Once Burned

Chapter 2-1

Two

Henry was a coward. There was no other explanation for why he was pulling up in front of his house in Northstar when the sun slumped so close to the crests of the western ridges. If he had left when he’d planned to, he would have arrived home four hours ago, but he’d found one excuse after another to delay his departure.

He knew his parents and brothers loved him and would offer sympathy, but he’d always felt like he wasn’t quite understood, that his disinclination to stay in Northstar to help run the family ranch and his pursuit of a welding career in a big city made him a bit of an outsider. Looking back, his relationship with Melanie had intensified that feeling. His parents had treated Melanie kindly enough, but there was something about her they didn’t approve of. Until recently, Henry hadn’t a clue what that might be, especially considering how deeply in love they’d fallen with Dylan from the moment of his birth. He had wondered, since they adored the mothers of their other two grandchildren, why they couldn’t seem to warm to Melanie.

“They didn’t trust her,” Henry observed as he stared out his windshield at the Northstar Mountains. “And I understand all too well why now.”

He climbed out of his truck and grabbed the first two of his bags off the passenger seat. With tired, defeated steps, he climbed the stairs to the covered front deck of his single-story house and unlocked the door before pushing it open with his foot. He dropped the bags just inside and returned to his truck for more. Without his furniture, which he’d left behind because his house here was fully furnished, all of his belongings fit easily in the bed of his pickup, and it took him less than twenty minutes to unload everything and stash it temporarily in the spare bedroom.

When everything was unloaded, Henry stood in the living room and glanced around his house. It had been his since he’d turned twenty-one—ten years now—but he hadn’t spent much time in it. It was the ranch foreman’s house in times when that position wasn’t filled by a member of the family—currently Henry’s older brother, Nick, held that title—and with two bedrooms and a single bathroom, it was on the small side. The living room, dining room, and kitchen formed an open L, and large, south-facing windows flanked the front door and let in plenty of light, which did a lot to make the place feel bigger. Surrounded by wide-open spaces, Henry had no need and no desire for a big house, which made this one a perfect fit. At any rate, it felt more like home than any place he’d lived besides the main ranch house.

“All right,” he said, hooking his thumbs in his pockets. “Now what?”

First, he needed to call his parents to let them know he was home. His mother was probably getting worried by now, so he grabbed the cordless off the kitchen counter. After he called his folks, he should call his twin brother. It was his first night back in Northstar, so by tradition, he was supposed to have a drink with Aaron at the Bedspread, but he really wasn’t up to seeing his twin… or being social at all, for that matter. Aaron would be disappointed, but he’d just have to get over it.

He briefly debated whom to call first and punched in his parents’ number.

“I was beginning to wonder if you were going to make it,” his mother said.

“Sorry, Mom. I got a late start.”

“That’s all right, honey. I’m just glad you’re home.”

“Me, too.”

“When do I get to see you and that darling grandson of mine?”

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, but Dylan and Melanie didn’t come.”

“Oh? Are you and Mel on the outs again?”

He winced. He should tell her right now, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Yeah, we are,” he said instead.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She offered no other comments and asked no questions, but the tone of her voice said plainly enough that she had noted something amiss in his voice.

“I love you, Mom,” Henry said, trying to reassure her that he would be all right.

“I love you, too, Henry. I’ll see you tomorrow, and you can tell me about it then… or whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Next, he called Aaron.

“You ready to go get that beer?” his twin asked by way of greeting. “Jessie’s down at Mom and Dad’s, so I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Actually, I think I’m going to have to take a rain check. Sorry, bro,” Henry replied. “I’m wiped, so I’m just going to take a shower and hit the sack.”

“No problem, Hen. I’ll see you tomorrow morning? We’re supposed to help set up for Vince’s wedding.”

“Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“All right. Get some sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Henry ended the call and set the cordless back in its cradle feeling more than a little guilty because a beer sounded very good right then. He was probably a terrible sibling for ditching his twin, but he took a quick shower and headed up to the Bedspread Inn.

By the time Lindsay sat down at a table beside the big windows in the restaurant of the Bedspread Inn, she wasn’t sure she was going to make it back to Evie’s house before she either broke something or started crying. Her smile had become too much to maintain, and she stared out the windows at the Northstar Mountains awash in golden evening sunlight, drumming her fingers on the table while she waited for her meal. The food arrived, and it looked and smelled delicious, but she was no longer hungry and pushed the ravioli around on her plate.

“Are you all right?” Skye whispered.

“I’m fine,” Lindsay replied—unconvincingly, she knew. She tried again, but only managed to say, “Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been pretty tense since we left Evie’s. So, what’s going on?”

Lindsay debated telling Skye and decided it might be a good idea to vent a little. “Noah’s mad at me because I didn’t force him to come with me and because he has to share a room with Spencer, and then I called Max to ask for help with football gear. You can imagine how that went.”

