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Since she died.
But I keep telling myself she just left. She slipped away into the next room, where it’s a little too dark to see her face anymore.
I grab a hand towel and dry my hair. Then, I pull on a sundress. It’s stretchy yellow material, and it clings to my upper body, the knee-length skirt flared. It’s long enough that I can bend down without hearing one of the men whistle at me.
I scowl, feeling faintly murderous, and head downstairs.
In the kitchen, I grab a bowl and start making potato salad, chopping the red potatoes into messy chunks, dicing up onions until my eyes stream.
Somewhere in the distance, Red the border collie starts yapping. I dump everything into the bowl along with a splash of pickle juice and mix it up. There—it can sit for a minute.
Wiping my hands, I creep softly to the door and press my forehead against the screen. Six more trucks line the drive.
Two trucks for the Garrisons—Thomas and Avery.
Then, there’s Jensen and two more of his men. They came in different trucks, so that leaves just one, and I can’t tell who that belongs to. There’s a faint symbol on the side, but it’s half-covered in dried mud.
The sun is sinking below the horizon as I slip back to the kitchen. Working quickly, I finish everything and lay the dishes on the main table, save for the meat. That, I carefully slice and lay on a platter, waiting for it to be taken out. Standing back, I wipe my hands.
It looks good, everything the way David wants it.
I hate David. Maybe not enough to hurt him, but enough to make his life hell. Nana told me it wasn’t worth it to hate anyone. She said if they were bad enough, I’d leave them at the gates of heaven, so there was no point in it.
“Don’t use up your energy on those who wrong you, baby,” she’d whisper, running her fingers through my hair. “Vengeance belongs to the Lord.”
Then, she’d hum a slow, mournful tune until I fell asleep, one I have no name for, though it still haunts me.
I disagreed and spent my nights plotting against David. He got snakes in his room, burs under his horse’s saddle blanket, and salt in his coffee until he was big enough that when he pushed me, it hurt.
Now, I just have to take it.
I slip upstairs again and comb out my dry hair, letting it fall in waves down my back. My fingers trace over my face, touching the bridge of my nose. I’m pretty, I know, but I don’t know how to use it to my advantage.
Maybe tonight, that changes.
Tomorrow, I’m twenty-one, old enough to legally drink whiskey. It’s time to be a woman; at least, that’s what I assume.
No one taught me how. Nana died before she could.
I put my boots on. They’re new, and the bottoms are hard and loud on the stairs as I move. Red starts yapping again, and I freeze at the bottom of the steps.
There’s something going on outside.
Heart thumping, I burst onto the porch. The men are fighting over by the barn, Avery Garrison lunging at someone while David holds him by the shirt collar. The Garrisons are big men, but my brother is bigger. He’s got him reined in. Dust rises. Inside the barn, the horses kick at their stalls, spooked by the disturbance.
It doesn’t surprise me that the men have been here less than thirty minutes and they’re already fighting, especially not since Clint Garrison died a few months back.
Everyone north of South Platte has been walking on eggshells since that happened. The Garrisons are a prominent family around these parts. The middle brother’s death sent shockwaves through the community.
I drag my eyes back to the men.
A storm is brewing.
Jensen stands in front of the other Garrisons, keeping them back. His pistol is out, held at his thigh and pointed down. Jensen doesn’t fuck around; he’s got perfect trigger discipline. When he wants to shoot, he’ll point and—bang. There’ll be nothing left but a hat fluttering in the wind.
He won’t shoot, but he still has it out, just to let them know he could.
My eyes shift. The object of Avery’s ire is another man, one I’ve never seen before. I blink, focusing on him. He’s tall, about six-four, with dark chestnut hair. My stomach swoops in a way that feels...good.
