Her mouth turned down briefly. “Got it. Radar’s ready.” She tapped her head. Too brightly, she said, “All systems will be ‘go’ for the roundup.”
He didn’t fault her for nearly running out of the kitchen. No one wanted to be around his black thoughts, least of all his sister. He rubbed his own temple in empathy. At what point would she tell him off for exploiting her bloodhound skills? At least she had a useful power. All he got out of his lie-detector ability was a headache, self-loathing, and zero trust in other humans. No climbing mountains, no lives saved. Just supernatural levels of cynicism.
As much as he hated to put Shelby through more pain by asking her to use her power, he needed to get those cattle if the ranch was going to stay above water this year. So, greater good, lesser evil.
Damn it, he didn’t want to think about the ranch anymore this evening.
Not an option. He pushed to his feet and headed out to do the never-ending chores.
Chapter 4
“Izzy, I’m telling you, that entire meeting was weird.” Sara inhaled the minty essence of her mojito before sipping. The evenings after parent-teacher meetings always deserved a stiff drink or three.
“Garrison was probably having a bad day.” Isabelle Brand pushed her long, golden hair back over a shoulder. She appeared oblivious to the glances from several men in the bar.
Some women had all the luck. If Izzy weren’t the nicest person in the world and Sara’s best friend, it would be much easier to hate her. Sara blew out a breath full of frustration. Her friend would have handled Garrison Taggart better than Sara had.
Okay, seriously? Quit the pity party already.
“So what else about the meeting?” Izzy asked.
“Garrison brought up how I had dated Hank.”
“Yikes. In a parent-teacher conference? Can you say, ‘inappropriate’? Besides, you and Hank broke up a year ago.”
“Yeah, what a mess.” She glanced over her shoulder as invisible cold fingers walked up her neck. “Sorry. I know Hank’s your brother and all.”
“You can’t offend me. Besides, he’s a moron for leaving you.”
Sara dabbed at the condensation on her glass until the bead of water ran down onto the bar. “Thanks.”
Izzy drained her beer before propping her chin on her fist. “Ever wish you and Hank could get back together?” The sincerity in her sky-blue eyes took away the question’s sting.
“No, we’re done. That fact was made crystal clear. To be fair, we didn’t have a future, especially after he started acting strangely.” She buried the slice of lime beneath the ice in the glass. “I mean it. Breaking up was for the best. It was just frustrating to have my past raked over the coals by Garrison.”
“I bet.” She pushed her empty bottle away and lifted her chin at the bartender for another beer. “Man, I know he’s my brother and all, but I still can’t get over the fact that Hank was a jerk to you. He’s gone kind of nuts over the past year.”
“How?”
“You know how a few weeks ago, I said they were cooking up some get-rich scheme? Well, he’s got two of my brothers totally wrapped up in the idea, and they’ve become all secretive. Somehow it involves the Taggart ranch. But they don’t say much around me, even when I ask.”
“Really?”
“Yup, I end up stuck at home doing all the housework and dealing with Mom and her health issues. They’re not helping with Mom anymore, which kind of sucks. Now, they’re out in the hills, dreaming up God-knows-what hair-brained plan. And they won’t talk to me.” Izzy scraped her long hair off her face. The corners of her mouth dropped.
“That stinks.”
“At least I still have you to talk with.”
Sara covered her friend’s hand with hers. Anything to erase the sad downturn to Izzy’s mouth. Ever since Sara showed up in first grade wearing mismatched thrift shop leftovers, with no parents to drop her off, Izzy had been right there. Like peanut butter and jelly, they used to giggle to each other.
Even after Sara’s stupid shoplifting phase as a teenager, Izzy had stood up for her—unlike most folks around here who still ruminated over the new teacher’s checkered past.
“Of course. I’m always here to talk,” Sara said.
