by MJ Fredrick
He got out of the truck and walked toward the house. Now that he was home, he remembered what he’d been excited about—he’d found a position for Ben at one of the ranches nearby. He knew Ben would feel better about himself if he was working, and he’d get out of the house, away from their father, who had gotten a job at the grocery store but hadn't started yet.
Ben was lounging in his room when Selena and Noah walked in.
“Hey, Ben. So, good news. Mr. McKenna is hiring hands. He said just show up tomorrow and he’ll sign you on.”
“Huh. Well, I got a job.”
Noah took a step back. “You what? Where? When?” And why was he laying around in the same clothes he’d been wearing when Noah left the house? “Did you feed the animals?”
“Yes, I did. And I got a job leading a hunting group, a group of businessmen from Dallas who want to hunt wild pigs.”
“That’s great.” He’d taken initiative, and that surprised Noah, but, “McKenna’s offer is long-term.”
“I’ve already committed to this, and I don’t think McKenna would want me to take the time off so I could take a group hunting.” He rolled off the bed and nudged past his brother to enter the kitchen.
Noah blew out a breath, trying not to be frustrated. He’d gone out of his way to approach Mr. McKenna about hiring his brother, and now he’d have to tell him no, that Ben had another job.
There were worse things to tell him, but damn, he wished he’d known. He wished Ben had told him, wished Ben had taken the ranch job, something longterm, something steady.
“Where’s Dad?”
“I don’t keep track.”
Noah knew damn well that was a lie. Ben knew where his father was, just so he could avoid him.
“All right. You going to make dinner? I’m going to go track him down.”
“Why? Leave him be.”
Because Noah had to make an effort, if they were going to be living together. He couldn't dread coming home. He’d spent his childhood doing that. After his mother had died, he couldn't wait to get away, and thankfully college was the answer to that need. He’s spent six years at College Station, and when he’d come back worked his ass off, and had been so glad to come home to his family, to the peaceful home he’d created for them. The home he was determined to keep.
His father was at the barn, and his first thought was that Rey was out here drinking. But when he approached, he didn't smell alcohol.
“Pop? What are you doing out here?”
“Trying to get used to all the changes you’ve made here. Trying to get used to going where I want without someone coming to look for me.” He said the last with what might pass for a smile.
“Not meaning to intrude. Just curious about where you’d gotten off to.”
“Barn looks better than the house.”
“I’m out here more.”
“Your aunt kept me up to date, you know, on your lives. On your college, and Ben barely graduating high school, and Selena’s progress.”
“Aunt Lupita?” His mother’s sister had taken Selena and Ben in when their father had been arrested. Noah had been drowning in his own pain and hadn’t listened to her. He’d already been eighteen. She’d looked so much like his mother that he hadn't been able to look at her without waves of longing for what he’d lost. He hadn't known she’d kept in contact with his father though. After all, the man had killed her sister.
“She came to see me every few months to let me know how you all were doing.”
“Why would she do that?”
His father turned his gaze to Noah then, and Noah felt like he’d been punched in the chest. Was this the first time they’d had eye contact since Rey had been home?
“She knew how important you kids were to me.”
The laugh Noah snorted out sounded more like Rey than himself. “Right. I felt that every day of my life.”
Rey squared his shoulders. “I did. I did what I did to discipline you so you would grow up strong. And you did.”
Noah schooled the snarl he felt forming on his lips, held himself back from his father even as he wanted to tower over him. “You’re taking credit for the way I turned out? I turned out this way despite you. I told myself every day that I was going to be a better man than you. That’s why I’m the man I am.”
Rey rolled his shoulders, and for just a minute, Noah felt the familiar frisson of fear as he looked into his father’s face. God, he hated knowing that this man could still arouse those feelings.
“Lupita is going to come visit this weekend. She said she hasn't seen you kids in a while, either.”
He felt bad about that since she’d done so much for his family when Ben and Selena were younger, but looking into her face, so like his mother’s, had hurt so much. He wondered what his father had thought, sitting across from her in prison and seeing the face of the woman he’d killed.
“Why did you let me come back here?” his father called after him when he turned to walk out of the barn.
“It’s your home,” Noah said simply, not turning around. “Where else would you have gone?”
Chapter Three
Miranda straightened from the refrigerator with a jolt when the back door opened. She turned to see Allison tiptoeing in, her boots in one hand, her usually impeccably styled hair a mess, and when she pivoted toward Miranda, the light from the refrigerator showed her make-up was smudged. Had she been crying?
Miranda closed the refrigerator door and flipped on the light above the sink, her quest for leftover pie forgotten.
“What happened to you?”
“Nothing.” Allison waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing. I was just out later than I planned.”
Without Miranda, so clearly she was hiding something. “Who were you with?”
Allison made a face. “You can’t come back here and start bossing me around.”
“That’s not my intention at all. I was just wondering who you were with who made you cry.”
Allison lifted a finger to her lower lashes as if to check for tears, frowned at the dark smudge of make-up on her finger.
“No one made me cry.”
