Storm Warning (Broken Heartland)

by Quinn, Caisey

  “Sure it is,” she informed him, crossing her arms over her chest. “You always butt your nose in my business, so I’m just repaying the favor.” Kyle waited for the glance she usually snuck at his best friend, but it didn’t come.

  Something had seemed a little off with her lately. Usually it was all batted eyelashes and sly smiles in Coop’s direction, but she seemed to be purposely ignoring him. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he was fairly certain his little sister was pissed at his best friend.

  “Not that there is anything going on with me that you need to worry about,” she added. Kyle could practically see the heat flying off her words. Maybe he didn’t need to worry about Coop and EJ hooking up. Looked to him like that flame had extinguished itself.

  “There’s a difference between being protective and being nosy, EJ.”

  “Overprotective,” Ella Jane corrected him. “And I’m not being nosy. I was in here doing inventory when y’all came in. And I happen to know what kind of trash you try to pass off as acceptable company.”

  “Get lost, brat.” Kyle pulled a leather work glove from his hand and tossed in her direction.

  “My pleasure,” she sassed. “You two clowns are boring me anyway.” She made her way out of the barn without a second look.

  “She’s in a mood today,” Kyle joked.

  “Yeah,” Coop agreed. A few seconds passed as Coop stared at the barn door as if he were waiting for EJ to reappear. Slowly he slid his attention back to his friend. “Hey, I need to ask you something.”

  “Ask away.”

  “You still picking up shifts every now and then down at that shipping place?”

  “Sometimes,” Kyle answered, surprised at the turn of direction the conversation was taking. “Why?”

  “Just wondering if there was any way you could get me a job?”

  “A job?” Kyle’s eyebrows shot up. “You already work from sunup to sundown. When would you have time to work there?”

  “Graveyard shift maybe?” Coop shrugged. “I’ll make it work. Money’s a little tight right now. We could use the extra income.”

  Kyle saw the desperation in Coop’s eyes. As close as they were, they never really talked about the super serious stuff. They were guys, after all.

  As much as Kyle wanted to help his buddy out, he didn’t really want Coop involved with the crew that ran the loading dock. They were pretty sketchy. The only reason Kyle kept picking up shifts there was because he had no other option. Not since his dad had bailed.

  The job paid quick cash and the Masons needed it. Kyle turned a blind eye to whatever it was he was helping transport. Drugs, guns, fake handbags, he didn’t care. It was strictly about the money.

  “I’ll see if there are any openings,” he lied, giving Coop a pat on the back. There was no way he was getting his best friend involved with that crowd. Besides that, as soon as he started college, Kyle was out too.

  “Thanks, man.” Coop smiled, looking relieved.

  “No problem. I’m sure everything will work out.”

  “Hope you’re right.”

  “Me too.” Kyle forced a smile of his own. He wasn’t about to tell his friend that things didn’t always work out the way you hoped.

  “HEY, Mason! You gonna stick around this weekend and find out what college is really about or you gotta run back home?” Fletcher Collins, OSU’s second string quarterback, asked in the locker room after Thursday training camp. “School’s not back in session, but there are still a few hot stragglers spending the summer on campus.”

  “Plus we need a rookie to pay for our beer,” one of the linebackers added.

  Kyle’s teammates had been asking him to stay for the weekend since the beginning of camp. He’d resorted to blaming it on his family business. Sure, there was plenty of work for him to do, but he really just wanted to get home and see Cami. That girl had him all twisted up. At first he thought she’d be a fun summer distraction, but the more time he spent with her the more entranced he became.

  “I don’t think so, guys,” Kyle said. “My mama would skin my ass if I didn’t get home and keep up on my work. Summer’s the busiest time of year for landscaping.”

  “You work too hard,” Fletcher told him. “You’ve got a full ride. Have you even celebrated the fact yet?”

