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“How are you going to handle it?” He gives me anare you kidding meexpression before continuing, “He thinks he’s some god who can get away with anything around here. It’s time we put him in his place.”
I throw my rake on the ground, realizing I’m finally able to take out my frustration about the situation with someone who will fully understand. “You’re right. You’re totally right. But, you see, I have to do an English project with him all semester. So, what am I to do? Fail English? That can’t happen. The teacher already told us she won’t let us change partners. I tried. Believe me, I tried. We both did. Now, I’m stuck with that total loser, and there’s not a dang thing I can do about it. We know firsthand how that family gets away with anything they want. If I want to pass my class”—I stare him to make sure he’s paying attention—“which I do, then I—we—need to figure out how to get along for just a few months. Then, we can move on with our lives.”
Thomas has no clue where my rant came from and is looking at me like I’m a crazy person. “What are you talking about?”
“Ugh!” I push past him. “English. Partner. Him. Nothing I can do.” I break out the bullet points for him to understand.
“I was just talking about the mess he made and how he could have broken the trailer—Dad’s trailer.”
I shake my head. “I know, but there’s more to it. Just help me clean this up so we can go home. I’m over today.”
“That fucker will pay for this,” he says as he picks up the rake I dropped earlier.
“Fine.” I blow him off. “Just keep me out of it and do it on the football field so it’s not so obvious.”
Later that night, I borrow the truck to go pick up some supplies I need for school. As I drive through town, I see Dalton’s truck parked on the side of Trish’s house. Still fuming over what he did earlier, I pull over and back up so I’m parked right in front of it. Why the dumbass parked here and not in front of her house I’ll never know, but I sure am glad he did.
In the past, I could just ignore his presence and try to move on from the destruction his father had caused my family, but now, he’s taken it too far. What he doesn’t know is, two can play at this game.
The good thing about having an old farm truck is, it’s equipped with towing capabilities because it’s not uncommon for our trucks to get stuck in the mud and we have to use one to pull the other out. The tow straps are kept in the toolbox attached to the bed of the truck, so I climb out and grab it, hoping I’m not seen.
I might be a girl, but I’ve worked on the ranch my entire life, so I know exactly what I’mdoing when I crawl under Dalton’s truck and attach the tow strap to the hook that’s at the front. Of course, he left the truck unlocked because no one’s going to mess with it here in Leighton River—that is, until he messed with me first.
I open the door and climb in to put the truck in neutral and make sure the wheels are pointed straight ahead. Once it’s set, I slide out of his truck and shut the door as quietly as I can before I run to my truck, put it in drive, and slowly press the gas pedal to get both of us moving.
The tow straps are thirty feet long, so it takes a little while to get his to roll, but once it does, an absolute jolt of a thrill races through me at the fact that I’m towing his beloved truck.
Knowing there’s no one to press the brakes or steer it in any direction, I can only go straight, but it’s perfect because the road takes a turn up ahead. When I get to it, I’ll turn, and his truck will continue straight right into a marshy mess.
I laugh at the thought that his pretty bumper is what allowed him to move my trailer today, and now, it’s going to plow through this fence. The steel bumper will take out the old wood fence without really damaging the truck. The fence, on the other hand, will be ruined, but the Wick family can afford to fix it.
With his big tires, driving the truck out of the marsh will be easy as pie, but getting to the truck will be another story. If there’s one thing I know for a fact about Dalton, it’s that he doesn’t have work boots in his truck, so his precious Nikes will be ruined with him just trying to get to the truck. Never mind the mess it will cause on the inside as he steps in to drive it away.
I get the truck going at a good pace, just in time for the turn in the road.
Gripping the steering wheel tighter, I turn the corner and slam on the brakes. Just as I hoped, his truck goes up the curb, right through the fence, and into the marsh.
I laugh so hard until I feel the truck start to pull at my rear end because I’m still attached to it. I press my foot on the brakes as hard as I can, hoping it keeps my truck from moving any farther.
Thankfully, between me pressing the brakes and his tires getting stuck in the muck, his truck finally stops about ten feet in.
That’s when something catches my attention. I glance up the street and see Dalton racing down after me.
I hop out of the truck and climb under to disconnect the strap from our truck and climb back in, putting it back in drive and racing away before he gets to me.
Seeing his face as I drive away is priceless. I’ve never felt so vindicated in my life.
Dalton
That bitch!
I stare in shock as I watch Natalie drive away.
When I see my truck in the marsh, I’m so pissed off that I could seriously lose my shit on anything that steps in my path.
“What just happened?” Trish asks.
I have to close my eyes and take a deep breath so I don’t take it out on her. When she invited me over, I figured, why not? When I got here, I could tell I wasn’t really into it—into her anymore. I was just explaining to her how I had to go when I looked out her living room window and saw my truck start to roll down the street.
