Chapter 9
brIAR
There are coyotes out here, or bears…possibly raccoons. All I know is I’m sick of picking up trash off the ground every goddamn morning for the past week now.
Sweat drips off my forehead as I grab the last balled-up piece of paper and stuff it into a new, unripped garbage bag. I’m adding padlocks and chains to my shopping list today. No more nuisances.
Speaking of nuisances. I scowl as I spot Grahm’s truck pulling up to the front of the house.
He’s stopped by every single day since last Saturday night. Every other time he’s come over, I’ve been safely hidden away in the upstairs bedroom, but of course he catches me outside today. Shit.
I try to make a beeline for the back door, but he’s already running around the corner of the house, breathing heavily and with worry in his eyes.
“Briar? Oh my God, I’ve been so fucking worried about you!
” He tries to come up and hug me, but I take a step back and give him an uncertain once-over.
Between Hailey’s warning, his bloody hoodie, and what Roman told me, I don’t trust him one bit.
Every time I’ve swung by the grocery store this week, Hailey has either been on her break or taking a sick day. Her coworkers seem to be covering for her, and it’s fucking weird. I just need to make sure that she’s all right.
Grahm looks like he’s lost sleep. He’s not the flirty farm boy from last week. He has a few cuts on his left cheek that would suggest that he’s been in a fistfight.
“I’m fine,” I say under my breath.
He takes in my posture and moves back a little to give me space. “I’m so sorry about the party last weekend. I lost track of time, and by the time I finished talking to Hailey, I couldn’t find you. I shouldn’t have left you alone. Did Roman hurt you?”
Grahm sounds like he’s been worrying about me, but I honestly don’t know who to trust anymore. Not after the stunt he pulled.
His eyes catch on the bruising around my temple, and he visibly pales. “I’m going to fucking kill him!” Grahm shouts and starts stomping back to his pickup.
I panic and run out in front of him with my hands raised to calm him.
“It wasn’t him. I’m fine, honestly. I just got lost and tripped and smacked my head.
” I hate how well I lie. I hate that I know each one will come back and reap what they sow even more.
But it works. He lets his muscles relax, and his expression softens.
“Briar, I feel terrible. It’s my fault.”
It totally is. I firm my lips.
“The last I saw of you, you were getting in that fucker’s car for the race. I about drove to Murray’s house and made him get his sheriff’s uniform on to find you that night.” He lets out a breath of relief.
Then why didn’t you? I arch a brow. “Oh?”
“I mean, I drove by after the party and saw your lights on, so I figured you were okay. And when you ignored me, I thought you just needed some space.” I give him a pointed look.
“Listen, I’m not good at this kind of thing.
But are we okay? I still want to help with the farm and make up for my behavior.
” He gives me a hopeful smile. Damn his sparkling eyes.
It also helps that he did actually show up every day, even when I ignored him.
It shows that he’s at least devoted to helping me sell the farm.
But what about Hailey?
“Your hoodie was covered in…oil or something dark. What exactly happened between you and Hailey?” I have no proof that he did anything at all. So I don’t want to jump to conclusions.
“I didn’t want to say anything, but we sort of hooked up.
I took my hoodie off and some asshole must have dropped it in the dirt or something.
Who cares if it’s stained? I’m just glad you’re okay.
” His answer seems honest enough and he has guilt in his eyes, admitting to hooking up with Hailey, which is what I originally suspected.
I cross my arms and roll my eyes. “Fine. But I’m still pissed at you.”
His eyes light up.
“And you owe me answers,” I tack on, lifting a judgy, untrusting brow at him.
Grahm laughs and rubs his beard. “I’d expect nothing less. Thanks, Briar. Should we head to town and grab some coffee while you interrogate me? It’s on me.”
I chuckle and let my shoulders relax. “I could really use it.”
The café is as pleasant as it was the first time. The atmosphere is warm and smells like coffee beans and vanilla. The tables are empty, except for one person in the far front by the windows, who is typing furiously on their laptop.
“I think you owe me an explanation,” I mumble as I blow the steam from my latte.
The weather has been gradually getting colder, which I absolutely love.
Today is one of the last warm days of summer.
Thank God for having phone service again.
It was the first thing I did Sunday morning after the party last week.
Granted, it’s a prepay plan, but it’s better than nothing.