“Why won’t you talk to me?” Miranda took a step backward and opened the refrigerator again. This time she got the pie out and put it on the table, then retrieved two plates and two forks.
“We have never been those sisters,” Allison pointed out, eyeing the offering suspiciously.
“Why haven't we been?” Miranda asked, knowing as she said it that she was part of the problem. She hadn't had much to say to her sister since she moved away. She should have offered to bring Allison to New York, to go on vacation with her somewhere. But Allison’s attitude toward her had prevented her from doing so. She knew that once the two of them were together, they would bicker, and she just hadn't wanted to deal with that.
They’d been close when they’d been little, hadn't they? She couldn't really remember, but the pictures on the mantle showed sisters who loved each other. It had only been once Miranda got to high school and didn't want a little sister tagging along that the resentment started.
Miranda’s fault, Miranda’s job to fix it. But she didn't know where to start, not when Allison got so defensive around her.
“Come on, have some pie,” Miranda offered, realizing she sounded like her mother.
“How long are you staying?” Allison asked, looking at the dessert a moment before dragging the chair from the table and sitting.
Miranda used one of the forks to pry a piece of pie free and onto the plate she slid before her sister. “I don’t have plans to return.”
Allison’s eyes widened. “So you’re walking away from all that success? Why?”
Miranda sighed, her gaze on her plate. “It’s not success if you’re not happy, right?”
Allison stared. “Are you crazy? You had everything you wanted, everything anyone wanted.”
And there it was, wasn't it? Allison thought Miranda had it all. She was judging only on what
she saw, and her own dreams. But why hadn't Allison done anything to move toward her own dreams?
“You can’t seriously be thinking that coming back here is going to make you happy. You won’t have money, which is fine because you won’t have many places to spend it. You won’t have a man because all the good ones are taken. You won’t have anything to do and you’ll be bored within a month, and regretting your decision.” Allison shook her head. “You don't know what you’re in for.”
“If you’re so miserable, why do you stay here?”
Allison’s shoulders slumped and she stabbed her crust with more force than necessary. “I’m not. I belong here. But you—this place was always too small for you.”
That part was true. She couldn't wait to get out of here. But now…
“Was he bad to you? Damian?” Allison looked at her again.
Miranda pressed her lips together. “Not bad.” Just spirit-crushing. “I just figured out I’d be happier without him than hearing his judgement on me all the time. You know how we were raised to make a man happy? Well, I figured out I just couldn't change who I was in order to do that, you know? And maybe you’re right, I won’t be happy here. Then it will be time for another fresh start.”
An image of Noah flashed through her mind, Noah, who had never looked so good. Noah, who was so good with his sister, a family an. She could imagine what kind of father he would be, much like her own father, quiet and loving. She was not moving back here for a man. She was not. She was going to make herself happy.
*****
The rest of the week was busy for Noah and his family, preparing for his aunt’s visit. Ben was happier than Noah had seen him in months, anticipating Lupita’s arrival. Noah wondered why he wasn't more upset that Lupita had kept in contact with Rey while he was in prison. Of course, Lupita had treated Ben like her own baby when she took the two younger kids in. But that Ben took her connection to his father as a matter of course…that surprised Noah. But maybe he’d known all along.
The three of them worked harder to get the house ready for Lupita than they had for Rey’s return. Rey pretty much stayed out of their way, which, as Noah recalled, was what he’d done when their mother had been cleaning as well. Lupita would be staying in Noah’s room, and he had the choice between staying with Ben or Rey, or staying in the barn. Not a difficult choice.
Instead of looking better after they’d cleaned it, the house instead revealed its signs of neglect—the cracked floor tiles in the kitchen, the big patch of torn drywall in the bathroom, the damaged ceiling from that one rainstorm where the roof had leaked. Noah was going to have a take a trip into Pearsall to the hardware store to spruce the place up. He wished with all the growth in Evansville that someone had thought to put in a hardware store. He didn't have the time to go to Pearsall.
Ben did, but Noah knew his brother would take his sweet time, maybe stop for a couple of drinks, and time was the one thing they didn't have.
Why did he care so much what his aunt thought, anyway?
But when her truck pulled up in front of the house on Friday night, a little bubble of joy rose up. She was his mother's sister, family, and she’d stepped up to take care of Selena and Ben when they would have been put into the foster system.
She still wore her hair long, though the gray battled the black. This was what his mother would look like if she had lived. Noah glanced over at his father and saw the stark emotion there that made him think Rey realized it, too.
Noah stepped forward to embrace his aunt, and she clung to him for a long moment as he breathed in the soft scent of her. She had been so good to them growing up, and he’d been too busy to take time for her the past few years. He needed to remedy that.
But when she came into the house, when she sat at the table with them, everything in him shifted. They were sitting around like a family, though Lupita took care not to sit in what had once been her sister’s chair. What turned Noah’s stomach was the way his father was with her, so attentive and gentle, even smiling, something Noah hadn't seen him do since he’d been back.
Was he flirting with his aunt? Was he seeing his mother in her? Was there something between them that went beyond the woman who had visited him in prison, who had looked after his children?
