by S Doyle
Hank liked big space and big horns. So the open-plan ranch had as few walls as possible and as many animal heads hung on the walls as possible.
I knew Garrett’s family had owned the land north of ours, although I had never been to his ranch.
Hank’s place eclipsed any ranch for hundreds of miles, so everything else seemed small in comparison. Even insignificant in some ways, although I could see now it was superficial to think that way. I should have known more about his parents, their operation. I didn’t.
All I knew was that the Pines had retired to Arizona last year and Garrett had moved back home and was breeding bulls for the rodeo in addition to his job at the sheriff’s office.
“Been a while,” Garrett said, walking through the place. “I forgot how…grand it was.”
Grand? He meant garish. Jennifer’s taste ran toward gilt. I knew that. I’m not sure why, but the slight hurt a little.
“That’s how we Kings roll,” I said, hiding behind all things King. “Everything is bigger in Texas, including Hank King.”
He lifted his chin at that. “So, where did you hear the noise?”
“Oh, this way.” I led him through the formal living room with the two massive facing white couches, into the games room, then through the ballroom to the dining room, and from there to the kitchen. There was a sunroom off the kitchen that was meant to be a breakfast room, although no one ever used it. Off the porch was a door.
“It sounded like someone was turning the knob. Trying to get in.” I bit my lip and said a silent apology to the god of truth. But this was my destiny, after all. A girl had a right to fight for it.
Garrett opened the door and looked outside. He studied the knob itself. Wiggled it in a way that might have made a sound I might have heard.
“Were you in the kitchen when you heard it?”
Right. Because if I had been in the living room or the games room I wouldn’t have heard a thing. However, if I had been in the kitchen, I would have been able to see if anyone was on the other side of the door.
“Just outside. I was coming down for a drink,” I said. “Speaking of which, can I offer you something? Hank always has some specialty beers.”
I walked over to the smaller drinks fridge and opened it.
“Sorry. On duty.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “Well, then, something to eat? I made brownies with peanut butter chips in them.”
I had spent all day baking until I’d made a perfect batch. They were now perfectly stacked on a piece of china on the kitchen’s center island.
“Brownies, huh? Sounds good, but I think I’ll have to pass.”
“Oh. I have chips and hummus.” I walked over to the fridge and started pull stuff out onto the counter. “Salsa and guacamole, too.”
“Brin.”
I turned at the sound of his voice.
“This is a police call,” he said. “You don’t have to entertain me.”
“I was just trying to be nice.”
He opened the back door and walked outside. Looking for footprints, maybe, or some sign that someone had been there. After a few minutes he came back inside.
“I don’t see anything. Doesn’t look like anything was disturbed.”
“Oh,” I said. “I guess it could have been the wind or something.”
He nodded. “Well, if that’s all…”
Shit, shit, shit. The whole point of this drama was to spend time with him. Get to know him. For him to get to know me. How could we be each other’s future if we didn’t talk more?
“You know my sister is engaged. We’re having a big party here. You should come. Everyone’s invited. You know Hank, it will be a massive blowout.”
Garrett smiled. “Sounds fun.”
“I’m just thinking it would be nice to see you. You know, not on an official call or anything. To see you out of your uniform. I mean, not out of it, like completely out of it, just you know…I’m rambling.”
Garrett smiled. “Brin,” he said softly. “I would like to see you, too, but…”
He wanted to see me. This was my chance. I didn’t think, I just pushed my way toward him and grabbed his face. Except when I tried to kiss him, he turned his head and gently pushed me away.
“Brin, no. I’m sorry I should have made it clear. The reason I can’t see you is I’m pretty sure my fiancée wouldn’t like that very much.”
It took a minute for the word to penetrate. Fiancée. What did that mean again? It was a fancy word for…oh, right. Girlfriend you were going to marry.
“I didn’t know.” Oh, my God. I had just tried to kiss an engaged man! “I’m so sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. I met her in college, sophomore year, and that was it for me. I came back home to get things settled at the ranch. She’s tying up some loose ends where she’s from, but she’ll be here in a few days.”
But that didn’t seem possible. He was my destiny. My future. How could he belong to someone else?
“Oh.” I tried to school my features, but I knew it was pretty useless. He had to see that I was crushed. I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding against my chest.
“Brin, you know I think you’re a sweetheart. To me you’ll always be that girl with the big eyes and my best cheerleader…”
“The fat girl, you mean,” I snapped. I needed to get him out of the house before I lost it.
He lowered his eyes. “I’m not good at this. I know that. Listen, if this wasn’t…I mean if…I guess if it was your imagination, you don’t need me here.”
“No. I don’t. I’ll see you out.”
I walked him back through the house until we reached the foyer. Somehow in that time I managed to find an ounce of pride. A smidge of graciousness.
Garrett was engaged to someone.
Garrett was meant for someone else.
My future, the one I had always seen when I thought of him, was suddenly gone. Replaced by this vague fog of uncertainty.
I opened the door and he stepped past me and stopped.
“Brin…”
“I really prefer Sabrina,” I said around a swallow. “You know, eighteen and all. Time to grow up.”