The new beer arrived, and Izzy wrapped her long fingers around the frosty bottle. “Thanks.” She blinked and her expression went from unhappy to mischievous. “Speaking of topics that are interesting, I haven’t seen Garrison in a long time. He mostly stays at the ranch, and I haven’t had as many shifts at the hardware store lately. Is he still hot and available?”
At Izzy’s eyebrow waggle, Sara laughed despite herself. “Ha. If you mean is he a stubborn and surly cowboy, then the answer is yes. We didn’t get to spend much time discussing the particulars of his relationship status.”
“You know his wife left him last year.”
“Yes. It’s not a secret. But no one seems to know why.”
Izzy sipped her beer. “True. Most folks figure she ran off with someone. But who’d want to leave such a fine hunk of man as Garrison? Rough break.”
“I don’t know. Takes two to tango, as they say. A woman would have to be pretty unhappy to leave her husband and child.”
“Maybe.”
Sara crossed her arms. “What if he brought a lot of the problems down on his own shoulders?”
Damn Izzy’s accepting attitude. “What? Just by being ... the way he is? Could be. But really, we don’t know the whole story about everything that happened and why she left.”
Just like the people in town didn’t know all of Sara’s story, yet judged her. Suddenly, the drink soured against the shame coating her tongue. She had judged him without trial. Hypocritical much?
She swallowed. “Right about now, I’m mostly worried about Zach.” Weak recovery.
“Maybe there will be a chance to meet again and help his son out?”
“Hopefully not until next spring. I can’t take another parent-teacher conference like that one.”
Izzy paused, then her blue eyes shone. “Hey, remember when we were in high school and we went to the rodeo finals to watch him? Man, I’d love for a cowboy like that to rope me any day. He could keep me tied up for more than the mandatory five seconds!”
Sara snorted, the drink burning her nostrils.
The effervescent sound of Izzy’s laugh drew even more male attention. Cowboy hats rotated in her direction.
Of course the men would want to look at Izzy. Not Izzy’s fault, either.
“Five seconds. That’s hilarious.” Sara laughed.
She whispered, “Wonder if all that pounding in the saddle messes up, you know, a guy’s other parts?”
Sara nearly spit out her drink and had to cough to clear her throat. “You’re impossible.”
“And that’s why you love me!” They leaned their heads together until Izzy’s face relaxed. “Did Garrison mention how his brother was doing?”
“Kerr?”
Izzy’s cheeks turned pink. Ten dollars said the blush had nothing to do with the alcohol. “You know, after the military and injury and all, how he’s getting along.”
“If I didn’t know better—”
“You don’t know better. Just curious to see if he’s doing okay after he got hurt, that’s all.” She took another swig. The laughter in her voice flattened into something like resignation. “Never mind.”
“Izzy—”
Pressing her perfect, pink lips together, she gripped the neck of the bottle, her knuckles turning white. Izzy stared at the brown glass. “Man, I don’t want to go back home tonight.”
“So move out. You can stay with me or get a rental in town.”
She blew out a deep breath. “Can’t right now. They’re all guilt-tripping me. Mom, my brothers. They say I can’t leave now; Mom needs me there. What with the drilling—”
“What drilling?”
“Part of that stupid plan I mentioned. Idiot brothers. Got a wild hair that there’s ric
hes in them thar hills.”
“Just like that?”
“I don’t know, exactly, but Hank’s got them all fixated on finding something. Invested all their savings to put in some equipment near the foot of the mountains.”
“Why?”
“Why do men do anything? Probably because it’s there and they’ve dreamed up a plan. God only knows.” She waved her hand. “Enough about my stupid family. Back to rodeo boy.”
“Izzy, he’s a parent of one of my students. I was having a professional conference with him.”
“Throw me a bone here. Make something up. I need to live vicariously.”
“Since when? You can have the pick of the litter any day.” Sara gave a small gesture to the sets of eyes that followed Izzy’s every move.
She shrugged and shook her head. “So were his jeans tight?”
