Slow Burn: Iron Horse Series

by Danielle Norman

  I watched her, her head slightly swayed, her toe tapped, and it wasn’t until she brought her hand up to wipe away a tear that I realized she was crying while singing to the song.

  I wasn’t sure why—and probably wouldn’t ever be able to explain what came over me—but I waved until I caught her attention. Signaling to the chair opposite me, I invited her to sit.

  She took a few steps and then halted, then took a few more until she was standing next to me.

  “You’re welcome to sit. You look like you have a lot on your mind. I’m not hitting on you, in fact, I’m fine drinking alone. But if you feel anything like I do, then misery loves company.”

  She took a seat and stared up at the stage. “Girl problems?” she asked without looking in my direction.

  “Something like that.”

  “Guy problems?”

  I coughed. “No. Girl, but only one problem.”

  “And that would be?” She waited for me to answer, but I didn’t know this woman, and I didn’t feel like spilling my heart to some stranger. “I’m Ellie, by the way. My husband just left me.”

  “Ouch. I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “For the best man at our wedding.”

  I spat my drink out at her words. “What?”

  “Yeah. Apparently, the Irish Catholics frown on that sort of thing, so he hid it. I came home early from work and thought he was upstairs with another woman, which was so cliché it was almost funny. Then I opened the bedroom door to discover that it wasn’t a woman he was cheating on me with, but his best friend.”

  “Is that why you were crying? Sorry, I couldn’t help noticing.”

  She absently wiped at her face. “Yes and no. I mean, yes, because it’s sad, you know. I mean, when I married him, I hoped it would be forever. I wanted a family and the happily ever after. But no, because I’m happy for him, I really am. I’m glad he found his true love. I just wish he wouldn’t have dragged me through the entire ordeal. It’s like he punished me because he wasn’t brave enough to come out of the closet. What did I ever do to him except love him?”

  I waved to the bar and caught Marcus’s attention and signaled for two. “Beer okay?”

  “Yeah, that sounds great. I’m sorry, I promise not to keep moaning on.”

  Jett delivered them and then left us.

  “I’m Asher, and I told the woman that I’ve been in love with almost my entire life how I felt and she shot me down.”

  “Were you two dating?”

  “No, but we’ve been best friends since we were born. We were each other’s first kiss—not because it was romantic, but because we were curious. We went to prom together. I’ve known that she was the one since seventh grade. I thought she felt the same way.”

  “Girls are so stupid.”

  “Tell me about it.” We sat in silence for a few moments and drank our beer.

  “So, how do you get such great service here?”

  “See that guy behind the bar?”

  She turned and looked. “Yeah, he sort of looks like you.”

  “He should. We’re brothers, and he owns the place.”

  “Oh, that’s Marcus?” The woman looked back over toward him again. “Then you must be the veterinarian.”

  “Yeah, how’d you know?”

  “My brother told me. After everything that happened with Lance—”

  I choked on my beer and then coughed. “Lance? That didn’t give it away?”

  “Shut up. Anyway, after everything that happened with Lance, my brother convinced me to move here and stay with him. He just bought a large horse ranch. He raises thoroughbreds.”

  “Wait. Is your brother Reid Brooks?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then we’re practically neighbors. The Kelly ranch is in between my family’s land and your brother’s. Well, since it seems that Reid told you about us, what is it that you do?”

  “It’s funny you should ask. I’m a vet tech, but I have a love for horses, so if you need someone, I’m your girl.” Ellie patted her chest for emphasis.

  “Believe me, I wish I could hire you, but I’m just starting out. This is only my second year. It will probably be another year before I’m ready to hire anyone.”

  “The last place I worked, I was a volunteer. Money is one thing I’ve always had. If you could use the help, I’d love to get out of the house and work with the animals. I miss it. Back in Kentucky, there were a lot of rescue shelters that had an in-house veterinarian. You all don’t do that here.”

  “No, they call me, or someone mobile like me, to do the work.”

