by Taylor Hart
Charlotte smiled and slipped into a warm shower. She wanted to get packed and head out to the ranch to spend some time with Sam, so she dressed efficiently. She’d never been one to care about makeup. She’d only worn it while married to Nathan because he’d insisted—commenting that she could be blotchy.
She made her bed and straightened the room. She packed a few essentials into a small bag and grabbed a long black skirt and a white button-up blouse for the party.
Just before she walked out the door, she saw it.
The box.
Her heart pounded. It suddenly dawned on her that he’d seen those pictures.
A knock sounded at the back of the bookstore.
Charlotte hesitated, thinking it might be Ryan then bolted down the steps
No sooner had she opened the door then Star burst in, a pizza in one hand and Angela on her heels.
Star stomped her spiky heels across the cement floor of the kitchen. “You should know better than to ignore us.”
Angela picked up Charlotte’s hand and searched her palm before she could protest. “And you could have mentioned this man from your past that you dated in high school. That would have been helpful for your psychic friend to know.”
Charlotte endured their criticism and put out her free hand for some pizza. “I’m starving.”
Star placed the pizza on the table and set down paper plates and napkins. “Sit. We are not savages. We can eat at the table. I have a lot of questions for you.”
Angela dropped Charlotte’s hand and sat. “You have a lot of explaining to do, like why, for example, did the bloody man in your shop yesterday—the one that I’d been feeling was coming to town—say he’d known you in high school?”
Star flipped a piece onto each plate and then went for the cupboard. She pointed to a chair. “Charlotte, you fill in Angela. I’ll get some drinks.”
Charlotte sat, picked up the warm, delicious pizza, and touched the tip of it with her tongue. Mitchell’s pizza was not just a pizza house in Hidden Falls, it was an experience. Satisfied that it was the perfect temperature, she bit into the slice of pepperoni magnificence.
Angela spoke through a half-eaten bite. “He left before I could get the full story out of him.”
Charlotte picked up her napkin and wiped the extra sauce on her lip. “What did he say?”
Angela lifted a shoulder and took another bite. Her earrings dangled as she chewed. Her hair was pulled back into four braids around her head. With her black skirt and tight, red top she looked exotic. “He said you’d dated a little in high school.”
Star snorted and put the glasses down. Her outfit screamed Neman Marcus. Her perfect blonde a-line was . . . perfect. She wore black silk slacks and a white ruffled top that looked like it would take hours of ironing. “That’s putting it mildly.”
Charlotte paused mid-bite. “Nice outfit.”
Star looked at her shirt then back to Charlotte, smiling. “Think so?”
“Big client?” Charlotte asked.
Star frowned. “No, I’m just trying to dress for success.” She scrunched up her face. “I’m dying for my wranglers and a long ride up to the falls.”
Angela wiped her face and tossed the pizza onto the plate. “Somebody better spill it.”
Charlotte took a bite. “I’m going to Charleston with him.”
Glass broke and Star swore. “Going with him?”
Angela scrunched up her face and banged the table with her fist. “What the—”
“My dad put a life estate in his will.” Charlotte spoke fast. “It means that the land is my mothers, and it will remain hers until she dies. Then it belongs to me. My father wanted it to be in the family. The problem is that there are three years of back taxes and those have to get paid or the land goes to the government.”
Star picked up bits of glass. “That’s idiotic.”
Angela gulped. “When do they have to be paid?”
Charlotte sighed. “By the end of the month. One million dollars by the end of the month, or the government owns my family’s land.”
Angela nervously touched the array of earrings up her left ear. “That is not good karma. We’ll have to get you a candle to help you with this.”
Even though it was ludicrous to agree that a candle might be able to help, she nodded. It was Angela and Angela had powers. At least Charlotte kind of believed she did. “And it gets worse. Nathan and Joe Watkins are the ones that broke the news last night, so it was especially fun.” She choked on a bite of pizza. “Joe wrote the will.”
Star put glasses of water on the table. “Spineless jerks.”
Angela settled back into the chair. “I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
Even though nobody could do anything about it, it felt better when she had Star and Angela to commiserate with. “Thanks. So, I’m going with Ryan to Charleston to see if his attorney can help us. And,” she said, pausing for emphasis, “he told me to bring a dress.” She felt her cheeks flush.
Angela sunk her teeth into a bite. “Oh, we’ll get back to that. On another note, I didn’t see this coming. Something is wrong with me.”
Star scoffed. “You got that right.”
Angela fluttered her eyes. “But who would have guessed? We’re the ones that went out Friday, and Charlotte is the one with a hottie in her life.”
Charlotte dropped her pizza. “Yeah, whatever.”
“Hold up.” Star gave Charlotte a warning glance. “Let me explain it to our psychic.”
Charlotte acquiesced.
“They met when she was eleven and he was twelve. He worked on the ranch for her parents.” Star rolled her eyes. “It was all sappy and annoying. They were both in love forever, but didn’t realize it until Nathan showed interest. At the time, Nathan was Ryan’s best friend.”
Angela plopped her elbows onto the table and clasped her hands. “Why didn’t I see this deep connection?”
