Chapter 2
Lark
After the longest shower I’ve ever taken, I’m lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for some kind of divine intervention to make this one sentence stop playing on repeat.
“You should be with a man who would swim through a flood to get to you.”
His deep voice. The way his brown eyes were smoldering. Yes, they smoldered as he said those words.
Tristan Stone, the man I’m supposed to hate more than anyone else, but I’ve never been able to.
How could I? He was always so cute. Truly, with a dimple in his right cheek, always sporting a smile, with that dark brown hair that looks tousled all the time. Tristan was sweet, especially around the woman he loved back then. It was…sweet and made him cuter.
Only now he’s not cute, he’s freaking off-the-charts gorgeous. He’s growing out his facial hair, which, usually, I wouldn’t think looks hot, but on him—it’s perfect. I’m pretty sure I find him even more attractive because I’m not supposed to, but that’s the whole appeal.
He’s off-limits.
Then he was off the market when he married his high school sweetheart, who happened to be my best friend’s sister.
Technically, he’s always been off the market for me, but…a girl can dream about it, right?
And I did. Oh, so damn much.
Probably more so because of how much he loved Emmy Jo.
I wanted to find someone to look at me the way he did her. Even at the end, Tristan’s eyes never left his wife. She was all sunlight and bright skies, and when she died, the world grew a little darker. I imagine if it weren’t for Sadie, his entire world would’ve gone black.
I roll over and look at the clock.
“You should be with a man who would swim through a flood to get to you.”
Well, I don’t have that. I have a man who wouldn’t brave the rain for me.
My phone pings, and I rush to grab it, hoping it’s Tristan replying to my: I got home safe text—like an idiot.
Jeremy
I hope you made it home okay.
Oh, now he’s worried.
I did, no thanks to you.
Jeremy
I’m sorry, babe. I just don’t see why you’re so mad.
He doesn’t see? Of course not. Jeremy is not like most of the men around here.
He didn’t grow up on a farm, raising horses or cattle.
He does own a pair of cowboy boots, but he bought them only a few months ago when my brother started making fun of him for the sneakers he had on.
He’s…academic. He works as a land development engineer for his family’s construction company.
He makes great money, but he’s not the guy I’d call if I needed help with a fence or anything that’s not engineering related.
Still, Jeremy has always been sweet. He’s the guy who brings flowers to your mother on your first date—which she loved. He’s the one who remembers your five-month anniversary—which I loved.
He’s just not the guy to come when you really need him.
More than that, I don’t get that anxious feeling in my gut when I think about him.
He’s safe.
He’s…there.
He doesn’t look at me like I’m the light in his sky.
“You should be with a man who would swim through a flood to get to you.”
Ugh.
Get out of my head, Tristan Stone.
The fact that you don’t understand why I’m hurt is part of the issue. I’m not mad, I never was, just really hurt that I was stranded and you didn’t really care. Look, I’m tired. I’m upset. I’ll call you tomorrow and we can talk more.
Jeremy
So no breakfast?
Every day he comes to the farm before work. He lives alone, and my momma told him that every man should eat a hearty meal before he starts the day. So, yeah, he’s here to eat the food.
No. I’m sure the roads will still be a mess.
Passive-aggressive much? Yes. Do I care? Not a bit.
I go to put my phone down when it buzzes again.
Tristan
Should I expect some sort of retribution from your family for letting you walk back?
I smile, feeling a tingle in my stomach.
I’m going to pretend it’s gas.
You’ll be happy to know that they are completely unaware it was you who brought me back.
My brothers were pretty drunk when I got in and asked no questions.
Well, they asked a few, and I just explained that the tire blew, and that my dumbass brother is who took the spare out of the back, which required me to be rescued by a stranger.
I reminded them that taking the damn spare out is a bad idea for reasons like this.
I did tell them I called Jeremy, but he couldn’t come, which they had some stuff to say about, but I stopped listening.
Probably way more than he was looking for, but whatever.
Tristan
We need to stop this.
My stomach drops at that. Stop this? What are we stopping?
Umm…
Tristan
I don’t like agreeing with your brothers.
I laugh and flip onto my back, staring at the phone. That seriously could’ve gone another way.
I’m sure it can’t be fun for you. Unfortunately, I think you’ll soon realize we’re a pretty smart family.
Tristan
Absolutely not.
Could it be that all this time, the Stones were the ones who are the issue?
The response comes a second later.