  “Well, think about it. I’d love to help.” Ellie was smiling bright with excitement.

  “Nothing to think about, you want the work, you got it.” With Ellie helping, I could take on more clients. Adding more to my already packed work load had never sounded enticing until now . . . anything to keep my mind off the one woman who occupied every corner of it. “Can you start on Monday?”

  “Absolutely. It will give me plenty of time to get drunk tonight and still nurse the hangover.” Ellie held up her mug, and we toasted. “Here’s to drowning our sorrows.” We downed the beers. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Ellie got up and made her way to the bar. She said something to Marcus and then pointed over to me. Marcus reached under the counter and then set out two shot glasses, a bottle of Jose Cuervo, a salt shaker, and a highball glass filled with lime wedges. He moved it to a tray and then slid it over to Ellie. She carried it back to our table and sat. “It’s time to kick this up a notch.”

  She filled two shot glasses with tequila then handed me a lime.

  “Here’s to telling people how we really feel at two o’clock in the morning.”

  “Let’s not call anyone at two, okay?”

  Ellie giggled. “Deal.”

  And then we both downed our shots.

  She refilled them, and again, we held them up.

  “This is for all the phony-ass friends who’ve come out of the woodwork to tell me that they suspected that Lance was gay all along. Bullshit. That’s utter bullshit. If they suspected it, then when they RSVP’d to my wedding, they just should have said maybe next time.” She swallowed the shot and then looked at me.

  “Yeah, I got nothing for that one.” I did another shot.

  Ellie fixed two more shots and then held one up in the air. “Here’s to my inner bitch, may she stay locked away in her cell tonight.” Ellie finished off her third shot.

  Before downing mine, I asked, “Are you an angry drunk?”

  “No, just a loud one.”

  I downed my third shot. I could handle loud.

  “And I like to stand up for my friends. You’re now my friend. Want to toilet paper your ex’s house?”

  “She isn’t really my ex.” I settled into the warmth spreading through me and shrugged. “Well, maybe she is my ex, as in ex-friend. Never mind, let’s just drink.”

  And drink we did.

  “Oh shit, I love this song. Come on, you have to dance with me.” Ellie stood but then quickly grabbed the table.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t dance.”

  “No. I want to dance. This is a sate grong. I mean great song. It’s Garth Brooks. Like my name, but no relation. Did you hear me?”

  “Yes, I heard you.”

  “We aren’t related to Garth. Even though our last name is Brooks. What’s your last name?”

  “Kinkaide.”

  “Koolaid?”

  “No, Kinkaide.”

  “Ohhh. Let’s dance.” Ellie held on to me and belted out the lyrics to “I’ve Got Friends in Low Places.”

  I tried to follow the crowd as they moved in some formation to the song, but standing upright took almost all of my concentration. When the song was over, we made our way back to the table and I laid my head down. Ellie shoved another shot at me.

  “Drink up,” she urged.

  Not bothering with the lime or salt, I downed the tequila straight. “I loved her. I fucking l
oved her, man.”

  “I’m not a man.”

  “No. Not you. I know you aren’t a man. Me, I’m the man.”

  “Ohhh.”

  “But I loved her. I can’t believe she’d do this to me, to us. You know? She ruined us. You know what?”

  “What?” Ellie leaned in, ready for me to share some big secret.

  “I bought a ring. I’ve always known that Paris was the one for me. Yep, been saving up for a long time. Now she’ll never see that damn ring. It sucks.” I only lifted my head when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

  “Weed. You’re here. Asher, this is my little brudder Weed.”

  Reid shook his head. “What the fuck is up with the baby talk? You’re drunk.”

  “He’s drunker.” Ellie pointed at me.

  I held up my thumb and squinted at the two Marcuses standing next to Reid.

  “See?”

  “All I see is that both of you are shit-faced. Come on, I’m taking you two home.”

  I heard my brother’s voice, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. “Uhhh?”

