Flame- Wild Hearts

by Marie Scully

  Nicole leads him out of the room. She must have had a lot to talk to him about because he doesn’t return for over an hour. When he does emerge from their conversation, he looks pissed but only for a moment because he plasters on a fake smile, grabs a beer, and starts moving through the room, making conversation. I notice he doesn’t return to our small group.

  Ben rolls his eyes in Liam’s direction when he thinks I’m not watching. I guess Liam doesn’t want Ben to give his opinion or ask questions, so he’s just avoiding him. I can relate.

  When Ben and I finally leave around 3 a.m., I’ve lost count of how many beers I had. After a while, one blended into two and four into seven. I know I’ve had one too many when my voice sounds far away to my own ears on the car ride home. The long dirt road seems to go on forever, and the urge to shut my eyes grows stronger with each mile. Trying to distract my brain from what few lights there are, I tell Ben that I like Megan.

  “I do too. Truthfully, she’s one of my best friends. I don’t understand why she’s friends with Nicole. They’re complete opposites,” he tells me.

  “You know Nicole was high tonight, don’t you?” I don’t know why that came out of my mouth. I’m never drinking again. What’s the old saying? Loose lips sink ships. It makes more sense now.

  Ben looks over at me, shock showing on his features. His hands grip the wheel tighter.

  “No, she wasn’t. Nicole doesn’t do drugs,” he reports back confidently but also with something hidden in his tone. He says this like a teacher would if one of their students pointed out a mistake on a test. To save face he can’t admit it was wrong right then but would check as soon as the students left the room.

  I close my eyes and lean my head back in the headrest and say quietly, “She did tonight.”

  “How do you know?” I can feel his eyes on me.

  “It’s a look I know well. Maybe it’s her first time. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. Forget I said anything.” I yawn.

  “Who?” Sadness is hidden in his voice.

  My lips curve into a sarcastic grin. “It doesn’t matter anymore. He made his choices. I don’t want to talk anymore, Ben.” My eyes close again and in my mind, I picture Liam’s face. I keep trying to banish him from my mind, but he keeps appearing.

  Thankfully Ben lets me sit the rest of the ride in silence. Once we return to the ranch, he helps me up the stairs to my room. I try to hide my giggles behind my hand so as not to wake the family while Ben tries not to laugh at me.

  He opens the door and dumps me in the bed. “No more beer for you. Maybe hard liquor next time.”

  “You’re a good friend, Ben. Thank you. Why are you so nice to me? Why did you take me tonight?” The questions had been circling in my mind all night.

  “You’re welcome, Danny.” He stays silent for another moment, debating how best to answer my questions. “Because you look like someone who hasn’t had much niceness in the past and who deserves some. Your eyes get clouded at times—as if you’re not really in the room anymore but far away. You and Liam have more in common than you know. Get some sleep.”

  With that he walks out of the room, gently closing the door.

  I roll into the bed, pulling the covers around myself. And I dream.

  ❖

  “It’s going to be different this time, Danny. I feel it. Pass the salt.” James and I are two of the only people at the twenty-four-hour diner by our home. I pass him the salt so he can add it to his eggs.

  “I know. I’ve been looking at job listings for you and found a few that I think you’d enjoy.” I’d been searching online for jobs for the past few weeks. Looking for anything that would keep James from going down a dark path again.

  James won’t meet my eyes as he answers. “I’ll look into it. Being home will be good. I’ve missed you,” he answers to shut me up, but we both know he won’t.

  “Same.” I take another bite of my pancake. His phone buzzes. He glances at it and then puts it back in his pocket.

  “Who is it?” I ask.

  “Kyle. It can wait,” he says quietly, hoping I don’t make out the name.

  “He’s not good for you, James. You need to stay away.” I want to throw something at his head. He just got out and he’s already talking to the wrong people. “You can’t keep doing this shit.”

  James considers me before answering. “He’s my friend, Danny, and he knows I’m trying to get better. I’m the older sibling, not you. My job is to look after you, not the other way around.” His response is nothing I haven’t heard before.

