Chapter 9
Colter
I’m not delusional. I know that my son’s teacher is too young for me. I know she will never be mine. I would never ask her to be mine.
But if she can’t be mine, then she certainly can’t be my brother’s.
Having my son tell me about the funny thing Uncle Jake did at the pool last week was like getting punched in the gut. I personally didn’t find it funny at all. Jake and his black eye can attest to that.
Buying shoes for her was the only other solution I could think of besides murdering my brother. I’m still not against it, necessarily. We have a lot of land to hide a body. Unfortunately, though, it would kill my son to lose his uncle, so shoes it is.
And then I find out that while I’ve been keeping a watchful eye over my brother, Kyle has silently been inching his way into her life. Cheeky fucker.
“Dude, you can’t warn off every guy in town and then not go for it. That’s just cruel,” Jake warns, eye still slightly swollen from my fist. I try not to feel too smug about it.
“I didn’t warn off every guy,” I defend myself, leaning back in Saturn’s saddle. “Just you and Kyle.” And despite my cornering him at the pool after all the kids were gone, he’d taken it quite well. Better than my brother.
If he’d done as I’d asked, then he didn’t text Kayla last night like he was supposed to, meaning she wouldn’t have gone over to his place. It’s fine, cause she’ll be coming over tonight for Ben’s tutoring session. I’ll offer the guest bathroom to her instead.
“You’re crossing into stalker territory,” my brother warns, unnecessarily.
“Hardly,” I scoff, watching as two calves chase each other around the field.
“Really? So you don’t have a meeting with Beergut Billy today?”
“So what if I do?”
“There’s only one reason you’d be meeting with him,” Jake deadpans, pulling on his gloves.
“I’m just helping her out. We’re friends.”
“You don’t have friends.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Seriously, am I that unliked? “I have Finn.”
“He’s my friend!” Jake cries, spooking the calves.
Fantastic, cause it wasn’t gonna be hard enough to tag them just the two of us.
The other ranch hands are off in the southern fields, making sure the bear from last week hasn’t come back and checking on the cattle down on that end.
With over 10,000 cows on the property, we’re a large operation.
Large enough that it’s time to hire some new help.
“Semantics,” I scoff. “Now will you get off my back and go distract those cows? I have a meeting in an hour.”
“I don’t know why I always have to be the distraction,” Jake grumbles, nudging Remy forward.
“Cause I’m the oldest,” I give the same answer I’ve always given. The ultimate get out of jail free card. I hop off of Saturn, leaving her to graze. “Now get to it.”
Billy Reacher is a pain in my ass. Actually, he’s a pain in everyone’s ass.
He’s the type of guy who walks around like he’s the best thing since sliced bread, when he’s actually a fucking mess who constantly needs saving.
The amount of times this town has had to band together to get him to knock his behavior off is actually astonishing.
Like the time he tried to sue Sue Cruthkins for defamation.
Sure, she’s a gossip who likes to stretch the truth, but she’s 85 and a town fixture. You don’t mess with Sue Cruthkins.
“Colter!” Billy greets me like we’re old friends, slapping me on the back. “What can I do for you, my man?”
“Billy,” I force my lips into something that resembles a smile. “How you doing?”
“Good, good. Did you hear about Gretchen and Frank? Trying to build their fence on my property.” He shakes his head like he’s ashamed of his neighbors. “They’re insisting we get Granger out there to check the property line, but hey, if they wanna waste their money, am I right?”
“Sure, sure.” I’d already heard about Billy’s latest complaint. In fact, there’s a town-wide poll on whether or not the fence is actually on Billy’s property. I bet not.
“Real shame,” I say it with absolutely no emotion, but apparently that doesn’t matter to Billy, who nods enthusiastically. “So, Billy, I heard you're renting out the apartment over the coffee shop.”
“I am, I am.” He tries to puff out his chest, but only succeeds in sticking out his beer gut.
“Would you mind letting me in?”
“In where?”
“To the apartment.”
“Oh well, Ms. Carson needs 24 hours' notice if I’m going in. Legalities and all that.”
“Oh, Kayla knows I’m heading up there,” I wave him off, lying out of my teeth. “She’s showering at my place tonight since the shower is broken, and I’m just swinging by to pick up her stuff.”
“Why couldn’t she give you her key then?” He squints his beady eyes at me, not buying what I’m selling.
“She locked it in her car, and you know teachers can’t be leaving their students alone.”
“Look, I wasn’t born yesterday,” Billy huffs, crossing his arms. “But I like you, Colter. You’re a good guy. Just don’t go telling anyone I do this.”
I should be concerned with the wording. It sounds like this isn’t the first time he’s let someone into a rented apartment, but I’m feeling too victorious to worry.
“Of course not, Billy,” I promise, shaking his hand. “Thanks so much.”
The stairs at the back of the coffee shop creak as I follow him up to the locked door of the apartment. I almost worry they’ll cave under the weight of the two of us. Neither one of us is a small man, though I’m more muscle and he’s more…beer.
My initial plan was to get in here, check out the faucet, and then pressure Billy into letting me fix it. That plan flies out the window as I take in the room—cause that’s all it is, a room.
Tucked in the corner, in a space I’m sure was meant to be a closet, is a toilet and sink. No shower. The kitchen has a mini fridge, a microwave, and a hot plate on a folding table. There’s a bed tucked into the corner, and a chair and television tray are set up to mimic a living room.
“Billy, I swear to God,” I spin on the man, who doesn’t seem to have an issue with renting out an inhabitable space to a naive young woman. His shirt wrinkles in my fist as I push him back against the literally crumbling wall.
“Whoa, man,” his hands try to peel my fingers from his shirt. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem,” I grind my teeth, “is that there isn’t even a shower in this place.” That’s not the problem. The problem is that Kayla lives here.
“She saw the place before signing the lease!”
“Where’s the broken faucet?” He shakes as he points to what is supposed to be the bathroom.
I let him go, stomping my way into the small room.
The sink, which is more like a bucket, has one of those extendable shower heads attached to it.
Her shampoo, a pink bottle, sits on the corner of the sink.
“She has one source of water in here, and it’s broken? ” I clarify, hoping I’m wrong.
“I’m working on fixing it,” Billy argues.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Billy.” I feel oddly calm despite the adrenaline pulsing through my veins. “You’re gonna tell Kayla she has to move out.”
“Now, wait a minute.” He brushes some of the plaster off of his shirt. He’s going to try and swindle me, and he doesn’t even have the decency to look me in the eye while he does it.
Coward.
“Billy,” I cut him off. “I own a lot of private land. Land nobody can access.” I let the words sink in. It’s not a threat, it’s just a statement. “So, Kayla is gonna move out, right?”
And there are his eyes. They blink owlishly at me. “Yes, yes, of course.”
“Good. And you’re not going to tell her I was here.”
“But—”
“Come on, Billy. You weren’t born yesterday,” I repeat his words back to him.
His throat bobs as he swallows, but he nods his head in agreement.
“Great, so glad we could come to an agreement.” I slap him on the back, harder than I consider friendly, and then I leave him standing alone in his vacant apartment.
Kayla deserves better. And for some reason I can’t explain, I need to be the one to give it to her.