  Kyle sighed behind the door of his locker. He hadn’t celebrated. Not one bit. The same day his acceptance letter came his mom had dropped the bomb about his dad leaving. His sister had given his neck a good squeeze and his mom baked him a cake, but it wasn’t the kind of celebration he’d expected. Couldn’t be with the looming cloud his dad had left hanging over them.

  “We had a big bash back home the day I got my letter,” he lied. “I’m still recovering.” He forced out a harsh laugh. “Once I’m here full time, I promise to spring for drinks.”

  Kyle had dreamt about leaving Hope’s Grove behind and playing college football his entire life, but now, with everything that had happened, the idea was starting to fade from his mind. His future didn’t seem nearly as promising and exciting as it once had. How could he leave his sister and mom with all that responsibility? Someone had to be the man of the house now that his dad was gone.

  “Deal,” Fletcher said as he slapped him on the back.

  Kyle closed his locker, sat his bag and phone down on the bench next to him, and started to tie up the running shoes he’d been given the first day of camp. His phone chimed and his screen lit up with bright brown eyes. He tried to fight back the dopey smile he got every time she called.

  “Belle?” Fletcher pulled a face, looking down at the name flashing above the picture. “Day-um, Mason. Well, no wonder you want to go back home. If that was calling me, I’d be hauling ass too.”

  Kyle just smiled and nodded as he excused himself to answer his phone.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he said quietly, not wanting his teammates to hear. There was nothing a bunch of big dumb jocks liked more than teasing a buddy about being whipped. Kyle knew he was well on his way to becoming a prime example of just that.

  “Hi,” she replied. He could practically see the blush rising in her cheeks from ninety miles away. It still blew his mind that, for whatever reason, this sure and confident girl blushed when he told her she was pretty. She was a beauty queen for Christ’s sake.

  Something had changed in her since that first day. She’d let her guard down a little with him. Every time they talked or touched, she became more vulnerable. She’d told him about her mother forcing her to be in pageants and about how her dad was absent most of the time.

  Every word out of her mouth made him want to kiss her that much more. Their first kiss in the pool the other day had almost destroyed all the willpower he had left for taking it slow. He didn’t know if he’d ever get enough of her perfect little mouth.

  “So you missing me or what?” he asked with a deep laugh.

  “A little,” she confessed. He felt warmth spread in his chest from her confession. She wasn’t the type to admit to missing people, to needing them. “I actually had to water the rose bushes yesterday. Someone forgot to set the sprinklers last time he was here. Middle of an Oklahoma heat wave and he forgot. Can you believe that?” She might have been letting her guard down with him, but she still kept him on his toes with her sharp tongue.

  “My guess is that he was probably too distracted the last time he was there. Probably because you were flouncing around in that pitiful excuse for a bikini. Give the guy a break.”

  “I don’t flounce,” she informed him. “I sashay. And it’s not my fault if the guy is easily distracted.” He knew exactly what she meant. He fondly recalled watching her hips and ass sashay around the pool. It was quickly replacing football as his favorite pastime.

  “I seem to recall you drooling over me a time or two.” He imagined she was shaking her head and trying not to smile.

  “I’m thinking if I’m going to be doing all the gardening around this place I might have to fire the lan
dscaper,” she teased.

  “You wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “It’s not that hard of a job. I’m starting to think we overpay you.”

  “You’re really funny today,” he told her. “I think you’re covering up how much you actually miss me with jokes.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” she admitted.

  “I’m always right.” He let her giggle ring in his ear before he added, “Since you got all my work done I guess I don’t need to come by on Sunday.”

  “No. I think you still need to come by. There are still a few jobs around here that require a professional’s touch.”

  “You know that I’m turning everything you say into an innuendo, right?” he asked.

  “I’m counting on it.”

  He bit his lip and shook his head, not wanting to be the one to break down and blurt out just how much he wanted her. Cameron Nickelson had perfected the art of toying with him.

  “Not to mention, I just got a package in the mail containing a brand new piss-poor excuse of a bikini. I think you’ll be thoroughly distracted with it.”

  “I’ll see you Sunday,” he added without hesitation, gripping the locker closest for support as the mental image assaulted him.