  “Then stop making me fix your problems,” I say, suddenly tired of all the shit.

  He reaches over and takes my hand in his, saying, “Things will be different.”

  Chapter Seven

  Liam

  “Liam. Liam. Are you awake?” Megan’s trying-to-be-quiet-but-really-wanting-to-be-loud voice enters my dreams. I really hope I’m still dreaming, because if I wake up and Megan is standing over me at an ungodly hour… What time did I go to bed? It was at least past three. There were still people in the family room playing video games when I finally went to find my bed.

  Nicole managed to ruin what had been a fun night. After talking to her, I had no interest in continuing to entertain, but when it comes to a party of mine, that’s what they expect. To be entertained, to eat my food, and drink my booze, and I hate to disappoint.

  “Liam,” Megan tries again. I guess it’s not a dream.

  Without opening my eyes, I ask, “Megan, what is it?” and burrow deeper into the covers.

  “Oh good, you’re awake,” she observes in her normal voice, no longer caring to keep her voice quiet.

  “No, I’m not. Now please leave.” I pull the blue covers completely over my face, then I feel Megan jump into bed beside me.

  “I’m just going to keep bugging you till you get up,” her perky voice responds.

  “Megan, what do you want?” I moan into my pillow.

  “Simple. Let’s go camping and to the spring.” Megan tugs the covers, but I hold tight.

  “No,” I say, knowing that she’s going to get her way.

  “Please? Like old times. You, Ben and me. Oh, and Nicole, but I’ll be the buffer between you. Oh, and Danny should come. It’ll be fun.” She continues to tug, and I finally let go, knowing I’m in a losing battle. When it comes to Megan, it’s hard to say no. We’ve been friends far too long and she’s done me a fair share of favors. To deny her anything just seems wrong.

  “Can Nicole not go?” I ask, already knowing the answer but needing to ask all the same.

  “Well… uh… it was her idea.” Worry enters her voice.

  “And she sent you to convince me?” Of course she did.

  “Yes. I’m really sorry, Liam, but I do think it’ll be fun. We all need a little fun in our lives right now. There’s a lot going on. We need this—I need this.”

  Hook, line, and sinker. I roll my eyes at her and say, “I give in to you way too easily. You know that? You win: I’ll go.”

  She gives an excited squeal and hops off the bed. “Great. I’ll leave you to get ready.”

  She starts towards the door as I ask, “What time is it anyway?” I pull the clock closer. “Megan, you have got to be kidding me!” But she’s already gone. Only Megan would have balls large enough to come into my room at six in the morning when I had a day off.

  This will be an interesting daytrip with Ben, Megan, Nicole, and me. Who else is going? Danny. That’s right. Danny seems interesting. I didn’t get the chance to speak with her much last night, but she seems nice. She’s striking—that much is for sure. I had to do a double-take last night, thinking I was seeing things.

  She’s not much shorter than me, and her hair is dark brown but not just plain old brown—there were different shades in there, some lighter than others. Not dyed. I’ve been around enough dye jobs to tell the difference. It fell just past her shoulders. Her face is blemish-free, without much make-up. That was the dif
ference between her and Nicole. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nicole without her face heavily made-up. When we’d spend the night together, she would get up before me and apply make-up before I was up. But what caught me off guard the most were Danny’s eyes. Blue with a hint of gray. Never have I seen eyes that shade. The way they moved around the room, watching, almost waiting for something to happen…

  I know I was staring at her but I was able to save myself when Ben walked out behind her and I was able to deflect my attention to him. Yes, this was going to be an interesting day to say the least.

  ❖

  Danny

  The pounding at the door jerks me awake. Jimmy’s voice yells through the door, “Danny, I’ve been sent to wake you up. I delivered my message. Bye.” Hearing his feet running down the hall has me lifting my head from the pillow.

  I rub the sleep from my eyes. There must be something big going on for Jimmy to wake me up. I’m sure Ben told him to let me sleep. I throw on different clothes and tie my tennis shoes.

  I open the door and see Ben leaving his room at the same time. “Do you know what’s going on?” Ben asks.

