Thank God her father opened that door.
Which is not something I ever believed I would think.
I got home last night, trying to come up with some reason that made sense. I don’t even like Lark. I don’t like anyone, for fuck’s sake. I loved once, and I have no intention to date or be involved with a woman again.
No. Just…no.
“It was long. You know Jimmy.”
“And I know the Beast,” Fallon retorts.
“When’s the last time you were there?” I challenge.
I love my sister, but she doesn’t exactly have a life. In fact, she pretty much has nothing other than my nephew. Her world revolves around him, and I get it. I do. I lost Emmy Jo when Sadie was a toddler, and I threw every ounce of energy I had into being a parent, which is what Fallon has done.
Her fiancé died before he had a chance to even know she was pregnant. Losing Carrick has changed her at her core.
No longer is she a carefree woman in her twenties. She’s hardened her heart, and it’s like she’s a shell of a person going through the motions.
She shrugs. “I don’t have time.”
“You have nothing but time, Fallon.”
“Yes, and you’re the poster child for living after loss?” she pushes back, lashing out like she does when any of us bring things up.
I shake my head, knowing what her game is and refusing to play. “No. I’m not. I’m not the man I was before Emmy Jo died, but I would hope that you’d learn from that. If I remember, little sister, you were the one telling me that I shouldn’t give up and focus only on Sadie. You were the one pushing me to get out, live, be the man who Emmy would’ve wanted me to be, which wasn’t a half-dead one.”
She sticks her tongue out. “Don’t use my logic against me.”
I pull her against my side and kiss the top of her head. “Who knew you had any logic?”
Fallon playfully slaps my chest and walks over to Cloud’s stall. “Speaking of logic, big brother of mine,you know, Sadie could work with Cloud a bit.” She tries to sound innocent, but I hear the condemnation there.
I’m going to bet this is part of Sadie’s plan. Get my sister and father to gang up on me. Not that it ever works. There are a few things that I will not cave on, and this fucking horse is one of them.
“Can we not do this today?”
“Are you planning to ever discuss it?”
“Not with you or any other member of this family. Sadie and I need to come to an agreement, and that isn’t happening until I’mconvinced that she’s safer on a horse than on the ground. Which will be never.”
Fallon raises her hands. “Say no more. How are things going with the sales we lost? Any takers?”
I shake my head. “They’ll come, but I’m not driving two days for free. Not when we offered them a great price.”
“I agree,” Fallon says as she grabs a brush. “Had anymore run-ins with the cops?”
I laugh. “Apparently no one is trying to destroy the Gatlins today, although I’m not sure that’s a good thing, because now it makes us look guilty.”
My sister snorts. “They really need to let it go.”
“Just them?” I ask, knowing we aren’t much better.
“I feel vindication, considering we’re being falsely accused of committing crimes, and honestly, someone is doing God’s work by giving them hell. Plus, fuck Maverick Gatlin right to hell, which is exactly where that asshole belongs.”
Fallon despises the youngest Gatlin. He’s responsible for her losing the love of her life.
Which is something we just don’t talk about.
