Chapter 11
Tristan
Iwake up to the feeling of someone watching me.
My eyes fly open, and Sadie is standing there, blue eyes staring at me. “Are you dead?”
I flinch and then rub my eyes as my heart goes back to normal after being woken like that. “Not sure.”
My head is a mess. I’m freaking exhausted.
Instead of coming home after dropping Lark off and falling asleep, I was up.
All damn night.
Tossing and turning, grabbing my phone, only to stop myself from texting her to make sure there wasn’t a blowup in her house. Then remembering it’s not my problem or place. She and I aren’t a thing, and we’ll never be a thing either. I’m supposed to be forgetting about her and moving on.
I just couldn’t get my brain to fall in line.
“You look dead.”
“Dead people usually don’t talk,” I remind her.
She shrugs. “So you’re alive. Goodie.”
I’m not really sure she means that, but my brain isn’t exactly awake. I need coffee. An entire pot of it.
“What time is it?” I ask, rolling over to reach for my phone.
“Ten.”
“Ten?” I ask, jerking upright in surprise.
“That’s why I thought you were dead.”
Yeah, I haven’t slept in past six since…well, ever. I’ve been up before the sun for as long as I can remember, taking care of the animals, getting chores done before I went to school. Sleeping in was a luxury I never had.
Immediately, I’m pushing out of bed.
“I fed the horses,” Sadie tells me. “Aunt Harper took care of the goats. Aunt Fallon said since you’re a slacker, she would work on the hayloft.
Aunt Roni is doing something with numbers and a plan—and Grandad…
well, he and I are working on our own project.
I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dead. ”
“Thanks for that,” I say to my daughter who, again, I’m not sure is glad I’ve lived another day.
“Thanks for not dying, Dad.”
Maybe we are getting back to cordiality. “You’re welcome, Cupcake.”
She smiles, just a little. That glimmer of hope fills me up more than I can admit.
I hate when things are strained between us.
Sadie and I have always been close. We are a lot alike.
Both strong-willed but always wanting to do right by the world.
She has this insatiable curiosity to learn, do good things, and make a difference.
Her dreams change, like all kids her age, but every time we talk about a future, it’s doing something bigger for humanity.
Just like her momma wanted.
Emmy Jo had dreams that were far bigger than this town. She wanted to move away and save lives, but then she fell in love with me and realized that our world was big enough if we had each other.
Of course, I wanted more for her. I had plans to give her everything she wanted, but life is funny that way. You take enough time, and it might just take you before you’ve spent it.
“Sadie?” I call her name as she’s at the door.
“Yeah?”
“Can we do something fun tonight?”
Her eyes brighten, and she nods. “I’d like that.”
“How about a campfire and a movie?”
“Can I pick the movie?”
“Sure.”
It’s the least I can do. I’m pretty sure if I asked her to do this two days ago, the answer would’ve been no, that she needed to bathe her chickens or some shit. If this is what it takes to get back to her not hating me, then I’ll let her pick what we watch.
Her grin tells me I’m going to regret this. “Perfect. It’s a date.” She turns, heads out, and then stops. “Oh, and Dad?”
“Hmm?”
“We’re going to discuss Cloud and riding. I have points to make.”
Sometimes I wish she were a little less like me, but at the same time, I respect her desire to prove me wrong, even if it’s not going to happen.
“I expect no less.”
Minutes later, I head out to the barn where her horse is held, and he immediately starts his bullshit. His ears tuck back, and he’s tossing his head and stepping around the stall. “Easy, boy.”
Cloud doesn’t settle—he never does around me. He’s been wild and unpredictable since the accident. Until I can see any sign that he’s able to control himself, I’m not letting my daughter near him.
“Checking on Cloud?” my sister Fallon, asks as she’s putting a bridle on the rack.
“If you want to call it that.”
“I fed him early, walked him a bit too. He needs the exercise. Since you were sleeping in after your night on the town, we all pitched in. Like good sisters.”
Fallon helps with training and exercise for the horses. She’s got a great eye for a horse’s temperament and what we should consider when we go to sell them. One of the horses she trained has won a few rodeos for barrel racing, which she loves to do herself.
“Yes, you’re so great. I do appreciate the help.”
“Must’ve been a wild night.”
Hardly. It just was an unsettling one, which seems to be my new life experience thanks to the daughter of my sworn enemy.
There was a moment between us. One where I thought about pulling Lark to me, cupping those apple cheeks and tasting her mouth. I was close. So fucking close to making a stupid mistake.
All night I replayed it, the look in her eyes, the way she was staring at me. It would’ve been the worst thing I could’ve done. She was drunk. I was not. It would’ve been wrong on every level.
Thank God her father opened that door.
Which is not something I ever believed I would think.
I got home last night, trying to come up with some reason that made sense. I don’t even like Lark. I don’t like anyone, for fuck’s sake. I loved once, and I have no intention to date or be involved with a woman again.
No. Just…no.
“It was long. You know Jimmy.”
“And I know the Beast,” Fallon retorts.
“When’s the last time you were there?” I challenge.
I love my sister, but she doesn’t exactly have a life. In fact, she pretty much has nothing other than my nephew. Her world revolves around him, and I get it. I do. I lost Emmy Jo when Sadie was a toddler, and I threw every ounce of energy I had into being a parent, which is what Fallon has done.
Her fiancé died before he had a chance to even know she was pregnant. Losing Carrick has changed her at her core.
No longer is she a carefree woman in her twenties. She’s hardened her heart, and it’s like she’s a shell of a person going through the motions.
