I admired Ryder’s ability to accept people just as they were, even as it was sometimes frustrating.
“If he’s back though, Sin, he needs to know.”
“What if he doesn’t stay? I don’t want Alyssa to be hurt.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Alyssa or you?”
“Both. He just took off. We had no idea where he was. Turns out he joined the military. Did you know that?”
“No, but it makes sense.” Ryder mixed two drinks for me and Trina, going heavy on the mix and lighter on the booze. “Whether he stays or goes, he has a right to know. Was he a jerk to run off? Maybe. But he didn’t know about Alyssa-”
“That’s not my fault.”
“I know. But if he had known, he wouldn’t have left. I believe that. I don’t know who he is now, but if he’s like the Wyatt I knew, he’ll stay if he knows. He’ll do what’s right.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want him hanging around out of obligation.”
My brother gave me a disapproving glare. “That’s not fair. Plus, you have to consider what you’re denying Alyssa. If she found out about Wyatt, she’d resent you for not telling her.”
Dammit, he was right. “I just need to think. To figure out his plans. If the farm gets sold, he’ll probably leave.”
“Doesn’t matter, Sin.” Ryder shook his head, and it reminded me of my father when he did the same thing when we disappointed him.
“What’d I miss?” Trina rejoined us. She looked at the drink. “Jack and coke?”
He nodded.
“You remembered.”
“I aim to please.” Ryder winked at her.
She gave him a sideways glance as she lifted her drink and turned to me. “So, what should we toast to?”
“I have no idea,” I said, picking up my drink.
“How about to Wyatt Jones' efforts to kick Simon Stark’s ass out of town?”
“I can drink to that.” I clicked my glass to hers, but before I could sip, I heard a low chuckle behind me. I knew that laugh. I turned in my chair. “Wyatt.”
He smiled. “Still thinking of me, I see.”
Damn him. Was there no escape from him?
9
Wyatt
I’d been halfway back to the farm, when I turned the truck around. I wasn’t ready to return home. What I really wanted to do was hunt down Stark and give him the proper ass-kicking he so richly deserved. Who the fuck sent goons out to harass older women? It was like we were living in a fucking movie. I had to hope that like in fiction, all would end well. But because real life didn’t always have a happily ever after, I was still on edge. I was pissed at my father for trying to sell the farm out from under my mother and me. I was frustrated that the mayor’s office wasn’t showing more support for the farmers. And I was hurt that Sinclair found the idea of marrying me so distasteful.
That last one really bothered me a lot. Probably more than it should considering w
hat I’d done. She had every right to be wary of me. Even so, at one time, she and I were as close as two people could be. Or so I thought. Maybe I had it all wrong ten years ago. Maybe her talk of a future together once she finished college was just to placate me until she left for school. Perhaps that was why she didn’t even think about coming with me when I showed up asking her to run away.
All this was whirling around in my brain, making me tense and surly. My mother didn’t need to see me in a mess, so I headed back to town for a drink at Salvation Station. As I made my way back through the city limits, I noticed that most of the rest of the town hadn’t changed in the last ten years. It was much the same, but it felt foreign, which I supposed meant I’d changed. Sinclair had too. Perhaps that meant the marriage idea was nuts because those two kids who loved each other madly didn’t exist anymore.
This was the first time I’d be walking into a social situation since returning home. Who would I know in the bar? Who’d remember me? Who’d care? Right now, I’d be happy to be ignored by everyone except the bartender.
As I drew closer to the bar, the air around me changed. I knew exactly what from. My gaze was like a laser as it found Sinclair sitting at the bar with Trina.