Page 10 of Everyone Loved Her

Garrett took another step, his eyes still trained on my face. “He’s a piece of?—”

“No,” I stopped him, holding up a hand. “I don’t care to have your opinion.”

He chuckled, his lips turning upward. “Did you ever care to have it?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, hating the emotions bubbling up in my chest. “I need to go,now.” With that, I spun on my heels, heading in the opposite direction of him. However, I only got a couple of steps in before I felt a firm grip clamp down on my wrist.

“What the heck?” I ripped my arm back from Garrett, my eyes wide. “What are you doing? I said I have to go home. Don’ttouchme.”

He dropped his hand. “I’m so sorry,” he said quickly. “Just stay here.Please. I’d really like to talk?—”

“Then find me when you’resober,” I snapped, raising my shaky voice as I glared at him. “You’ve had sixteen years to find me, Garrett.Sixteen.You didn’t have to wait for me tostumble out of the dang bar to talk to me. You could’ve justcalled.”

He shook his head, but then sighed. “I’ll stop by tomorrow.” The earnestness in his voice sent a pain searing through my chest. “And you’ll talk to me then? Yeah?”

“No promises,” I choked out, knowing he probably wouldn’t even remember this conversation in an hour, let alone tomorrow. I gritted my teeth as I stalked away. Thankfully, this time, he didn’t follow me, and I was able to make it around to the front parking lot. There was a different group of people outside smoking and talking, but I paid them no mind, my eyes focused on the old blue ford.

This night was a terrible idea.

Theworstidea, actually.

I ripped at the handle of the truck, swinging it open and climbing inside. I slammed it shut and locked the doors before dropping my head into my hands. Ofallthe people to run into at the bar, Garrett was thelastperson I wanted to see. He was the epitome of everything I wanted to forget about the place; a reminder of the heartache and grief that nearly swallowed me whole.

“Ugh,” I groaned as I started the ignition, wiping the tears from my cheeks. I hadn’t even noticed that I had started to cry, and I hoped more than ever that it hadn’t started in front of Garrett—the same Garrett that had been my brother’sbestfriend growing up. He was once like family.No, he was more than that to me. He waseverything.

And now, I just wanted to run the moment I saw his face.

Sam wouldn’t have wanted me to treat him that way though.

The thought slammed into my chest and the tears came more readily, the thought of my father, the kind man he was,visiting Garrett and keeping tabs on him—becausehehad been able to put the hard feelings aside, whereas I couldn’t. My dad had tried everything he could to keep the connection between Garrett and our family.

And I just pushed everyone out.

I looked up from my lap, halfway expecting to see Garrett in front of the truck, ready to bombard me all over again. But there was no one there, only the distant sound of laughter and hum of country music. Shaking my head, I threw it in reverse and got the heck out of there, heading straight home.

I’ll never do this again.

Chapter 6

“I don’t knowwhy you insist on working us right into the ground,” Jasper, one of the ranch hands, called out to Blaze as he stuck his boot in the stirrup.

Blaze Harrison sighed, fed up with the whining and complaining. “I have a shift tomorrow, and I don’t trust y’all to keep your heads on straight if I’m not here. The Youngs need these horses to do well at the sale in a few weeks.”

Jasper and Colton, another hand, grumbled under their breaths, but still did as they were told. Jasper mounted up on the palomino gelding under the lights of the arena, and Colton sat atop a black mare, who was there solely for back up, if needed. Blaze leaned against the pipe railing, fatigue pulling at his senses and making his head throb.

Peter Young was a good man, but he ran a skeleton crew on his ranch, and it was nearly impossible to keep up with everything now that he was gone. It didn’t help that Blaze worked two jobs, picking up shifts as a sheriff’s deputy for the county.

“This one’s got a level head,” Jasper called out to Blaze as he trotted by on the horse, kicking up reddish brown dirt.

Blaze nodded beneath his dark brown Stetson. “Yep, appears so.” He watched as Jasper started a figure-eight pattern, and then checked his watch. It was nearly eleven o’clock, and that’s exactly why he was shocked when headlights came pulling in the driveway. He narrowed his eyes, making out late Mr. Young’s blue ford pickup.

Beth.

“I’ll be back,” Blaze called out to the guys before climbing over the white fence and heading toward the front of the big red barn, where she had parked.

He wasn’t sure what it was about her that was so intriguing. Maybe it was the fact that she was a criminal defense attorney in Chicago, so she spent her time representing shady figures—or maybe it was the way she hated this place so much, with the only reason being that her brother had died here.

Which, he supposed, was reason enough…maybe.