As soon as dinner was done, Noah pushed back from the table, drawing the attention of everyone. He felt a twinge of guilt for leaving his siblings to deal with this weird situation, but they knew Lupita better, and they were happy enough to see her. Maybe they didn't pick up the same vibe he did.
“I’ve got some patients to check on,” he said. “Don’t wait up for me. Lupita, it’s good to see you,” he said, and meant it, then turned and left before Rey could say anything about him fleeing.
He actually only had one patient he needed to stop in on, and once he was satisfied the mare would be fine until morning, he headed into town to the Sagebrush Saloon.
Since his father had been such a drunk, Noah had been careful about allowing himself to drink. Sure, he’d been a little wild in high school—he’d been raised to think that real men drank, and he and his friends would sneak out to the reservoir and party. But after his mother died, well, he had been more cautious, more aware of why he drank, and how it made him feel. He’d never been an angry drunk, but, well, he hadn't been drunk in over a decade. He was pretty sure he knew himself well enough to control it.
But tonight, he needed a drink. And he needed to be around people he wasn't related to.
Flynn Tscheulin, the local talent and husband of Sage, who owned the place, was on the stage in the corner of the bar, Juliana McKenna, his sister-in-law, beside him as they sang a sweet duet while several couples danced on the small dance floor.
Friday night. When was the last time he’d been to town on a Friday night?
He made his way through the crowd to the bar.
Where Miranda and her sister Allison sat, giant margaritas on the polished wood in front of them. He had a moment to admire her before she noticed him. Damn, she was beautiful, prettier now than in high school, a confidence in her posture she hadn't had, that she wouldn't have if she had stayed in Evansville. Escape had been good for her—he’d forgiven her for leaving him after his mom died, couldn't blame her for wanting to take off, to distance herself from him when his life had gone to shit. But it hadn't been easy for him when she left, when he lost the one thing that grounded him in that tumultuous time.
Then she turned toward him, and her laugh died in her throat.
“Hello, Miranda.”
“Noah.”
“You’re in town a little early for Thanksgiving.”
She pressed her lips together. “I am. How are you, Noah?”
What was he going to say, that his dad was home and he hadn't had any peace since? That she’d come back into town at the second worst time of his life?
He should have gone to Garcia’s. There would have been no chance of running into her there. He just honestly hadn't thought that she’d still be in town. He didn't get gossip like that, not even going from ranch to farm.
“Doing good.”
“I saw Selena working at the Coyote the other day. I’m glad to see her doing so well.”
He relaxed a little and curved his hands around the mug of beer Tony the bartender had set in front of him. “She’s doing really well. I’m very proud of her.”
“I’m sure you had a big part in that.”
“My aunt Lupita raised her and Ben, when I went to college.”
“I wondered how you were able to go, since you’re a vet. A&M, like you’d planned?”
“Full ride,” he said with some pride. They’d talked about going together, her to study law and him to vet school. He hadn't known how he was going to pay for it, the son of a laborer and a stay-at-home mother, but he was determined to find a way. Turned out, there were scholarships for children whose fathers were in prison. He figured his father owed him that much, so he took advantage, and didn't have one cent in student l
oans.
“That’s wonderful. I’m happy for you. Do you like it? The way you thought you would?”
How many nights had they laid under the stars at the reservoir and talked about their future? He’d wondered many times since if she’d known then that she wasn't staying, or if his troubles gave her the push she needed to leave Evansville behind and find her own adventure.
“How’s New York? And…what’s his name?”
“Damian. They’re both…where I left them.”
What did that mean? Something in her face, the way her gaze flicked to the margarita, just the hint of sadness in the curve of her lips before she smiled up at him again.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
He stopped himself before he snorted his opinion of that. When did he have time? There were several single women in Evansville that he could have dated, if he wanted to. But none held enough appeal for the effort. He’d had one serious relationship since her, but her mother had fallen ill in Houston and Jacinta had had to move there. Noah wasn't about to leave Evansville and the practice he’d built, the place where he could look out for Selena, and the town could watch over her. So he and Jacinta had ended things. He wasn't looking for a relationship now, not with all the crap raining down on his life.
But being here beside her, smelling so good, oddly familiar after all this time when he was sure she wasn't using the same soap or shampoo or perfume as she had when they were teenagers. Still, he couldn't resist leaning in a bit and drawing in a deep breath. She noticed, but didn't pull away.
“No, I haven't seen anyone in a while.”
She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something. Instead, she pressed her lips together and smiled. “I had heard that you pretty much keep to yourself.”
“Nothing really new there.”
“I don’t know. I remember hanging out with Trace and the others many nights out at the reservoir.”
“Yeah, but that was more because you liked being around everyone. I would have been happy to be alone with you.” He would be happy to be alone with her right now, and glanced past her to her sister, who was deep in conversation with Maggie Dawson from the bank, but not deep enough that Maggie didn't know what was going on. She was giving him a “What are you doing?” look that he was happy to ignore. He wasn't sure why Maggie cared anyway.