  “No, I thought you would,” I reply.

  “No. No clue. Jimmy just ran in my room telling me I had to get up.”

  I run downstairs looking for Jimmy. He’s nowhere to be seen so he must be outside. We go out the front door and find Liam, Megan, and Nicole standing outside, looking ready for a photo shoot.

  I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t them. Ben wasn’t expecting them either, based on the look on his face. He still has on his PJs, and I don’t look much better.

  Megan looks up at both of us and says, “Well good morning, sunshine.”

  “Megan, what are you guys doing here?” Ben asks. “I thought you would all still be asleep.”

  “I was, till Nicole dragged my ass out of bed,” she says, yawning.

  Liam looks up from his phone and grunts, “Same.” He sends a glare not at Nicole but Megan’s way. It doesn’t seem to faze her.

  “Who knows how long you’ll be in town this time, Liam, and I wanted to get the group together. I thought we could take some horses out and go to one of the springs like old times. What do you say, Ben? You in?”

  I can’t help but look at Nicole. She doesn’t look like she would get on a horse, let alone go swimming. Her hair is perfectly curled, and she’s wearing fresh make-up. She has on skinny jeans with a cute black-and-white top with boots that look like they just came out of the box.

  Megan looks at Ben pleadingly, while Liam continues to text. Ben looks like he just wants to go back to bed, so I’m surprised when he says, “Yeah, Danny and I will get our stuff.”

  My face freezes. Nicole looks like she would rather I jump off a bridge. Liam looks up from his phone, and Megan looks between everyone, waiting for someone to say something.

  “Ben, you should go with your friends. I have some stuff I need to do here anyway.” I have nothing to do today, but I’m not going to let them know that. But I also don’t want to go with Liam and Nicole. Nicole isn’t giving me the warm and fuzzy feelings; she doesn’t like me for whatever reason. Liam I can’t figure out, and he distracts me. There’s something about him that draws me like a moth to a flame. I paste a massive smile on my face.

  “You should come. It’s a great spot.”

  Liam’s words surprise me, and I glance over at him.

  Nicole aims her glare at Liam and says, “She said she has stuff to do, plus I thought it would be fun just the four of us, like old times.”

  Ouch. Nicole is a piece of work, that’s for sure.

  “Really, Nicole? That was rude,” Megan says then looks at me. “Danny, you should come. I want you to come. So you’re coming.” She then looks at Ben. “You go get your stuff, and I’ll help Danny get what she needs. Nicole and Liam can stay out and not speak like on the car ride over. Cool. Everyone knows the game plan. No comments, questions, or concerns? Great, let’s go.”

  Megan grabs my hand and pulls me towards the house, not bothering to look back to make sure Ben is following. Once we’re in my room, Megan looks at me and says, “Sorry about Nicole. She’s been having a hard time since everything happened with Liam.” She sits on my bed. “You have a great view. Anyways, you need a swimsuit, whatever you want to wear to ride, and sunscreen. We have plenty of drinks already in the car, so you’re good on that front.”

  I rack my brain for an excuse not to go, but I can’t come up with one that doesn’t sound stupid to my ears. Instead, I just keep my mouth shut and dig in my bag for a swimsuit.

  Megan observes my room. “Is this all you have here?” she asks, pointing to the duffel bag.

  “Yeah,” I answer, not wanting to get into why. The more stuff you have, the harder it is to up and move at the drop of a hat.

  “Do you have to go back home and get the rest of your things?” she asks innocently.

  “Something like that,” I say, glancing up at her. “Okay, I have everything. You ready?”

  Megan jumps off my bed, swinging her arms. “This is going to be fun. Trust me. Give Nicole a drink, and she can be nice.”

  Somehow I doubt that. Ben is already outside with the horses, ready to go. When James told me to have fun, I don’t think this is what he meant—going to a spring with a girl who seems to hate my guts for no reason. Two ex-couples, and a guy that I can’t make a coherent sentence around if I had to. Fun.