Charlotte tossed a napkin at Star. “Stop.”
Star lifted her eyebrows, making the a-line cut and bangs around her forehead rise. “What?” She took a dainty bite. She had to be the only person in the world that could bite into Michael’s pizzas daintily.
Charlotte shoved a bite in her mouth and hoped she could avoid giving answers.
Angela caught her eye and pointed at her. Her gold metal bracelets jingled. “I still have his number. If you don’t start talking, I’ll call him. You know I will.”
Star cocked her head to the side and nodded at Charlotte.
After a swig of water, Charlotte kicked her heels up onto the extra chair. “I loved him.”
Angela made a circling motion with her hand. “I know the cliff notes story, give me the zinger.”
“We loved each other. Then his father died and he went off the rails. He joined the military, and left me.”
Angela bit into her bottom lip. “How did his father die?”
It flashed into her mind. That night. Ryan showing up at two in the morning. Sitting with him on the couch while he explained it all to her and her parents. The look of shock on her parents’ faces. The way Ryan held her, like a man drowning. Charlotte cleared her throat. “His father was a drunk. He got into an accident and killed someone Ryan’s senior year.”
“Okay . . .”
Star looked at the table and put her pizza down. “He killed Nathan’s younger brother, Caleb.”
Angela gasped. “No.”
Charlotte blinked, but there were no tears left inside of her for this. She’d cried about it a hundred times. A million times. Before she’d married Nathan and after her therapist used this incident to explain away Nathan’s outbursts. Nathan used it to get her to forgive him.
She hated it, but she was numb to it.
Charlotte crossed her arms. “That happened my junior year. But it was already bad between Nathan and Ryan because of me. Ryan and I had always been friends, but it all changed when I went to the fall formal with Nathan. He got sick on the date and asked Ryan to take him
home and then take me home.” She shrugged. “Everything changed that night.”
Angela put her hands on her head dramatically. “Oh dear.”
Charlotte stood and gathered up the plates. “Then Ryan left. I married Nathan. Story over.”
Angela sat straighter. “Small towns.”
Charlotte sunk back into the chair and let out a long sigh. “He left and didn’t come back.”
Angela tugged at the scarf in her hair and licked her lips. “That . . . sucks.”
Star sighed. “Yep.”
Angela yanked on the scarf, and it unraveled like a kite in the wind. “Have either of you looked up the exposé that Mrs. Vanderquist has taken it upon herself to tell the whole freakin’ town about?”
Charlotte shrugged. “My mom told me some of it.”
Star sighed—a resigned sigh. “Tell us.”
Angela’s eyebrows pulled down. “The story they showed is that his special ops group was asked to go into Afghanistan and take out a major terrorist cell. There was documentation this cell was controlling about a dozen cells in the US, and it was primed for a huge attack. It was crucial to take it out to accomplish this mission, and they did. They found the cell. The men were hiding in a cave compound, and they bombed it from the ground. On the way to the check point, another cell surrounded them. That second cell took all of the men and tortured them. They showed some of the tactics the terrorists used in their torture.” Raw emotion spilled from Angela’s eyes. “And, well, I don’t know how they survived the mental part of it.” Angela paused. “It’s amazing that Ryan is lucid. It’s a miracle he’s here at all.”
Miracle.
Her father always talked about life being miracles. But he’d never gotten a miracle.
“Charlotte.” Star touched her hand.
Charlotte jolted back to reality.
Star squeezed her hand. “Are you okay?”
Charlotte stood. She didn’t know how to feel. The idea that Ryan had withstood torture . . . she didn’t even know what to think. She shook her head. She had to focus. “I’ve got to go.”
Angela quickly gathered up all the trash. “Okay, what can we do to keep the shop open?”
“I’m just closing it for tomorrow.”
Star picked up the glasses and stuck them in the sink. “No, I’ll run it.”
Angela closed the pizza box. “And I’ll help her.”
The emotion Charlotte had tried to keep down since she’d heard about the will bubbled up in her chest. “No.”
Star hugged her first. “Yes.”
Angela reached for both of them. “That’s what friends do for each other.”
Tears budded at the corners of her eyes. “I’m just so worried about my mom.”
Star let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
Angela backed up. “I’m sorry, too, but I think we have bigger problems.”
“What?” Nervous tension filled her. She couldn’t take one more problem.
Angela propped her hands on her hips. “You never told us what dress you’re wearing!”
Star lifted an eyebrow. “This is true, and I know you haven’t shopped since you divorced Barbie’s Ken doll.”
Charlotte turned away from them and moved for her bag. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just there because I have to be.”
Angela cut in front of her. “Oh, it matters.”
Star shrugged out of her shoes and raced up the stairs. “It so matters, and I know exactly the one you’ll wear.”
Charlotte frowned at Angela and she did a twirl, jingling her bracelets. “She does know how to dress a girl.”
Star raced back down holding a dress Charlotte hadn’t worn for years. “I’m not wearing that.”
Star held the plastic bag out to her. “It’s perfect and you know it.”
