Broken Dreams (Broken 2)

I smiled and said, “I’ll always love you, Layton. Our love will never be broken.”

I watched as Walker and Jase said good-bye to their friends as the last people from the party filed out of the barn. When Walker turned and smiled at me, my heart stopped beating.

I need to stop this and stop it right away.

He’s your best friend, Taylor. Nothing more.

I smiled back and looked over toward Ava and her best friend, Cindy. I slowly glanced back over at Walker and Jase.

Walker had been my best friend since I could remember. Our parents were best friends, so we were always together. Family vacations, birthdays, holidays—whatever it was, and our families did it together. Walker had vowed at age six that he would always protect Ava and me. We were his whole world, and no one would ever hurt his sisters.

The problem was, Ava was his sister, and I was the best friend…who had been in love with him since he declared that first promise.

Jase let out a laugh and looked at me. “How do you think it went?”

I shook my head and said, “If Mom and Dad find out that you threw Walker and me a going-away party in their barn, they are going to be pissed.”

Jase and Ava both started laughing.

“Please. I’ve heard all the stories of Uncle Layton’s pontoon parties. One little barn party is nothing,” Ava said.

Jase looked at Ava and winked. “A girl after my own heart.”

Ava gave Jase the finger and turned to head out of the barn. “Cindy and I are heading home, Tay. See you in a few,” she called over her shoulder.

Jase watched Ava walk out of the barn, and then he turned and laughed. “Good thing I have a girlfriend.” He walked up and shook Walker’s hand, and then he reached down and kissed me on the cheek. “Love you, sis,” he whispered.

“Watch it. Ava is still my baby sister, Jase,” Walker said.

Jase let out a laugh and walked out of the barn but not before saying, “I threw the party. Y’all clean up.”

I stood up and called out, “Jase Morris! You better get your ass back in here right now and help clean all this up!”

Walker shook his head. “Come on. By the time you talk him into coming to help, we can have the whole place cleaned up.”

As Walker and I began cleaning up the empty cups and trash, we talked about college. Walker was going to Texas A&M and majoring in biological and agricultural engineering. I was going to Baylor University and getting my degree in education. My dream was to be an elementary school teacher right here in Llano.

“Are you still thinking of minoring in horticulture?” I asked as I threw the last empty cup away. I wiped my sticky hands on my pants.

Jase had promised no alcohol, but I was pretty sure that some people had snuck some in, and the evidence was all over my hands.

Walker let out a chuckle. “I’m not sure. I think I’ll be too busy with my major, and my dad really doesn’t want me pushing it.”

I walked over and rinsed off my hands in the sink at the end of the barn. I made my way over to a bunch of hay bales. I flopped down and let out a laugh. “I think you probably know just as much as the teachers anyway with what all you’ve learned from your dad.”

He nodded his head. “Yeah. My main goal is to help my dad and Layton out on the ranch. I’m itching to get into the racehorse world, but my damn dad won’t even let me go to any more races.”

I threw my head back and laughed. As I pulled my knees up to my chest, I looked at Walker and shook my head. “You don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that he caught you getting people to place bets on the horses, do you?”

Walker gave me that smile that had been melting my heart for years as he sat down next to me. I’d learned to cover up how I really felt about him, but he still did things to the pit of my stomach.

“Tay, can I ask you something?”

I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Of course you can. You never have to ask that.”

He looked away and out the barn door. “Why haven’t you ever dated anyone for very long?”

His question totally caught me off guard, and I dropped my legs and sat up as I cleared my throat. “Um…I don’t know. I want to be with that one person who…who, um…”