Storm Warning

24 Cameron

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Cami looked up into Kyle’s eyes, hoping he’d drop it. She smoothed her hand down his chest, trying to distract him from his new favorite subject—convincing her to go on a real date with him. He’d been tossing the idea around for a while now, but ever since the close call at Pinkberry, Cami was more committed to hiding out at home than ever.

“You really are ashamed of me, aren’t you?” he teased, grabbing her hand in his. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she still saw a trace of wounded concern in his beautiful blue eyes. “We’ve been seeing each other for what…” He squinted, calculating their time together. “Nearly two months now. And we’ve only been on one date.”

“I like having you all to myself back here in our little oasis.” She grinned, turning in his arms to face the pool. The deck-side lounge chair they’d claimed as theirs barely fit both of their bodies. Neither of them minded the close proximity it forced.

“Yeah, but I want you to meet my friends and my sister and my mom. What good is a beauty queen for a girlfriend if I can’t show her off?” He winked to let her know he was kidding but she sighed.

“It’s complicated.” She attempted to beg him to drop it with her gaze, hoping he wouldn’t ask her to explain. “Can we please just wait a little while longer to announce us to the world?”

Cami had yet to tell Kyle everything about herself. He knew that her mother had left her home while she gallivanted around a sandy beach in a swimsuit that was better suited for someone half her age. And she’d filled him in on her father’s extramarital affair.

The two of them had bonded over the fact that their fathers couldn’t keep it in their pants. The one detail she’d left out was that she had been lying to her friends all summer. She’d even gone as far as posting beach pics of St. Tropez she’d found online to her Instagram account.

At first she was worried that Kyle would see her online fibs, but when she checked his Facebook page and saw that his last status update was eight months ago, she knew he was not a social networker. Thank goodness.

While she really did want to go out in public with Kyle, the thought of running into someone she knew and having to come up with some excuse as to why she was home—or have them expose her for the kind of person she was in public—outweighed the excitement of announcing she’d finally found a guy who made her feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

She’d found a guy who wanted her just the way she was and was proud of her even when she wasn’t wearing a tiara or winning a title. One who she could actually be honest with. Well, minus the part about her pretending to be on vacation or that up until she met him she’d been a raging bitch.

All she wanted to do was make it through the next two weeks without anyone becoming wise to her white lie of being out the country.

“I promise you’d have a good time.” He twirled a piece of her hair around his finger. “I’m an excellent date planner. Remember how much fun we had on the Fourth?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

“Oh, I remember. I don’t doubt that.” She’d loved watching the fireworks on the Fourth from the back of his truck. Even if the night had gotten off to a rocky start, it had ended sweetly when he asked her to dance and twirled her around to the lyrics of a sappy love song in that field on the edge of town he’d picked out just for them.

She remembered the way he’d held her close to his chest and made her feel like every word of that song had been written for them. And the way he’d kissed her lips and let her know he felt the exact same way.

She tilted her head back to look at him again. She was a sucker for his blue eyes. He could have asked her to go to the moon at that moment and she would have packed a bag.

“I was thinking I’d show you what us country kids do for fun.”

“Go on.” She was intrigued. She’d confessed to him in an earlier conversation that she’d never even been on a farm, and once he’d stopped laughing, he promised he’d take her to one.

“Well for starters, I’d come over and you’d actually walk out the front door.”

“Ha-ha,” she deadpanned. He tightened his arms around her, forcing a giggle from her lips.

“Then, I’ll give you a big bouquet of flowers that my mom whipped together from her garden.”

“I’m partial to daisies,” she informed him. “You should probably write that down.”

He laughed. “Noted.” He pulled his hand up and brushed her hair from her face. “After I present you with the biggest display of fresh daisies you’ve ever seen, I’ll walk you over to my truck and open the door for you, because I’m a gentleman.” His lips found her forehead and she felt herself start to melt the way she always did when his lips were on her body.

“This is true,” she breathed.

“Well,” he chuckled. “Not a complete gentleman, because I’m going to totally check out your ass as you climb up into the truck. I might even cop a feel.” He let the hand resting on her thigh creep around to her backside and give her a little squeeze.

“Believe it or not, I’m pretty okay with the feel-copping,” she smirked.

