The Line, page 4
Unconsciously, I reached towards my back pocket, making sure the woman with the same eyes was still securely there. Feeling the frayed ends of the photo, I bit back my panic and eyed him, trying to gauge what he was going to do next.
Joe startled me, asking, “What about the peaches, Cole?”
I looked over to my cowboy, knowing that this was the moment of truth. A million tiny galloping horses took up residence in my chest and I wondered if anyone else could hear the thundering in my ears. I swallowed the dread that had crawled up my throat. I was good at that. I’d had plenty of practice. I was damn good at pretending.
In that moment, it seemed time had stopped—Cole and I were locked in a stare down so full of tension that my skin prickled. Sweat beaded on my forehead and my upper lip. My hands shook in my lap. My childhood had finally caught up with me. I had known that it was bound to happen eventually. I wasn’t gullible enough to believe that the shit I’d done earlier in my life wasn’t going to come back and bite me in the ass one day. That day was finally here, and the bite was brutal.
I had to admit, though, I couldn’t stop the butterflies that took flight in my belly. He recognized me. He hadn’t forgotten me, either. I was giddy, and that was just plain stupid, because at that moment, he held my fate in his hands. I bit my lip and gripped the napkin in my lap with both hands, holding my breath.
With a single blink, he broke the tension, rolled his shoulders, and turned his head towards Joe. “Just thinking, I gotta get up early. It’s going to be a hot one, and we have a ton of peaches to harvest,” he said, his face passive, like he hadn’t been locked in a stare down with me seconds earlier.
Turned out Cole was pretty damn good at pretending, too.
He nonchalantly nodded in my direction, “Kid,” he greeted me, digging into his dinner, basically ignoring the hell out of me.
Kid? I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t sting how quickly he dismissed me, but I only nodded back at him and said, “Nice to meet you, Cole.” I made sure to keep the waver out of my voice to hide the tremor in my hands. And the searing pain in my heart.
I blew out a breath I had been holding in and let my napkin go. I grabbed my fork and started moving the food around on my plate. He hadn’t told. Why?
After all, he could have told Joe and Missy everything. He could have told them how I was a thief and a liar. I didn’t know why he’d kept our night to himself, but in that moment, I was eternally grateful. I had fallen for this man years ago—and he still had me falling and falling.
Conversation about the farm buzzed around me. Meanwhile, I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off of Cole. Cole Briggs. I had a name now, and it didn’t disappoint. That name fit my cowboy fantasies to a T. My gaze left his brown eyes so I could appreciate the scruff on his jaw, and I wondered how it would feel against my cheeks, my neck, my chest. I blushed and grinned to myself, pushing my food all over my plate. I’d wondered that same thing too many damn times over the years to count. Cole was even more beautiful than I remembered. Time had been damn good to him. I wondered if he thought time had been good to me too, but I had a feeling he wasn’t all that happy about me being there, from the look he’d given me earlier. Who could blame him? He was clearly close to these people, and I wasn’t the type of girl you brought into your family.
“Does that sound good to you, Everly?”
Joe broke me out of thoughts, and I glanced over at him. I didn’t have a clue what he’d asked me, but he was the boss, so I just nodded and smiled.
“Great. Cole usually leaves at about five in the morning to start his day, so you’ll have an early start, but he’s been with me for over ten years, so I can’t think of anyone better to show you around the farm. He loves this place almost as much as I do,” Joe said, regarding Cole proudly.
My eyes bugged out of my head. Had I just agreed to spend the day with Cole? Crap. I needed to stay out of this man’s way. Give him space, keep my head down and my nose clean. He’d called me kid. I needed to prove to him that I wasn’t the same girl I’d been four years ago.
But, most of all, I needed to spend less time in hot cowboy lala land and pay the hell attention.
Cole’s eyes narrowed on me, and my face flushed.
“Oh, Joe, I’m sure Cole has his hands full. I don’t want to keep him from his work. I bet Cody would be happy to show me around.” I wasn’t ready for the confrontation that I knew was coming from Cole. And it was coming because, if looks could kill, I’d be dead as hell. Dead.