She tried to stop the words but couldn’t. They tumbled out, and she ended up repeating the entire conversation to Skye. By the end of it, Evie was leaning in, listening intently.

“It’s not like I wanted to get pregnant in high school or go into labor a couple hours after we graduated, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be a single parent who is so broke she can’t afford her own place, who had to set aside every dream she ever had to raise her son as best she can—which is apparently not good enough.”

“And you certainly didn’t ask to be stuck with a self-centered asshole of an ex, either,” Skye said gently.

Lindsay drew a deep breath and glanced at the rest of their party, but no one else seemed to be aware of the conversation at the bride’s end of the table, so she exhaled slowly.

“No, I didn’t,” she said.

“Look at it this way, Linds,” Skye remarked. “At least you were smarter than me because you didn’t marry your asshole ex.”

“Given the chance, though, I would have. I might have begged him to marry me if I’d thought there was any chance…. But he didn’t want us.”

Skye shook her head. “No, you never would have begged. You have too much pride and self-respect for that.”

Evie sat up suddenly and asked, “When was the last time you went on a date?”

“You know when,” Lindsay replied.

“You’re telling me you haven’t been on a date since Logan?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Evie.” It turned into such a disaster that I haven’t recovered the courage to try again. Thinking about the only other man she’d been with long enough to earn the designation of “ex” wasn’t going to put her in any better mood than would dwelling on her ongoing issues with Max.

“I think we need to send you on a date while you’re here,” Evie said brightly, oblivious of her friend’s inner turmoil. “You don’t have Noah here to worry about and all the time in the world to yourself.”

Before Lindsay could respond, the bell on the dining room’s door jingled and in strolled one of those attractive Northstar men Evie had mentioned not less than a dozen times today. Clad in Wrangler jeans that hugged long legs and narrow hips, a fitted white T-shirt that accentuated strong arms, shoulders, and chest, and a pair of dusty work boots, he looked every bit the quintessential Montana cowboy even without the trademark hat. His mouth was set in a firm line, and his blue eyes were stern. Or were they agonized? When their gazes briefly met, Lindsay decided it was the latter, and her heart stumbled over itself, smitten and concerned all at once.

What’s wrong, cutie pie? she wondered as the thought of a one night stand returned with sudden and breathtaking appeal.

As he strode past their table on his way to the bar at the back of the room, she turned in her chair to enjoy the view and thought of the photo of six cowboys sitting on the log rail of a corral Evie had emailed shortly after she met Vince. Cowboy butts drive me nuts, she had captioned it.

Just before the stranger settled on a bar stool, he glanced back at Lindsay, and her pulse quickened. The rest of him might drive me nuts, too, she mused, absently poking at the ice in her glass of Coke with her straw.

“Well, what do you think?” Evie asked, apparently taking Lindsay’s lack of response to mean she was considering the matter of a date.

“Let’s get you married off before we start trying to fix me.”

Lindsay covertly studied the stranger. He did not again glance her way—at least, not while she was looking. He sat hunched over his beer with his fingers knitted around the bottle and talked quietly to the tall man behind the bar whose expression spoke of a deep conversation rather than a light-hearted chat. A questionable urge to join the blond cowboy for a drink or three—one unhappy soul commiserating with another—fluttered in her chest. Considering Evie’s recent comments, she didn’t think her friend would mind too much if she missed a bit of their girls’ night in, so when everyone in their party stood to leave, she excused herself from the group.

“Where are you going?” Evie asked. “I thought we were—”

“I want a drink,” Lindsay replied. “And I promise to be better company when I get home.”

“Do you want us to stay with you? I don’t drink, but I—”

“No. You don’t want to be around me right now, Evie, and I don’t want to be the thundercloud to rain on the eve of your wedding, so I’ll just have a drink or two and clear my head a bit before I rejoin you, all right? Then I’ll be home, and you, Skye, and I can have a laughing good time like we always do.”

“If you’re sure….”

“Let’s leave her be for a bit, Evie,” Skye said, gently guiding the bride toward the door. Before she followed their friend outside, she turned to Lindsay and added, “I know Evie’s house is just up the road from here and plenty close enough for you to walk, but call if you want a ride.”

“Thanks, Skye. Not just for that, but for—”

“I get it, Linds. I’ve had my share of moments recently when I just wanted to be alone.” She glanced toward the bar, then back at Lindsay. “Or not so alone.”

Without a word, Skye left, and Lindsay made her way toward the bar. She doubted she’d act on the flash-fire impulses the stranger had unknowingly triggered, but it was refreshing to consider the possibilities. Evie was right that she needed to treat herself to a date if only to remind herself that she was more than Noah’s mother, more than Max’s and Logan’s unwanted ex-girlfriend.

She hesitated, catching snippets of the quiet conversation between the cowboy and the bar tender. What she heard made her heart ache, so she slid onto the barstool beside the man centered so pervasively at the forefront of her attention and smiled warmly when he turned toward her. Maybe she could find a way to cheer them both up.