“That’s good, because after we have a little moonlit picnic down by the water, we’re gonna go test out the new tires on my truck down at the bottoms, and I fully plan on getting stuck in the mud with you and copping quite a few of them.”

The excitement she felt coursing through her veins at what he was insinuating had her ready to climb up in his truck and direct him to the nearest mud hole. It didn’t even matter to her that she had no interest in tires or trucks or, especially, mud.

He lowered his lips to hers as he rolled her on top of him. Cami wiggled herself up to increase the friction between their lips. Kyle’s mouth welcomed hers as if they’d been waiting a lifetime to see each other again. She nipped his bottom lip between her teeth, and it was taking every ounce of control Cami had not to come undone at the seams. When her lungs finally forced her to take a break and inhale, she saw the cocky look of victory in Kyle’s eyes.

“So, I’ll pick you up next Saturday night at seven,” he stated confidently.

“What’s a girl supposed to wear on a country date?” she asked, still not agreeing to his terms, despite how fun it sounded.

“I’m a sucker for a girl in a sundress.” He winked at her. “Just throw on some boots and you’ll be set.”

“We might have a problem then.” She pushed off of the sides of the chair and sat up, straddling him. “I don’t have any boots.”

“You’re kidding me.” Judging by the serious look on his face, Cami could tell he didn’t believe her. “No way does a girl from Oklahoma not own a pair of cowboy boots.”

She shook her head. “Sorry to disappoint you.” She rocked back on her heels, causing Kyle to squirm in his seat. “I’ve never had a place or reason to wear them. I do have about twenty-two pairs of heels and a nice collection of flip-flops.”

“Well that’s just a damn shame.” Wrapping his hands around her tiny waist, Kyle pulled himself up so they were nose to nose. “Any girl with legs like yours needs to have a sexy pair of boots.”

“I guess we can’t go then,” Cami shrugged, hoping that would be the end of their discussion. Even though she knew that the chances of her running into someone she knew were slim, especially out in the middle of nowhere, she didn’t want to risk it. She couldn’t stand the thought of being embarrassed in front of Kyle.

Her friends were ruthless. She knew this because up until this summer she’d been the first one to call someone out on their bullshit. In fact, she used to get off on declaring her superiority. She expected the same bitchiness from the circle she ran with that she had delved out on a regular basis pre-Kyle. Now all of that seemed trivial. Now all she wanted was to be happy and worry about herself… and Kyle.

She’d hoped that they could keep their relationship on the down low until summer was over—or at least until she could surprise him with the early admissions letter she was expecting from Oklahoma State.

After that, she was going to tell the world that she was dating him. Including her parents. How could they not be impressed with a superstar rookie wide receiver? She knew she was.

25 Ella Jane

ELLA Jane rolled over in bed and checked her phone once more. It was almost midnight and she hadn’t heard a word from Hayden since she’d dropped him off at the hospital hours ago. His grandma had been in the intensive care unit and it was family only so there’d been no point in her staying. Though she’d offered. Several times.

After typing out a text that said: Please let me know something. Praying everything is okay, she pressed send and stared at the screen until the glow made her eyes hurt.

At some point she must’ve dosed off because the chiming sound that alerted her to a new text message startled her.

Blinking until her eyes adjusted, Ella Jane dug her phone out from under the covers and read Hayden’s message.

She’s ok. Pops and I are going home now. She’ll get to come home tomorrow.

She breathed a sigh of relief and texted back.

Thank goodness. I’m so glad. Will I see you at work this week?

She felt awful for even asking. But the thought of not seeing him made her feel sick. His response came a little slower this time.

Not sure. I’ll call you tomorrow. Get some sleep, angel face.

She smiled in the darkness. Even in a crisis, he still called her by the nickname she’d grown to love.

Panic threatened to sweep over her as she texted him goodnight.

She’d never lost sleep over a guy. Not even Coop.

Hugging her phone to her chest, she lay there wondering what was happening to her.

Maybe she was growing to love more than just the nickname Hayden Prescott had given her.

THE first week of August sucked. Bad.

The only time Ella Jane saw Hayden was when her mom sent her over to his grandparents’ house to deliver soup and casseroles. And most of the time her mom came right along with her. But she and Hayden still managed to steal a few minutes alone together when they could.

“Gran seems to be doing better,” Ella Jane said as she and Hayden stepped outside while her mom finished her visit.

