Chapter 2
JAKE
I grunted as I pulled the last box out of the bed of my old pickup. Friends on base used to give me a hard time for keeping it all these years instead of using my reenlistment bonus on a down payment, but I didn’t want to get rid of Old Blue.
For one thing, she was paid off. But now that I was back home, it was a good advertisement for my skills as a mechanic. In a small town like Sierra Rose Ridge, most people drove older cars and trucks.
And horses and tractors, but those required very different care than I provided. Horses and I didn’t really get along, and tractors were too much trouble unless you lived and breathed them.
I joined the army a dozen years ago to escape both, yet here I was again, hoping to start a new life. It wasn’t the way I planned to return, but when had luck ever gone my way?
I was shaken out of my negative thoughts by a shocked voice from my past.
“Jake? Is that really you?”
“Mrs. Williams?”
“Don’t you Mrs. Williams me.” Her stern face broke into the smile I remembered. That smile got me through my childhood and those first few weeks after Dani transferred to an out-of-state university. “It’s Patricia to you.”
She spread her arms, and I swept her into a tight hug.
“When did you get in? Have you got anybody to help you unload? Do you need help cleaning the place up? Daniel will be so happy you’re home.”
Her happy chatter washed over me and filled me up. This right here. This was why I returned, despite many of my worst memories occurring in Sierra Rose Ridge. The Williams family always felt more like home than my own family did.
“Are you hungry? Dani made lasagna earlier, but there’s plenty.”
My heart leapt at her name as it always had, but my face gave nothing away.
“Dani’s back? How’s she doing?”
I was unsure what I wanted to hear. Would it be better if she was happily married with a bunch of kids running around, or would I prefer if she was single or casually dating to unwittingly torment me again?
“Dear boy, I’ve missed you so much, and I’m glad you’re finally home.”
Patricia squeezed me in another hug. She wrapped her arm around mine and led me towards the front door that always represented safety, warmth, and love during an upbringing that was none of those things.
“Dani’s fine. She runs her own business now, and she works at the Tavern to help us with the bills. You’ve missed so much. Let’s head to the back porch, and Daniel can catch you up on everything. I’ll get you boys some iced green tea.”
She smiled up at me, love for her husband shining in her eyes.
“I swear, that man knows everything in town though he doesn’t get around much these days. He got hurt at the ranch a while back—that’s when Dani moved home since I couldn’t manage his rehab alone—and now he spends his retirement texting half the town all day.”
Her fond head shake wiped away most of my worry. My shoulders still tensed at the knowledge that my hero, the man who showed me a different way to be strong that didn’t involve broken bones and drunken rages, got hurt.
“What happened?” I asked in a soft voice as I cataloged the changes to the kitchen and living room where I spent my formative years.
Her voice was matter-of-fact. “Severe TBI, eleven broken bones, three bruised ribs, and a spinal cord injury after an accident at the ranch. He was out for a day. They said it was his fault and didn’t want to pay out, but Dani hired a lawyer, and they paid the medical bills.
We’re applying for disability, but it takes time. ”
She patted my arm.
“Don’t you fret. Dani takes good care of us. She cooks and helps around the house, takes Daniel to physical therapy a couple times a week, makes him do his exercises. She’ll be so happy you’re back.”
Patricia winked as we neared the screened-in back porch. “Oh, Daniel. I have a surprise for you,” she sang out.
“Did you make those sweet potato brownies I like so much?” he asked.
“Even better.”
She led me through the doorway and presented me with a flourish.
I didn’t know what to expect as I steeled myself to meet a frail, broken man. Instead, an older and grayer version of the man I admired most climbed painfully to his feet, but he was fit and proud once he stood.
Intelligence and love shone in his damp eyes, and my nose burned.
“Son, are you finally come home to us?”
Daniel’s hug was every bit as warm and loving as his wife’s. There were no dry eyes when we broke away, my throat clogged with emotion.
I hoped for a friendly welcome when I came home, but I didn’t expect to be fully ensconced in the fold within an hour of pulling into my driveway.
Mrs. Williams—Patricia—sniffed and patted her hair.
“He’ll talk your ear off, so I’d better get those drinks,” she said with an affectionate cheek kiss for each of us. “I’ll heat up the lasagna since you probably don’t have any food in your house yet.”
Before I could object out of politeness, she bustled out of the room.
“It’s good to see you,” Daniel said once he reclaimed his chair. “Are you back for good?”
“Yes, sir. It had always been my intention to return once I got out of the army.”
“Heard about your engagement. Sorry for that.”
“Thanks.”
Daniel nodded to let me know he understood the subject was closed until I was ready to talk.
I didn’t know if that would happen, but if I opened up to anyone about Blair, it’d be him.
He didn’t just teach me how to be a better man than my father, he taught me how to be a good man. A man who listened, who cared.
Too bad I’d been in love with his only child for twenty-five years.
Mixed with all my joy and relief at seeing Patricia and Daniel was the knowledge that I’d have to see Dani again.
In all my dreams of returning to Sierra Rose Ridge and forging new memories, I never thought we’d live here again at the same time.
“You came back at the right time,” he said. I appreciated the change of topic. “Since you’ve been gone, this town has become a mini-California.”
At my curious expression, he warmed to his topic.
“We’re an arts mecca now. Arts festivals and community fairs all the damned time. Book clubs and film nights. In a couple months, the Farmers Market will start back up, too. Brings a lot of noisy out-of-towners, but I guess their money spends as well as anybody’s.”
His smirk told me he wasn’t upset up about the town’s raised profile.
“’Course, we’ve still got the chili cook-off and the rodeo. The hippies haven’t taken over entirely.”
I laughed, the sound rusty from disuse.
“The Desert Rose Arts Fest is coming up soon.” He rubbed his hands together. “It was a little thing when you lived here, but it’s a big deal now. We get artists and visitors from all over the world.”
His pride in the town’s success came through. It reminded me why I never put Sierra Rose Ridge in my rear-view mirror, despite its bad memories. Most of my negative history with this place was centered on one man, my father, though he inadvertently prepared me for some of the horrors of war.
“I’m sorry to hear about your accident,” I said.
“I can’t complain. They didn’t think I’d walk again, and look at me now. Dani had a lot to do with that, though. She bullied me into doing my physical therapy every day though she had to leave her big-city job behind.”
The Williams family knew how to make the best of a bad situation. Dani’s ability to find good in the shittiest situations was something I sorely missed when dealing with Katelyn’s fake pregnancy. Things with my dad got worse until they exploded. I needed Dani’s sunshine, but I pushed her away.
Nope, I’m not opening that door. I’ve managed without her. Maybe not well at times, but I put one foot in front of the other and didn’t cope with a bottle or a bullet. When everything with Blair came out, and my life went to shit again, I made it through without giving into my demons.
But fuck. It’s one thing to navigate the murky shit of memory lane with the ghosts of my father, but now I have to deal with my feelings for Dani, too?
Would I have still been as excited to move back if I knew she’d be here, or would I have joined Harris at his family’s machine shop and put off my return a few more years? Fuck if I knew.