by Erica Penrod
“We got a customer asking for you,” Lou said as he pushed through the door. His grease-stained apron accentuated his bear-sized belly.
“Me?” Viv asked.
“Yeah, you,” Lou said.
“O-kay,” she replied. The swinging door revealed the other handsome man in her life.
“Hey,” she said to Lucas. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to know how things went with Knight today.”
“You can text me. You didn’t have to come in here to ask about your horse,” she said as she straightened the salt and pepper shakers at the counter.
“I know,” Lucas said. “But I thought I’d get a bite to eat too.”
“He went great. I gave him a good workout and then we worked the flag.”
The flag was a piece of equipment used for practicing cutting horses. There had to be a balance between working with real livestock for the horse and the cattle. The horse can get burned out if he spends every day cutting cows, and the cattle can get soured and not cooperate. The flag is attached to a string tied between two poles, with a machine on one end. The switch runs the flag back and forth, simulating a cow’s movement. Someone runs the switch, giving the horse the type and amount of practice needed.
“So, you had someone to run the flag for you?”
“Yeah.” She smiled as she pulled her notepad from her pocket. “Your mom did.”
“My mom?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah,” Viv said, pulling the pen from behind her ear. “She was a lot of help.”
Amanda knew a lot more about cutting horses than Viv thought she would. Not that she’d ever taken the time to find out. But after today, she saw that underneath the expensive jeans, there was a down-to-earth cowgirl.
“Did you know she’s competed?” Viv asked as she flipped the page.
“Yeah, I guess I forgot about that. She used to go with my dad.”
A proverbial pang hit her in the chest as she wondered about what her own mother liked to do. Or if she liked to spend time with her father and the horses.
She scribbled on the sheet, hoping to color over the painful thoughts. “What can I get you?”
“A cheeseburger and fries. Hold the tomato,” he said as he pulled out his wallet.
“My treat,” Viv said, refusing his money. “To say thanks for giving me a chance.”
“You don’t need to do that,” he said.
“I know,” she said, ripping the page from the book. “But I want to.”
“Well, in that case, add a Coke and a vanilla shake.”
Viv laughed. “You got it.” Taking the ticket, she handed it to Lou through the open window between the kitchen and dining area. “And your mom invited me to dinner Friday night.” She turned back around. “Are you going to be there?”
“I’ll have to rearrange a couple things,” he said. Then he looked up at her with deep-water eyes and a smile. “But yeah. I’ll be there.”
Dang, he’s good-looking, she thought as she scooped ice into a glass. Her brow furrowed as she pushed the tap. She shouldn’t think of her stepbrother like that.
“Thanks,” he said, and grinned again. His tawny skin and midnight-colored hair made his eyes shine like a harvest moon, and paired with a white T-shirt with faded jeans, she had to force herself not to stare. He’d only been her brother for a week … and she excused herself for admiring him one more time.
Chapter 12
The Friday night was unseasonably cool for August. Viv walked up the drive and gathered her courage with each deliberate step. She paused at the door, took a breath while she shook out her hands, and wiggled her fingers before she rang the doorbell. This was the first time she’d been to the Royal house, even though she’d been to the arena several times over the past few days. Stepping back, she rubbed her arms, blaming the weather and not her nerves for the anxiety peppering her skin.
A dog barked behind the massive door before it opened. When it did, Viv gasped to see what looked like a younger version of her father, holding a white ball of fur adorned with a pink bow on the top of the fluffy head.
“Hey,” he said, and smiled. “Come in.”
“Okay,” she said, still gawking at the man in front of her. He was clean shaven and he’d had a haircut. There were crease lines on his shirt sleeves and he smelled like cologne. Maybe she’d been living with this man’s doppelganger all these years.
He led her through an entrance hall with grey textured walls. Heavy wood beams ran across the vaulted ceiling, tying in with the outside of the home. An intricate chandelier made of metal pipe gave off an industrial feel. Canvas paintings hung from the walls, depicting various scenes with horses, while antique chaps and spurs dangled beside an old barn wood mirror.
“This way,” he said, and led her through a brick archway, which was a work of art itself.
Viv caught her breath as she passed beneath the arch and into the open space. Several large windows ran the length of the room and ended with a large set of french doors that led out to a deck. There was a kitchen to her left, with white marble countertops and dark wood flooring. Pendant lights hung above an island, where tall leather barstools gathered around the distressed teal-colored center and chunky grey granite countertop. The island contrasted with the white cupboards, while a multicolored glass tile backsplash meshed all the colors together. A tall ceramic white rooster stood perched on the middle of the island.
The other half of the room boasted a floor-to-ceiling fireplace on one end and on the other, the largest television Viv had ever seen. A large area rug with a gigantic L-shaped sectional sat near the television. Two wingback chairs faced the fireplace with a small table stacked with books in between them.
“Hi, Vivien,” Amanda said, coming in through the doors. “I’m almost ready,” she said as she walked by. “You can join the others out on the deck if you’d like.”
“Can I help you with anything?” Viv asked.
