Chapter 6 Savannah
Savannah
The car ride to Anna’s house was silent.
Or I was silent while Claire and Emmett talked about the environmental impact claim I had gotten from Sterling and Preston Hollis just thirty minutes ago.
It was amazingly predictable that they submitted it just minutes before the courthouse closed, forcing me to wait until morning to appeal it.
What a bunch of game-playing assholes.
I should’ve been thinking about the appeal.
It affected all of us, and Claire had a mini freak-out over it and still was, given the way she was snapping at our brother.
But my mind was stuck on the fact that I was about to see Weston again.
This time without the haze of painkillers to soften things.
As soon as I told Claire about the claim, she sent a text to the group chat she’d made with all of us a few weeks ago when we all agreed to own stakes in the new ranch, just so everyone was up to date on what was going on.
I’d had a mini heart attack after seeing that I had never changed Weston’s name in my phone.
He had still been Wes, and it had been inexplicably painful and difficult to change it to Weston Tate. But not as gut-wrenching as that night at the rodeo nearly two weeks ago.
And then seeing him yesterday beating into that tree… I’d never seen him angry like that. It was so unlike the happy-go-lucky, playful guy I knew, and it took everything in me not to rush over to him to ease his suffering. But that wasn’t my job anymore, and it hadn’t been for a very long time.
I couldn’t help but wonder how he’d react seeing me this time. What if he acted completely different and pretended I didn’t exist? What if he didn’t remember what he said at the hospital? Or what if he did, and wanted to talk about us again?
Out of all those scenarios, I wasn’t sure which one would be worse.
“I just can’t believe after everything I did to save the ranch, it could all go up in smoke because of a stupid fucking woodpecker,” Claire said, her grip tightening on the steering wheel.
Seeing her so worried had me fidgeting in my seat. “Don’t freak out, bear. I’m going to the courthouse as soon as it opens tomorrow,” I said. “You don’t need to worry. I got it.”
I needed to get my head on straight. I was in town for my family and this merger, not to suffer over whether Weston hated me or not. Well, that, and to get space to figure things out with Stewart, but that was another can of worms I couldn’t open today.
We pulled up to Anna’s, and my heart was in my throat as we walked to her door. I could hear voices on the other side as we waited on the porch for someone to answer the door, and one of them I picked out instantly as Weston’s.
I glanced down at my white sundress. It was just something simple to throw on in a rush, so I had time to touch up my makeup and hair. Claire had given me a knowing look as I got ready, but didn’t say anything.
“Do I look okay?” I whispered.
“You look fine, Savvy, it’s just the group,” Claire said. Yeah. That was the problem.
“Hi!” Anna said with a beaming smile as she opened the door. She gave us both hugs. “Welcome, welcome! Everyone’s inside.”
Anna’s house was stunning. It was modern yet cozy and warm with dark wood floors, cream walls decorated with family photos and Henry’s art, and sleek appliances. It was the kind of home I could see myself living in one day. And it smelled like cookies.
My eyes landed on Weston the moment I crossed the threshold, like some kind of gravitational pull. He was in an armchair, talking to Anna’s husband, Joseph, laughing about something. The warm, husky sound carried across the room, and it felt like I’d been yanked back in time.
And there, peeking between the end of his shirt sleeve and the beginning of his sling, was a sliver of tan skin covered in black and gray ink.
My heart skipped a beat. It was the tattoo for me. My hands itched with the need to go over there and yank his sleeve up to see it; it was killing me not knowing what it looked like.
As if he had sensed me staring, his eyes found mine instantly, stealing all the air out of the house, and everything came to a grinding halt.
The way his eyes widened slightly told me he felt it, too.
I wasn’t entirely sure he was even breathing.
Emmett ran into my back, and I realized I had stopped walking right in the middle of the living room.
Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I wordlessly bolted into the kitchen after Anna and Claire, needing to hide.
Tonight was going to be a long night.
About an hour later, all ten of us sat around the table, passing around serving bowls of salad and pasta Anna threw together. I made sure to sit on the opposite end of the table from Weston, but couldn’t help but watch how he shifted in his seat, his jaw tight while Anna made his plate for him.
I didn’t know him that well anymore, but I knew being injured was driving him nuts.
He didn’t like people doing things for him.
