Chapter 2
Chapter Two
LUKE
“I thought we were running late.” There’s an edge in my voice as Brooks stops the squad car outside The Harvest Depot.
“You know we stop here every morning.” He narrows his eyes at me and climbs out of the car.
I follow, and as he rounds the front of the car, my stomach fills with dread the way it does every morning I’m riding with Brooks and we stop here.
“You literally wake up to Lottie every morning. Can’t you two play your game at home?”
Brooks freezes on the first step, swivels, arms crossing over his chest.
The man is intimidating. Never mind that he’s actually the Sheriff of our county, which makes him my boss, but he just has that kind of persona, like don’t fuck with me, except when he’s around his friends and wife.
But the version of Sheriff Brooks Watson standing in front of me right now is the I’m the boss and I really don’t give a shit about your opinion because I’m going to go into that country store to flirt with my wife.
“Games? Why don’t you try to figure out your own shit before calling me out?” He turns and pushes through the door.
“Good mornin’.” He tips his hat at Lottie, and she blushes.
I give him hell, but damn, I’m jealous. She looks at him like she’s been counting the minutes since he left her this morning.
“Good morning, Deputy Moore. Saylor’s in the back.” She jerks her thumb toward the kitchen.
“Morning, Lottie.” I take off my hat and tip my head, lingering by the front of the store.
Brooks leans into the counter, caging Lottie in. She laughs at something he says, and I keep my back turned, picking a mug up off a display to inspect it.
No way am I going into that kitchen. After last night, I’ve decided it’s not healthy to be around Saylor.
Clearly, I’m the only one with feelings while she’s still trying to get over Tyler.
That kiss… that kiss was just a mistake on her part.
A girl looking for some comfort in the only way she could.
It had nothing to do with me specifically—could’ve been any guy there that night and likely the same thing would’ve happened.
“Moore?” Brooks asks.
I put the coffee mug back on the shelf and turn toward them.
They’re both staring at me with quizzical expressions.
“In the back,” he says, nodding.
“I think I’ll just wait outside.” I head toward the door, and neither of them says anything to me.
“Actually,” Lottie calls out right as my hand lands on the doorknob. Damn it. Almost free.
“Lottie,” Brooks growls her name, and I get it. If Saylor were mine, I wouldn’t want anyone cutting into my time with her either.
“Oh, come on, you got yours this morning.” Lottie giggles.
I grunt because I have no idea when I’ll get mine again. First, I have to get Saylor out of my goddamn head.
“Saylor, can you come out here, please?” Lottie calls out.
Seriously, can I not catch one fucking break here?
“I was giving you two some privacy,” Saylor says, with a light humor in her voice. “Oh, hi, Luke.” Her elation dies quickly once she spots me.
I nod at her. “Saylor.”
Lottie’s gaze sweeps between the two of us. “Okay then.”
Brooks relaxes against the counter with his ankles crossed, sipping his coffee, eyebrows up to his hairline looking over at me. Lottie stands to the side of him, as though if she strays too far away from him, an alarm will go off.
Damn, I’m a jealous bastard.
“I was hoping you two could help me out with the ranch Christmas festival,” Lottie says.
She smiles wide and shifts her gaze between us again. Saylor’s going to say yes. Lottie’s her boss. And since my boss is Lottie’s husband, I’ll end up saying yes too. Even without Brooks giving me the say no, and I’ll make your life hell stare.
“Sure. Last year I helped with set up and clean up. I’m happy to do it again,” I say.
Brooks smiles and nods at me.
“Well, um… I was actually thinking that you two could handle the kids’ craft table.” Lottie’s eyebrows raise.
Saylor’s gaze lands on mine for a second before she turns to Lottie. “Sure.”
I rest my hands on my utility belt. “With all due respect, Lottie, I have no experience with kids. I’m not sure…”
“Nonsense. My nieces love you, and you’ll do great.” Lottie smiles between us.
Brooks pushes off the counter. “We gotta go, babe, thanks for the coffee.”
“So you two are good?” she asks one more time, sealing our commitment.
“Of course,” Saylor answers.
Lottie’s gaze lands on mine. Brooks stares me down.
I feel sweat gather on the back of my neck. “Yeah.”
There goes my plans to keep my distance from Saylor.
“Perfect. I’ll go over the ideas with Saylor and then she can talk to you.” She swivels around and wraps her arms around Brooks’ neck.
“You guys can go now,” Brooks says, his mouth inches from hers.
My eyes lock with Saylor’s for a moment before I turn around and leave The Harvest Depot.
