Sixteen

Peer pressure from dead people.

— Tradition

SEARCY

I was exhausted.

Oh, and I’d had no less than thirty calls today from Lenny, my mother, and even Calliope asking where the hell I was.

Looked like Mom was back and had forced Calliope to work despite her hating it so much she sabotaged everything she touched at the diner.

Though, possibly that was just when I asked her to work.

Maybe Calliope acted differently when Mom was the one to ask.

Anyway, after having hit ‘ignore’ on my fourteenth phone call from Mom did Harrington Hicks—Posy’s brother for Christ’s sake—say, “I think this is good. I don’t have anything else that I need to do.

From this moment forward, I want you to say nothing to anyone.

Also, I can’t stress this enough, I do mean anyone.

” He looked around. “Talk to your siblings. Let them know the importance of keeping this silent. I’m serious when I say that you will have family coming out of the woodwork begging for handouts if you give this away. ”

He stood up and smoothed down his immaculate shirt and tie.

I couldn’t help but compare him to his brother.

Harrington was tall, lean, and well dressed.

He was exactly the type of person that would sneer when he looked at me any other time.

Though, today I imagined he was seeing dollar signs, not trash.

He was tall like Posy, but that was really where their similarities ended.

Where Harrington was dressed sharply and was well groomed, his brother was currently waving trash bags around in a round pen.

“What’s he doing?” I asked no one in particular.

Malone, who added her two cents in here and there but ultimately allowed Harrington to take lead, said, “I don’t know, but I’m really interested.”

“When horses are young, they’re overly cautious of everything. You don’t want them to spook when you’re riding them, so you try to desensitize them to everything. Dad used to do this with all of the horses when it came time to break them in,” he said.

“Wow, that’s impressive,” Malone drawled, sounding only slightly condescending. “I didn’t think your fancy pants self would know anything about the cowboy life. You’ve hidden it so well, Harrington.”

Harrington said something under his breath before he said, “I left this life far behind on purpose.” He hesitated, his eyes landing on his brother as a quick look crossed over his face before it was blank again.

“I know that he helped you today, Ms. Hodges, but my brother isn’t that great of a person.

He never does anything without an ulterior motive.

I’m not sure why you came here and asked for help, but I would highly advise you to trust no one. Not even him.”

I studied Harrington for a long second, wondering if he truly understood his brother at all.

I’d known him for a short amount of time, but based solely on my interactions with Posy Hicks, I felt confident in my judgment of him.

Now Harrington…

I snorted. “I trust no one. Not even you.”

Which was the truth.

I trusted Posy about as much as one could given my life.

“Good,” he straightened his shoulders. “That’ll get you a lot further in life.” He gathered his things and took a look around.

His face was filled with disgust, which had me stiffening.

If he didn’t like this place, he’d hate mine.

And Posy’s place felt like a goddamn mansion.

“Why are you looking like that?” Malone asked, a frown marring her beautiful face. “This place gives me rancher vibes.”

“Lots of shitty memories,” he answered. “Anyway, I’ll get all this filed before the end of the day. Tomorrow, I’ll meet you at the accountant’s office. Keep acting like you’re sick. Let me know if you need anything before then.”

Without waiting for a reply, Harrington left, leaving Malone and me standing there watching him go.

Harrington walked up to the round pen where Posy was working and said something.

Posy didn’t turn away from what he was doing, but I did see the muscles in his throat bob as he replied. Then his arm lifted, with one straight finger lifted high in the air.

“I didn’t think that anything could get hotter than Harrington Hicks, but I was wrong,” she mused. “I knew the boys of Truth Tellers MC were hot, but I guess I didn’t realize how hot.”

I’d seen the other bikers come out earlier today behind Malone. I’d seen the three men get off their bikes to talk to Posy.

I’d also watched all but one leave, who was sitting on the fence watching Posy work with the small horse.

“Truth Tellers MC?” I questioned. “You know them well?”

Why was I so jealous that she did?

“Represented one or two,” she answered as she too gathered her things. “And I’m not going to agree or disagree with what Harrington said, but I can tell you that the Truth Tellers are all a bit…wild.”

Wild.

That was interesting.

I had a feeling, though, that I might like wild.

I called out for my siblings, who appeared with sleepy looks on their faces.

They were bored.

I knew they were.

But I needed to talk to them, so I couldn’t very well send them to school tomorrow without first instilling in them the importance of silence.

“Ready to go?” I asked.

“Sure am,” Kent said. “This place is boring as hell.”

They had no TVs.

Like, none.

It was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen, and the kids weren’t impressed.

We were poor as hell and still had a TV.

We also had cable, which was the cheapest option now that streaming services kept raising their prices to the point where it felt like they were asking for your first unborn child.

Yet, after asking Scottie, who’d come in for lunch an hour or so ago, she’d informed us that not only were there no TVs, but they didn’t even have fast enough internet to watch a movie.

Which was crazy, in my opinion.

But seeing how I’d never seen Posy stop what he was doing, even eating his lunch on the go, I imagined that he didn’t have the time to watch television or movies on the internet. So what would be the point of paying for them?

“When you get out there, would you mind sending the dude on the fence in here to talk to me?” she asked. “I have a meeting with him.”

I nodded in agreement and headed back outside, making sure that the place was just as spotless as I’d found it before departing.

I sent the kids to the car and headed for the hot as hell cowboy and his lonely looking companion.

“Posy?” I called out.

He looked up from his paper bag crumbling near the young horse’s head and said, “All done?”

“Yep.” My eyes turned to the guy on the fence, who wasn’t looking at me at all. “She’s ready for you, dude.”

The man on the fence turned to me, and I watched him do a complete once-over of my person before twisting around and dropping to the ground beside me.

“You’re cute,” he said. “Don’t break his heart.”

Before I could say something like “what does that mean?” he took off, heading toward the house.

“What did he say?” Posy asked as he came over to the fence that separated us.

He climbed up one rung so he could see me clearly, then leaned his large arms against the top rung and leaned in.

His baseball cap was once again turned backward, and a frown tipped the corners of my mouth down as I said, “You lost that last night. You didn’t have it when you walked me home.”

“Had to go back for it in the ditch.” The corners of his mouth tipped up, displaying pearly white teeth.

So he was thinking about the same thing that I’d been thinking about.

I refused to squeeze my legs together, even though I really wanted to.

It’d definitely help with the ache between my thighs.

“Get everything figured out?” he asked when he realized I wasn’t going to comment anymore.

“I’m gonna keep that ticket in your safe until we get everything in place, then we’re going to claim it anonymously and hopefully keep it under wraps.” I paused. “I have to figure out a way to do this that I’m not going to tip off my mom or my sister, though.”

“Your brother and sister will keep the secret?” he asked.

“I think so.” I shrugged. “Kent understands the importance, at least. Anders is a bit flighty since she’s so young.

She’s a dreamer. Doesn’t see a single thing wrong with this world.

So I have to stress the importance of keeping quiet with her tonight, but I think we’ll be fine.

The kids have good heads on their shoulders.

They’ve had to grow up a hell of a lot faster than most kids their age. ”

He studied me with his dark eyes, scanning my face for so long that I felt like squirming, before he said, “What time do they go to bed?”

I frowned. “I don’t know. Whenever they want, I guess. I’m not really that big on harping on their every move.”

“Open the door for me when I stop by later,” he ordered.

That’s when I fully understood where his thoughts were headed.

“I’m on my period,” I pointed out.

His eyes gleamed for a few seconds before he said, “And?”