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Thatcher rode over toward me and stopped on the other side of the fence. The amused gleam in his eye as he tilted his hat back on his head and looked down at me just pissed me off. Why he had to get amusement from Lula Mae coming here daily when he didn’t like the bitch either was beyond me.
“I see your girlfriend is back again today,” he said with a smirk.
“Don’t call her that,” I bit out.
He patted Zephyr. “He’s gonna fly.”
“Seems that way,” I agreed.
Thatcher hadn’t taken him out to test that yet, but I wanted to be here when he did.
“I got that info you asked for,” he told me. “The record label. I’ll text you his contact when I’m done.”
“Thanks,” I replied, still not sure if this was something I could handle.
I was torn. I wanted to give Briar everything. Hand her the fucking world. But sharing her … it made my chest get tight, thinking about it. How would I manage that? She deserved it. She was so incredibly talented, and she belonged on a stage. Dammit, I wished this were easier. I had battled with it for weeks and finally gone to Thatcher to ask about the friend of his who owned a record label.
I was holding her golden ticket in my hand. Giving it to her terrified the shit out of me. Just the thought of losing her felt like my soul was being sucked from my body. But there had to come a time when I trusted her. She’d been honest with me. More honest than I’d been with her.
I had to make a decision. I guessed I was about to find out just how unhinged I’d become.
Thatcher looked past me, and his expression darkened before he adjusted his hat, shading his eyes, and rode off without another word.
I glanced back over my shoulder to see what he’d been looking at and saw the little jockey Capri.
She glanced up at me with a nervous smile. “Excuse me, but have you seen JB?”
I shook my head. “No, sorry. Not today.”
Her brows pinched together. “Okay, thanks. But if you see him, will you tell him I’m looking for him?”
I nodded my head, and she turned, taking her cap and slipping it over her blonde hair that she had pulled tight in a ponytail at the back of her neck.
I’d forgotten about that weird shit with her and Thatcher. I’d had my own things going on, but someone needed to check into that. And when I said someone, I meant Stellan. I sure as fuck wasn’t getting involved.
I hoped JB was still breathing.
• Twenty-One •
Being nasty seemed to be her talent in life.
Briar
I’d been waiting on Dovie to come home from swimming at the Kingston’s with Nailyah, but she’d texted that they were going to see a movie. So, I figured I’d get on my jeans and boots and go visit Noor. The added bonus: Storm was at the stables too. I was trying not to be a full-on clinger with him, but it was becoming harder every day. When he wasn’t with me, I missed him. I wondered what he was doing. He was on my mind the majority of the time.
As I was sliding on my second boot, my phone rang. I leaned forward to slide it out of my back pocket and saw Pepper’s number. With a smile, I pressed Answer and put it to my ear.
“Hey,” I said, happy that she had called.
There had been no texts from her since the one time, and I had been thinking of texting her just this morning.
“So, you are alive?” she replied.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” Maybe I should have texted her. I wasn’t good at this friend thing. I had a lot to learn.
“Because I’ve sent you two different texts and heard nothing back.”
I frowned and pulled my phone away from my ear to look at it. I went to my text messages, and there was nothing from her since the last time.
“I don’t have any texts from you,” I told her. “I’m looking now and nothing.”
“That’s odd. I sent you two. One last week about a summer concert thing that the bar is hosting at the beach, and I was hoping I could get you here as one of our acts. Then another yesterday, asking again about the concert and checking in on you.”
I hadn’t played onstage in weeks, and although I loved being here with Storm, I missed it. That was the only thing about my life that was missing. Storm had made it almost perfect, and what he’d done for Dovie was more than I could have ever asked for or dreamed of. I almost felt guilty about wanting something more.
“I don’t know what happened. It can’t be bad service. I get texts from Storm every day.”
