“You don’t have to worry about being fun. I want you there either way,” she says before releasing me.
As soon as the front door shuts and I hear the engine of her car start up, the waterworks start. The tears don’t scorch my skin as they trickle down my cheeks. They’re cool and healing.
I suppose loving yourself isn’t as hard as I thought it would be when you have others helping you do it.
23
WARREN
“That’s the last one,” Gage says as he nudges a bit of mulch to spread it out around the flowers that he just planted. He dusts his hands off and then places them on his hips, sighing with satisfaction.
I lean on the shovel in my hand, surveying the front yard of the house where Savannah’s been staying. It’s nothing like the immaculate landscaping that was there before, but the damage has been cleared out and we added back as much as we could with what little skill in gardening that we have.
It was an absolute mess when we started, but at least now it looks less like a construction zone and more like the inviting yard that it was before. I may have FaceTimed my mom a few times with questions so I didn’t mess anything up, but we figured it out on our own for the most part.
“You know that this isn’t ahalf-naked men doing yard workcalendar shoot, right?” I say to Tripp as he picks up his shirt that was long since hung over the porch railing.
He flips me off and wipes away the sweat on his forehead with the shirt.
“It’s hot as shit here, you can’t expect me to be fully clothed,” Tripp quips back.
Gage is swiping across his phone and then flips his screen to show me.
“Cameras are working. If whoever came and did this decides to come back, we’ll know who it is.”
The screen on his phone is of a security app, showing a grid of several camera angles each pointed in a different direction. Unless they were completely decked out in black from head to toe and covered their license plate, we should be able to identify anyone who sets foot anywhere on this property.
It’s a small sense of relief for me, but it doesn’t completely erase the worry. It’s possible that this was a one-off, but they didn’t steal anything. Either way, I’d rather Savannah stay at the bunkhouse for a while until I know that it’s completely safe here.
“Once I ask Savannah if it’s okay, send me the login so I can keep an eye on things,” I say. “Thanks.”
Gage nods and pockets his phone, then picks up a garden rake from the lawn. “Think of it as your going away present.”
“Wait, you're not moving out are you?” Heston all but panics. “You can’t leave me alone with him.” His thumb juts out pointing to Tripp.
I don’thaveto live there anymore—except for the fact that my savings are currently empty, so I can’t afford my own place just yet.
A chapter of my life is ending. No longer working at the ranch after over a decade there is going to be a huge adjustment. I’m good with the decision so that I can move on to bigger and better things for myself in my life, but I’ll still miss it.
What I don’t want is to move out right away and miss my friends every single day too.
Not yet, anyway.
“And not come home to your pretty face every night?” I over-dramatically twist my expression and shake my head with pursed lips. “Not a chance.”
“I knew you loved my face,” Tripp says with a smug grin.
“I was talking about Heston.”
“Right,” he huffs.
Gage interrupts Tripp’s pouting, changing the subject. “Maybe the girl that owns the place has a few enemies in the area that she failed to mention.”
“Maybe,” I nod as we walk back to where we parked. I grew up here and have never met or heard of anyone named Mesa, so I know she’s not from Westridge. But skeletons in your closet will follow you no matter where you go, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this was a hit against her personally. “I don’t know if she’s bad news, but I’m going to have to find out. She’s living in Savannah’s apartment in the city right now.”
“They traded houses?” Heston asks from behind me in a confused tone.
“That’s wild,” Tripp laughs.
