Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
“Em! Stop.” He adds a softer “Please” that I can’t ignore.
My feet slow, even as my chest feels like it’s going to cave in.
“Last night was … fuck,” his voice trails.
I squeeze my eyes shut as I remember his hands and mouth on me again. I know what he means and yet I feel no relief. “It was a huge mistake. A weak moment. It can’t happen again. It can never happen again.” I peer over my shoulder to meet his gaze. “There is no going back, Logan. Ever. No matter how much either of us might want it. You know that.”
His jaw clenches. It’s not what he wanted to hear.
“You’re a convicted criminal with a record that will ruin my life. Is that what you’re trying to do?”
“Of course not.” He appears taken aback. “How can you even ask me that?”
The garage side door swings open then and in walks Jon.
Chapter 17
Logan
Jon startles when he sees us. “Whoa, shit, sorry, I didn’t think you’d be up.” His eyes dart to Emery, to the same clothes she was wearing at the bar. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out she stayed over, and by the way his eyebrows jump, he’s figured it out. Finally, he nods. “Emery.”
Her chest heaves with a sigh that might as well say “Fuck my life.”
“Jon.” It’s all she says before she marches through the back door that still sits ajar from when she arrived last night.
“What do you want?” I snap, tugging my T-shirt over my head.
“Honestly, I was gonna leave this on the step.” He holds up an envelope before closing the distance to hand it to me.
My name is scrawled on the outside in my sister’s printing. “What is this?”
“It’s your paycheck for the week.”
I study the sealed envelope. “Me and the other ranch hands.” On a bison ranch that, in another world, would be passed down to me.
“You need to show steady income, right? That’s part of your parole. You know that.”
“Everyone wants to tell me what I fucking know today,” I grumble.
Jon’s lips purse, but he uses his common sense and stays quiet while I tear open the envelope and see the amount. My mother alluded to the idea of paying me for my hours. I guess I didn’t think it’d start so soon or that my brother-in-law would be the one handing it to me.
“It’ll be full-time pay come December, once Robbie’s done. I gave him notice yesterday that we’re letting him go.”
“You fired the kid?” He can’t be more than twenty-five. Is that why he didn’t come out with the rest of us last night?
“He knew it was comin’. Said he understands. Family comes first, right?” Jon reaches over to pat my shoulder.
I struggle not to flinch. “I’ve gotta clean Biscuit’s stall for Isla. She’s at her friend’s place.” And I don’t have to explain myself to Jon. Or do I? He’s delivering my check. Does that mean he’s my boss? Fuck that. And yet I feel compelled to add, “I’m goin’ fishing this morning, but I’ll be back later to clear more.”
“Yeah. I saw Holt up at the house. He mentioned it.”
“What else did he mention? About last night.” I watch Jon closely. Would my father bring Jon into the family fold when it involves my brother’s dirty secrets?
Jon’s gaze drifts to the doors where Emery walked out as he chooses his answer. “Holt tells me what he thinks I should know, and he doesn’t tell me what he thinks I shouldn’t know.”
“Hmm.” A nonanswer if I’ve ever heard one.
Jon offers a lazy salute. “Enjoy fishing. That area’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m from here, remember?” The second Jay had his license, he and I were grabbing our rods and the tin can boat. He didn’t care that I was his eleven-year-old brother. He always made time for me.
Jon pauses with his hand on the door, and I sense his hesitation before he blurts out, “They almost lost this place. Did you know that? After your brother died and you went away.”
“I knew times were tough,” I say slowly.
“They weren’t just tough. They were impossible. Your dad was driving hours out of his way to find someone who didn’t know the Landry name that he could sell to. They borrowed money from Wyatt to cover bills.”
Clearly my mother left important details out of her letters, but I’m not surprised. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I don’t know what last night at the bar was all about, and I’m not saying you did anything wrong. That’s not what I’m sayin’—” He holds his hands in the air. “But this is my family too now, and they’ve been through a heck of a lot, so if you’re doing anything that you shouldn’t be doing, knock it off. Right now.”
“Or what?”