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“I’m so sorry, Knox.” My chest tightened as if an iron band was crushing my ribs. “I’m a shit friend for leaving like I did. I needed to do it, but not like that. Y’all didn’t deserve it and I’m sorry.”
Silence stretched on between my old friend and me. I wasn’t ready for the loud, feminine voice that broke it. “Is that who I think it is?”
I looked up, my gaze shifting past Knox to the end of the dock where a small, petite girl was sliding off her horse at the edge of the pond. She had long, red hair that billowed behind her as she marched toward us, her baby blue eyes wide.
She pushed past her brother until she was directly in front of me, the top of her head level with my chest. “Ty?” she breathed.
I looked down at her, holding a hand up in a wave. “Hey.” I smiled, expecting her to return it. Instead, the palm she raised whipped out at me. A sting of pain lashed across my cheek.
Stunned, I blinked at her as she reeled back for another blow. Knox grabbed her across the waist and pulled her back just in time. “Annabelle!” he scolded as she struggled against his hold.
“Don’t act like he wasn’t asking for it.” She fumed, her face going almost as red as her hair “Let me go, Knox.”
Knox didn’t listen and continued to back away from me as she struggled. “Maybe you should get out of here.” Knox grunted as she elbowed him in the gut. I snapped me out of my stunned silence and took a step toward the siblings I’d known most of my life.
“You can let her go,” I said. Knox shot me a stark frown. “She’s right, I deserve whatever she wants to do to me.”
A beat passed and Knox loosened his hold around his little sister’s waist. She broke free, her chest heaving as she pushed back a few strands of hair. Her face tightened with fury as she stepped up to me. I didn’t flinch away. She might be tiny, and a few years younger than me, but Annabelle was a force to be reckoned with.
Her nostrils flared. “What made you come back?”
I forced myself not to look away. I didn’t want to tell her I was dragged back here, almost unwillingly. It wouldn’t help the situation. “I came to apologize to your brother.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
She glanced back at Knox, then to me, a slender brow raised.
“So, are you staying?”
The question held more weight than I expected. I hadn’t thought about it much because I didn’t want to. Before I started pursuing fighting, I hadn’t thought much about anything other than what my schedule was bartending at the grill and where I was partying that night. But now, everything was different. Even though part of me didn’t want to stay, I didn’t have anywhere to go. Not anymore.
Slowly, I nodded. “Yeah, I think I am.”
She threw her arms up and I prepared myself for another strike. To my surprise, she wrapped them around my neck and buried her face in my chest. She squeezed so tight she almost choked me.
“Thank God,” she said, her voice muffled against my shirt. “We’ve missed you.”
She held on until my shock wore off enough for me to wrap my arms around her tiny form and hug her back.
“I…missed y’all too.” My gaze caught on Knox’s over her shoulder. He wasn’t smiling, but his expression had softened. He gave me a small, approving nod and my chest eased.
Annabelle pulled away, giving me a wide, bright smile. She patted my chest and sighed. “Don’t be a stranger.” She turned on the heel of her riding boots, and headed back to her horse patiently waiting at the end of the dock. She’d grown too in the years I’d been away. Her girlish figure filled out into womanly curves. Damn. So much had happened.
“Oh,” she said, halfway down the dock, looking at me from over her shoulder. “If you hurt my brother again, Ty, I’ll kick your ass.”
I didn’t doubt her as she returned to her horse, mounted, and started off toward the barn.
My gaze met Knox’s and his eyes glinted like he was suppressing a grin.
“She hasn’t changed much,” I said with a nervous laugh.
Knox shook his head. “Nope. Don’t reckon she ever will.”
I scrubbed the back of my neck. “How about you? Have you changed?”
It occurred to me that I had known Knox for most of my life, but couldn’t say I knew who he was now, standing today in front of me. I, for sure, wasn’t the same. Before I’d left, he was dealing with so much pain. A twinge of regret made me wince.
He rubbed a finger along the brim of his hat. There was a dark line in the exact path of his finger imprinted onto the leather. The familiarity of it almost made me smile.
“Maybe a little. Not enough for most folks to notice.”