  “Ash, I’m closing tonight, so I was just going to crash upstairs. You can’t go in the house like this, you’ll wake Mom. Reid said that you can go to his house and stay in his spare room. Okay?”

  I gave another thumbs up. Or, at least, I think I gave a thumbs up.

  “Take their phones away from them. I constantly had to keep an eye on the two of them because they were calling god knows who.”

  “Will do,” Reid said to Marcus before turning to the both of us. “Can either of you walk?”

  “Sure we can walk. Can’t we walk, Ashey?”

  Ashey? What the fuck. Whatever. “Uh huh. I can walk.” I felt my chair being slid out and then someone helping me stand.

  “Here. We’ll help each other.” Ellie wrapped her arms around me.

  “Oh god, this is going to be good,” Reid mumbled.

  My brother was laughing. “Where’s my phone? I need a picture of this.”

  Stumbling but holding on to Ellie, I felt Reid’s hand on my back as he pushed us forward. “My truck is to the left.” We headed off toward where several pickups were parked, and Reid corrected us. “Nope, your other left.” He chuckled.

  My head was spinning as I squinted to try to focus on what was in front of me. But nothing made any sense. Bringing one hand up to my eyes, I made an open fist and tried to peer through it, as if my hand was a telescope, totally hoping that was my best option. Only, it wasn’t. As soon as I did it, the earth under my feet pitched and I stumbled. I probably would have eaten it if it weren’t for Reid grabbing a fistful of my shirt to keep me upright.

  “Okay, you two, over here. That’s it. Right here. Okay, just rest against the truck.”

  My back hit the cool metal right before my legs slowly gave way, and then the small pebbles from the gravel-covered parking lot bit into my skin through my jeans.

  “You fell down. Ashey fell down. Did you see that, Weed?” Ellie started laughing.

  “Yep, I saw that. Okay, Ell, I’m going to put you in the front.”

  “Don’t leave him. You can’t leave him, Weed.”

  “Calm down, Ellie, I’m not leaving him. I can only handle one of you drunk idiots at a time.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh.”

  Reid and his sister kept arguing, and their voices were so fucking loud. The door shut, and my body shook from the vibration. I was confused by the sound of another door opening, and then, once again, Ellie’s laughter seemed to fill the air. “Okay, Asher, on the count of three, I’m going to pull you by your arms, but you’re going to have to help. Hear me?”

  “Yep.” I tried to give him a thumbs up, but he had hold of my hands. I was being shoved into a seat and then buckled in.

  “God, you two are going to owe me,” Reid bitched.

  Paris

  “Are you coming, Paris?” London hollered.

  “Be right there. I’m just grabbing some coffee.” I’d been “grabbing coffee” for almost ten minutes. I wasn’t trying to piss London off on purpose, but I needed a few minutes to take in everything that had just happened. Cora Kelly was back . . . in our lives. “Anyone else want some? It’s decaf.”

  “No. I want to make this quick, I’m tired.”

  Filling my mug, I headed into the living room and turned as Holland came in through the front door. She’d walked Cora out to her car.

  “Dickhead Brooks must be having a wild party. He just pulled into his driveway, and I can hear some girl laughing. She sounds like a fucking hyena.”

  “Enough. I want to talk about what all we just learned.” London plopped onto the couch. “I don’t believe one damn thing she said. I know there isn’t a huge age difference between us, but I wasn’t sad to see her go all those years ago. You two may not remember, but it was miserable around here. We never knew whether she’d be here when we woke up or not. Dad was a much happier person after she was gone.”

  “Really? She sounded so sincere.” I was shocked that London wasn’t caving even a little.

  “You’re going to tell me that you believe Dad refused to let her see us?”

  “Well . . . no. But maybe she took it that way.” I couldn’t imagine anyone lying over something like this or why. What did she have to gain by coming now?

  “You’re being delusional, Paris. She’s after something. She’s always had an ulterior motive. She’s probably after more money.”

