Rough Country (Tannen Boys 3)

“That’s pretty,” Willow says. The first time we’ve spoken in probably an hour, but it hasn’t been uncomfortable at all. To the contrary, it’s been perfect, the two of us lost in our passions but together the whole time. It’s like a beautiful weaving of interests, of attraction, of perspectives merging through two vastly different mediums. “What is it?”

“I don’t know yet. It just came to me, so I’m still playing around with it.” I pluck out the melody again and Willow hums along with the notes.

“How about one of those strummed, vibrato notes after that to lead in to the next bit?”

I stare at her in surprise. “You know music?”

She laughs. “Obviously not, or I’d know what that kind of note is actually called, but I can hear what you’re doing and I like it. It’s pulling me in, right on the edge of falling, and a bigger, longer note will feel like crashing through the surface to the rest of the song.”

She’s fucking stunning—her mind, her heart, and that smile—as she uncertainly asks if I get what she’s saying.

Instead of answering in words, I play the melody over and add in a long vibrato note, letting the deep tone resonate before diving back into the tune again as I start to hum. She nods and turns back to her camera.

The repetitive click becomes my inspiration as the song takes shape. Notes, feelings, phrases stacking together into something greater than the sum of its parts.

“It gets drowned in a rainstorm,

Buried in the mud,

Lost in my daily hustle,

And slowly stripped from my blood.

But your kiss sparked something, baby,

The burning in your eyes,

My hopes and dreams reignite,

Don’t tell me it’s all lies.

I fumble my way through a rough chord progression, only coming up to breathe, and find Willow sitting next to me, watching closely and swaying slightly to the tune. “Oh, shit, sorry. I sorta got lost . . .”

She smiles. “I’m glad. It’s beautiful, and I bet I’ll hear it on the radio one day when you’re a big star.” From most folks, I’d think they were giving me a hard time, but when Willow says it, it’s like she’s putting it on the wind to send it to the Sisters of Fate, putting the wish into the very fabric of my future. It’s never going to happen, but her faith that it could, that I’m good enough, is a blessing I’ll take gladly and thankfully.

“Thank you. Sun’ll be up in a few minutes,” I say, lifting my head toward the horizon that’s fading from indigo to lavender. “You want to photograph it?”

Those mood-ring eyes swirl, and I wonder what’s going through that brilliant mind of hers. A second later, she stops my guessing and tells me flat out. “No, I think I’d rather sit here with you and just experience it fully. I think I’ll remember this sunrise without the photograph.”

It’s important. I can feel it in my bones. She’s choosing presence in the now over an opportunity to look back in the future.

I put Betty back in her case and set it aside in the truck bed. Turning to Willow, I open my arm in invitation and she scoots closer to me, her head going to my chest as I lean back against the cab of the truck. Silent as can be, we watch the sun come up together, starting a new day with pinks and oranges that set the sky on fire.

Below us, the quiet lights of overnight Great Falls turn to activity as trucks start to appear on the roads and people walk along the sidewalks to get to work.

“You were right, you know . . .” Willow says, her voice trailing off.

“I usually am, but what was I right about this time?” I tease.

I feel her cheek puff up against my chest from her smile at my cocky joke. “You’re a great tour guide.”

Still teasing, I squeeze her a little tighter. “Don’t you wish you’d said yes sooner then?”

She shakes her head. “No, I think I’m glad you kept coming back for dinner and we got to talk first. It made this more . . . more.”

I know exactly what she means. I won’t say I’ve never been to Lookout Point, which is more commonly called Make-out Point by the local teenagers, but with the time to get to know Willow and see beneath the pretty exterior and beyond the magnetism I feel, tonight has been something truly different.

Even if it was just greasy burgers, cold fries, and another sunrise, because it was with her, it felt like the first time. She made it special.

Chapter 8

Willow

“Tell me everything. And don’t you leave one single thing out or so help me, I will pull the truth out of you with interrogation techniques only Chief Gibson is allowed to use,” Olivia threatens me the next day.