I glance up and notice it’s Cassidy. Looks like she has the boys with her. They’re probably bringing rations. Instead of feeling any pleasure, the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I need to take Isa out in one of the trucks. Show her around.
She needs to be able to get around on her own.
This oughta be her bringing lunch with my sons.
Cassidy and the boys climb out after she cuts the engine. Leeland runs right for me and wraps his arms around my legs. It’s one of my favorite things about being a dad.
Leg hugs.
I swing him up in my arms and ruffle L.T.’s hair.
Cassidy follows them casually. I search her face, looking for signs of more than friendship on her part. She’s wearing more make-up today than usual. And her jeans might be a little tighter. She’s showing a little bare midriff…
All her efforts do nothing for me though. She’s like a sister.
“I heard about the loss.” She tips her head to the side. “Damn, Tucker. It’s such a shame.”
Colt’s leaning against one of the posts we just planted, a piece of straw dangling from his shit-eatin’ grin.
He doesn’t have to say a word. Cassidy hasn’t so much as laid eyes on him.
Just me.
Fu-u-u-ck!
She’s in love with you. Isabella’s accusation stings.
“We brought you lunch.” Now her eyes shift around looking for Colt. “Thought you might be getting pretty hungry by now.” She drops one hand on my arm in the guise of fawning over Leeland. “Didn’t we, buddy?”
I take a step back. “You should have brought Isabella with you. Let the boys get to know her a bit.”
Cassidy wrinkles her nose. “I asked her if she wanted to come but she refused. She seemed busy online, you know, ordering more high heels. Looking at dresses. She kept telling me she wished she could go shopping at her favorite stores back in California.”
My heart drops a little. I want Isabella to be happy here. She has to be happy here…
Meanwhile, Cassidy opens up a blanket begins setting sandwiches out for all of us. She tosses me a fruit rollup. “I know these are your favorites.”
I snag the package out of the air. Colt doesn’t say a word but opens his sandwich and takes a giant-sized bite. I set Leeland on the ground and lean against the truck.
I’m not hungry.
I’m disappointed.
Did Isabella refuse to avoid being around Cassidy? Wouldn’t she have wanted to spend time with my boys?
She’d even mentioned wanting to come with me earlier. We’d experienced magic on and off all night, and then she’d gone and brought up this Cassidy thing. I’d brushed her concerns off. I didn’t want to imagine such a problem actually existed.
What the fuck was I been thinking to turn her down? Sure, she would have seen the carcasses of the dead cattle. But she would have seen the land, the sage brush, the sky, the hills. I could have given her a glimpse into this life.
My life.
Her moving here had gotten off to a bad start.
Not in the bedroom. Hell, never in the bedroom, but everywhere else. I need to have a talk with my mom about Cassidy. About the best way to deal with her. She’s Jessamine’s friend but I can’t have her undermining Isabella. Especially not after noticing the look in her eyes today. Sure enough, she watches me with an intensity I should have shut down long ago. Has it always been there?
Fu-u-u-uck!
I sit on the bumper of the truck and watch my boys. They hardly ever sit still. Bring ’em outside and it’s like watching wild horses. Each with a sandwich in their little hands, they’re running circles around Cassidy and Colt.
