Chapter 32
Lark
Today has been a weird day. My brothers are nowhere to be found, and I’m off with the horses.
Usually I see them at least a few times, but today—not once.
However, it’s probably a good thing I’m not around anyone. It’s as though my heart is not in sync with my body.
I was trying to work with a client’s horse, but the horse wasn’t responding, and I wasn’t into it.
Maybe it’s because my head is filled with his words about how I’m worthy and I shouldn’t let my family trample me.
Maybe it’s because I closed my eyes and dreamed of a world where I could be with him. Not in secret. Not where we’re lying to people, but where we could get on our horses together and ride to the ridge in broad daylight.
I need a break from my mind.
I want to see Tristan, which is a bad idea, because I shouldn’t want that.
But I do.
So, adding to my infinite stream of bad decisions as of late, I saddle my horse and head to the property line in hopes that maybe he’s feeling the same and is magically waiting for me.
Like a dumbass.
I start to get close, and my heart is racing as regret sets in. What am I doing?
Honestly, what the hell am I doing?
I’m going to the property line to maybe see him? Yes. Yes, I am.
No.
No, I will not.
Just as I start to pull my horse around to the right to head back home, I hear my name.
“Lark!” Sadie pops up before I can turn.
Shit.
“Sadie,” I reply with a wave and nudge my horse toward her.
Her smile is bright. “I’m back!”
“I see that. How was camp?”
Her skin is more bronze than the last time I saw her, and there are now some lighter highlights in her brown hair from her increased time in the sun.
“It was great. I had fun with my friends, and I think I’m in love.” She sighs dreamily.
Oh boy.
“In love, huh? Some camp you went to.”
She giggles, and I can’t help but do the same. Her eyes, the same color as her mother’s, are alight with that teenage girl first crush. I remember it, that exact feeling, and how special it was.
I kind of feel it now, but I’m not admitting that, ever.
“Yeah, it was fun, but he’s in Utah and I’m here, so it’ll never work. Whatever.”
“You have a lot of time to fall in love.”
She nods. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“Well, I’m sure your dad and your family are happy to have you home.”
Sadie purses her lips and then looks off. “Yeah, well, he’s in jail.”
“What?” I scream and almost fall off my horse.
She turns back to me. “Uncle Jimmy came today, and Dad went to jail. I probably shouldn’t be talking to you, because Grandad said your whole family is evil, but I don’t think he means you.”
I shake my head, trying to decipher all of that. “Wait, I don’t understand. Why is your dad in jail?”
“Because someone was on your farm, and then something about a video of him leaving the barn. I don’t know, I wasn’t following all of it since I was listening through the door when he was talking to Uncle Jimmy until Dad came inside and said he had to go and for Aunt Harper to bail him out.”
Video. Oh my God. The cameras on the farm. I completely forgot about them. He rode back with me to make sure I got home okay. They must’ve caught him on them. I’m going to be sick.
I knew where those damn cameras were. I should’ve remembered. I should’ve made sure we wouldn’t be seen.
Oh, God.
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. What if they saw us? What if my brothers watched the film or Jimmy or my dad? If they saw me with him…they’ll kill him.
Maybe not actually, but it’ll be a damn nightmare.
Whatever, I’ll deal with that later. For now, I need to get my…whatever he is…out of jail and then try to smooth over all this shit with my family.
“I have to go.” My voice cracks as a new kind of regret fills me.
“You do?” Sadie asks.
“Yes, your dad shouldn’t be in jail. I…I need to go down there.”
This is lunacy.
I have to fix this. I can’t let him sit in jail because of whatever the hell my idiot brothers did.
“But didn’t you put him in jail?”
I look at this little girl who just came home and saw her dad get carted off because of some stupid accusation, and I shake my head. “No, not me”—just because of me—“but I’m going to find out what’s going on and make it right.”
That’s all I can do.
I enter the Infinity Ridge Police Station and walk to the desk.
No one is here, which isn’t surprising. We have, like, four police officers, and I’m going to assume, since we probably arrest someone once a quarter, it’s taking all four to book Tristan.
Honestly, most of the police work here is based on traffic stops or horses getting loose. It’s not all that exciting here.
“Hello?” I call out, but after a minute, no one has answered.
There’s a bell on the end of the counter, so I go there, and the metallic ting sounds.
I wait.
Nothing.
All right. Maybe it’s annoyance that will get them to respond. So I ring the bell again.
And again.
And again.
To the point that I’m now pissing myself off, but finally it works.
“All right, all right,” Jimmy says as he walks around the front desk. “Oh, Lark. Are you here about the arrest?”
“Yes, I’m here because you’re making a mistake.”
His eyes widen. “I’m sorry, what?”
“He didn’t do it.”
Jimmy looks mildly confused. “Okay…but…we have video evidence.”
“Of him releasing the horses?” I ask.
“Well, no, but of him leaving the area.”
“That doesn’t prove anything.”
“It proves he was on the property around the time there was damage,” he replies.
Sure, that’s true, but…I know I didn’t do it.
Jimmy runs his hand through his hair. “Look, the last thing in the world I want is to arrest my best friend. However, he confessed.”
My jaw falls slack. “He did what now?”
No, this can’t be true. Tristan has never lied to me, and he said repeatedly it wasn’t him.