Sara dropped her voice and put her hand to her mouth. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. I need details.” She sipped on her beer. “Come on, spill.”
And now Sara’s heart went pitter-patter. Great. “Um, well, maybe a little tight. I mean, I wasn’t really looking ...”
Izzy grinned. “Your denial is hilarious. Garrison’s hot. Don’t you think so?”
Sara spun on the stool to face her friend. “Holy mother of God, of course he’s hot. But I’m not interested in anyone right now.”
“I thought you weren’t Catholic anymore.”
“I’m recovering. It’s still a crutch for cursing.”
“Got it. So not interested in anyone because of Hank?”
Sara said nothing as a blob of unhappiness spread out from her chest until her whole body ached. It wasn’t only because of Hank, but that epic fail hadn’t helped. She had to choose: successful career, loan repayment, and her professional future versus dating in this small town. She’d already wasted years before going to college; well, she’d been kind of a bum, heaven help her patient and kind aunt and uncle, and God rest their souls. She’d had no direction, no plans, but at least she’d kept out of trouble for those lost years.
With college behind her, she wanted to get on with creating a normal life. As eagerly as her biological clock encouraged her to find a good man and settle down, reality dictated that she avoid making any more missteps with her reputation. Which meant extreme caution with any relationship.
Besides, she had a plan for her future success. And that plan did not involve Copper River. A plan that would take her far away from this place and to teach in an upscale suburb of Atlanta with a friend from college. She just needed to finish her obligations to Copper River, and then Sara could follow the path she’d mapped for herself. Any entanglements here would only derail her goals.
Izzy squeezed her hand. “My brother’s such a dope.”
“You’ve already mentioned that.”
“It bears repeating.” She removed her hand and tapped her chin. “Fine. Let’s say you weren’t gun-shy from Hank. Would you date Garrison Taggart?”
“Shush! People will hear you.” Sara absently touched her lips, then shoved her hand in her lap. “Maybe. But he’s not interested in me, and besides, I don’t want to date anyone right now.”
“How could he not be interested in you? You’re super cute.”
At least her friend was supportive. Sara played with the coaster edge. Enough. No thinking about activities with a certain rancher that would never happen.
Besides, if a rugged rancher wanted a partner, he didn’t need to look further than Izzy. Even now, all of the male attention in the establishment focused on those unfairly long legs, glossy blonde hair, and other assorted assets.
Sara waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter. He’s pissed off at me from the unpleasant parent-teacher conference.”
“Why?”
“Can’t share that info, protected. Let’s just say he stormed out of the meeting.”
“Ouch. Maybe the next meeting will be better.”
“Couldn’t be worse.”
“True.” She spun her stool away from the bar. “Want to dance? Those guys are getting frisky.” Izzy tossed her blonde hair over a shoulder and smiled. One of the men tipped his hat and pushed away from a booth, his dark eyes locked on her.
“You go right ahead. Looks like you’re about to have some options for your evening. I’m headed home. Work tomorrow.”
“You know what? You’re right. And I should get home, too. I’ll walk out with you.” She pulled out her phone and typed.
“Sure you should drive?”
“No way. I texted Wyatt, and he’ll be by in a little while after he closes the hardware store.”
Another Brand boy Sara didn’t want to interact with. Her stomach clenched. What a mess. It would be centuries before she dated again, at least in Copper River.
The problem wasn’t that she had loved Hank. He was someone to date while she spent the required four years in Copper River, fulfilling her obligation so she could pay off her loans. She had never imagined meeting him at the end of a church aisle with her in a white dress. Hell, she had never gotten butterflies over their next date.
It wasn’t even that he’d become erratic and downright mean, which led to her breakup with him.
What hurt was how he had responded and why.
For such an initially pleasant guy, Hank Brand had been cruel and detailed in his retaliation, shredding her reputation and ego like a sharp cheese grater. It was like he’d been taken over by another person altogether.