It made him feel like he owed them. When we were dating, it had taken me weeks to convince him to let me treat him to something as small as an Icee from the gas station, only for him to turn around and get me one to return the favor.
“So what’s this environmental thing Claire texted about?” Joseph asked between mouthfuls.
I cleared my throat, all eyes on me. “They’re saying an endangered woodpecker lives on the land.
It’s honestly so stupid. But if they get the claim validated, the county could halt things with Golden Circle for months.
” And if it was legit, it could be stopped altogether, but I didn’t want to tell them that until I knew for sure.
There was no point in worrying everyone when I didn’t have all the information.
“Please tell me you’re kidding,” Delilah said from across the table, her fork frozen midair. She arched a brow. “A woodpecker?”
“That’s what I said when I saw the email. Things like this happen all the time in cases I work on back in Dallas. They want me to be too busy handling this to focus on the actual merger. It’s a diversion tactic to slow things down, but it’s easy to work around.”
I glanced at the other end of the table, doing a double-take when I realized Weston was already watching me. I swallowed roughly, my mouth going dry at the intense look in his eyes. I wanted to know what he was thinking.
“What do you have to do to get around it? I could help if you think you’ll need it,” Colt offered. I dragged my attention away from Weston. “I’ve got connections at the sheriff’s office.”
“Thanks, but it should be fine. I just need to go to the courthouse tomorrow to file an appeal, a SLAPP motion, and find a biologist to invalidate the claim.”
“I don’t know what the hell you just said, but if it gets rid of them, then do it,” Beau said.
I chuckled, nodding. “That’s the plan.”
“What kind of woodpecker is it?” Brittany asked, pulling out her phone. “I wanna look it up and see if it’s legit.”
“The red-cockaded woodpecker.”
There was a snorting, choking sound at the other end of the table, and everyone went silent. It was Weston. He wiped the water off his chin, looking amused. “Did you just say red cocked woodpecker? Like…” He raised his brows, gesturing down to his lap with a dip of his chin. “Cock?”
It was the first time he spoke to me after walking through the door, and he was talking about cock. That was so on brand that I couldn’t help but grin at him. “No,” I replied, chuckling, and his smile widened.
Delilah snickered into her beer. “Does that mean the thing has a red cock?”
“I don’t think woodpeckers have cocks, Delilah,” Claire said, giggling and finally seeming relaxed since finding out about this. “Or birds in general.”
“There’s a baby present!” Anna reminded everyone with a frantic yet amused look.
“Mama, what’s a cock?” Henry asked, making everyone laugh hysterically.
But I just stared at Weston, both of us smiling in the laughter that surrounded us.
Anna had just pressed leftovers into my arms when Weston appeared at my side.
He somehow felt taller and broader now, but maybe that was because the last time we were this close, he was a boy who thought he was a man, and now he truly was a man in every sense of the word.
A man who smelled fantastic. He didn’t smell like Axe body spray anymore, but something expensive and seductive and far too tempting.
Weston cleared his throat awkwardly, his voice low, “Can we talk for a minute?”
Anna’s eyes darted between us while I silently begged her not to go, but she left anyway. She was lucky she was pregnant, or I’d drag her back over here.
I licked my dry lips and turned to face him fully, my grip on the Tupperware tightening. “What is it?”
His gaze roamed all over my face, lingering on my lips, before meeting my stare again. “Outside, where we can get some privacy?”
I glanced into the living room, and everyone turned quickly, pretending they weren’t watching us like overprotective parents. “I can’t. Claire is about to leave.”
“I’ll drive you home.” The idea of sitting in a car alone with him right now felt like exposure therapy that’d take me weeks to get over. Thank God it wasn’t possible anyway.
I straightened, lifting my chin at him. “Nice try, slick. You can’t drive for another three weeks at least.”
He arched a brow, smirking, and I knew I messed up. “Doing research, are we?” His gaze ran over me, that smirk deepening, and I squirmed. “You always did have to know all the details.”
The time I read over the back of the condom wrapper before we slept together the first time immediately popped into my head, and the heated look in his eyes told me he was thinking of the same thing.
Mortified, I opened my mouth to respond, then shut it again, heat crawling up my neck. He just looked more pleased with himself the more flustered I got.