  He might as well have T-shirts printed. He was officially whipped and he didn’t mind it one bit.

  “SO what passes for fun around here?”

  “Oh, you know, cow tippin’, square dancin’, and cousin kissin’. The usual.” She purposely thickened her accent as she tried to keep a straight face. But Hayden’s eyebrows rose so high they nearly hit the rim of his backwards ball cap. Laughter escaped at his reaction. “I’m kidding. Don’t have an aneurysm, City Boy.”

  “Very funny,” he deadpanned as he dug the hole for the peonies she held. “But I’ve been to what you people call downtown and I’d be willing to bet you just named the three favorite activities of most of the townsfolk.”

  “Ha-ha.” EJ lowered the roots into the hole he’d dug. “Actually on the Fourth there will be a carnival and huge fireworks display. Me and Kyle and…” She interrupted herself to swallow the pain saying his name still caused. “Coop. The three of us, we watch the fireworks from The Ridge. But Kyle said he has other plans and I’m sure Coop’s going to be with one of his many racing groupies. So it’ll just be me this year.” She tried not to think about how much she hated the undeniable proof that everything was changing this summer. And none of it for the better.

  Together they shoved dirt into the hole, patting the ground around the plant once they were done. “Yeah? Maybe I’ll join you. When I get done cow tipping, that is.” Hayden winked and the smile on his lips flipped her stomach right over.

  She had to remind herself she wasn’t really interested in him. This was just to make Coop jealous. Except…sometimes she forgot about that part. Especially when it was just her and Hayden sitting up on The Ridge, watching the night train pass through.

  “Hey, what happened here?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts. She watched him place his long masculine fingers gently against a blackened spot on the trunk of the old elm they were planting the flowers around.

  “Lightning. It was struck a few years ago.”

  He turned his confused face to hers. “And it lived?”

  She nodded. “The roots were really strong. So no matter what happens to the outside, it can still thrive. If the really important parts are buried deep enough, isn’t really much that can destroy them.”

  “Huh.” He actually looked impressed. Mr. I’m-So-Cool-Nothing-Fazes-Me.

  Ella Jane took a deep breath before she spoke. “Um, I think I might head down to The Ridge tonight actually. I’m going to take a run first, since my track coach is going to kill me if I lose time this summer. But then I was going to watch the trains for a while. If you’re not doing anything…”

  “I’m not doing anything,” Hayden answered, causing her to grin like an idiot.

  “Okay. I’ll grab some sandwiches or something after my run and bring ’em up.”

  “Whoa. If there’s food, I’m pretty sure it’s a date.”

  “You wish.” EJ bit her lip to keep from admitting that maybe she wished too.

  “Oh I do wish. I’m not like your friend Joe. I say what I want. And usually I get it.” His words made her mouth feel funny, dried out, and like her tongue was suddenly thicker.

  EJ licked her lips in an attempt to wet her mouth. “Um, Joe?”

  Hayden smirked. “Yeah, Joe Dirt, your brother’s buddy. He’s watching us right now. And if looks could kill, it’d be me you were digging a hole for instead of these flowers. But you already know that, don’t you?”

  “Um.” EJ busied herself burying the roots of the next plant. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure you do. You like it that he’s jealous. If I’m being honest, which I try not to do if I can help it, I like it too. Let the poor bastard look.”

  “You’re so full of yourself.” EJ went to swat him in the chest but he caught her wrist.

  “This is true. Funny thing is, half the time you forget to check if he’s watching before you flirt with me. Wonder why that is?”

  Her blood burned hot, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he was calling her out or if because what he said was true. “I swear, Hayden Prescott. Just when I think you’re a decent guy, you go and act like such an ass. Wonder why that is?” EJ stood, yanking her wrist from his grip as she spoke. “And by the way, you can keep wishing all you want. It’s not a date whether there’s food or not. It’s a date when I say it’s a date. And if I’m being honest, which I always am, you probably couldn’t handle me anyways.”