Charlotte exhaled. She didn’t need this . . . this . . . complication. But her stomach flip-flopped thinking about how the golden silk dress would fit her even better now than it did when she wore it to a Christmas party three years ago.
Star shoved her black, three-inch heels out to her. “Take these, too.”
Charlotte hesitated. “They’re the shoes you were wearing, you need them.”
Star scrunched her face up in exasperation. “I have a hundred pairs of shoes. So just take them!”
Angela took the bag and the heels and laughed. She turned and pushed Charlotte to the back door. “C’mon, Star, let’s walk her out. Just because she doesn’t recognize that fate is taking a hand in her love life doesn’t mean we can’t help push it along.” She gave Charlotte a pointed bump in the shoulder.
Charlotte sighed. “No. Not fate, definitely not fate. I’m only going on this trip to see if I can help my mother get control of the land back so she can sell it. That is the only reason I am going with him at all.”
Star locked the bookstore door before she pulled it shut behind them. “It’s a good reason.”
Angela shoved the dress, shoes, and bag into Charlotte’s car. “Make sure you text us details.”
Star locked arms with Angela. “Yeah, because we’re the starved for romance single friends back home.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes and got into the car. “Whatever.” She waved and pulled away, smiling at her two unlikely friends. She sped toward the ranch. “It’s gonna take more than fate to get me through this trip.”
Chapter 23
Ryan scrubbed a hand down the jeans he’d thrown on. He ignored the nervous jitters in his stomach. This kind of jitters that had usually accompanied a mission. Unfortunately, it was a mission he wasn’t quite sure he knew how to accomplish, what the end game would be, or what his plan of attack should be.
“Heard you were going over to Charleston.”
Ryan’s heart rate shot up a notch as he turned to face his brother. “I don’t think Beau would be happy that you’re consorting with the enemy.”
Sean lifted a dark brow. “I think it’s safe to say that Beau isn’t happy with me most of the time.” Sean wore his uniform. His arms were crossed and his stance was wide set. He looked the car up and down and let out a low whistle. “I like the wheels.”
Embarrassment wasn’t an emotion Ryan was used to feeling. He worked hard for the things he had. He wasn’t ashamed of possessions, but he also knew what a car like this would look like to his brothers—frivolous, lavish, something you would never buy over something that would be needed on the ranch. He shrugged. “She’s not mine.”
The edge of Sean’s lip pulled down, and he tapped the edge of his chin. Ryan recognized the gesture. Sean had done it even as a kid. His analytical tap. “So you’re going to see if you can get Charlotte out of this mess.”
“Her mother’s the one in the mess. I’m helping Sara.”
Sean scoffed. “Right.”
Ryan lifted an eyebrow. “What do they say about small towns, your business is everyone’s business?”
Sean countered, “I thought they said people care about each other.”
Ryan shrugged. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
“I checked in on Sara this morning and she told me about you and Charlotte going on this trip.”
Ryan’s mouth went dry. You and Charlotte. Those words. Together.
Sean frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Ryan tugged at the inside of one palm with the other thumb. “Nothing.”
Sean held his gaze for a second and then shook his head. “Why are you here, big brother?”
“To do a deal.”
The edge of Sean’s eyes creased. He took a step back. “And that’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“You don’t want to talk about all the family crap that needs to be talked about?” Sean tapped the end of his chin again.
For a moment, Ryan wished he could talk about it. He wished he could for his little brother. The one he’d hauled everywhere with him on the ranch. The one he’d taught to fish. The one that had come to his room at night when he’d been afraid.
But, for that to happen he would have to be something he wasn’t. He couldn’t risk hurting Sean again. No. No reason to get his hopes up that things might be different. They would never be different. “I’m sorry, Sean, but the past can’t be rewritten.”
Sean gave him a blank stare for a second then exhaled. “Wow, that’s poetic.”
“I’m not trying to be poetic.” Ryan gently reached for the door handle and flung it wide.
There would be no cozy family reunions. There would be no reconciliations.
Sean stood there with hope in his eyes.
Hope was a dangerous thing. “I think it would be best if you just lived your life like I’m a stranger passing in the wind. One you don’t know.” Ryan ducked into the car and pulled the door closed behind him. He turned the key and felt the purr of the engine roar to life. He put the car into gear.
Sean stepped in front of the car.
Ryan sighed and rolled down his window. “Would you please move out of the way?”
Sean sauntered from the front of the mustang, touching the metal lightly with his index finger as he moved next to the open window.
“Sean, I’ve got to go.”
Sean took his hat off and used it to point to the car. “You know, we got the papers you finally sent back, the ones where you signed everything over to us.” Sean bent down and whispered, “You’re still a third owner.” He flashed a grin. “Kent’s an owner, too, even though he tried to give up his portion.”
Ryan was speechless.
“That’s right, big brother, we’ve kept you on the title. Of course, we haven’t expected anything from you to keep it running, but we kept your name on it.”
Anger made his hand stiffen into a fist. “Why would you do that?”
Sean shrugged and turned away from him. “It wasn’t my idea to keep you and Kent on it, it was Beau’s.”
