Page 23 of Wrangled and Tangled (Raven Peak Ranch #1)
B riar greets me with a smile, and I try my damnedest to return it without looking like I need to throw up all of the contents of my stomach. She tilts her head but doesn’t have time to comment as her great-grandmother scoots her inside the house.
Spencer’s boots hit the stairs, and I have to hold back the urge to walk closer to him. To be near him, basking in his presence. It’s soothing, something I’m in short supply of.
“You’re back,” he rumbles out. Is that a hint of hope I hear?
Or is my mind reading into his words because I’ve been in an interrogation room again–this time for hours–and want to rage cry into the shoulder of the big grumpy mechanic I’m slowly starting to realize may not want me, regardless of my fake engagement?
“I couldn’t find you at your house, but Maxine sure found me,” chuckling at the way she persuaded me to come with her to her house and promised me a good old-fashioned meal to fill my belly and heart.
“She did, huh?” Crossing his arms, he leans against the post at the top of the small set of stairs.
“I know this isn’t at all how you want to spend the next…
Well who knows how long, but the police have shut down the rodeo, and since I’ve got no trailer for the foreseeable future, and I can’t leave the county, I need to make arrangements…
” I trail off but continue, “That’s not what I came here for, though,” I chuckle, my nerves getting the best of me. “I came back to say thank you.”
“Okay, you’re welcome,” his eyes trail down my body and back up. “What did the sheriff say?”
With a heavy sigh, I shake my head and look up at the slatted porch ceiling, “They asked me a lot of questions about the report I filed after the incident I witnessed with Levi a while back. Apparently, more women in towns we’ve visited have had kits done…
” Even just the thought of what he did to them makes my blood fucking boil, and a small part of me wishes I had killed that rat bastard.
“You mean,” he lowers his voice and looks into the house through the screen door. “You mean they had rape kits done?”
Nodding, I suck my teeth and clear my throat, “They’re all being processed as we speak. When they come back with a match for Levi’s DNA, the police will have no choice but to start lookin’ outside of the rodeo for their killer.”
“So, as of right now, they still think you did it?” He asks, dropping his arms.
A humorless laugh escapes me, “They’re comin’ at me with everythin’ they can.”
“Why?” He tilts his head and bites the bottom plush part of his lips and I smile. It’s a thing he does–I’ve noticed in our short time together–when he’s processing.
“Because I turned him in, and nothin’ came of it?” I shrug, “I’ve been pretty vocal to my team about the kind of man I knew he was and what he deserved.”
“So you painted a target on your own back,” he concludes.
“I guess so,” I hadn’t thought about it that way. But it’s true, I’ve made it no secret how I feel— felt , about Levi and his demons.
Spencer closes his eyes and when he opens them, the green of his eyes is vivid against the bright blue sky.
“You can stay with me.” He states matter of factly, and it’s one of the furthest things I would’ve thought was on his mind. “I’ll have Briar stay with Mawmaw.”
“I can’t ask you to do that, I didn’t come back for that.”
“I guess it’s a good thing he offered then,” Maxine says, slinging a towel over her shoulder.
“I’m fine bunking down with the rest of the crew.”
“I’ll have none of that. He offered, and you’re gonna say thank you and accept. Now get in here before your youngin’ gets a cramp in her neck from eavesdroppin’.”
“Mawmaw!” Briar shouts, her cheeks are red and she turns away as soon as we walk in. “Not cool,” she murmurs under her breath at the stove, where she’s stirring something that smells mighty delicious.
“Wash them hands,” Maxine says, swatting at Spencer. He disappears down the hall, and I’m not sure what I should do. “Have a seat, honey,” nodding at the old circular wooden table with chairs that might have once matched, but no longer do.
Spencer emerges from the hall, and the three of them move through the kitchen as if they’re sharing a brain. Each of them does something that helps with the final meal, and I’m impressed.
Maxine whispers something to Spencer, and he nods, heading up the stairs without a word. Briar watches him with glassy eyes, and I know her teenage heart is breaking for someone she loves.
“She’ll either come or she won’t,” Maxine says, squeezing Briar’s arm and laying the last bowl of food on the table. Everything’s steaming, smelling like a Sunday dinner back home, if my family were still around.
I think losing my dad at such a young age is what pushed me into rodeo. It’s like building your own family, except you don’t have to worry about checking in. Staci does enough of that as it is.
Spencer comes down the stairs with a little pep and I’m confused, until Lucy’s footsteps fall behind his. When she looks up, it’s clear she had no idea I’d be here. A range of emotions flicker across her face before a mask of stone falls.
“I’ll pass on dinner, Mawmaw,” her voice sounds automated as if she’s fully retreated into herself and refuses to come out.
“Naw, now Loo, you come on down. Heath here ain’t a threat to you, or the rest of us,” she defends. It’s softer than her earlier words yet still brokers no room for argument.
“He mighta murdered Levi, Maw.” She whimpers his name, and my heart sinks. She loved him, and despite my own convictions about Levi, I can’t fault her for feeling a little betrayed.
Maxine looks at me, dead in the eyes and asks, “You haven’t been charged with Levi’s murder, have ya?”
“Mawmaw,” Spencer’s deep, authoritative tone sends shivers down my spine.
“Don’t you take that tone with me, boy,” she warns, and looks back at Lucy. “Heath didn’t hurt that man, Lucy Tritt, but I’ll bet if you let him, he could help you figure out who did.”
Everyone’s head twists in her direction as a smile stretches across her face.
Her gray hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, showing off the green eyes Spencer and his sister inherited.
Her skin’s weathered, the kind that comes with hard days at work out in the sun, and the deep lines by her eyes and mouth tell me she had a lot of fun doing it.
“Alright now, everyone take a seat,” she picks up a bowl of green beans, perfectly vibrant and home grown. Serving up herself and Briar, she passes the bowl my way, nudging me to do the same.
Spencer descends the remainder of the stairs with a look back up to his sister.
Reaching out his hand, she looks at it, and back at me before letting a lone tear fall.
Accepting her brother’s hand, she takes the seat beside Briar and wraps her arm around her.
Spencer takes the seat next to me, accepting the bowl I pass to him.
No one speaks as we dish up our plates full of green and pinto beans, quartered potatoes, and brisket so tender it melts off the bone onto the serving fork. Once everyone’s plate is full, Spencer says grace, and we dig in.
It’s a bit awkward since the only noise is chewing or cutlery hitting the plates. Until Lucy puts her fork down and looks up.
“Did you murder Levi, Heath?” Her eyes are flinty, as if she’s been working the courage up to ask me.
“No, ma’am, I did not,” I answer truthfully, and once the time of death comes back confirmed, I’ll be cleared. I feel it in my bones.
She nods, no hem-hawing, follow-up questions, or tears. She looks exhausted and confused by why this is happening, but somehow, it looks like she believes me.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for your pain,” if I had my hat on, I’d lay it across my chest, offering her sympathy the only way a cowboy knows.
Wiping her nose on her napkin, she nods, and conversation starts up again. They go back and forth, each of them excited to talk about whatever it is they’re talking about, and eventually, Lucy joins in, too, sipping her tea and offering small smiles to the rest of the family.
I want to smile, too, to feel included.
To be part of this family.
Only I’m worried it will have an expiration date, and I’m not sure what will happen to me when that day comes.