Chapter 6 #2
Dante threw his arms over the side of my truck bed and leaned in, bowing his head. “He said he hadn’t seen you act that way since she left. You’re usually pretty levelheaded around the ladies. Maybe even bored. They like to throw off their clothes when you so much as look in their direction.”
“That’s not true.”
“You barely give them a quarter-ass in return,” he shot back. “Face it. None of them interest you.”
My clothes suddenly felt tight. “Stop shrinking me. Erika knows how to get under my skin, and apparently that still makes me act stupid.” I leaned back against the truck beside him and, yeah, thought about that ass of hers. She hadn’t been wrong. It was fantastic.
What I liked even more about her was that she wasn’t tiny like every other woman around here who barely cleared five feet.
She was still a solid half-foot shorter than me, but tall enough that going toe-to-toe with her didn’t require me to look straight down like I was lecturing a kid.
Not that her height was what made arguing with her interesting.
Not even close. It was not knowing where she’d take it next. I mean, fucking diarrhea stains?
“She makes you act stupid like the fact you made her dump you in high school and won’t tell me why?”
I didn’t think it was really a question. So, I didn’t answer.
Yes, I had pushed us apart, not because I’d wanted to. I had no choice. She’d never have flown as high as she had with me in tow. She’d have been stuck here.
Me doing what I needed to keep her here now went against what I’d done back then. I remained conflicted. Did I clip her wings and keep her here or push her away to let her keep flying?
“Did you ever tell her you still kiss her locket for luck?” Dante puckered his lips dramatically and made a smooching sound, like an idiot.
I shoved him hard enough that he had to stumble a step to stay upright. “I do not kiss it for luck.”
His grin stretched slow and knowing, the kind only a friend who’s been around forever can wear. “I’d bet a hundred bucks it’s in your pocket right now.”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Because he was right.
I’d found her locket six months after graduation, wedged deep in the seat cushion of my truck when I was cleaning it out.
I’d meant to give it back. I meant to drop it off with her dad, to make sure it found its way to her.
But every time I tried to hand it over, if felt like I was shredding something open inside.
Carrying it felt steadying. Like holding on to the last piece of a life that had made sense.
Baseball players are superstitious as hell, and lucky charms are sacred. The day I tore up my arm—the day everything changed—I’d left the locket at home. I couldn’t find it that morning, and the whole day turned to shit.
Ever since, if I forgot it, if I left it behind, everything went wrong.
So yeah. It was in my pocket. Right now. Its metal rested warm against my thigh.
He asked, “Was she at practice with Vinny?”
“Yes. She checked out my ass and decided my pants were too tight. She told me I better not demo sliding in case I split my pants and had diarrhea stains on my underwear.” I craned around to stare at the back of my pants. “There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re baseball pants.”
Dante doubled over laughing so hard that he had to put his hands on his knees.
“Ain’t no other woman in the state that would make you double check your own ass.
Then to accuse you of streaks in your drawers?
” He wiped his eyes and put a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re in big trouble.” Then he got serious.
“You’ve been wandering through life for years.
I thought it was that you lost baseball, but maybe it’s because she hasn’t been here to irritate you into action. ”
“Erika and I said good-bye a long time ago.” I pushed away from the truck and crossed my arms.
“Did you? I mean, did you for sure say good-bye? I’m just throwing this thought out there. Maybe you don’t let her get away this time?”
“I don’t want her in the way you’re implying.”
Dante snorted sarcastically.
Defensively, I said, “I need her as a vet to help at work. I’m seeing someone. Sort of.”
“Milly isn’t who she seems. Around you she’s all simpering and fake submissive, but there’s a calculating rattlesnake in that heart of hers. She’s been wanting to get her fangs in you since you returned from college.”
“What did she do to you?”
“That’s between me and her. She’s set her sights on you, which worries me. Be careful if you jump in bed with her. Accidents might not be so accidental where she’s concerned.”
“Are you seriously giving me a condom talk?”
“I think it’s necessary. If you knock her up…” Dante shuddered as if chills went through him. “In fact, I think she’ll probably sabotage things to make sure you do. That woman wants you to put a ring on her finger. I think she’d do just about anything to make it to happen.”
“Not that it’s your business, but she and I haven’t gotten that serious.”
“I recommend keep your pants zipped with Milly until she shows her true colors to you. Then see how you feel about her. Now, Erika?” Dante grinned. “If you knock that woman up, she might just stay with you. For her, I’d be a godfather. So would Knox. Did you know he talks to her all the time?”
“That’s scary as hell to be throwing imaginary babies around like Tic-Tacs. Erika hates me. I might think she grew up well and all, but she and I aren’t going to… There’s no way we will ever...”
He held up a hand. “Never say never. Bad luck, you know. You’ve still got it bad for her.”
“No, I don’t.” I crossed my arms tighter.
“If she kissed you like she meant it, you’d lose your clothes.”
“Jaysus,” I muttered, half scared he wasn’t wrong. My phone dinged to signal an incoming message. I wished hard for it not to be another emergency. I needed a few hours of sleep.
It was from my brother.
Timothy: Got a cow down at south end. See you in twenty.
I glanced up. “I gotta get going. Another emergency.”
“Come to dinner with Tonya and I tomorrow?”
“I can’t tomorrow. How about Friday? Are you going to tell me the two of you finally got engaged?”
“We’re not there yet. Friday it is. Don’t knock anyone up before then.”
“Did you and Tonya…? Is that where this baby talk is coming from?”
“I’d be thrilled. We practice hard, but that woman’s in charge. Someday…” Dante laughed as he rounded his car.
I waved at him before texting back.
Josh: I’m on another farm call. I can’t be down there for at least a few hours.
I’d promised to return to the Sawyers after practice to check on a cow that wasn’t milking right.
That usually meant mastitis. I didn’t have time to deal with my brother’s disapproval of my life choices.
I was supposed to have taken over the farm management from my father and leave the HVAC business to Timothy.
My father owned thousands of acres of farmland in the area where he ran cows and grew soybeans or corn.
And he’d started an HVAC business on the side since there wasn’t anyone else in town.
When I walked away from both, even after Dad’s heart attack five years ago, Timothy took over the management of everything.
Timothy: I need you at the barn now. This is one of the pricey cows.
Josh: If you paid your bills for the last four visits then I might move you to the head of the line.
The reply button spun. Maybe he’d call Jeff Teller, the other large animal vet in the area. Jeff primarily did horses, but he could be persuaded to do a cow for the right price.
Timothy: We paid for your vet school. You will be out here in twenty.
Josh: I paid my own way in school. You want to see my school loan statement? I might be there in a few hours.
I’d warned Dad a few years ago not to start cloning calves, but he’d fallen hard for the sales pitch.
Research showed clones had a higher rate of birth defects.
On our farm, the few cloned calves seemed to struggle even more than the others.
Their immune systems were weaker. They picked up infection after infection.
Many didn’t survive more than a few weeks. My phone chimed again.
Milly: How dare she return to town with the way she hurt you?
Josh: Her father and stepmother passed.
Milly: Want me to come over tonight?
Definite no, not after Dante’s baby talk. The thought of seeing her tonight drained every bit of energy out of me.
Josh: On a call.
Milly: See you tomorrow night.