Page 16 of Legacy of Lies
Chapter 4
“Izzy, I’m telling you, that entire meeting was weird.” Sara inhaled the minty essence of her mojito before sipping. The evenings after parent-teacher meetings always deserved a stiff drink or three.
“Garrison was probably having a bad day.” Isabelle Brand pushed her long, golden hair back over a shoulder. She appeared oblivious to the glances from several men in the bar.
Some women had all the luck. If Izzy weren’t the nicest person in the world and Sara’s best friend, it would be much easier to hate her. Sara blew out a breath full of frustration. Her friend would have handled Garrison Taggart better than Sara had.
Okay, seriously? Quit the pity party already.
“So what else about the meeting?” Izzy asked.
“Garrison brought up how I had dated Hank.”
“Yikes. In a parent-teacher conference? Can you say, ‘inappropriate’? Besides, you and Hank broke up a year ago.”
“Yeah, what a mess.” She glanced over her shoulder as invisible cold fingers walked up her neck. “Sorry. I know Hank’s your brother and all.”
“You can’t offend me. Besides, he’s a moron for leaving you.”
Sara dabbed at the condensation on her glass until the bead of water ran down onto the bar. “Thanks.”
Izzy drained her beer before propping her chin on her fist. “Ever wish you and Hank could get back together?” The sincerity in her sky-blue eyes took away the question’s sting.
“No, we’re done. That fact was made crystal clear. To be fair, we didn’t have a future, especially after he started acting strangely.” She buried the slice of lime beneath the ice in the glass. “I mean it. Breaking up was for the best. It was just frustrating to have my past raked over the coals by Garrison.”
“I bet.” She pushed her empty bottle away and lifted her chin at the bartender for another beer. “Man, I know he’s my brother and all, but I still can’t get over the fact that Hank was a jerk to you. He’s gone kind of nuts over the past year.”
“How?”
“You know how a few weeks ago, I said they were cooking up some get-rich scheme? Well, he’s got two of my brothers totally wrapped up in the idea, and they’ve become all secretive. Somehow it involves the Taggart ranch. But they don’t say much around me, even when I ask.”
“Really?”
“Yup, I end up stuck at home doing all the housework and dealing with Mom and her health issues. They’re not helping with Mom anymore, which kind of sucks. Now, they’re out in the hills, dreaming up God-knows-what hair-brained plan. And they won’t talk to me.” Izzy scraped her long hair off her face. The corners of her mouth dropped.
“That stinks.”
“At least I still have you to talk with.”
Sara covered her friend’s hand with hers. Anything to erase the sad downturn to Izzy’s mouth. Ever since Sara showed up in first grade wearing mismatched thrift shop leftovers, with no parents to drop her off, Izzy had been right there.Like peanut butter and jelly, they used to giggle to each other.
Even after Sara’s stupid shoplifting phase as a teenager, Izzy had stood up for her—unlike most folks around here who still ruminated over the new teacher’s checkered past.
“Of course. I’m always here to talk,” Sara said.
The new beer arrived, and Izzy wrapped her long fingers around the frosty bottle. “Thanks.” She blinked and her expression went from unhappy to mischievous. “Speaking of topics that are interesting, I haven’t seen Garrison in a long time. He mostly stays at the ranch, and I haven’t had as many shifts at the hardware store lately. Is he still hot and available?”
At Izzy’s eyebrow waggle, Sara laughed despite herself. “Ha. If you mean is he a stubborn and surly cowboy, then the answer is yes. We didn’t get to spend much time discussing the particulars of his relationship status.”
“You know his wife left him last year.”
“Yes. It’s not a secret. But no one seems to know why.”
Izzy sipped her beer. “True. Most folks figure she ran off with someone. But who’d want to leave such a fine hunk of man as Garrison? Rough break.”
“I don’t know. Takes two to tango, as they say. A woman would have to be pretty unhappy to leave her husband and child.”
“Maybe.”