He nodded. “Okay. See you around, Sabrina.”
“I meant what I said, though. You should come to the party. Bring your fiancée?” I left it as a question.
“Betty. Her name is Betty.”
I smiled big and false. “Bring Betty. We can show her how the Kings do it in style.”
3
SABRINA
The King’s Land—Engagement Party
The lights were sparkling. The champagne was flowing. I was wearing Vera Wang and Jimmy Choo. A couple of Cartier classics. There was media out in front of the property, as some of Hollywood’s elite would be in attendance. Hank liked starlets and starlets liked Hank’s money.
It was everything that Hank wanted. I had no idea if it was what Ronnie wanted.
The ballroom was filled with people dancing. Hank had hired a ten-piece band. Every nook in the house seemed to be filled with guests. Two hundred, maybe three hundred people.
But there was only one guest who mattered to me. Garrett looked handsome in a suit. And next to him, Betty looked…cute. A simple black dress, no-name shoes. A shiny, if tiny, diamond on her ring finger. A piece of jewelry I was so jealous of it nearly stole my breath.
She was blonde and petite. Like Caroline, now that I thought about it. Had I ever stood a chance with Garrett? Did he only like short, cute blondes?
“Brin!”
I smiled as he lifted a champagne glass in the air. Slowly I walked over to them, making sure I used every ounce of everything I had been taught about posture and gait. My mother had insisted on lessons when she realized I had the potential to be something other than just a fat kid. For once I was grateful for her interference in my life.
If I couldn’t have Garrett, I needed to know that I had least changed his perception of me, from the fat girl to Sabrina King.<
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Betty was practically coming out of her shoes, she was so excited.
“Garrett,” I said, reaching out my hand toward him. “Welcome.” He took it and shook it like I had confused him with my formality.
“Please introduce me to your fiancée.”
“Brin…”
“Sabrina,” I corrected him with a smile.
“Right. Sorry. Sabrina, this is Betty. Betty, this is Sabrina King.”
Betty squealed. “Oh, my gosh, I’m so excited to meet you. I’ve seen you on TMZ, like, so many times. And then your whole family was featured in People.”
“Yes. We’re happy to have you. Feel free to enjoy the night.”
“I can’t stay too long,” Betty said with a shrug. “I have a friend picking me up to take me to work.”
“Betty’s a nurse,” Garrett explained. “She’s working a later shift. And I told you I would take you.”
“And miss all this? Don’t be ridiculous. I insist you stay and party vicariously for me.”
I nodded. A nurse. Yes. Of course she would be something virtuous. While I was…nothing.
“But I couldn’t miss a chance to see The King’s Land and meet you, so I had to come for a little bit. I had no idea you were Garrett’s neighbor.”
“I didn’t have a chance to ask the other night. How are your parents, Garrett?” I asked politely. As any uninvolved but gracious host would do.
“They’re good. Settled now in a retirement community in Arizona. Thanks.”
“Well, I hope you’ll excuse me. I see Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone just arrived, and I would like to greet them personally.”
“Oh, my gosh! Garrett did you hear that?”
She was screaming in his ear and tugging on his arm. He was smiling down at her. They were both obviously thrilled with each other. A happy couple.
A broken heart.
“I’ll leave you to it.”
GARRETT
I pulled at my tie a little, which felt like it was strangling me. I had one hundred percent not wanted to be here tonight. Forget that I wasn’t a massive crowds guy. Forget that I didn’t need to rub shoulders with the muckety-mucks. I had no doubt things would still be awkward with the one person I did like at The King’s Land. But when I’d mentioned the invite to Betty, she had practically lost her shit.
I suppose for people not from around here, meeting the Kings was a big deal. Having grown up with our place adjacent to theirs, to me they were just the Kings. Rich, sure. Garish. Yep.
But they threw good barbecues, and the people of Dusty Creek were always invited.
“Garrett, can you get me another glass of champagne? Oh, and caviar! Lots of caviar. Like, a whole plate of it.”
I laughed. “Betty, do you even like caviar?”
“I have no idea, but it’s rich-people food and I want to try it.”
“Okay. But should you have another drink if you’re going in to work soon?”
“It’s okay. It’s just champagne. One more.”
“You’re okay staying here?” I asked. The buffet was in the dining room area and this place was too crowded for both of us to maneuver back there.
“Uh, yes. I’m just going to stand here and goggle at everyone around me.”
“They’re just people, Betty.”
“Sabrina King is not just people, Garrett!”
I left to fetch Betty what she wanted. I wasn’t about to contradict her, but Brin King was the epitome of “just people.” I’d known her as a girl. I knew the heartache this family had doled out to her on a regular basis, just because she’d been a little chubby.
She wasn’t that now. I found myself looking around the room and spotting her talking to some old man who was trying to wrap his arm around her waist to pull her closer to his side. She resisted and the man pulled tighter. I was about to charge in, but she carefully extracted herself from the situation with a gracious smile and moved on to the next circle of guests.
Brin King. Wow. When I had seen her that night at the prom I had been so…proud. Not because she’d lost weight or turned out to be this beautiful young woman…but Prom Queen. That meant she also had to be popular. That the other kids at school liked her.