  Fifteen minutes into a forty-five-minute ride I try to ignore Nicole’s hot glare on my back and focus on my surroundings. Like the drive to the ranch the first day, the beauty and simplicity still impress me. The wildflowers of blue, red, and yellow dance in the light breeze. The trees give the right amount of shade to keep the hot sun off our backs for short amounts of time, and the fresh air keeps my senses sharp at the same time calm fills my body.

  “Danny, what was it like working for Ben’s grandma? She’s one of my favorite people,” Megan says, giving her light brown horse a nudge to move closer.

  A general smile escapes me thinking about Noel. “She’s one of a kind. I’ve never met anyone like her. I was blown away when she offered me a position as a complete stranger. Has she always been so spontaneous?” I ask, glancing at Ben.

  He nods. “Yes, she has been. I’m amazed by her ability to walk into a room and instantly be able to talk to everyone. It doesn’t matter their status or past. She’s never met a stranger. But also, she doesn’t take crap from anyone. Dad about lost it when he found out she hired you, Danny. He thought you would murder her in her sleep.”

  I can’t say I blame him. I would have thought the same thing if our roles were reversed. “Are they close? Your grandma and dad?”

  Ben’s eyes look as if they’re thinking of a different time, and instantly I regret asking. Why did I ask? I don’t like people prying into my life.

  “Yes and no. They used to get along really well, but after my grandpa died, they had a falling out. I think it was about the bar, but no one talks about it.” He shrugs. “I’m sure it’ll get worked out at some point.” His voice is light, but his eyes tell a different story.

  Liam, sensing Ben’s state, attempts to get him to laugh by pointing out that he wouldn’t want to piss off Noel as she’s been known to throw things at people’s heads with accurate aim. This statement gets the intended laugh from all but Nicole, who still looks like she has lemon in her mouth.

  “Nicole, do you have good stories for Danny from your summer trips?” Megan’s attempt to engage Nicole in conversation is ineffective; she simply turns her heated gaze on Megan and says no. Megan is unfazed by her attitude and only shrugs, still smiling.

  “Danny, where did you learn to ride?” Liam’s question catches me off guard, and I look behind me.

  “Oh, here and there. It was a few years since I’d ridden. When I first got back on a couple weeks ago, I was worried that I’d get thrown off or get on backward.”

  “If you need a refreshe
r course, Liam or I can help.”

  Liam and I meet eyes as Ben continues.

  “Right, Liam?”

  I have to give Liam points; he doesn’t let any emotion flash across his face. Nicole, on the other hand, lets multiple emotions show, including pissed off.

  Liam’s eyes meet my own. “You seem to be pretty good without lessons, but I can help if you feel like.” Then he changes the subject. “We’re almost there—let’s go.”

  In front of us, past the clearing, is a breathtaking spring. There’s a small waterfall flowing down nearby rocks. The water is crystal clear. After we tie the horses to trees, Ben is the first one to remove his clothes and take a running leap into the water. Water drips from his face and hair as he pops back up a second later. Doggy-paddling, he yells over, “You guys getting in or what? Water’s perfect.”

  Liam laughs and observes, “Well no one can have more embarrassing swim trunks than yours.” He’s referring to Ben’s rainbow trunks.

  “Hey, now. I know you want a pair. Christmas is coming.”

  Liam removes his shirt. “Nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ like a pair of rainbow swim trunks.” He continues to remove his pants, revealing plain old blue trunks, then glances back at us, winking. “Sorry, ladies, I left my more exciting ones at home. Next time.”

  He takes a few giant steps back before making a run for the water and I can’t help but admire his body: His skin lightly tanned from the sun and back strong from work and riding; his stomach slim and muscles defined.

  Nicole’s hot glare alerts me that I was staring and, worse, I was caught. Megan looks between us, amused.

  Ben and Liam continue to bicker like an old married couple. Thankfully they seem unaware of the dynamic between us girls and haven’t noticed my lingering stare. The guys continue to splash each other, egging each other on while we quickly shed our clothes.

  I tug my hair into a ponytail before copying the boys and running in. The water isn’t nearly as cold as I thought it would be. It rushes over my body, and I feel weightless as I float.