A practical deal.
A deal that might help all three of them.
She moved to the parking spaces her family kept at thisprivate airport.
And stopped because her SUV wasn’t as tall as it had beenbefore.All four tires were flat.
Her day had just gotten worse.
* * * *
Keane sat in the back of a station wagon that mightbe from the late eighties.He wasn’t sure, but it apparently was Willow Fork’sversion of a taxi, complete with a gossipy driver who had maybe been eighty inthe eighties, too.
She drove so slow and yet had almost had two accidents.
This might be worse than the plane.He wasn’t meant for thistime.Horses.They were safer.He should have been born in a time when all aman needed was a horse and his camping supplies.
Scratch that.He liked running water.But this car wasdangerous.It rattled in a way that sounded like it was on its last breath.Andthere was the dog.
“I knew that boy was here to make trouble.He showed upyesterday looking for you at the café.Christa told him you were at a wedding,and I swear his face went pale.I think he thought it was your wedding.Hecalmed down when he found out it was your brothers’.”The woman driving hadintroduced herself as Gwen, and she had raced to the airport when Olivia calledher.She showed up with cookies and stale coffee and lots of questions.“Do youthink he’s the one who slashed the tires on that pretty baby of yours?Did hethink he could give you a ride?”
Keane had thought about it and dismissed the idea.The manwas in a suit, and he looked like he would be pissed if it got dirty.If thatman knew how to handle a knife, he would be surprised.
“I have no idea what Scott is thinking except thateverything fell apart and I was an idiot once.Why not try again?”Oliviaasked.
“I remember the first time that boy was around and he spenthis whole time kissing your daddy’s ass and ignoring your papa,” Gwen pointedout as she turned onto the highway.Slowly.So slowly.
Did this car have any shocks left?He was pretty sure theywere all shot since he could feel every inch of road.
He was still reeling.He went from utter devastation tobeing trapped in a tin can high in the air to embarrassing himself with hisstomach’s betrayal to becoming Olivia’s fake boyfriend.One of them.
“He treated Sam differently than Jack?”Garrett asked.
Olivia’s head turned.When the station wagon drove up, shehad taken the passenger seat, allowing them the back, which also contained anelderly Chihuahua who seemed to like him.
He never had a dog.Surprisingly, no one in all of hisfoster families had thought to buy him a pet.
He kind of was the pet.Now that he thought about it he hada lot in common with a rescue dog.
That Chihuahua sat between him and Garrett.It ignoredGarrett and stared at him, sometimes growling and showing off the fact that ithad lost a couple of teeth.And that dog had the crazy eyes.Like real crazyeyes.He would bet the canine had bitten many an ankle in its youth.And it waswearing a sweater.And still shaking like it was the dead of winter.
Actually, that dog was a lot like the car.
“It happens, though I didn’t see it at the time,” Oliviasaid.“Scott is excellent at deflecting and gaslighting.I think they taught itat whichever party school he graduated from.And unfortunately, my papa is usedto it.”
“Oh, the people around this town can be terrible.They’reall scared of Jack, but they can treat Sam like he’s dirt on their boots,” Gwensaid as someone honked because she was straying into the lane next to them.Shemoved back into the proper lane, swerving in a way that made Keane hold on.“Same with Abby, although no one would ever do it while Jack’s around.I’veoften said if Abby and Sam weren’t so kind, there would be a lot of corpsesburied out on the ranch, if you know what I mean.”
He did.And he approved.“Sam is one of the nicest peopleI’ve ever met, and so is Abigail.I take it this is about their lifestyle.”
He also knew small towns.Some were quirky and fun andwelcoming.Some were rigid and unforgiving of even the smallest problems.Likeeverything else, small towns came in all varieties.Good.Bad.Indifferent.Andin town there would be pockets of people who disagreed with the majority.
“My mother has a long history with Willow Fork.She grew uphere, and in high school she fell in love with the richest boy in town.He wasgoing to marry her against his parents’ wishes, but he got into a car accidentand died,” Olivia explained.
“This is Lexi’s father,” Garrett clarified.
Olivia nodded.
“Oh, Adam and Abby were the most beautiful couple.Iremember them well, and how his momma acted after he died brought shame to herfamily.Or it would have if they had an ounce of it,” Gwen said as a car passedthem by.And then a runner.Just a white-haired dude who wasn’t even runningparticularly fast.“Old Ruby Echols ran Abby out of town, and she didn’t carethat Abby was pregnant.She made sure no one would serve her at any of theshops and told her she would take her momma’s job.”