“Sure, if you wouldn’t mind carrying out the potato salad for me.” Amanda opened refrigerator. “I hope it’s okay we’re just going casual tonight—shredded pork sandwiches and salads.”
Viv took the bowl from Amanda. “That sounds wonderful.”
“Eli, you can put her down,” Amanda said. “Just because she whines doesn’t mean you have to pick her up. She’s spoiled enough as it is.”
Viv stared as the dog nuzzled into her father’s chest.
“I can’t help it if Phoebe finds me irresistible.” He set the dog down. “Just like you did.” He leaned in and kissed Amanda on the cheek.
Viv kicked herself in the shin. She felt it. It was true. Her father had been invaded by alien body snatchers. Viv snatched the potato salad off the counter and made a dash for the back patio.
* * *
Lucas knew the moment Viv walked out onto the deck. He could feel her presence like warm sunshine after swimming in a cold lake. In her white skirt, denim shirt, and cowboy boots, she captivated him.
Her hair fell down her back in penny-colored waves, never perfectly in place but perfect nonetheless, and her eyes sparkled beneath the hint of gold shadow. The sun caught her lip gloss like a spotlight, saying, Here I am, kiss me. There was a fire in his chest, and he didn’t know how long he could let it smolder before he burst out to the whole world how much he wanted her.
The problem was the man sitting next to him. The way Boone watched Viv made Lucas want to take him out back and hog-tie him. Maybe Boone wouldn’t have bothered him as much if he didn’t notice the way Viv carefully maneuvered around his uncle.
Lucas couldn’t romance her … at least, not yet. First, he had to find a way to send Boone back to Texas, and second, he had to make Viv see him as something other than a half-sibling. His mom had really messed things up for him by marrying Eli McIntyre. If he’d shown up even a week earlier, he knew he could’ve captured her attention and the word brother would’ve never crossed her mind.
But right now, he had work to do, and he was up
for the challenge.
* * *
The glass bowl felt like a lead weight covered in grease. One look at Boone and Lucas made Viv’s hands sweat. She squeezed her fingers tightly, bit her lip, and smiled. She’d expected Lucas, looked forward to seeing him. He was easy to talk to and they had so much to discuss about Knight’s training that she had looked forward to dinner. But she wasn’t expecting Boone. In fact, she’d looked forward to an evening where he wasn’t around. The two of them tiptoed through the house and around the barn, barely speaking a word, and yet there was still this attraction from that almost kiss lingering in the air.
Both men looked at her like they’d swallowed a canary.
Did she miss something? Had they been talking about her before she got there?
“Let me help you,” Lucas said as he stood up.
“Thanks, but I’ve got it.”
Boone tipped his chin when she said hello, and she ignored the little jab in her side from his indifference when she placed the salad next to the others.
The table was dressed in a white cotton cloth. The centerpiece of fresh daisies and baby’s breath sat in the middle of a burlap table runner. Four wicker chairs sat across from each other with two more chairs on either end. Boone sat directly across from Lucas with an empty chair on either side of each man. Her hesitation was answered when Lucas stood up again and pulled out the seat next to him.
“Thank you,” Viv said as she slid into the chair. Boone didn’t seem to notice as he sipped on a can of Pepsi.
“You look beautiful,” Lucas said.
“Thanks,” she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
Her eyes made their way to Boone. He met her gaze with silence. Viv saw the muscle in his jaw clench. She quickly turned to Lucas, the ache in her heart searching for a soft place to fall, and the way he smiled let her know she was welcome there.
Eli and Amanda came through the doors with their arms full of sandwiches and salads. They sat down, and her father blessed the food. Viv had a hard time not peeking through the prayer just to watch the words come from her father’s mouth. She couldn’t remember the last time she heard him pray.
“So, are you feeling back to normal?” Amanda asked Viv.
“Yes,” she said. “Physically. I’m good, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around what happened.” She felt Boone’s eyes bore through her. She sat up taller. “In some ways, it seems like it was just a bad dream.”
“I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through,” Amanda said. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.” She smiled. “Or if you think you might need to see a professional, I know a great doctor.”
“Thanks,” Viv said as she picked up her water. “Right now, I think I’m getting through it okay.”
“She’ll be fine,” her father said.
Amanda picked up his hand. “This has been a crazy, emotional week for everyone, and I want to make sure you’re okay,” she said to Viv. “With all of this.” She pointed at herself and then to her husband. His steel-grey eyes concentrated on her every word. “And you too,” Amanda said to her son.
Lucas wiped his mouth and placed the napkin on the table. “And if we don’t?”
“Then that’s your problem,” Eli answered.
Amanda squeezed her husband’s hand gently. “I’m hoping that when we explain some things, then you’ll be okay.” She looked at Viv. “Both of you.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” Boone said as he got up. “I need to check on the horses.”
“You don’t need to leave,” Amanda said. “You can hear this. You’re family.”
“I’m good,” he said as he tucked in his chair. He walked around the table and kissed his sister on the cheek. “Thanks for dinner.”