“She is. Pops said she just overdid it a bit and needed to rest. She forgets that she’s in her seventies sometimes.”

“It’s no wonder. They’re the most active senior citizens I know. Mama says Pops stays so busy he could run through Hell barefoot and not even get a sunburn.”

Hayden chuckled. “They’re something else all right. It’s been interesting being home with them all week. Though mostly I’ve been running Pops’s errands while he stays with her. You guys doing okay without me? Business hasn’t shut down, has it?” Hayden teased as they sat on her tailgate in his grandparents’ driveway.

“It’s rough. We’re managing though.” She nudged him with her shoulder, letting her arm rest against his. “Coop’s been coming by in the evenings to help out.”

Hayden stiffened beside her. “Oh yeah? I bet he’s loving that.”

Ella Jane snorted. “Oh yeah. Nothing like mowing a huge lawn and pulling weeds after a long day of working on the farm.”

“No, I’m sure that part sucks. But the getting to see you every night is probably making his life complete.”

Grinning and shaking her head, Ella Jane raised her eyebrows at him. “You are seriously jealous of Coop? He sees me as a little sister, Hayden. Always has. Always will.”

Hayden’s normally bright green eyes were dark when they met hers. “No. He doesn’t. But more importantly, I’d like to know what you see him as.”

Whoa. Where is this coming from? Ella Jane tried to keep calm as Hayden basically accused her of still wanting her brother’s best friend. She chewed her lip as she watched her feet dangle off the truck bed. How to phrase this? “Honestly, once upon a time I had a crush on Coop.” She shrugged. “But then you came along and…I don’t know. It seems kind of silly now, I guess. We’re just friends. That’s all we’ll ever be.”

“Mmhm. Friends,” Hayden mumbled under his breath.

Leaning back and eyeing him speculatively, she grinned. “Jealousy is kind of hot on you. Even though you have no reason to be, I kind of like seeing you worried about someone stealing me away.” She winked and nudged him again.

“Hell yeah I’m worried about that. I’m going home in like two weeks. Then what’s going to happen?”

The stark realization hit her hard enough to rob the air from her lungs. Two weeks. Fourteen days. Hayden would go back to his world of fancy cars and malls and girls who wore designer clothes… She squeezed her eyes shut. The lump forming in her throat made it necessary unless she wanted to let him see the tears welling in them.

“What do you want to happen?” she whispered without looking at him.

“Hey,” Hayden said softly, nudging her back. “I want to see you every weekend. I want to meet at The Ridge and watch trains every night we can. I want to pick you up in my car when it’s fixed and take you on a real date. And you have to meet the most important person in my life. My English bulldog, Atticus.”

Her face broke into a huge grin as she looked up at him. “Really?”

“Yes, really. I tried to talk my parents into letting me stay and letting me bring Atticus out here with me, but for some reason they’re dead set on me coming home. I think they suspect I’m just in the way and that I’m somehow responsible for Gran’s recent episode.”

Ella Jane gasped. “What? Why would they think that? If anything, you’ve been a huge help. Not just to your grandparents but with my family’s business too.”

“Thanks, babe. Glad someone thinks I’m worth something.” He smiled, but Ella Jane didn’t miss the fact that it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I think you’re worth a whole lot of something, Hayden. You’re worth a lot to me anywa—” She had more to say, but he dropped his mouth to hers before she could finish. As his soft, warm lips pressed against hers, she realized she didn’t mind him cutting her off one bit.

KISSING Hayden in the back of her truck was amazing. So was kissing him at the train tracks, in the barn, the tool shed, and out by the pond. They took turns pulling away and swearing they needed to get back to work, but five minutes later they’d both be hungry for more. And neither of them had enough willpower to ignore that hunger.

“I almost quit, you know,” Hayden mumbled against her lips, situating himself between her thighs. Ella Jane ignored the cold metal of the tool bench she was sitting on and focused on the warmth Hayden was causing.

“Your job? Here?” She placed a chaste kiss on his lips before pulling back to pout up at him.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I was over it on day one. I literally had my phone in my hand and was about to call my parents and beg them to let me come home and work off my debt another way.”

She laughed. God, he had been such a mess that first week. But now he was the first one to show up every morning and the last one to leave. Even her mom was impressed with what a hard worker he’d become. Granted, she didn’t know about all the secret kissing breaks they took. “So what happened?”

