I clear my throat. “Lark isn’t all that bad.”
My sister’s eyes widen, and she puts her hands on her hips. “Really?Lark…isn’t that bad, huh?”
“Not that she’s great,” I correct, grabbing the bucket of grain to put some in Cloud’s stall. “She and I talked a little when I got stuck volunteering with her.”
I didn’t mention anything about the storm to my family. There was no need. Nothing happened other than me helping a woman on the side of the road. It didn’t matter that she was Lark.
At least that’s my story regarding it all.
“Did you now? So you’re friends, huh?”
Here we go. “No one said that.”
“Really? Because Mrs. Canta said you two were awfully cozy in Suzanne’s store.”
I’m not the slightest bit shocked. “She just likes to run her mouth.”
“True, but how do you explain last night?”
My throat goes dry. “What about it?”
“I heard that you drove her home. She was drunk, and instead of letting her ride with her friends and Jimmy, you so gallantly offered up help.”
This fucking town. No one knows how to keep a damn secret.
None of that is wrong, though. “I did.”
“Why?”
“Because she was drunk.”
I move over to the other stall and grab the oats. Fallon follows me, scoffing as she moves. “So what? She’s Lark Gatlin.”
“And you’re Fallon Stone.”
“Yes, and you’re an idiot! You can’t drive her around, Tristan. Can you even imagine what’s going to happen when her family finds out? They’re going to think you…I don’t know! Did some sort of ritual on her for all we know. I’m sure the cops will be here today, claiming some kind of foul play.”
As much as I would like to reject that idea, it’s not entirely impossible. “They know,” I tell her.
“Know what?”
“That I drove her home.”
Fallon grabs my arm as I walk by. “What? Tristan! My God, do you have any sense, you idiot? You can’t be around her. She’s…a fucking Gatlin. While she’s not theworstof them, I’ll give you that, you can’t beniceto them. They’re terrible.”
“Okay.”
That causes her face to redden. Oh, she’s like a teapot that is about to blow.
“Tristan!” And there it is. “You’resoannoying.”
“Says the one screaming like a maniac.”
“Because you’re a dumbass!”
Her screeching has apparently been heard, because the barn door opens and Veronica steps in.
“Problems?” Roni asks.