“I guess confessed is the wrong word, since the asshole won’t say anything other than I need to do what I need to do. That one day I’ll find the truth. And he’s not saying anything more.”
None of that makes sense. Why wouldn’t he just tell Jimmy why he was on the property?
Then it hits me.
He’s not going to tell Jimmy that it was because he was bringing me home after we spent the night at the ridge. That would go against everything we promised each other.
“Jimmy, you have to drop the charges,” I say.
“Funny that you say that when your brothers were adamant that we lock him up.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, they’re idiots. I’m telling you—he didn’t do it.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I just do.”
He shakes his head. “You realize this makes no sense, right?”
“Can I at least talk to him?”
“To Tristan?”
“Yes, please,” I plead.
Jimmy lets out a long sigh. “Sure, what the hell? Nothing about this day makes any fucking sense as it is.”
I follow him back to the cell where Tristan is lying on a metal bench, whistling a Johnny Cash song.
I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips, and he turns his head. “Lark? What the hell are you doing here?” He sits up, staring at me.
“Getting you out of the slammer, apparently.” I turn to Jimmy. “A few minutes alone, please?”
He laughs and tosses his hands up. “Why would anyone want the officer around? I mean, it’s not like this is my case or anything.”
Tristan gets to his feet. “Go away, ass.”
Jimmy doesn’t say anything. He just walks out, giving us time alone. Tristan comes to the bars, fingers gripping them, and I reach my hands out to wrap around his. “Tell him the truth.”
“No.”
“Tristan, you can’t do this. You didn’t let the horses out. It’s impossible.”
“I know, but the truth would ruin you. They will never understand, and anyway, this will blow over.”
I shake my head. “You’re in jail!”
He winks at me. “Worried about sleeping with a criminal?”
“Yes, that’s my concern. Idiot.”
That’s the last thing I care about. I worry about him, Sadie, the fact that my family and his are hell-bent on making this difficult. Then there’s the truth that someone is sabotaging my farm, and I know, with every fiber of my being, it’s not this man in the cell.
“I promise, this will blow over. Someone has to go through all the footage, and they’ll see someone else actually letting out the horses.”
“Don’t be stupid! My brothers have the footage, and if you think they’re going to scroll through it to find someone else, you’re nuts. You’re going to be the one to take the fall for it.”
He reaches through the bars, cupping my cheek and then lowering his hand. “Go home, Lark. I’ll be okay. I’m not going to spend months in jail. I’ll pay a fine, and it’ll be over.”
“No, I’m going to go in there, tell them the truth, and then it’ll be over.”
“I’m asking you to let me handle this. I’m not going to make your life more complicated. The entire point of what we’re doing is for simplicity.”
Only it’s not simple. None of this is.
He makes me feel safe, wanted, and so much more. He always does what he can to care for me. Him, my should-be mortal enemy.
Yet he’s the furthest thing from that.
“And what about this? What about Sadie? What about the truth?” I ask.
“What about it? I’ll be fine. Sadie will be fine. She knows, you know, we all know—well, other than your brothers—that I didn’t do anything.”
“It doesn’t even matter anyway!” I let the exasperation out.
“Seriously, it’s all harmless stuff. Someone cut the fence where there weren’t any animals.
Moved hay bales, which was stupid, but a prank.
The horses were let out in the barn, but that can happen if I just forget to close the damn stall.
It’s all meaningless and stupid, and now you’re going to have a record because you won’t just tell Jimmy the truth? ”
Tristan smiles and moves his hand to cover mine.
“I own my ranch. I own my land. I don’t give a shit about having a record for a damn misdemeanor, but I do care about what happens to you if this gets out.
So, yeah, you’re going to walk out of here, pretend you could not care less about what happens to me, and then I’ll see you tonight. Okay?”
“This is wrong, Tristan. Lying for me. Lying so that I don’t have to face the consequences of my own decisions.”
I chose to meet him. I chose to have him ride with me back to the barn, to kiss me in the stable, and then I went inside. All of that is on me, and now he’s the one who will pay for it.
“I made the decision, too, and I’m choosing right now to do what I think is right, and that’s keeping our relationship quiet.”
His words, that statement, cause my stomach to tense. My millions of insecurities come flooding forward, and I instinctually step back, but his hand tightens.
I look into his brown eyes, the ones that have given me a sense of purpose and trust. I see the questions building as he tries to decipher my reaction.
Instead of pulling into myself, I decide to voice my fear.
“Are you embarrassed of me?” I ask on a whisper.
“No. Not at all. Shit, Lark, all I want to do is protect you. Let me do this my way this time, and if I get arrested again, I’ll let you handle that one.”
He’s trying to joke, but it’s not funny. I pull my lower lip between my teeth. “I hate this.”
“I know, and that’s what makes it okay.”
Before I can say anything else, Jimmy pushes the door open, and the two of us step back from the cell, as though we never touched.
“Everything all right in here?” Jimmy asks.
“Yes, Officer Langston. Everything is just great. Lark is leaving, and I’m sure she’ll find another way to torture me…” Tristan pauses. “Or my family.”
I hate the words. “Yes, I’m sure one of those will happen.”
Because tonight, when I see him, he’s definitely going to suffer.