You’re a piece of bastard trash. You came from trash, and that’s what you’ll always be.
In this day and age, that kind of thinking should have gone the way of the horse and buggy, but apparently not in Copper River, Wyoming. At least not for Hank Brand.
According to him, she possessed no value as a person or as a lover, and he’d only dated her for something to do. Someone to do. A cure for his boredom. In fact, if he could be believed, then he already had someone else waiting in the wings.
God, how he’d smashed the emotional supports she had built one piece at a time over the years.
All that hard work to try to prove herself: going to college, earning her degree, and creating a respectable career and life. All to negate her upbringing and her adolescent mistakes.
Still not good enough.
She hugged Izzy good night before a Brand brother could show up and make a bad day even worse. Tucking her arms around herself in the chilly air, Sara trudged the few blocks to the rental house one street over from Main.
The silence in the home didn’t welcome her this time.
Chapter 5
The next afternoon, for the second day in a row, dread clenched at the center of Sara’s chest.
She squeezed the arms on her office chair as she stared at her classroom, which had stood empty for an hour. Since the students left, she had pretended to work but accomplished nothing.
Suddenly, her knit top and cardigan became too warm.
How was she going to tell Garrison?
What he’d alluded to at yesterday’s conference, some kind of bad blood between the Taggarts and Brands, appeared to be true.
The two Brand kids had once again bullied Zach at recess, and she had gone to Butch Brand, the principal and the boys’ uncle. She expected Butch to maintain objectivity, thought he would see the problem and offer a solution.
Nothing. He gave her nothing but platitudes. No disciplinary intervention. No support for her concerns.
With a flippant “boys will be boys,” he’d brushed her off and consigned Zach to continued torment. And Butch’s thinly veiled ultimatum to “mind her own business” had made it clear: If she valued her job, she shouldn’t intervene.
Good Lord, of course she wanted to keep her job—had to, if she wanted her school loans forgiven. Besides, no way would she fail at her first job. But as a newly minted teacher, she had no leg to stand on. She couldn’t fight the administration.
Yet she’d be damned if a kid would get b
ullied on her watch.
Sara knew how it felt, knew how being a victim of bullying would affect Zach later in life. She’d been the only Latino kid in school in Copper River. Double whammy for her, and extra ammo for the kids in school. You’d think times had changed, what with bullying awareness and all, but Zach’s situation took her back. She was the kid, standing on the edge of the playground, hoping to be noticed, but not by the mean kids.
Still, she could only imagine what that kid endured. Teachers saw only a fraction of the actual bullying.
So. Decision time. Stick her neck out for the kid, or keep quiet and preserve her career?
Taking a deep breath, Sara dialed the number on file.
“Hello?” Garrison’s rumbling voice came through the earpiece, sliding shivers up her spine.
“Yes, uh, this is Sara Lopez, Zach’s teacher.”
“Is he in trouble again?”
She pulled the phone away at his barked response. “No. And he wasn’t in trouble when we talked yesterday, either.”
“Is he acting weird?”
“No. Not at all. Why would you think that?” Seriously, talking with this man was like facing a rapid-fire interrogation.
“Doesn’t matter. Never mind.”
“Okay ...”
“So then what’s the problem?”
She flinched at the curt tone.
Her tongue turned to sand. “Um—”
He interrupted. “You know what? Forget this phone call. You and I need to talk about some things. Are you at school?”
“Yes, but—”
“I’ll be over there in a half hour.”
“No, you don’t—”
“Stay put.”
“I—”
The line went dead. Her heart rapped a staccato beat on her ribs. Good Lord, he sounded pissed.
Forty minutes later, Sara gave up on waiting and headed to her car. The parking lot was empty as frigid twilight turned the school grounds gray. Garrison Taggart probably had a million things more important to do. Zipping her winter coat closed, she bent into the biting wind. The heavy clouds threatened snow.
Legacy of Lies Page 4