God, where the hell was Cody when a girl needed him? He’d have helped lighten the mood, but he’d told me earlier that he didn’t always eat dinner here and he definitely wouldn’t that night because he had a hot date. Damn him.
Missy leaned around Joe and winked at me. “Trust me, you want Cole showing you around.”
If I thought my face had been hot before, it was on fire now. Good Lord. Was she trying to hook me up with Cole? That man who ironically hated my face. I would have laughed at this situation if I had been an outsider looking in. But I wasn’t. I was deeply involved, and all I wanted to do was cry.
Joe had introduced me to Missy earlier as his caregiver and housekeeper. After meeting her, I had been even more confused about what my duties would be. She seemed really competent and super nice. And definitely not the busybody, hooking-people-up type I was seeing now. I was usually a pretty good judge of character. Maybe I was losing my touch.
“Yeah, Ev-er-ly,” Cole said, sharply sounding out every syllable in my name like he was wielding a damn weapon. The man who had met me four years ago had just learned my name, and already, he was using it to hurt me. “I’m happy to show you around. Maybe we’ll take the horses out,” Cole said, his voice tight.
My hero worship of Cole Briggs started to fade with every smart remark, every ugly leer, and every fake smirk he threw my way. I wasn’t the same person I’d been back then, and maybe Cole wasn’t, either. Which was a damn shame because that Cole—the Cole from that night—had been every-damn-thing.
Horses? Damn him. I couldn’t ride a fucking horse. And the bastard knew it. I’d never even touched a damn horse in my life, but I only nodded and smiled weakly at everyone. Regardless, I was riding a horse tomorrow. Fuck. Me.
“Maybe we’ll take the horses for a swim while we have them out,” he said through a smile that wasn’t the least bit genuine.
Horses swim? Shit.
The rest of the meal was painful. The death glares from Cole’s side of the table combined with the sweet smiles and glances from Joe and Missy were giving me emotional whiplash, and I just kept praying for everyone to hurry up and eat so we could wrap this the hell up.
When Missy stood to clear the dishes, I quickly jumped up to help her, eager to escape Cole and his scathing looks. We quietly cleared the table while Joe and Cole talked peaches, horses, and Cole’s work for tomorrow. Through it all, Cole watched me like a damn hawk. And who could blame him? I’d done him wrong. So terribly wrong.
I decided right then and there that I’d make this right. I’d prove to Cole I wasn’t that same girl. I’d work hard this summer. I’d earn his trust, just like he’d earned mine four years ago.
I came in for lunch, prepared to face the inquisition from Joe and Everly, but I didn’t really care. If she had wanted to go with me, then she should have been ready and awake at five this morning. I had peaches to harvest, animals to feed. Basically a list so long that it never got done. If Everly didn’t know already, she would soon realize that there was always work here and it was never fucking done.
When I’d gone up to the big house to get her this morning and she hadn’t been downstairs, I’d given her the benefit of the doubt and checked upstairs to see if she was getting ready. After knocking at her door, I’d received no answer, so I’d turned the knob and pushed the door open. The room had been still pitch-black, so I’d walked in and found her still snoozing. I’d stood there, frozen, watching a sleeping Everly. Only she hadn’t looked like Everly lying there. She’d resembled the Peaches of years ago. Young, sweet, innocent, and alone, and for a moment, all the anger I’d felt last night at seeing her had taken a back seat to the need to protect her. Help her. Save her.
I’d been stupid then, and I was being an idiot now. She’d played me then, and she was probably playing us all now. I’d almost told Joe last night, but something in her face had stopped me. She’d seemed so sad and horrified at the prospect of being outed.
I was damn sick of cheating, lying, thieving women, but apparently, I was also still a sucker. I’d keep an eye on her. I wouldn’t let her hurt Joe. I’d die before that happened. But, for some reason, I hadn’t been able to rat her out. Maybe it was the fear that she’d end up back on the streets, or maybe it was the memories of our day together. Either way, I knew it wasn’t smart.
