Page 26 of Hot Times in Heart Falls, Vignettes Vol 3

“Just pissed, like usual, that life handed us such a shitty hand.” Luke glanced toward the bathroom. “Do I wish she hadn’t gotten trashed? Absolutely. But hell if I’m going to tell her that she was wrong. Anything that makes the pain better for today is understandable.”

Erasing the pain. What Tucker wouldn’t do to make that a reality for any of his friends.

A moment later, Ginny popped out of the primary bedroom, speaking softly through the open door. “I love you, Dare.”

“Luv ya, Truth,” Dare slurred back.

Ginny paused to hug her brother. “Thanks for coming to get us.”

“I’d say any time, but you know what I mean.”

She snorted softly. “Yeah.”

Tucker followed Ginny back outside, the porch light a warm glow above them. She stepped down the stairs but paused halfway to the truck.

“I don’t want to go back to the ranch,” she said quietly.

Tucker frowned. “You worried about Caleb?”

She shook her head. “He’d probably understand. But Wendy…” Her voice trailed off, and she let out a hard sigh. “She’ll find some way to make this all my fault. She’ll twist tonight into something ugly. Uglier.”

Tucker felt that like a punch. He’d seen how Wendy treated Ginny—polite, sharp-edged, dismissive. Passive-aggressive turned straight-up aggressive at times—out of Caleb’s hearing though.

“I’ll take you anywhere you want,” he said. “Main house is out, obviously. Dare’s place is full. Bunkhouse?”

“Full of hands.” Ginny looked up at him, hair windblown, cheeks flushed with cold and frustration. “What about your place?”

“My—” She’d lost him.

“You’ve got the horse trailer.” She lifted one shoulder. “It’s got heat. A door. Privacy.”

Temptation hit like a truck.

She didn’t mean anything by it—he knew that. She wanted safety. Comfort. Not him. Not like that.

But the thought of her within arm’s reach, curled up in that little bunk behind the tack wall⁠—

Tucker swallowed hard. “Yeah,” he said hoarsely. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

God help him.

4

She had never been so exhausted and so full of want at the same time.

Tucker’s horse trailer-turned-temporary-residence was warm, dimly lit, and smelled faintly of leather and hay. He offered her the narrow bunk against the wall while he took the saddle bench, like some kind of gentleman outlaw from an old western who still knew his manners.

Ginny kicked off her boots and climbed up without waiting for permission, folding her knees under her and wrapping herself in the thick throw blanket.

“You ready for bed?” he asked.

“Wired. It’s only eight p.m.” She shook her head. “That was way too much mischief in way too short a time.”

He eyed her. “Need some Tylenol? Get ahead of the drink headache?”

“I had a total of maybe two drinks, watered down, plus the equivalent of a cup of sugar laced with red dye number three.” She shuddered. When he cringed as well, Ginny laughed. “Yeah, I might never be able to look a maraschino in the eye again.”

“You have to admit Dare is creative. Which we all knew with her blogging and all that.” Tucker pulled out a deck of cards and held them up. “Want to pass the time for a bit while you come down off the adrenaline high?”