Tristan
I repeat, absolutely not. It’s you. I know it.
Uh-huh.
God, I shouldn’t have this floaty feeling texting with him. Especially not right now. Not when I have a boyfriend, know this is stupid, and…I don’t even like him.
Not really.
Not in a meaningful way.
I liked him when I was a little girl. One who didn’t know anything about anything. All I was told was that Tristan was everything my brothers hated in this world. My father still won’t even speak the Stone name.
So, yeah, this floaty feeling cannot exist.
Tristan
I’m glad you’re all right. I’m beat and have an early morning. Night.
Thanks for everything, Tristan. Good night.
I put my phone down on the nightstand, pull the covers up, and lie there, waiting for sleep to take me and hoping my dreams do not involve a Stone.
“Hey, butthead!” my youngest brother, Deacon, yells as I’m entering the riding barn.
I assume he’s talking to someone else because he wouldn’t be stupid enough to say that to me, so I keep going.
“Lark!”
I turn, realizing he is, in fact, that stupid. “I know you weren’t calling me a butthead.”
Of my four brothers, Deacon is my favorite.
Also, he’s the biggest asshole of the bunch.
Still, there’s nothing in this world he wouldn’t do for me.
Not that Ryan isn’t the same on that front, but he’s stuffy and annoying where Deacon is easygoing and affectionate.
My other two brothers, Carter and Maverick, don’t live in Infinity Ridge anymore.
Carter joined the navy because he couldn’t stand to live in Colorado, and we don’t talk about Maverick.
Deacon and I have always been close. Maybe it’s because we’re only two years apart, while Ryan is the oldest and almost fifteen years my senior.
He’s just…different.
Always serious. Always trying to make things better, even when we all know they’re falling apart. He doesn’t talk to us about any of his issues, he just…stews. I understand there’s a lot of pressure on him to fix the ranch, but it’s made being around him tough.
Deacon grins as I pause inside the largest barn on the property.
This one is my favorite of them all—it’s the tallest, with fifteen stalls, the hayloft, and three cupolas.
“I was, but apparently not well enough that you knew it.” He moves a little quicker, catching up to me. “What are you doing now?”
“I’m checking on the horses and going to exercise a few I know were overwhelmed during the storm, why?” As if they understand what that means, a few neigh, and I smile.
“Because I’m going to fuck off from my chores and wanted to see if you’d like to get into trouble.”
As great as the offer sounds, there’s no way I’m going to do that. With the intense rain we had, the horses need to work a bit, and I was hoping Deacon would get the puddles—that look like freaking lakes—taken care of, since that’s what he’s supposed to do.
“No, you’re not, because you have to help me with the nasty stalls and the puddles everywhere.”
Deacon huffs, his dark brown hair puffing up with the air. “Not today, Tornado.”
I hate that stupid nickname. “Yes today, Buckaroo.” I give it right back, knowing that as much as I hate mine, Deacon hates his even more.
He flips me off. “Anyway, you can’t screw off today.
Ryan will throw a fit, Daddy will throw you out, and then I’ll have to throw you off Infinity Ridge if I have to muck out the stalls on my own.
All in all, you lose all the way around. ”
“Why do you always want to do the right thing?”
I don’t always do that. Like now, I’m lying to him and Ryan, omitting how I got back last night, and I did dream of Tristan.
Like an idiot.
I shrug and answer his question with sarcasm. “It’s a gift.”
“Return it,” he says with a laugh. “Hey, where’s your dumbass boyfriend? He didn’t come for breakfast.”
I was hoping to avoid this conversation for as long as possible.
When I got home last night, my brothers were a twelve-pack deep and my parents were asleep.
I got in with minimal discussion, and then this morning I explained the story to everyone with a little more detail but mostly steered it to focus on them and the tire.
All seemed well in the world thanks to a lot of omissions.
“No, I asked him not to.”
“Please tell me you finally see that he’s a fucking asshat and you’re done with him.”
I think I am, but…maybe I’m being stupid.
Maybe Tristan put this stupid idea in my head and I’m reading it wrong.
Jeremy isn’t that kind of a guy, but maybe that’s a good thing?
I’ve dated the cowboys in this town, and I know what they bring.
It’s not all sunshine and unicorns with that type of a man either.
It’s why I was attracted to Jeremy. He didn’t care about broncs and trucks. He didn’t want me to come to the rodeo, where he could relive his failed youth as he dreamed of winning a buckle.