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He gave my butt another hard squeeze, followed by a quick, sharp slap. “Get out of here.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Luca
Wetookcareofthe horses. Saoirse made me shovel shit. At first, I thought I was being hazed, but then she did the same thing without a word of complaint, so I sucked it up and took care of old Barney’s stall.
As my reward, Saoirse let me hand-feed him some snow peas. I was dubious when I was told they were his favorite treat, but that big, old motherfucker gobbled them right out of my hand and smiled at me, happy as a clam.
I guessed he was cool. I’d sure as hell enjoyed taking a ride on him, even if he was slow as molasses. My pride didn’t keep me from admitting—but only to myself—I would have been ass over heels on anything faster.
By the end of our two years together, I was determined to master horseback riding so I didn’t get stuck with the horse they gave to small children. And when Saoirse pointed out Ramses, Lock’s stallion, who was twice the size of Barney and looked like he could chomp my head off in a single bite, I became even more determined.
No offense to Barney, but I wanted a badass horse like Lock’s.
“Oh no.”
I whipped around to find Saoirse staring down at her phone in horror.
“What?” Knuckles under her chin, I drew her face up. “What happened?”
“My mother.”
My stomach dropped. “Is she okay?”
“She’s here.”
“Here? Where?”
“In town. She’s in Sugar Brush, demanding we have dinner with her, or she’ll come to the ranch.” Her hand shot out, clutching my arm. “I can’t let her come to the ranch. My dad… can’t be around her. He—”
“It’s fine, pretty girl.” I took her hand in mine, angry to find it trembling. This woman had screwed Saoirse up so bad her very presence made her shake. “I’m here with you. We’ll have dinner with her. I won’t let you do this alone. I promised you that, remember?”
She nodded, her eyes clouded with unshed tears. “I just really don’t want her to come here.”
“She won’t. Let’s go get cleaned up. Tell Lock what’s going on. Warn your dad if you feel like you have to. Keep it quiet if you don’t. I’m with you every step of the way. That’s our deal, right?”
It took her a second to respond. Her chin quivered even as she raised it. “Right. That’s our deal.”
Main Street of Sugar Brush, Wyoming, looked like it had stepped out of a greeting card. Glass-front mom-and-pop shops lined the street, with a few restaurants scattered in between. I rolled down the road on my bike, Saoirse wrapped tightly around my back. She pointed out the pub where we were meeting her mom.
Joy’s Elbow Room.
Cute. The whole town was.
I’d never be able to live in a place this small, but in another life, I could see myself spending long weekends here with Saoirse. That would never be us. This was what we had, so I’d take it and enjoy the hell out of the entire Saoirse experience.
I parked the bike, helping Saoirse off, as Lock pulled in beside us. The second his sister had told him their mother was in town, he’d told her he was coming with her. Elena and the kids stayed back, having dinner with Connell.
In the end, Saoirse had decided to tell her dad Lily was in town. The way he went from open and amiable to shuttered and silent told me everything Saoirse had said about her parents was true. They were broken, and she had to witness the continued crumbling of her father.
It struck me deeply. I wondered if her parents even understood what they had done to her. I didn’t think I knew a tenth of how far her pain reached, but with her shaking hand in mine, I suspected it was all the way to her core.
Lock patted his sister’s back. “It’ll be okay. We’ll deal with whatever she has to say then go have some ice cream back home.”
She listed toward him, her head hitting his shoulder. “Can we skip this and go home now?”
“Nope. Gotta face the music, kid.”
