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"Why?"
"I don't know." Aiden laughed, sniffed, and rubbed his nose with the back of his wrist. When he finally raised his head, his eyes were red and bloodshot. "Grab the envelope under the mattress, will you? It's got some cash. Enough to stay at the Creekside for a few nights until I find a place."
"You're not staying at the Creekside," Seth told him, fishing around under the mattress. "You're coming home with me."
He'd taken Aiden home that night, and Aiden had taken most of his mother's liquor cabinet. Seth's father was out of town on business, and Tessa was at a sleepover, so they bunked out in the barn and cooled off in the green summer breeze creeping through the loft. They drained a bottle between them. Seth had never been so drunk. All he remembered was how badly he'd wanted to lean down and kiss Aiden. Cattle began falling sick the next day.
All because of a little black-label whiskey.
"Aiden offered to help back then," Seth told his sister, pulling out of his grim memories. "I just didn't want it."
"That's stupid. You needed it." Her expression was barely visible in the darkness, but disdain colored her tone.
Seth chuckled despite himself. "Sometimes that's just how I am."
"So, why are you so mad that he came to visit?"
He polished off the sandwich and stuffed the balled-up wax paper in his pocket before tugging his gloves back on. "I'm not mad," he said. "Just tired. Work has been piling up."
"You're always tired," she said sympathetically. "I wish you'd let me help out."
She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. Seth hugged her back, resting his cheek briefly on the top of her head. She was soft and squishy in her winter gear, and she smelled like strawberries. Her love humbled him. He knew how much she wanted to help. She'd quit school in an instant if he allowed it, but nobody who smelled like strawberries should be busting their ass in the dirt.
"You don't have to do everything alone," Tessa murmured into his chest. "You used to have so many friends. Not all of them turned their backs on you. Some of that was your doing. Maybe you're just mad because Aiden reminded you of that."
Seth sighed and detached her arms from around his waist. "Some things are just easier to handle by myself."
Tessa glared at him, almost as tall as he was but far better looking. Her eyes were darker than his, shrewd and filled with intelligence, just like their father's eyes. "Not easier," she corrected. "Safer, maybe, but not easier. I never really thought about how lonely it is up here until I came back from school and realized how quiet it is. You go weeks without even talking to other people, Seth. That's not healthy."
"Maybe I don't like other people," he teased, tugging at the pom-pom on her hat.
"Yes, you do," she retorted, slapping his hand away and adjusting the hat to a jaunty angle. "You've just forgotten that you like them. It's a good thing I'm here to remind you. Why don't you come to town with me tomorrow? Angie wants to help me plan my outfit for Winterfest."
"You're not thinking of going to that shindig, are you?" he asked disgustedly.
"Why not?"
Seth shrugged and crouched to repack the toolbox. He wasn't getting any more work done tonight. "Just seems so touristy. We're a cow town, not fucking Vale."
"Language!" she interjected with a scowl.
"You cuss all the time," he said incredulously.
She grinned. "I know, but I'm trying to quit. Angie says it's a turn-off."
When she smiled, it transformed her pretty face into something breathtaking, even in the darkness. Seth was shocked he'd never had boys pounding down his door, even this far out in the boonies. He felt guilty whenever he thought of how much she'd neglected her social life to make things easier for him.
"Turn off for who?" he asked suspiciously, and then he caught up to her earlier comment. "Why do you need to plan an outfit just to drink some cider around a bonfire?"
"No reason."
He waited, but she wasn't intimidated by silence the way Aiden was, so she didn't cough up any extra information. Eventually, he gave in with a heavy sigh. "I guess I could drive you," he said reluctantly. "I need to repair my saddle, anyway. Might as well give it a try in town."
West Owens had always been a shy, good-natured kid. If he'd really taken over running the tack shop, Seth might have a chance of fixing his father's saddle without making the long drive to a bigger city.
"Great!" She grabbed him by the face and yanked him down to plant a smacking kiss on his cheek. "It'll do us both good. Maybe we can even grab lunch at The Hungry Pig."
Seth's chest tightened. Sitting down for a meal at a crowded diner felt like willingly putting himself on display like a zoo animal. He wasn't the man he used to be—strong, open, willing to face whatever came his way. He didn't need to surround himself with people like Aiden did; he'd always been self-reliant and confident in his solitude. But he was beginning to realize exactly how much he'd withdrawn from the world.
