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“Nah, no problem,” Taylor says as he flashes me a malicious grin. “I’ll be talking to you later, Lucy.” I want to ball up on the floor and hide. He’s been drinking. I knew better than to go out tonight. I watch him leave as a shiver slides down my spine.
“Come on.” Tate takes my hand and pulls me to him as we move further on the dance floor. I stare at him like he’s lost his mind. Didn’t he see that?
He smirks and my heart stills. “Just go with it, firecracker.”
My eyes widen automatically at the…endearment? “Firecracker?” I ask.
“Yeah, firecracker. You give me the impression you’re full of fire, the way you were looking at him. Who was that, anyway?”
I drop my stare to his chest. “He’s… a long story, one I don’t want to talk about. With anyone. Especially someone I just met. No offense.” I glance back up to find him searching my face. Trying to get a read on me.
Suddenly, his lips twitch up in amusement. “None taken.”
Present day…
Ican’t stop thinking about Lucy McCree. I don’t know what’s come over me. Since the night we went out with Sterling and Ivie, she’s all I think about—from the way she felt swaying to the music in my arms, to searching her beautiful eyes for answers to the mystery that isher.
When we got back to Sterling’s that night, she almost fell getting out of the truck. I caught her and I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted her to come home with me, but I barely know the girl. This doesn’t make sense. I don’t do the relationship thing—I won’t. My parents taught me all I need to know about relationships—don’t start one, so you’re in control of your own life, not wallowing in pain and misery someone else created for you.
The fire crackles in my fireplace as I sip on decaf coffee. I should be in bed instead of sitting here wide awake entertaining thoughts of Lucy. Sterling and I run this ranch as partners. Grady Brigg, Sterling’s grandad, left him this ranch. Sterling brought me on as his partner since he’s a detective with Greendale Valley PD. We have ranch hands that help us as well, but Sterling and I oversee all of it.
I’m here pretty much full time, making sure the hands do their jobs and I have my own responsibilities to tend to and I handle oversight of the day-to-day operations.
Grady Brigg was a man I looked up to. I didn’t live in this town growing up, but I was here every summer. My love for this ranch started when I was a kid. We lived in the little town right next to Greendale Valley. Even when it wasn’t summer, I was here a lot. I’m an only child, well, as far as I know. My mom left us years ago with barely a glance back.
Sometimes through the years, I would get a random phone call or birthday card. As I got older, those slowed down and eventually stopped. So, I don’t know if I’m an only child or not. Mom could have another family for all I know.
Mom left when I was eleven, but I had started coming to the ranch before then. We’ve been close to the Brigg family for a long time...well, I have anyway. After Mom left, Grady made it a point to be in my life more and more. He left this ranch for Sterling and Briella, but I was provided for as well. I know the truth behind it, but no one else does. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to tell Sterling and Briella the truth about how Grady fits into my life. I don’t know how they’d feel. Sometimes, I’m not sure how I feel thinking of all the secrets and betrayals in my family.
Sterling and Briella both have a lot going on right now. Briella is finishing up her criminal justice degree in a few weeks and then heading off to the police academy in January, following her big brother’s footsteps. She’s already been hired by Chief Trudeau here at GVPD and has been on shift with training officers preparing her to go to the academy and for when she’s back and the real police work starts.
Sterling is neck deep in a case involving the woman he’s been in love with since high school—Ivie Davis. She’s been stalked and threatened, turns out for years now. It all stopped for a while but picked back up again when news of her dad’s retirement surfaced. Her dad, Rhett Davis, is the judge in this town. He’s always been a good one.
Sterling is unsure who is targeting her or why, but they have been threatening the judge and Sterling himself with cryptic messages. They’ve been sent via text, letters, and pictures. This creep is creative that’s for sure. They’re playing a game and it’s all about secrets.
Sterling didn’t fight for her before, but he is now. He’s determined to find out who is doing this and stop them so he and Ivie can finally have a chance at a real relationship. They deserve it, although his best friend, Dean Warren, who was once Ivie’s boyfriend, is back in the picture as well. They haveseveralobstacles to overcome.
All that leads me back to Lucy. She’s Ivie’s best friend. They’ve been close since they were young. I saw them both around town when I was here in the summers growing up but didn’t pay them much attention. I had my own issues; I couldn’t worry about girls.
Sterling told me they looked like they could be sisters, but I had no idea how true it was until we all went out. Lucy’s skin holds more of a tan than Ivie’s, but not by much. She has dark hair much like Ivie’s as well, but she has some lighter streaks in it. Her eyes are the same enchanting emerald-green.
Those same eyes drew me in and are holding me captive. I haven’t seen or heard from her since we all went out, not that I would. We didn’t exchange numbers. There’s something about her though. She has an air of mystery around her, a touch of sadness, but a fierce determination, and I find myself wanting to know more about her.
I slam my coffee cup down on the end table beside my chair harder than I mean to. Rocky, my German Shepard, was asleep by the fireplace and jumped up at the sudden noise. His ears perk up and he stares at me expectantly. “Sorry, boy. Come here.” He gets up and trots over to me so I can scratch him behind the ears.
“I’m stopping this nonsense tonight, boy.” Rocky turns his head, listening to my every word. I may see Lucy around, but chances are I won’t be close enough to her for it to bother me again. I don’t do commitment, and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt my relationship with Sterling by getting involved with his girlfriend’s best friend. All hell would break loose because I would undoubtedly break her heart. I can tell she’s a girl worth risking your heart for, but I’m only searching for a good time,not for all time. That’s all there is to it.
I get up and pour what’s left of my decaf coffee down the sink and I wash the cup so it’s ready for tomorrow morning. I make sure the doors are locked and leave my well-worn boots by the door before heading down the hall to my bathroom with Rocky on my heels.
I get in the shower hoping to wash any lingering thoughts of Lucy away, closing my eyes while the water cascades over my tired muscles. My thoughts turn to Sterling and Briella again. Briella left today—apparently in search of Ivie because she had left town too—and didn’t return. When I told Sterling, he tracked her phone and found out she was with Ivie at her house two hours away in Camden Springs.
Sterling and Ivie had a fight and he refused to call her. Her dad’s retirement party is tomorrow night, so I’m sure she’ll be back. He told me why he thinks she ran back to Camden Springs—she saw Jade Lancaster kiss him, even though it wasn’t a mutual kiss—but he’s holding out on me though. I can sense it. There’s more going on than he’s telling me.
He knows he can trust me, so I’m not sure why he won’t fully confide in me about this. I turn the water off and grab my towel from the hook, then dry off and brush my teeth before heading to my bedroom. I set my alarm and lie down. Rocky settles himself at the foot of my bed.
Sterling knows he can trust me, right?A shred of guilt ripples through my chest. I do have secrets. All my family secrets are why I put up my walls. I have no interest in any relationships besides Sterling and Briella, who are like my brother and sister.
Thinking back to the letter Grady wrote for me, he’s where my secrets start. They trickle on down to me. In my heart I know one day, I’ll have to come clean about the letter and what it says, but for now, I keep it hidden from the world. Even though deep down I know hiding from the truth is nothing but a dangerous game.