She shrugs. “I don’t have time.”
“You have nothing but time, Fallon.”
“Yes, and you’re the poster child for living after loss?” she pushes back, lashing out like she does when any of us bring things up.
I shake my head, knowing what her game is and refusing to play.
“No. I’m not. I’m not the man I was before Emmy Jo died, but I would hope that you’d learn from that.
If I remember, little sister, you were the one telling me that I shouldn’t give up and focus only on Sadie.
You were the one pushing me to get out, live, be the man who Emmy would’ve wanted me to be, which wasn’t a half-dead one. ”
She sticks her tongue out. “Don’t use my logic against me.”
I pull her against my side and kiss the top of her head. “Who knew you had any logic?”
Fallon playfully slaps my chest and walks over to Cloud’s stall. “Speaking of logic, big brother of mine, you know, Sadie could work with Cloud a bit.” She tries to sound innocent, but I hear the condemnation there.
I’m going to bet this is part of Sadie’s plan. Get my sister and father to gang up on me. Not that it ever works. There are a few things that I will not cave on, and this fucking horse is one of them.
“Can we not do this today?”
“Are you planning to ever discuss it?”
“Not with you or any other member of this family. Sadie and I need to come to an agreement, and that isn’t happening until I’m convinced that she’s safer on a horse than on the ground. Which will be never.”
Fallon raises her hands. “Say no more. How are things going with the sales we lost? Any takers?”
I shake my head. “They’ll come, but I’m not driving two days for free. Not when we offered them a great price.”
“I agree,” Fallon says as she grabs a brush. “Had anymore run-ins with the cops?”
I laugh. “Apparently no one is trying to destroy the Gatlins today, although I’m not sure that’s a good thing, because now it makes us look guilty.”
My sister snorts. “They really need to let it go.”
“Just them?” I ask, knowing we aren’t much better.
“I feel vindication, considering we’re being falsely accused of committing crimes, and honestly, someone is doing God’s work by giving them hell. Plus, fuck Maverick Gatlin right to hell, which is exactly where that asshole belongs.”
Fallon despises the youngest Gatlin. He’s responsible for her losing the love of her life.
Which is something we just don’t talk about.
I clear my throat. “Lark isn’t all that bad.”
My sister’s eyes widen, and she puts her hands on her hips. “Really? Lark…isn’t that bad, huh?”
“Not that she’s great,” I correct, grabbing the bucket of grain to put some in Cloud’s stall. “She and I talked a little when I got stuck volunteering with her.”
I didn’t mention anything about the storm to my family. There was no need. Nothing happened other than me helping a woman on the side of the road. It didn’t matter that she was Lark.
At least that’s my story regarding it all.
“Did you now? So you’re friends, huh?”
Here we go. “No one said that.”
“Really? Because Mrs. Canta said you two were awfully cozy in Suzanne’s store.”
I’m not the slightest bit shocked. “She just likes to run her mouth.”
“True, but how do you explain last night?”
My throat goes dry. “What about it?”
“I heard that you drove her home. She was drunk, and instead of letting her ride with her friends and Jimmy, you so gallantly offered up help.”
This fucking town. No one knows how to keep a damn secret.
None of that is wrong, though. “I did.”
“Why?”
“Because she was drunk.”
I move over to the other stall and grab the oats. Fallon follows me, scoffing as she moves. “So what? She’s Lark Gatlin.”
“And you’re Fallon Stone.”
“Yes, and you’re an idiot! You can’t drive her around, Tristan. Can you even imagine what’s going to happen when her family finds out? They’re going to think you…I don’t know! Did some sort of ritual on her for all we know. I’m sure the cops will be here today, claiming some kind of foul play.”
As much as I would like to reject that idea, it’s not entirely impossible. “They know,” I tell her.
“Know what?”
“That I drove her home.”
Fallon grabs my arm as I walk by. “What? Tristan! My God, do you have any sense, you idiot? You can’t be around her. She’s…a fucking Gatlin. While she’s not the worst of them, I’ll give you that, you can’t be nice to them. They’re terrible.”
“Okay.”
That causes her face to redden. Oh, she’s like a teapot that is about to blow.
“Tristan!” And there it is. “You’re so annoying.”
“Says the one screaming like a maniac.”
“Because you’re a dumbass!”
Her screeching has apparently been heard, because the barn door opens and Veronica steps in.
“Problems?” Roni asks.
Before I can say anything, Fallon speaks: “Yes! Your idiot brother is driving drunk Gatlins home from the bar. Oh, and volunteering with them for the food drive.”
Roni looks to me, confusion in her eyes. “What is she talking about?”
I shrug. “Fuck if I know.”
That pisses Fallon off more. “Ugh! You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I go about the barn, doing the things that need to be done as Fallon fills Veronica in on everything she knows about last night.
Giving a lot of details that I don’t know how she’d already have, since I haven’t talked to anyone.
Probably Mary Lou—she and Fallon are friends, so I’m sure she called her this morning.
I snort a laugh at the one part that is completely untrue, causing them both to stop and stare at me. “What? I didn’t dance with her.”
“No?” Fallon asks, reaching into her back pocket for her phone. She scrolls and pulls up a photo, then shows it to me.
“Oh, that was a barn dance.”
“The word dance is in it, brother,” Veronica informs me.
“Did you hear that?” I ask.
“Hear what?”
“I think Sadie’s calling me. Bye.”
I walk out, leaving them both to stew.