Page 43 of Best In Class (Savannah's Best #7)

Hudson Williams . Ex-fiancée and current brother-in-law.

Dependent Personality Disorder Traits, or Emotionally Immature Personality.

He has dependency issues, particularly his need to attach himself to someone dominant.

He lacks a stable sense of self or personal direction, making him easily manipulated.

Rami Delgado . Father. No formal DSM-5 diagnosis; character traits consistent with avoidant coping, passive-dependency, and emotional neglect tendencies.

And then, there is me.

No clinical diagnosis. But, according to my therapist, I show traits consistent with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) and anxious-preoccupied attachment. Apparently, my trauma isn’t loud; it’s internalized, shaping my patterns of behavior and self-worth.

Celine is doing what her psyche demands, being the center of attention, and not even dead Papa is allowed to take that away from her.

I am doing what mine does, which is to lay low and make myself small, invisible if I can help it—because deep in my bones, I still believe that safety lives in silence.

I watch as Maverick walks up to my sister and her husband.

I can hear what he says to Hudson. “Is she okay?”

Yeah, dude, she’s fine. But why don’t you wipe her tears and coddle her, yeah?

Hudson replies with an appropriate, “She will be. Just needs time.”

Maverick looks at me, his blue eyes assessing.

Hudson’s gaze follows Maverick’s line of vision. He gives me a short smile. He’s been doing that ever since I came back and has been trying to corner me for a conversation.

Like hell!

The time for conversation was ten years ago, buddy. Your time’s up!

I turn away before the heat in my stomach boils over.

After the service ends, everyone starts to move toward the church and the parking lot. Some will go home, and some will join the other residents of Wildflower Canyon at Longhorn Ranch, where the wake is being held.

Celine had it catered. Vera, who works in the house and kitchen, was furious about that.

In Wildflower Canyon, we feed people homemade food.

But then, Celine is more Aspen than Wildflower Canyon, preferring the high-end ski slopes and boutiques to cross-country skiing and shoveling manure.

But she stayed at Longhorn with Hudson, living in the ranch house with Papa.

It took me a while, but I finally figured out why she did so. It wasn’t because she liked Longhorn or even wanted the ranch—it was so I wouldn’t come back. I, who actually loves this land. Who loved my father so much that he broke my heart again and again.

As my therapist says, “ Don’t go to a bookshop and try to order flowers .”

My father couldn’t love me the way I needed to be loved—he never had that in him.

“Stop hoping for roses from someone who only ever stocked paper and ink. You have to accept what he can give, Aria, and let go of the rest.”

And now I have no choice but to let it go. There will be no chance to make amends, no chance to heal wounds, and put together broken hearts.

This is goodbye for eternity.

I nod at Bree and let her know I want to be alone. She mouths that she’ll wait for me. I smile, grateful. She’s my ride back to Longhorn.

Nadine squeezes my shoulder. Earl grunts. That’s his way of showing affection. Tomas, the young man who works for Earl, whom I met only this morning, has red-rimmed eyes.

I watch them all leave.

I feel Maverick’s eyes on me as he joins the others.

When it’s just my father and me, I lie down beside the grave, the cold earth biting through my clothes. I rest my cheek on folded hands like I’m back in bed as a child, watching him sleep, waiting for him to wake up so we can saddle the horses and get to work.

Ranch mornings.

Dust and dew.

His voice, rough and kind, calling me “ cowgirl ” as the sun came up over the canyon.

“ Te amo, Papa ,” I whisper, my voice cracking.

The breeze carries the faintest scent of sage and old wood smoke, which is how Papa used to smell.

I close my eyes and try to believe it means something.

I lie there for, I don’t know how long, but by the time I stand up, my body is stiff.

I’m cold. I feel frozen.

I brush my hands on my thighs.

I look at Papa one last time. “I’ll take care of Longhorn,” I vow.

As I walk to Bree’s car, I know the fight I’m embarking on won’t be easy. My sister doesn’t fight fair.

Hudson…well, he’s Celine’s problem now.

Wildflower Canyon is probably going to be on Celine’s side, wondering about the interloper who’s interfering with Longhorn.

I know that I’m already walking into a stacked deck.

Kaz is with Bree by her car when I get there.

I give him a quick hug.

I know Kaz. Knew him well when we were younger until he moved to Aspen with Silas and Tansy Hawthorne after his father passed away.

“When did you come back?” I ask genially,

“Been a few years. Hear you’re raising grapes in Napa.”

I tipped my chin in acknowledgment. “I hear you’re flush with cash and keep showing up in other people’s business.”

He gives Bree a wry look. She shrugs, not denying she’s the one who gave me that piece of gossip.

He’s a good guy. Helped Bree keep her uncle’s ranch when the taxes would have left her with nothing.

“ Me ? In other people’s business?” Kaz shakes his head, amused. “You know me, Aria. I’m all about my own business.”

“Speaking of which.” I tilt my head and give him an amused look. “I also heard that you bought out the old McAlister land. Ten thousand acres, working cattle ranch. Tore it all out. Turned it into some high-end retreat for rich boys with rifles and credit cards.”

Kaz groans. “Don’t give me the third degree, will ya? I’ve heard it all from the locals.”

“And he still does what ever he wants,” Bree says in a sing-song manner.

“Yes, I do, and you like it.”

I chuckle despite my heavy heart. “Are you sleepin’ together?”

“ No !” Bree screeches.

“She wishes,” Kaz growls.

Bree grabs my hand and pushes me toward the passenger side of her truck. “Come on, let’s get you to Longhorn before you say something that makes me wanna drive you into the dirt like a T-post in dry ground.”

When she tells me, as she drives, how everyone who’s anyone is probably at Longhorn, I sigh, “So, when I walk in there, everyone is gonna know I’m here.”

“Baby Cakes,” Bree snorts. “I think you’ve forgotten what Wildflower Canyon is like. Word travels fast here. Someone probably started talking the minute you stepped off the plane. Aria Delgado—home from the ashes.”