I couldn’t help but think about how Everly was going to make my already bad situation worse as I walked into the kitchen, expecting to get my ass grilled. What I hadn’t been expecting was to see Everly perched on the kitchen table in front of Joe. Her head was thrown back in laughter, and she had tears running down her face.
“Oh God, Joe, I’m so sorry,” Everly said, wiping the tears of laughter from her face. Her laughter wasn’t soft or tinkling like a bell. It was big and boisterous—infectious. And I almost found myself smiling along with her. Almost.
Joe was laughing pretty hard along with her, and I noticed the spoon in Everly’s hand and the chili all down the front of Joe’s shirt. Was she feeding him?
“Where’s Missy?” I demanded. Why was Everly feeding him? What was her motive for being here? What was she doing, buttering Joe up? I didn’t trust her for a second.
“Well, hello to you too,” Joe said through laughter, turning his chair towards me. “Missy ran out to the store to get a few things for the house, and Everly offered to help with lunch.”
“Turns out I’m not that much help,” Everly said, still laughing and peering at the front of Joe’s shirt. She jumped off the table and landed on her cowgirl boots. She wiped Joe’s mouth with a napkin and then cleaned the front of his shirt, her eyes still twinkling with laughter.
“I don’t know,” Joe said, still chuckling. “I haven’t laughed this much fun at lunch in a long time, sweetheart. So I’d say it was a win.”
Joe was giving her soft looks, and all I could think was that I couldn’t let her hurt him. She was sucking him in. The same way she had me four years ago. She was no better than Marla, with her cheating, manipulations, and lies.
Everly grabbed the empty bowl of chili in one hand and lovingly squeezed Joe’s shoulder with other before making her way over the kitchen sink to start dishes. “I’ll help you change shirts after I finish washing up, Joe.”
Joe zipped out of the room before either of us could blink.
“God, he’s fast on that thing,” Everly said, grinning into the sink of soapy dishes. “Sorry I didn’t get up in time to go out with you this morning, Cole. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. New place and all,” she said, turning her smile my way.
I wouldn’t be fooled with fake kindness. Not again. The steel around my heart reinforced itself.
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the cabinets next to the sink. “What’s your game here, Ev-er-ly?” Adrenaline pumped through my veins.
She let out a sigh and threw the sponge into the sink with a little more force than I thought was necessary for her pretend outrage. Then she wiped her hands on her jeans. She turned her body towards mine and the full force of her rage with it. “There’s no damn game here, Cowboy,” she said through her teeth. “And why the hell do you keep saying my name like that?” She took a step closer to me.
There was no way I was backing down. I took my own step forward, bringing us toe to toe. “Like what?” Ice ran through my veins.
“Like Ev-er-ly!” She sounded like a big, growly bear, her voice deep and gravelly in a way that I guess was meant to imitate mine.
“Is that even your real name?” I got straight to the point. I had a lot of fucking questions, but that was the first I wanted answered.
She looked taken aback and shocked, and I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or some elaborate show she was putting on. “What?” she asked. “Of course it’s my real name. Why the hell would you ask that?” She moved back.
I took a step forward to her retreating one. “You don’t think I remember the name of the small town I met you in? You don’t think I remember the name of the train station we were at when I offered you a seat? Come on, kid. I thought you were better than this.” I shook my head and breathed in deep. I was short tempered on a good day, and I hadn’t had a good day in three fucking months. I was going to lose it. What kind of game did she think she was playing?
Her head fell forward, and her shoulders hunched over. She stared at the ground, clutching her hands, seemingly broken. Broken like the girl on the train—Peaches.
Fire raced across my skin and my breath caught as I remembered.
The engineer stood over us, holding his hand out for our tickets. And Peaches—she looked panicked. Wrapped around herself tight, her hands clutched together in her lap.
“She’s with me,” I said, handing my ticket and some money to the train engineer.