  “More money? What are you talking about?” I leaned forward and braced my elbows on my knees.

  “After Dad died, I was reconciling the home accounts and found several canceled checks that Dad had sent her. It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t anything to scoff at either.”

  “How much are we talking?”

  “A thousand here, five thousand there, but over the years, it had equaled almost fifty thousand dollars.”

  “Fuck.” Holland’s word came out in a whoosh of breath.

  “Tell me about it. I discovered it when we were strapped and having to do our own tightening down all because of the fire. What I wouldn’t have given to have had that fifty grand back.” London reached for my mug, and I let her have it. She rolled it between her palms, as if letting the heat from the mug infuse her with some silent energy before she took a long sip.

  “So, you think she’s here for money?” I asked even though I didn’t believe it. It sounded so cold, so calculating. And all I could hear was Daddy saying that I was like my mom. I couldn’t imagine ever doing something like that.

  “I do. Why else would she come back after all this time?”

  “I have no idea.” I took my mug back from her and turned to Holland, who was rubbing her temples as if to combat a headache.

  “Whatever she’s here for, we are not giving it to her. Right now, all I want to do is sleep.”

  “Me too.” London stood and then grabbed Holland’s hand to help her up.

  “Night, you two.” I curled my legs up under me.

  They both mumbled as they shuffled away, and when they were gone, I grabbed the afghan off the back of the couch and pulled it over me.

  Mom, my mom, was back just when I needed her most. Asher was gone and never coming back. How had my life turned so pear-shaped in a week? Closing my eyes, I felt the tears start to fall. I hadn’t cried as much in my entire life as I had lately. I was feeling so betrayed by everyone—Asher for changing our relationship, Wally for telling my mom about our family, myself for not knowing my own mind. I cried for betraying my sisters. I knew that London wanted Cora gone, but I wanted her here.

  I couldn’t take all of this anymore. If anyone asked me what was wrong, I’d tell them that I’d gone crazy. That I’d checked out somewhere between the snake rattling and locking me in that damn freezer and Cora returning and making me feel like I was seven years old all over again.

  “Paris. Paris, wake up.”

  I jerked up and groaned. “Ugh. What time is it?�
� I stretched and heard my neck pop. Rolling my shoulders, I tried to work out the kinks from sleeping funny.

  “It’s just after five. Here’s the baby monitor. Braden’s at our house getting ready to leave for work. I’m going to go check on the cattle. I’ll be back.” London tossed me the small speaker before she headed for the front door.

  I stood and stretched before refolding the blanket and draping it over the couch before heading to my bedroom to change and then start my day.

  Sitting on the side of the bed, I pulled on my cowboy boots then walked over to my dresser. I usually hated sleeping in earrings, but then again, I usually didn’t sleep on the couch either, so I switched my small silver hoops out for some turquoise butterflies and then headed to the kitchen.

  Living in an area that most people had never heard of on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida, made it almost impossible to find people to help on the ranch. It was why my sisters and I were always at Daddy’s side while we were growing up. Not that we minded one bit. London loved helping Dad corral the cattle, and Holland could spend her entire life in the saddle. She was a natural equestrian and full of energy, which made her a great riding instructor. But me? I wanted to be inside cooking. I wanted to be the reason they all came home and sat around the table.

  I pulled out the canister of grits from the pantry and a rasher of bacon from the fridge, wishing I hadn’t spent the night on the couch. I had a crick in my neck, and my shoulder felt stiff, but it was more annoying than painful as I gathered everything to make breakfast. Holland walked in as I was pulling a pot out of the cabinet, and I gave her a smile over my shoulder.

  “Morning.” She was busy texting. “Breakfast will be ready in a few.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  The front door opened and shut, and London headed straight back to the bathroom before crossing the hallway to Tera’s room.

  “I haven’t heard a peep through the monitor. She still asleep?” I asked when London entered the kitchen, looking a bit pensive.

  “Yeah, she is a great sleeper, a sure sign that our next will be colicky.”