Page 19 of The Lilac River

He rolled his eyes, but his grin widened.

“Just don’t ask for a raise. We might need every dime to buy this place out from under Dad.”

Wilder glanced toward the lavender fields in the distance. His face shifted, something hard and angry flickering beneath the usual calm.

“If he sells it… or the ranch… I’ll never speak to him again.”

“You won’t get the chance. Because I’ll kill him,” I muttered.

“Dark.”

I gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Simple.”

“You think he will? Sell it?”

“Not if I have anything to do with it.”

I looked toward the lavender fields. Mom’s pride. Her therapy. The place I first told Lily she was mine.

Forever.

“You really going to kill him?” Wilder asked dryly.

I smirked. “Nah. I’ve got friends who’d do it for me.”

He chuckled, but it didn’t last.

“Anyway,” he said after a beat. “Talking of ghosts… how are you feeling about seeing Lily?”

The name still landed like a sucker punch.

“We weren’t talking about them, but fine,” I lied, scratching the back of my neck.

Wilder gave me a look.

“She broke your heart, man. That’s not something you just walk off.”

“You an expert now?”

“Only because you’ve been living with a hole in your chest for a decade.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Because he wasn’t wrong.

“Honestly?” I said finally. “I don’t know what I feel. I hated her for so long. But seeing her... that hatred felt hollow. Like I’d been carrying it around just to feel something.”

“And now?”

“Now it’s just heavy.”

He nodded, quiet for a second.

“Lust or love?” he asked softly.

“Neither.”

“Head or heart, then?”

“You really need to stop reading romance novels.”