Brooks comes out a few minutes later and joins me in the squad car.
“Wanna talk about it?” he asks, starting the engine.
“It’s nothing,” I mumble.
“Didn’t look like nothing.” He pulls down the dirt road back out to the main area and out of Plain Daisy Ranch.
“It’s just…” I stop and shake my head, letting the snow-covered landscape distract me, or try to at least.
“You don’t have to talk, but I can tell you we have about half an hour to the courthouse, and it helps to talk to someone.”
I sigh because he’s right. I haven’t told a soul what happened between us. Truth is, she and Tyler were my best friends for most of my life. After they left, sure, I kept a few good friends, but no one I trusted enough to confess what happened and how I can’t stop thinking about it.
He chuckles. “Relax, Moore, you’re making my head hurt.”
“I’ve known Saylor forever… we’ve been next door neighbors my entire life. We were playmates, and then friends, and then Tyler came into the mix.”
“Tyler Temple?”
I nod.
“He’s out in New York now, right?”
“Yeah, he’s a Wall Street guy.”
“His dad is always bragging down at The Hidden Cave.”
I’m not surprised. Tyler is one of those small-town success stories. We’ve had a lot of them in Willowbrook, but Tyler was definitely my graduation year’s hotshot. Every time he returns to town, he’s wearing some fancy watch and clothes that set him apart from the rest of us.
“Anyway, Tyler was my best friend.”
“And Saylor?” He turns down the county highway.
“Saylor and Tyler dated all through high school. She followed him to New York, but after they graduated and he got into the whole New York scene things went bad. He broke up with her six months ago. Said they had different dreams.”
“That explains a lot.”
I don’t bother asking what he’s referring to. That’s the problem with a small town, gossip and rumors spread like wildfire.
“She’s pretty torn up about it.” I think of the night I found her in her backyard staring up at the stars. I dropped into the chair next to her, never able to handle seeing her upset.
“And you too?”
“No. Why would you say that?”
“So, this isn’t a case of your best friend stealing the girl you love and now she’s back here, heartbroken, but all you can do is think about how she should’ve been yours all along? That she wouldn’t be upset had she seen you before she got with him?”
I turn away from the swirling snow, but he doesn’t look over at me.
“Sorry to tell you, but it’s written all over your face. I just needed the bits of the story to piece it all together. You don’t know this, hell maybe you do, but it takes one to know one. I loved Lottie long before she ever saw me the same way.”
“Well, we’re different. There’s no chance with us. Saylor only sees me as a friend.”
“Ouch, what happened?”
I exhale. Screw it. I blow out a breath and decide what the fuck, just tell someone, and maybe then I can move on with my life.
“Six months ago, we were on the couch at my house watching a movie, and we kissed. She kissed me first, but I only—”
“I don’t need details. What happened after?”
That’s where the problem started.
“She’s been dodging me.”
“And you’ve allowed her to?”
I throw my hands up in front of me. “What am I supposed to do?”
He laughs and shakes his head.
“You know my coffee run every morning?” He glances over at me, and I nod. “Lottie gave me the cold shoulder, I was the brunt of her jokes, hell, she told people she couldn’t stand me, but I kept showing up every morning for coffee.”
“And you married her in Vegas when you were drunk.”
A smile lands on his lips that tugs on the jealous string inside me again. “Yeah, I did. Best thing to ever happen to me.”
“Good for you.” My tone of voice betrays my irritation.
He chuckles. “Damn, don’t be all sour grapes for someone else’s happiness. Lottie and I went through hell to be where we are now. But sitting back and letting Saylor dodge you isn’t going to get you what you want.”
He’s right, but I’m not going to admit that I see his point. Saylor is hurting. She’s still dealing with the fact that the love of her life abandoned her. She gave Tyler everything and loved him, only for him to discard her when he got where he wanted to be.
“I see those wheels turning, and I’m telling you, if she truly felt nothing for you, she wouldn’t be dodging you. She would have addressed the kiss, and you two would have moved on. There’s a reason she’s trying not to spend time with you. She’s scared of what she feels for you.”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“Well, you can thank my wife on your wedding day for being the reason you guys fell in love.”
Shit, I’m already in love with her. Have been since I hit puberty. She’s always been the one for me even when she was thousands of miles away.
“I’m supposed to thank her for forcing me to run the kids’ craft table?”
Brooks laughs again. “She just wants to see Saylor happy. Be grateful she thinks you’re the one who will make her that way.”
He pulls into a parking space at the courthouse, and our conversation ends.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe it’s time to stop letting Saylor avoid me.