I use the term ‘friend’ loosely. Sebastian is a bit of a dick, and he was never my choice of friend in the first place. He was a friend of Brea's family, and he was always showing up at functions, though he never really fit in. When I questioned Brea, she explained he was the son of her dad's client. His presence made more sense after that.
After Brea died, Sebastian decided it was his job to help me through my grief. I didn't have the heart to tell him to pound sand. That was a huge mistake on my part, because he showed up in Sierra Grande for a surprise visit. I don't think he'll be back, not after his run-in with Beau Hayden.
"Bennett," Sebastian booms into the phone, sounding more dudebro than any adult male should. "What's good, brother?"
"Not much," I lean against the wall out front of the body shop. The smell of body odor and lunch meat was getting to me, so I came out here for a breather.
"You getting sick of small-town life yet?"
I think about the Hayden ranch and Jessie's cabin. When I sit on the back porch and look up at the sky, it feels like the first time in a long time I've been able to take a real breath.
"Not quite," I answer.
"Have you managed to meet Tenley Roberts? I'm dating this new girl and she was talking about how the actress traded LA for Sierra Grande, and I realized you’ve kinda done the same thing."
"Uh, yes, I've met her. She's nice." No way in hell I’m telling him Tenley is the sister-in-law of the woman I’m dating.
"You should make friends with her and get some dirt. Bet you could make a mint selling her info."
My eyes close and I shake my head. The expensive suits Sebastian wears can't clean up his dirty moral code. "I'll pass."
“Then at least share that shit with me. I'll cut you in on the profits, sixty-forty. I could use the cash. You owe me, anyway."
I frown. "How's that?"
"You didn't do anything but laugh after that cowboy motherfucker ran over my car at the gas station."
"I wouldn't say heranover your car. Pushed it, yes. And that was your own fault. You were being a prick."
"I thought I'd get a middle finger, not have my car nudged out of the way by that giant truck."
I laugh silently at the memory of Beau in the driver's seat, his face stoic. Sebastian had most definitely underestimated how Beau levels his own personal brand of justice.
“I seem to remember someone inside that truck flipping you off.”Wyatt.He’d given Sebastian a stiff middle finger as they drove past. The tow truck rounds the corner. He's early, and I'm grateful. "I have to go,” I say. If I never talk to Sebastian again, it will be too soon. Next time he calls, I won't call him back.
I hang up and stand by, watching the tow truck driver work the platform and chain. My car rolls off the truck, and I pay the guy. He's missing a chunk of his nose, as if a dog bit it off, and I do my best not to stare.
The mechanics get the car into the bay, and after a few minutes of looking at the engine, come back into the waiting area and tell me it's my timing belt. They don't have one in stock for this type of car, he says. Behind his words is an amusement that I'd even expect them to have one. He tells me he can get one by tomorrow, and have it ready for me the day after.
I know better than to ask him if he knows how I can get a rental car. I thank him and head outside. The grocery store is a couple streets over, so I go there and grab a ready-made turkey wrap and bottle of water, then settle in the park that’s in the middle of town. I’ll give it a little time, knowing how busy Jessie is on the ranch, then give her a call and—
“Hello, Sawyer.”
I startle and turn. I hadn't heard anybody approaching, but there Beau stands, just a few feet away.
His Wranglers aren't nearly as tight as his sons’, but he still manages to look like a person they’d use in an ad campaign. Lined face, shrewd eyes, and a grizzled air about him. The consummate cowboy.
And Jessie’s father.
I sit up straight on the bench, then decide to stand. Shake Beau’s hand. Start to say something but realize it’s stupid to comment on the weather.
I’ve been reduced to a bumbling teenager.
Beau takes a seat at the end of the bench. I sit back down and move my empty food container to the other side of me, so it’s not between us.
He crosses an ankle over the opposite knee and looks out at High Street. “I remember when all this was different. The buildings are getting taller now. Fancier. Clothes are more expensive than I remember them being.” He laughs once. “Listen to me. I’m starting to sound like an old man.” He glances at me. “Feel free to roll your eyes. That’s what I used to do when my dad told me how he paid a dime for a hamburger.”
I chuckle. There’s zero chance I’ll be rolling my eyes. Not only is he Jessie’s dad, he’s fucking Beau Hayden. “When I complained about something when I was young, my dad would tell me he walked to school in the snow and it was uphill both ways.”
