Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
IZZY
FLIC: Is Dylan still alive? You left the bar pretty angry yesterday.
IZZY: He is! In fact, he’s throwing a barbeque tonight. Can you get the night off?
FLIC: If Jen hadn’t just called in sick with a stomach bug, I’d be there. Just try not to get any more splinters.
IZZY: You love it really.
FLIC: And what the hell have you done to that man? I’ve barely known him to crack a smile and now he’s throwing parties?
FLIC: Promise me you’ll wear something nice. And by nice, I mean not the clothes you wear for ranching. And brush your hair!
IZZY: It’s not a date!
FLIC: It’s not nothing either!
“When you said a barbeque by the lake, I thought you meant a few burgers. This is quite something…” I trail off, taking in the scene before me: the long foldout table and chairs near the tree line, buckets of beer and soft drinks, string lights and lanterns strewn in the trees, lit by a generator humming softly from somewhere nearby.
Dylan grins, taking in the same view. “Go big or go home, right?”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. You went from no horses to eighteen overnight.”
He laughs—a low rumble I feel more than hear.
The sun is sinking lower, streaking through the trees and over the lake in golds and oranges.
There’s still a muggy heat to the evening and I’m grateful I chose a simple white cotton dress.
God knows why I listened to Flic, but I’ve left my hair loose and even added eyeliner and lipstick to my usual hurried flick of mascara, laughing off Madison’s, “Why do you look so pretty, Mom?” as we left the trailer earlier.
My gaze roams to the lake every few minutes, to where Jake is pushing Madison on the rope swing.
She shrieks with laughter before plunging into the water, Buck diving in after her every time.
I feel a tightness in my chest ease at the sound of her happiness.
Like the claws of my anxiety—the constant fears I’m letting Mad down—are loosening their hold on me.
A sudden lump forms in my throat. She deserves this—to be surrounded by people who are kind, who see how special she is.
Who show up for her. I look at Dylan. He’s watching Mad too, a bottle of beer in his hand, an easy smile on his lips.
He’s wearing a fitted white tee and black jeans that mold to his thigh muscles in a way that makes my gaze snag, my mouth dry.
And then I’m looking at the sand beneath my feet, remembering lying on Dylan’s towel.
The way he kissed me—every part of me. Liquid heat burns in my core and I force the image away.
Family dinner, Iz. Thoughts out of the gutter.
I take a breath, catching the aromas of the meat cooking on the grill.
Chase is taking his turn flipping burgers.
He’s swigging from a beer bottle and he’s wearing bright pink swim trunks, a yellow tee, and an apron that reads, “Hot Stuff Coming Through.” I watch him for a second, the easy way he moves, the lazy grin he throws over his shoulder at Harper as she pretends to scold him for drinking on the job.
He shouts a greeting as a group of two men and two women arrive and greet Mama.
“I wasn’t expecting so many people,” I say, pushing aside the urge to slip into the background.
“I didn’t take you for the shy type, blondie.” Dylan’s voice is teasing, and now it feels like I’m not the only one thinking of lying naked on the shore. “There’s no one here to be scared of.”
“I’m not scared,” I reply.
“Horses are easier to read though, right?” he says, like he’s read my mind.
He lifts a hand, trailing one finger down my arm.
The touch is light, lingering for just a second before it’s gone, but it’s enough to send a thrill zipping through my body.
I glance back to the rope swing, watching Mad and maybe checking she’s not watching me.
Flic’s right. This thing with Dylan, it isn’t nothing, but I don’t want to confuse Madison, especially when she’s already fragile from Hooper letting her down again.
For a second my fury at my ex-husband—a Hulk-like rage—threatens to split me in two, but then Dylan moves close enough for me to draw in that leather and wood scent, and my thoughts are his once more.
“She’s fine with Jake,” Dylan murmurs in my ear, so close his beard tickles my skin as he follows my gaze to where Madison is swimming confidently to the shore for another go on the swing. He turns me around and nods to the group that has just arrived.
“They’re our two nearest neighbors and Mama’s friends.
” He turns me a fraction so we’re facing the next group.
“You met Mia and Serena at the first pre-season game, right?” he asks.
I nod, looking to where Harper is standing in a cute, cropped red tee and black denim skirt with the two other women.
Mia is wearing cowboy boots and a bohemian skirt, black braids loose down her back, looking like she stepped right out of a country music video.