I still need to stop by the grocery store and thank Hailey for telling me where to go for it.
And even though Grahm said his hoodie was stained by someone else, I’m still concerned and would feel better once I see her for myself.
I left the hoodie in the basement on top of the washing machine.
Even having it in my house makes me feel anxious because what if he’s lying and it is blood?
Grahm nods reluctantly and runs his hand down the side of his neck.
“I was going to talk to Hailey and… Well, one thing led to another. We used to date, and I just wanted to know what she meant by telling you to be careful with me… Obviously that conversation went in a different direction. By the time I remembered you were waiting for me, I couldn’t find my hoodie and then I found you with Roman. ”
I narrow my judgmental eyes at him. “Good to hear that I was an afterthought.”
He winces. “Fuck. No, you’re not. Again, I’m sorry.”
I sigh and take a sip from my coffee. “It’s okay. I’ve had worse things happen.” There’s a beat of silence as we both take another drink. “Can I ask you something?” I say in a serious tone.
Grahm looks at me thoughtfully, like he knows what I’m going to ask.
“What do you do besides help out at my uncle’s farm?” I try to keep the skepticism out of my tone, but it bleeds through.
He leans back in his chair and tilts his head with a slight grin. “Briar, don’t go poking your nose where it don’t belong.” His accent is light and disarming, even though that sure as fuck sounds like a warning if I’ve ever heard one.
I set down my cup and stare at him for a beat, trying to decide whether or not it’s a good idea to straight up ask him. “Are you into, you know, some bad things for work?”
Grahm leans forward and is about to say something when the front door swings open and two men walk in.
“Hey, Briar!” Taylor lifts his hand in greeting and seems all too jovial after the last time I saw him a week ago. My blood runs cold. Why did he and Gale come in and walk straight over to our table? How did they know I was even here?
My eyes instantly flick to Grahm. His jaw is set, and he takes a casual, long sip from his coffee.
Although I’ve never seen a dark gaze replace kindness so quickly in someone’s eyes before.
The air is electric with tension. Not like where you don’t know who’s going to punch who first, but with the fake grins that have sinister undertones kind of tension.
Gale eyes him carefully before muttering to me, “Come on, Briar. We’re already late because you weren’t at the farm.”
My brows instantly quirk. “Go where? I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Taylor drops his smile and shares a look with Gale.
Grahm slowly stands and crosses his arms. “Is there a problem?” he says in a calm, yet dangerous tone.
Gale, who’s only a smidge shorter than Grahm, sets his hand on the ranch hand’s shoulder and squeezes. “There will be if you try to do anything stupid, Sutherland.”
“Fucking shitheads,” Grahm curses, glaring at them as the two look at me expectantly.
“Either we walk out together or we carry you out, cutie.” Taylor smiles like a lunatic, and I unfortunately know he’s not joking.
“It’s fine, Grahm. I’ll talk to you later. My phone is working now, so I’ll text you when I get home. Is your number still the same as the one my uncle had pinned on his fridge?”
Grahm nods, still looking pissed off and like he might try to stop them from taking me.
I snag my drink and am glad that I got it in a to-go cup instead of a mug.
Taylor grunts as he hooks his arm over my shoulders and guides me outside.
Roman’s Benz is parked out front, and even though I can’t see through the blacked-out windows, I know he’s in there.
It’s annoying seeing the same car that was parked out front that first night and now I’m being forced into it.
I can’t believe he already got it back after losing. What did he do? Pull someone’s teeth out? I shudder as the very realistic image of him doing that runs through my head. It’s messed up that I can picture him doing it.
“What’s this about?” I snap and tear away from Taylor’s arm. He chuckles and ruffles my hair. I bump into Gale as I try to get out of Taylor’s reach and realize that there’s something strapped to his waist that feels a lot like a pistol.
Is he carrying a gun? My eyes widen, and my stomach churns. I hold on to my coffee cup a little tighter as we approach the car.
“Not much. We just want to have some fun with our new friend in town. There’s no harm in that, now is there?” Taylor says with too much optimism. After a week of bliss, I thought I was in the clear and that they had forgotten about me. Obviously, I was much too hopeful.
The door swings open, and John extends his hand to help me into the car. My eyes go past his hand and straight to his waist, where I notice he also has a pistol holstered there. My heart races as I take his hand and am placed on his lap.