“It’s too hot to be outdoors,” Eloise says with another heavy sigh. “And if it weren’t for your friends here, I’d still be inside my air-conditioned salon. I’m hot, Macey. Quite uncomfortably hot.”
Macey catches my eye, and I don’t bother hiding my grin. Macey turns away just enough that Eloise can’t see her expression. But then, she glances back at me, and the two of us crack up.
When Eloise glares at us, we quickly excuse ourselves, and the four of us hurry down the street.
Once we’re out of earshot, Blake and Raquel walk on ahead, and Macey loops her arm through mine. “What the heck were you and Blake fighting over?”
“Nothing,” I lie.
“Liar.”
I chuckle. “Wouldn’t you like to know? You’re too nosy, Ms. Henwood.”
She laughs. “Mama tells me the same thing. I don’t care. Life’s so boring when you’re apathetic.”
I do hate being bored.
I call out a goodbye to Blake and Raquel. Then, without warning and with Macey’s arm still linked through mine, I veer left with her toward the lake.
“What are you doing, Logan?” she asks suspiciously. “I’m not dressed for a swim.”
“Let’s put our feet in.”
We make our way down the sloped grass toward the water’s edge. Macey sits down, kicks off her sandals, and sticks her cute bare feet with her pink painted toenails straight into the water.
“Feels so good.” She pulls out her elastic and shakes her hair loose around her shoulders.
I take off my boots and join her at the edge of the lake.
The rest of the town disappears as I feel myself relax into the stillness of the lake. Next to me, Macey exhales like she’s feeling the same way. For the next few minutes, we sit in a comfortable silence broken only by the honking geese nearby.
Until—
“Macey!!!!”
The gut-wrenching scream is coming from behind us.
And we both recognize the voice.
16
Her sister’s tone is shrill, which can only mean one thing.
Macey and I both stand up and turn around just as Riley rushes toward us, her blond hair flying out behind her head and her eyes wild with fear. Her boyfriend, Wink, is right behind her.
“I’ve been calling you,” Riley says immediately.
Macey pulls her phone out of her pocket at the same time I take out mine. “Shit. It must have died,” she says as I discover the same thing.
“What is it, Riles?” Macey’s arm goes around her in an instant.
“Daddy.”
My blood goes cold, and I step closer to them as Macey says, “What happened?”
“He’s had some sort of an accident. He was drinking, and…” Riley turns to me. “He rode a bicycle onto your ranch, and the bull was in the front pasture instead of the back. Daddy ran into him. Your brothers were close by, and they were able to get into the pasture and separate them quickly, but Daddy got gored pretty badly. He’s in the hospital. Unconscious with alcohol poisoning on top. Mama said they don’t know if he’ll pull through.”
Macey steps into her sandals, and then she starts moving so fast she’s a blur racing away from me.