Boone left and Viv fought to not follow him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go through this now. Working with Knight brought her such satisfaction that she hadn’t thought about her father and Amanda. For the last couple nights, she laid her head down at night and didn’t see Alexandra or her giant when she closed her eyes. Somehow, she’d been able to carry on with the pain in her back pocket. Did she really want to pull it out now?
“Eli and I knew each other years ago,” Amanda said.
Her dad jumped in. “I met her when I was working in Texas the summer after I graduated high school. I was crazy about her.”
“We dated for about two years, and then his father got sick and he had to go home,” Amanda added.
“That was the hardest thing …” He looked at Viv. “One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. When I got back to Utah and saw the mess my dad was in, I knew I had to stick around, and I knew Amanda deserved so much more than I could ever give her. I thought if I made something of myself …” He looked at Amanda. “Someday, I might make it back to her.”
Amanda’s normally bright eyes dimmed with the memory. Viv saw the pain hidden in their depths. “Anyway, time passed, and we lost touch with each other, and I married Jason.”
“That doesn’t explain how you ended up together now,” Lucas said.
“You haven’t said anything about my mother,” Viv said, barely above a whisper.
Amanda looked at Eli. “She needs to know.”
Eli reached out and took Viv’s hand. She grasped on to his fingers, unable to remember the last time he’d offered any type of physical comfort.
“I met your mother a couple years later. She was the friend of a friend, and she was like the carnival came to town. I got all caught up in the lights, my head was spinning, and I fell for her, hard. She married me when I asked, because I don’t think she had anything better to do. Six months later, there was a knock on the door, and she was gone.” His melancholy eyes were trapped in the past, and there was a hurt there she’d never seen before.
“What do you mean, gone?” Viv asked. “Is she dead?”
“The police. They took her. She was convicted, and I didn’t hear anything until they called to tell me I had a daughter. Your mother signed away her rights and said she never wanted to see you.”
Viv felt the color leave her face. Her own mother didn’t want her.
“Viv,” her father said. “She loved you. After all these years, I know that now. She didn’t want you to grow up knowing where she was. She didn’t want to do that to you.” He wiped his brow. “I think it was the first selfless thing she’d ever done.”
Viv stood up, but her head swayed, and she started to fall. Lucas jumped up and caught her in his arms. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, and kissed her forehead. For a moment, his lips eased her pain.
“Where … where is she now?” Viv asked. Uncontrolled tears flooded down her cheeks.
“I got a letter about three years ago, saying she was dead.”
Viv’s body collapsed, but Lucas held on.
“And you didn’t tell me?” she screamed. “Don’t you think I had a right to know?”
Eli stood up. “I was trying to protect you from all the hurt she brought into my life. I didn’t want you to feel that.” He walked over to her and took her from Lucas.
She fought against him, but he was too strong, and she was too weak. He held her while she sobbed in his arms for all the years she’d been robbed of a mother. He stroked her hair and told her she was going to be okay. Twenty-three years of the unknown tore through her body like an earthquake.
Once she found the strength, she pulled away. “What did she do?” Viv asked when she realized there were still important questions to answer.
“She killed someone,” her father said. “It was a drunk driving accident, and she was convicted of vehicular manslaughter.”
Viv’s knees buckled and she fell to the floor. Her mental capacity for pain expired, and the aftermath flowed into her body. Paralyzed by the truth, she was helpless.
Her father knelt beside her and pulled her to him. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” he said over and over.
Viv looked at him. If only I could be
lieve you.
Chapter 13
The colder-than-usual August night let loose, and rain washed down the road, like an April spring flood. Viv pulled up to her house and shut off the truck. Minutes or hours passed, and she watched the raindrops roll down the windshield. Where did she go from here? How did she move on from something like this? She sat alone in the truck and cried while loneliness rattled the windows.
Tap, tap, tap. She turned her head to see Boone standing by her door, getting soaked to the skin. He took one look at her and flung open the truck, allowing the cold air to flush out the mugginess that had built up.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, but couldn’t answer. Where would she even start?
The heavy rain ran down his face and he kept reaching up to wipe the water from his eyes.
“Come here,” he said, and scooped her up into his arms much like he had in Wyoming.
Viv laid her head against his chest as he hustled to the porch. He paused to turn the door handle, and she looked up at him. His hair was soaked, and his thick lashes were damp and matted together. Suddenly she knew the only thing that would take the pain away.
She put her hand on his face and turned him to her. The confusion in his eyes wasn’t lost on her as she watched him watch her. He let her slide from his arms, and once her feet hit the cement, she reached up with her other hand and pulled him to her. He gazed at her mouth before his eyes found hers again. He pushed the wet hair from her face as he gently touched her lips. His kiss was soft, like he was afraid she’d break in his arms.
The taste of her salty tears mixed with the mint on his lips made a delicious cocktail strong enough to make her forget anything but him. Pulling him closer, she kissed him like she meant it, like he was all she ever wanted, like his was the only flavor she ever craved.
She heard him sigh as he fell into the kiss. Her head spun in delight and her heart healed for the moment. He was the remedy she needed.