And Serena is beside her. Where Mia is beautiful and Harper is petite and cute as hell, Serena is a goddess.
The kind of stunning that shouldn’t exist outside of one of Madison’s Disney movies.
Blonde hair that flows in silk waves down her back and an easy smile that makes her look both effortlessly cool and completely untouchable.
“Mia is the bigshot at Arquette Media, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, but before that she was Colorado’s youth champion barrel racer.”
As I’m staring, Chase steps over from the grill, throwing an arm around Serena’s shoulder.
“Are Serena and Chase…?”
Dylan laughs. “Not even close. They’ve been best friends since middle school. God knows why she still puts up with him, but they seem to have the same weird sense of humor. She used to be a Stormhawks cheerleader, but now she’s one of the coaches for the cheer team and choreographs the routines.”
“Cheerleader—I can see that.” I never thought of myself as insecure, but it’s hard not to compare myself with someone as stunning as Serena.
“You’d think she’d be a total bitch, right?” Dylan adds. “But she’s actually one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Completely down to earth. All she wants is the white picket fence, the kids, the minivan…”
I raise my brows. “The line of guys waiting to give her that must be wrapped around the block.”
“You’d think.” Dylan shrugs. “Except she has a thing for the bad boys who treat her like shit and never commit.” Dylan turns his attention back on me, something playful dancing in his eyes.
“What about you, Brooks? What kind of guy do you go for?” His voice dips low, that teasing edge curling into something more, making my pulse thud in my ears.
My throat goes dry, my mind dragging itself straight back to the gutter, remembering exactly how his hands felt on me, how his mouth—
“I’m not sure I have a type. But I know one thing…”
“What’s that?” he asks, like he already knows my next words will be cutting.
I take his beer from his hand, enjoy a slow sip before meeting his gaze, let my words land between us like a challenge. “Definitely not former pro athletes pretending to be ranchers.”
Dylan lets out a rough laugh, shaking his head like I drive him insane, but I don’t miss the way his eyes darken. “Who said anything about pretending? I didn’t hear you complaining yesterday. In fact,” he continues, rubbing his beard like he’s lost in thought, “I seem to remember you quite liked—”
“Don’t you dare go there when we’re surrounded by your family.”
He flashes me a wicked grin. “I’ll save it for later, then.”
And just like that, my entire body is humming. Whatever he means by later, it can’t come soon enough.
The lanterns cast the perfect glow of light over the table as we sit down to eat. Madison rushes in from the water and wraps herself in a towel, hair still wet, legs swinging as she takes the seat beside me and eyes the pile of burgers with a gleeful smile.
Madison fills her plate with a burger and then heaps of vegetables as Mama reminds her she wants to be big and strong like her boys.
I do the same, eating quietly as talk zigzags from football to childhood memories to Jake and Harper setting a date for their wedding.
I pretend not to notice Mad slipping the occasional bite of food to Buck, lying patiently by her feet.
“Damn,” Chase groans, rubbing his belly and reaching for another burger. “I wish the nutritionists would let me eat like this every night.”
Jake huffs a laugh. “Yeah. It’s almost like they want your arteries clear for blood flow or something.”
“I like my arteries clogged with beef and cheese, thank you very much.”
“Gross.” Mia laughs, rubbing her flat stomach. “Now I wish I hadn’t eaten so much.”
Across the table, Harper slips her hand into Jake’s. “If we’re making wishes, I wish we could get married by this lake. It’s so pretty.”
Jake leans forward and kisses Harper’s cheek. “Why don’t we then?”
“Really?” She grins.
“Why not? We’ve hated all the venues we’ve looked at so far.”
Harper pulls a pained face. “That one by the harbor was more like a funeral home.”
“Dude!” Chase jumps in, slapping a hand on Jake’s back. “That sounded way too casual for a proposal.”
“I already proposed, and she already said yes,” Jake replies. “A wedding is just a party, right? Why not have it in one of our favorite places on earth?”
Serena punches Chase playfully. “Leave them alone. Just because you don’t have a romantic bone in your body. I think this would be the perfect spot for a wedding.”
Harper stares across the lake, her eyes shining with the reflection of the water and something softer. “Buck would have his head in the wedding cake before we even said the vows.” She turns to Madison. “Think you could keep him in line for us, Mad?”
My daughter’s face lights up like it’s Christmas morning. “I can do that!”