Page 60 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

Cowboy grinned. “She’s my fiancée. You’ll like her. She’s a sweetheart, and a horse whisperer.”

“As opposed to my wife, Billie, who’s a badass and a Dare whisperer,” Dare said.

“Why is everything a competition with you?” Cowboy asked as he and Dare climbed into the truck.

“Are they always like that?” Lucas asked with amusement.

“Pretty much.” Doc watched them drive away.

“It’s freaking hot out here.”

Lucas pulled off his T-shirt, and Doc was struck speechless at the sight of the necklace he’d made with his grandfather hanging around his son’s neck. He hadn’t seen it in so long, he felt a tweak in his chest, remembering his grandfather’s strong hands helping him with the tools they’d used as they’d made it. There was a knot representing their strong family bond above two horse heads that faced each other, with silver bands protectively winding around them and through their manes, coming together in a point at the bottom. Doc had seen those bands as their family protecting the horses. But that night in the lake, Juliette had said the horses represented him and her, and the necklace formed a heart. That was the first time he’d noticed the heart shape. His grandfather had loved the horses as much as he’d loved his wife, and as the necklace shimmered in the sunlight, Doc wondered if his grandfather had seen that heart all along.

“Something wrong?” Lucas asked.

Doc broke his stare. “No. Where’d you get that necklace?”

Lucas touched the metal charm. “It was my mom’s good luck charm. She wore it every day for as long as I can remember.”

His thoughts stumbled again at the idea that she’d continued wearing it when she’d thought he wanted nothing to do with her and Lucas. “And she gave it to you?”

“Yeah. When I started bull riding, as my good luck charm. Why?”

“I’m not sure I should tell you. I don’t want anything happening to that necklace.”

Lucas’s jaw tightened. “You gave it to her, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. My grandfather and I made it when I was a little kid. I never took it off until I gave it to your mom. But that necklace is between you and her now. Please don’t let me ruin that for you.”

Lucas wrapped his fist around it, his brows pinched.

“Please don’t destroy it or throw it away. If you don’t want it, I get it. You can give it back to your mom or give it to me, but please. My grandfather is gone, and that necklace means more to me than you can imagine.”

His jaw ticked. “It can’t mean that much. You gave it away.”

“I gave it to the girl I thought I was going to spend my life with.”

“But you thought she dumped you. Why didn’t you ask for it back?” Before Doc could respond, Lucas said, “Wait,” remorsefully. “You couldn’t, right? Because of her stupid father?”

“Yeah, but even if I could have, I wouldn’t have asked for it back.”

“Why not if it’s so important to you?” he challenged.

Doc’s pulse ratcheted up, like it had the night he’d slipped the necklace over Juliette’s head and said, You and me forever, darlin’. “I made a promise when I gave it to her, and from that moment on, it was no longer mine.”

Lucas was silent for a beat, still clutching the charm. “Well, do you want it back?”

“No. I’m glad she gave it to you, but it’s okay if you don’t want it.”

“I’m keeping it,” he said sharply, and let go of the charm. “Like you said, it’s between me and my mom now.”

Doc breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay.”

Lucas’s shoulders relaxed, and he looked relieved, too. “Thanks for helping me today.”

“Anytime.”

Lucas touched the charm again as Juliette came down the driveway. “I won’t do anything bad to the necklace. It’s not your fault I didn’t know about you.”