass shade in all capital letters. The shopkeeper obviously didn’t know what he had, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to enlighten him.
Vivid colors of green and blue, red and gold, bounced off blanched white walls. Fingering the stained glass on Christmas morning, her mother simply said, “It’s lovely, Emily. Thank you.”
Lovely? No, it’s fucking stunning, and I got it for a steal!
She wanted to shake her, scream at her, and wake her up from her boring, achromatic existence.
“Maybe that’s just her preference, honey.” Her future father-in-law shrugged.
“Do you paint without color?”
“Sometimes. Black and white is timeless, classic, and beautiful.”
Justin’s gaze followed hers. One look at Kimberly Brooks Keough told her differently. She stood off to the side, sipping on a glass of champagne alone, while she watched everyone else making merry with their significant others.
“Okay, maybe she’s feeling a little blue,” he conceded, his head tipping to the side. The twinkling luminescence of lights from the tree caught in his long pale hair. “The holidays can have that effect on some people.”
“Since Uncle Matty got married, I’ve noticed she seems…I dunno…lonely?” That wasn’t quite right. It was something else, but it was all she could come up with. “They leaned on each other a lot, and without having him and the boys to fuss over like she did, it’s put her in this funk.”
“Makes sense. Even after fourteen years, grief can rear its ugly head.” Drawing her in, Justin curled his fingers around her waist. “Kim must miss Will and Tim very much.”
“I know she does.”
Nodding, he glanced across the room. “It looks like Billy and the birthday boy could use rescuing from their aunt.”
“Miss Lilly?”
“Do they have another?” Gazing down at her, he chuckled. “Go on, honey. I think I’m going to chat with your mama. Cheer her up some.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.” Rolling her eyes, Emily exhaled with a snort.
“Are you doubting my fantastic charm and fabulous wit?”
Never .
“I’ve got this,” he said and kissed her forehead. “They’re waiting.”
God, how she’d come to despise that word.
The hands on the clock on the wall crept closer and closer to twelve. Emily glanced over at Grams, and giving her a little wave, weaved her way through the crowded room to get to her boys. Seeing she was near, Jake reached for her, and she couldn’t help but smile. He laced their fingers together and tucked her beneath his arm. Pushing a glass of champagne in her hand, his brother took up the other. Between them. Where she belonged.
Fingertips skating over her breast, Billy dropped a kiss to her bare shoulder. She bit her lip, nipples tightening beneath the silk of her dress. Jake’s deep chuckle thrummed in her ear like a promise.
“The three of you together are a sight to behold.” Her smile salacious, Miss Lilly smoothed Emily’s hair. “I can’t wait to make your gown. I have a vision.”
“You do?”
“Mmhm.” Warm lips lingered on her cheek. “Simple, yet exquisite.”
Lilly Gantry could make magic with fabric, a needle, and thread. Like her grandmother before her, she made wedding gowns for all the Brookside brides. Oddly enough, she never married. A dark siren, sensual and alluring, with lustrous black hair and bewitching green eyes, Lilly instead took on a series of lovers throughout the years—both male and female, if the whispers Emily’d heard were to be believed.
“I already know it’s going to be so beautiful.”
All of her creations were.
“Just like you, sweet girl.” Squeezing her shoulders, Lilly smiled and glanced at the clock. “It’s almost time. Happy birthday, darling Jacob. I left you a gift in your room,” she said, and then kissed him.
“Thank you, Auntie.”
“Happy New Year, my boy.” It was Billy’s turn. “May the mountain continue to bless you with favor and good fortune.” Her gaze flicked to Emily, then to Jake. “All of you.”
And with that, she was gone.
“Why is it she’s never married, you think?” Emily asked, her fingers sliding through Jake’s soft hair.
“Asked her once.” And he sheepishly grinned. “She said her life was her own and none of my business.”
She pursed her lips. Okie dokie, then .
“C’mon, Jake.” Billy handed his brother a glass and poured one for himself. “Let’s drink to your birthday and a brand-new year.”
“To our future.”
They clinked glasses, and as the effervescent bubbles tickled her tongue, the countdown began.
Glancing around the room, Emily swallowed her champagne. Her mother stood, smiling at Justin. Lilly was nowhere to be seen. Victor filled Carrie’s glass until it all but overflowed. Uncle Matty had one arm around Grams, the other holding onto his wife, while her cousins played Tug-of-war with Arien between them.
Three.
Two.
One.
“Happy New Year, Emily.” His dark eyes shining, Jake pressed a kiss to her forehead and guided her to his brother’s waiting arms.
Billy’s lips took hers, soft and sweet. Tasting the champagne on his tongue, he deepened the kiss until everything else faded away. Jake held her from behind, warm breath fanning her nape, his fingers strummed her middle. Lightning erupted in her belly, the blood rushing to that empty place between her legs, making it so heavy she ached.
Jake’s tongue traced the pulse beneath her ear. “ Michante .”
Emily opened her eyes.
Her mother still stood there with Justin, looking on as Victor kissed his wife. Uncle Matty was kissing Jennifer, while Grams hid a chuckle behind her hand, watching Tanner and Kellan chase after their stepsister.
A smile coming to her lips, she closed them again. How lucky was she to call these people her family?
“Happy New Year, Em.”
“Happy New Year, Billy.” And she kissed him again for good measure. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby.”
She turned to the man behind her. “And I love you, Jake. I hope your birthday wish comes true.”
“Already did.” A smile in his eyes, he kissed her crown. “I’ve got you.”