Okay, maybe there had been other thoughts besides pride, but I wasn’t going to think about that too closely.
I remembered, clear as day, when I’d come upon her standing up to Buddy and Fitz while they had some kid pinned against the locker. They were thugs, but fortunately they’d also been on the football team. When they saw their captain approach, all it had taken was a look and they’d stopped what they were doing and taken off.
Brin hadn’t known. She’d given herself a fist pump and I’d had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
I was glad I had done that. Glad that I made her feel like she could do things like stand down bullies on her own.
Where was she? Oh, there. Geezus, it was like you couldn’t miss her. In this room filled with actresses and people dressed to the nines, she stood out like a shiny star. Poised. Gracious. Beautiful.
I had smashed her a little bit the other day. I always knew she’d had a crush back in high school, but surely, after all this time…
Then it occurred to me. The necklace. Had that been some kind of stunt? Like the noises she’d heard at the ranch?
Like the time she told me Caroline had cheated on me? She had been right about that. I’d found out she was sleeping with some ranch hand and dumped her ass.
Had all of that been to get my attention?
I couldn’t say it wasn’t flattering…
Where was she… oh. There, she was. She was telling a story, and whatever it was must have been hilarious because everyone around her was laughing.
Wait, what was I supposed to be doing?
Betty. Champagne and caviar.
Shit. I shook my head and focused on my task. Pushing through the people, I brought back a reasonable amount of caviar and a glass of champagne that she practically gulped.
Betty was cute. Betty was real people. Betty was nice and steady. She’d make an excellent ranch wife. I shouldn’t have been thinking about how beautiful Brin was. It felt like a betrayal. I had always been a one-woman man. I had committed to Betty and she was going to be my wife. My future.
Which, in some ways, made me a little irritated with Brin. If she hadn’t tried to kiss me the other night I might have never considered her in that way. But there had been a second, a brief second, when I couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to kiss her back.
That was wrong. So wrong. Betty didn’t deserve that and I was going to scrub it from my memory.
If Brin remained on The King’s Land, she would just be a neighbor. An old friend, hopefully. Nothing more.
I watched Betty bite into a cracker with black fish eggs piled on top. Her whole face crinkled into a look of horror.
“Told you.” I laughed. “Just because it’s rich doesn’t mean it’s good. I, for one, know Brin King’s favorite food is hotdogs.”
Betty took another swallow of champagne and actually swished it around in her mouth before she swallowed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Garrett. Sabrina King hasn’t eaten anything outside of a vegetable or piece of fruit in years. Look at her.”
Where was she? I craned my neck. She turned and caught me looking. I smiled, but she ducked her head and walked away.
SABRINA
I did my hostess duties for the rest of the night with a heavy heart and feeling so stupid. Garrett really was nothing more than a childhood crush, then a high school crush. But now it felt…different.
There had been this certainty inside me about him, always. When I was a teenager and thought he was the best person I could know. The person who would always have my back.
But now, when I was finally old enough and attractive enough to gain his attention…
It was too late.
Betty had beaten me to him.
Suddenly the house was too warm. The
people were suffocating me. It was like I couldn’t breathe the air anymore. I made my way through the throng of guests out to the front patio and down the driveway a bit. Not too close to the gate, where the paparazzi lay in wait for a hint of drama.
I watched a car pull in and stop. This was odd for several reasons. The car in question was a mid-size sedan. Not anything special. Nothing like the Mercedes, Maseratis and Hummers that littered the front lawn.
In fact, it was so unspectacular it made me wary that it was a journalist trying to sneak into the party.
Then I saw a figure running down the driveway toward the car, one hand waving. I was far enough into the dark on the edge of the front lawn that it was doubtful I could be seen, but the moonlight showed off the blonde in the black dress.
Betty.
Of course. It was the friend she worked with who was picking her up. Except when the large man got out of the driver’s seat, it took me a second to picture this guy as a nurse. Which was probably sexist of me. I mean, really what year was it… OH MY GOD!
Betty had leaped into the guy’s arms and was kissing him. Like, kissing him, kissing him.
Without thinking, I ducked down and started to move closer to them. At least within hearing range.
“Luke, stop,” she said panting and pushing him off a bit. “He might see.”
“I don’t give a fuck.” The ominous Luke made his point by spitting on the ground at her feet.
“I’m just looking for the right time,” Betty insisted. “Now that I’m here…I’ll figure it out.”
“You’ve been figuring it out for months. I’m tired of this shit. Tell him it’s over and let’s get on with it already.”
“I will. I will. Soon. I promise. Can we just go? We’ve got the whole night. He thinks I’m working the night shift at the hospital.”
“I got us a room.”
“You’re the best, babe.”
I watched as she climbed into the passenger seat of the car. Watched as Luke made a three-point turn in the driveway and drove back through the gates with Betty.
Garrett’s fiancée.
I looked around, hoping to see that someone else had seen that and known what it meant. Sadly, I was alone. I thought about charging back up the house to tell him, but that wasn’t exactly news I imagined he wanted to hear.
