Page 14 of Want You Back

“What am I gonna do with you?”

“Kiss me again, I hope.” He was so damn earnest.

And even knowing everything had just changed and would change again in the morning, I was powerless to do anything other than continue kissing my best friend under the stars. A dozen meteors could have fallen, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere other than right here.

Chapter9

Colt

Now

“I can’t waitto show you all my new tricks.” Willow bounced along in the passenger seat as we headed to her Saturday riding lesson.

“I’m excited to see them.” I was looking forward to seeing Willow ride because anything that made her happy made me happy, but I was less than thrilled with the where. Thanks to an arrangement I’d worked out a few years back, Willow’s horse boarded at Lovelorn Ranch, and she trained there with a ranch hand who was one of Betsey’s former barrel racing buddies. The ranch meant the possibility of seeing Maverick, but I’d brave it for Willow. “Sorry I haven’t been the one bringing you for a few weeks.”

“It’s okay.” Willow shrugged her slim shoulders. “A sheriff’s work is never done. Grandma says you have the weight of the whole county on your shoulders.”

“Grandma’s not wrong, but you come first. Always.” I made a mental note to talk to my mother about what she said to Willow. Mom worried about me constantly, but she didn’t need to pass that anxiety on to Willow.

“I wish I had a sister. Someone. Or a friend who lived closer.” Willow groaned and threw her head back against the seat. Like me and my siblings, Willow went to the county school that served not only Lovelorn but the other tiny towns that made up Disappointment County. After the loss of her mom, she’d struggled with finding friends in middle school, and the few she had lived much farther out from our place in Lovelorn. “Summer is soboring. Grandma. Aunt Georgia. Aunt Peg. Aunt Tiffany. I’m tired of the aunts.”

“I’m sorry.” I said that a lot with Willow. I was sorry she was bored. Sorry that her horse lived all the way out on the ranch. Sorry that I wasn’t her mom. Sorry that I worked so much. “I’m not comfortable with you home alone, even if you are in middle school now.”

“I’m not gonna use the stove,” Willow said like fire was the only risk of a bored kid home alone for hours during the summer. I’d seen too much as a deputy to leave Willow completely to her own devices, which meant a cobbled-together schedule of my mom, sisters, and aunts.

“I know you’re a good kid, Willow.” I made my tone upbeat, hoping she’d drop the home-alone question for now.

“Aunt Tiffany is trying for another baby.” Willow brought up an even less welcome subject. My sister was worse than my mom when it came to what she said in Willow’s hearing. “Did you and Mom ever try for another kid?”

“That’s kind of a personal question.” I pursed my lips. I’d always made a point of being honest with Willow, but sometimes that meant confronting uncomfortable truths. “Your mom was busy with barrel racing and teaching riding lessons. I was busy with deputy work. The timing never seemed quite right, I guess. And we won the kid lottery the first time around.”

I hoped my answer sounded balanced. I didn’t want to blame Betsey, although the truth was that I would have welcomed more kids. The physical side of our relationship had been a slow smolder, years in the making, and sporadic due to our schedules. I would have tried, though, but Betsey had been the crankiest pregnant person on the planet and was reluctant to go through it a second time.

“You did get a winner,” Willow said archly. “Kat says I’m gonna be as good a rider as Mom. Maybe better.”

“If you keep working hard, I’m sure you will be.” I pitched my voice to be encouraging but stopped short of the sort of investment Betsey’s parents had had in her riding and success. I never wanted to be a stage parent. “But you know you don’t have to ride, right? I’d be happy no matter what hobbies you wanted to try.”

“I know. I’ve got the art day camp coming up. And the trail ride with the outdoor club.” Willow’s voice turned far away as she studied the rugged landscape outside the truck windows. “When I’m on a horse, everything feels okay again. Good even.”

“I miss her too.” My voice came out thick and rusty. I missed my best friend—who’d gotten me through my twenties after Mav left town—my parenting partner, my late-night movie buddy, and my sounding board.

“I know,” Willow said softly, only to perk up a moment later as I took the turn for the Lovelorn Ranch. “We’re here.”

Willow bounded out of her seat the moment I parked near the large horse barn and attached indoor riding arena. Her riding instructor, Kat, was waiting near the door for us. Kat was tall and stocky with long dark hair shot through with silver that she wore in a braid.

“Hi, Kat!” Willow greeted her with a hug and then frowned as a girl, likely somewhere between eleven and thirteen, stepped out from behind Kat. “Who’s this?”

“This is Hannah.” Kat gestured at the girl. I’d already guessed who she was because she was a near clone of Maverick in middle school—angular features, light-brown hair, piercing blue eyes. Hints of Faith too, but Faith had always had a primness to her that Hannah lacked. Her hair hung straight and a little messy and her sneakers had hay clinging to the laces. “Hannah lives at the ranch house now. She’s been…shadowing me today,” Kat explained, tone careful. “I told her she could maybe watch your lesson if you said okay.”

“Okay.” Willow was agreeable as ever. One of the things I liked best about my kid was her ability to roll with change. She pointed at Hannah’s T-shirt which advertised some pop band. “I like your shirt.”

“Embellish?” Hannah preened. “I’ve seen them live three times.”

“Wow. Lucky.” Willow sounded jealous but not overly put out. I filed the band name away for birthday and Christmas present ideas. “You wanna meet my horse?”

“Sure.” Hannah’s eyes went wide and eager. The two girls raced off into the stables, leaving Kat and me to follow at a more moderate pace.

“Well, that went decent.” Kat gave an amiable shrug. Like Willow, she had battle-honed adaptability. “I’ll have plenty of one-on-one time for Willow, promise. Hannah just kind of showed up this morning. I haven’t had the heart to send her back to the house yet. She seems captivated by the horses. Gray said she never stopped asking questions when he gave her and Maverick a tour. “

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