  He mumbled something that sounded a lot like “I’d sure like to try” before she stormed out of earshot.

  The nerve. Ugh. That boy had zero brain-to-mouth filter. And he was so freaking cocky.

  She was still lost in thought when she heard the unmistakable sound of gravel flying in the driveway. She glanced up just in time to see Coop’s truck disappearing. It was the first time he’d ever come by and not even said so much as hello to her.

  Whatever. They were all the same. City boys, country boys, overprotective brother boys, disappearing dads. They all gave her a headache and made her feel like her every move was somehow wrong.

  She couldn’t think straight for the rest of the day. Every time she looked up, Hayden seemed to be purposely ignoring her. Well, two could play at that game. And if he didn’t show at The Ridge tonight, then screw him. She’d already had her heart broken once this summer. The last thing she needed was some I-get-what-I-want city boy twisting her all up inside.

  BY the time she’d finished her evening run, she had sworn off whatever attraction she felt to Hayden Prescott. Sure, he was good looking. And he got her sense of humor. And he didn’t mind letting her use him to make Coop jealous. He dang sure didn’t treat her like a sister. And he was good-looking. Okay, extremely good-looking. With those mischievous green eyes and dark hair and that boyish and simultaneously devilish grin of his.

  Wait…why am I swearing off my feelings for him? She walked up her front porch, lost in thought. It barely registered that she was being greeted by the cricket symphony. She glanced over at the peonies they’d planted earlier. Oh yeah. Hayden. He was ridiculously full of himself. And the way he just said whatever he wanted, like he didn’t care if it affected her or not.

  After a quick shower, she threw together ham and cheese sandwiches on sub rolls. She grabbed a bag of chips and two bottles of water, telling herself she was hungry enough to eat all of it so it was no big deal if he didn’t show. When Kyle wasn’t home, her mother didn’t fool with big dinners. They usually heated up one of the many frozen casseroles or ordered pizza and ate in the living room. It was too depressing to sit at the dining room table, just the two of them, both of them pretending not to notice the two chairs that remained painfully empty.

  She’d spent more time at The Ridge this summer tha
n she ever had. And the past few times, Hayden had been there right along with her. They talked. It felt…real. Like they were becoming friends. Then he’d pulled that cocky crap on her. She huffed out a breath as she headed to her truck. She was going to drive over in case he didn’t show. She didn’t like to walk back home in the dark.

  In fact, she reassured herself, it’s probably better if he doesn’t show. Maybe he got the hint today. She wasn’t at all impressed with the whole spoiled brat persona. Or with the dual personality thing. Her father had done that—pretended to be a loving father and devoted husband, then bam. Turned out he’d had a slut on the side.

  And he hadn’t even called to say hello or ask about seeing her or anything. Nothing. One apologetic phone call after he’d left and then nothing.

  Well, she was done with two-faced liars. Coop had nearly kissed her then called the idea of being attracted to her incestuous. Hayden chatted easily about how funny his grandparents were and then acted like an ass.

  Done. I’m done, she told herself. She’d just live vicariously through Lynlee’s hot surfer boy stories. A summer romance of her own was out of the question.

  Until she pulled up at The Ridge and her headlights caught the silhouette of a tall brooding boy she’d just sworn she was done with.

  HER headlights nearly blinded him. Hayden raised a hand to his eyes to shield them from the glare. But as soon as they shut off, he lowered it so he could fully appreciate how gorgeous she was as she got out of the truck.

  Never in all his seventeen years had he seen anything like her.

  She was bold, sassy, and smart-mouthed as hell. And she didn’t take any shit, not even from him.

  His grandfather had warned him about her. But all the warnings in the world wouldn’t have kept him away.

  In Summit Bluffs, she’d have been laughed at for her cut-off shorts and flannel, plaid button-up shirt. And those boots. Cami and her friends would have a field day calling EJ a hillbilly ho. But damn if she didn’t make his mouth water. She approached him with a swagger in her hips that made his dick twitch. Tilting her head to the side, she handed him a bag.