Peaches’s head turned quickly, and her narrowed eyes said it all. “I am not with you!” she whisper-yelled at me before turning back to the engineer. “I’m not with him,” she said calmly, gazing up at the engineer.
The engineer glanced back and forth between us. “Ma’am, I couldn’t care less who you are with, but either I need your ticket or you need to get off the train at the next stop.” The man towered over her, intimidating.
Nervously drumming her fingers on the top of her thighs, she looked back at me and then to the engineer again, knowing she didn’t have a choice in the matter. “Oh, then I guess I’m with him,” she said, throwing her thumb in my general direction, that peaches blush hitting her cheeks again.
I chuckled.
The engineer shook his head, handing me my receipts back. “Have a good trip.” He eyed Peaches. “And good luck. “
I laughed again, and Peaches rolled her eyes beside me. I was going to need more than luck. This girl was completely shut down and turned off. I was going to need a damn miracle.
It’d turned out I didn’t get a miracle. I’d just gotten taken advantage of.
I took another step forward. I had her cornered, and our bodies were practically touching. I ignored the soft scent of honeysuckle and sunshine because everything about this girl was meant to deceive, and I was done with being duped. “I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing with Joe, but I have it on good authority that he doesn’t carry a wallet.”
She flinched like I’d slapped her in the face, her features crumbling. I was triumphant in that moment. Like maybe I’d protect myself and Joe from her. Like maybe she’d leave this place with our pocketbooks and our hearts still fully intact.
But then she surprised me. I watched her back straighten, her shoulders roll back, and her gaze meet mine head on, challenging me. She took two steps forward, pushing me back until the counter bit into my hips. Her gaze was piercing, her face a mask of determination. And all of a sudden, she wasn’t the kid from the train four years ago. She was beautiful, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, transforming right before my eyes—from girl to woman.
“Pay attention, Cole Briggs, because I’m only gonna tell you this once. And the only reason I’m even telling you is because you were once kind to me at a time in my life when no one else was.” She clenched her hands at her sides and the pulse in her jaw ticked. “My name is Everly Woods, just like the small town. Just like the train station my parents dumped me in when I was just a baby. And coincidentally the same train station you met me in sixteen years later. You’d think the rescue workers who found me there would have come up with something a little more original, but it seems that they didn’t. So it seems like I’m stuck with it. Deal with it. I’ve learned to.” She finished and backed away from me, heading back to do the dishes in the sink like the whole ordeal hadn’t happened.
My heart dropped. I took a step, pressing my hand over it. I could feel the steel fortress around my heart starting to crumble, and I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t do this. Any of it.
And I wished none of it had happened. The baby abandoned in the train station. The rescue workers naming her after the place they’d found her. Us meeting years ago. Us meeting again now. I wished I could take it all back.
Fuck.
I walked out of the kitchen feeling properly chastised, but I still didn’t trust her. Not by a mile. But my heart, my heavy fucking heart, got even heavier, and it broke a little for the girl on the train years ago.
It had been a solid four hours since my confrontation with Cole at lunch and I was still spitting mad. I was making my way across the farm to the B&B located at the back of the property to deliver some papers to Jane from Joe, and with every step I took, I thought of Cole and his handsome bastard face. I looked around, wondering if the workers fixing the fence ten yards away from me could see the smoke pouring out of my ears, because surely it was.
He’d treated me like shit on his boots. He really hadn’t even given me the benefit of the doubt and didn’t seem like he had any plans to. He’d just automatically assumed I was a liar. Part of me understood that I’d wronged him years ago. But I hadn’t ruined his life with my actions. I’d been a dumb, hungry kid, for sure, but nothing warranted this kind of reaction from him. What had happened to my sweet cowboy from the train? What had been so awful in these past four years that he’d turned not only hard and mean, but so unforgiving? I was angry as hell, but the younger me was hurt. She had worshipped that cowboy. She’d thought he’d hung the moon. When she’d been so cold that her toes had gone numb in her old, worn shoes, she’d thought of his smile and it had warmed her beyond measure.
