5. Sadie
SADIE
The first thing I noticed was the truck.
The second thing I noticed was Beast.
The truck belonged to Beast.
The giant former Army Ranger leaning against it definitely belonged to nobody.
Unfortunately.
It was six-thirty in the morning.
The sun had barely started climbing over the mountains.
And somehow Beast McCoy was already parked outside my ranch gate.
Watching.
My stomach did something annoying.
I ignored it.
Mostly.
I pulled my horse trailer to a stop and lowered the window.
Beast pushed away from the truck.
Coffee in one hand.
Grumpy expression in place.
Business as usual.
"What are you doing?"
"Standing."
I rolled my eyes.
"Why?"
"I’m stand outside."
"Very helpful."
"I try."
I narrowed my eyes.
He took a sip of coffee.
The giant jerk looked entirely too pleased with himself.
Then I noticed something.
A second coffee cup.
Sitting on the hood of his truck.
Still steaming.
I pointed.
"What's that?"
"What?"
"The coffee."
"What coffee?"
I stared at him.
He stared back.
Completely serious.
The liar.
The absolute liar.
"The coffee sitting right there."
"Oh."
His expression didn't change.
Not even a little.
"That coffee."
"Yes."
"I don't know."
I laughed.
Actually laughed.
"Beast."
"What?"
"Did you buy me coffee?"
"No."
"You absolutely bought me coffee."
"Nope."
I climbed out of the truck.
Walked over.
Picked up the cup.
It had my favorite coffee order written on the side.
I looked at him.
He suddenly found the mountains fascinating.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"You're ridiculous."
"So I've been told."
I took a sip.
Perfect.
Exactly how I liked it.
My heart squeezed.
I ignored that too.
Mostly.
"What are you really doing here?"
His gaze returned to mine.
Instantly serious.
"Is there a reason Gerald showed up?"
There it was.
I should have known.
The joking vanished.
The easy mood disappeared.
Just like that.
I looked away.
Toward the pastures.
The barns.
Anywhere except him.
"No."
"Sadie."
I hated that voice.
The calm one.
The one that meant he wasn't going anywhere.
"He's just annoying."
Beast didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't buy it.
Not for a second.
"That's not what I asked."
I sighed.
"Can we not do this today?"
"We are doing this today."
"Why?"
Because for one stupid second...
I wanted him to say it.
Because I care.
Because I'm worried.
Because you matter.
Instead he folded his arms.
The giant wall of muscle looked completely immovable.
"I don't trust him."
That shouldn't have warmed me.
It did anyway.
Unfortunately.
I turned toward my trailer.
"You don't trust anybody."
"That's not true."
I snorted.
"It absolutely is."
His mouth twitched.
Barely.
Then his eyes dropped.
Not to my face.
Not to the trailer.
To my hip.
My entire body went still.
Because I knew what he saw.
The handgun.
Hidden beneath my jacket.
But not hidden well enough.
The teasing disappeared from his expression.
Gone instantly.
"Since when?"
My stomach dropped.
I hadn't planned on this conversation.
Not today.
Maybe not ever.
"What?"
"The gun."
His voice had changed.
Quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
The kind of voice that made grown men nervous.
I looked away.
Mistake.
Because Beast noticed everything.
"Sadie."
The name sounded different.
Softer.
Concerned.
I hated that it affected me.
"Three years."
Silence.
The answer landed between us.
Heavy.
Too heavy.
His eyes never left mine.
"Three years?"
I nodded.
He studied me.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Putting pieces together.
The same way he had a thousand times as a Ranger.
The same way he was doing now.
And suddenly I knew.
He was getting close.
Too close.
"Does your father know?"
I laughed.
Short.
Humorless.
"Dad bought it for me."
That got his attention.
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
Because my father hated guns.
Everybody knew that.
The fact he'd bought me one meant something.
Something big.
Something serious.
Beast knew it too.
The silence stretched.
Neither of us spoke.
Then he asked the question I'd been dreading.
"What happened?"
My chest tightened.
I looked away.
Toward the mountains.
Toward anything except those gray eyes.
Because if I looked at Beast...
Really looked at him...
I might tell him.
And once Beast McCoy knew the truth about Gerald...
Nothing in Eagle River would ever be the same.