“You happened,” he said, gripping her legs tighter and pulling her closer. His mouth pressed to hers and she opened for him. Shivers broke down her spine as his tongue swept inside. He tugged her bottom lip with his teeth before explaining any further. “You walked out of that house and I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven. Then you yelled at me and I knew I had.”

“Then I sprayed you with the hose because you were a jackass.”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “Pretty sure that’s when I fell in love with you.”

Both of them froze at his unexpected admission. “Y-you’re in love with me?” Ella Jane’s heart stuttered right along with her speech.

She watched as Hayden took a deep breath and raked a hand through his hair. The thick knot in his throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Totally did not mean to put that out there like that.”

Ouch. She winced as he took his words back. But she put on a brave face and pretended like it wasn’t a big deal. Waving her hand in between them, she hopped down off the bench. “No big. I know what you meant.”

Before she could make it two steps, Hayden grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. “No, I don’t think you do. I meant, that wasn’t how I planned to tell you. I planned to surprise you at The Ridge with a picnic or something thoughtful. I didn’t mean to blurt it out in a toolshed.”

She studied his face for any signs that he might be messing with her. “How do you know you’re in love with me?” she challenged.

Much to her relief, he didn’t back down. “Well,” he began, pulling her in close to nuzzle her neck, “I think about you constantly.” He placed a whisper of a kiss behind her ear. “I can’t keep my hands off of you.” Brushing his mouth along her jawline, he caused her to shiver noticeably. “And I pretty much jump out of bed every morning nearly bursting with excitement to see you. To hear what you’re going to say or what name you’ll call me. And I was definitely never a morning person before. Look at me. I’m spending my day off at work just to be with you. I would’ve kicked my own ass if someone had told me I would be like this.”

She’d heard enough. Leaping into his arms, she crashed her lips to his.

When they finally came up for air, she grinned. “In that case, you might not be the only one who fell, Hayden Prescott. And you’re my favorite pain in the ass city boy in the whole wide world.”

“Easy,” he teased, kissing her once more.

The door to the shed swung open suddenly and sunlight burst into their private make-out spot. Ella Jane’s heart clenched in her chest. She jumped back from Hayden’s embrace and straightened her shirt.

“Perdón,” Marcos, the horticulturist, said. He mumbled some words in Spanish and grabbed the sprayer hanging on the side wall.

Once he was gone, she let a nervous giggle escape. But when she looked up, Hayden’s face was serious.

“What’s wrong? Marcos won’t tell on us. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have a green card. And he likes me. I taught his daughter to read.”

“Who did you think that was, Ella Jane?” Hayden asked quietly.

“Um, I had no idea. He surprised the crap out of me. Why?”

“If it had been Cooper, or your brother, what would you have done?” His jaw clenched. She reached up to soothe it.

“I would’ve told them to go the hell away. And then I would’ve thrown myself in front of you before one of them punched you in the face.”

“So you don’t care if they know we’re together?”

“Hayden, I just told you I loved you. I’ll admit this is all new to me. But I don’t say things I don’t mean. And as much as I’m dreading what overprotective jerks they’re going to be about it, they can deal. I’ve watched them with girls for the last couple of years and I haven’t been rude to anyone they brought around.” Though it had stung to see Cooper with girls sometimes. But that was no longer an issue.

In a way, it was a relief. She was glad she was finally coming to terms with the fact that Coop would always be just a friend. The constant unrequited pining thing was getting to be kind of hard to handle. She didn’t miss the pain of rejection one bit.

“Joe doesn’t have brotherly feelings for you, angel face. I wish he did. But it’s more than that. Dude is pretty much plotting to steal you away first chance he gets.”

The sunlight caused both of them to squint as they exited the shed.

She scoffed out loud. “Um, no he’s not. Trust me.”

“What if he is? What if the minute summer’s over and I’m gone he tells you he wants you and asks you to ditch me? What then?”

“Geez. As much as the super-full-of-yourself version of you bugs me, this insecure version is pretty annoying too. Hayden, I’m with you. Period. What about you? You going to just forget about me when summer’s over?”

He sighed and kissed her on top of the head before they headed off in different directions. “Ella Jane, I couldn’t forget about you if I tried.”

A few hours and a few more stolen kisses later, Hayden’s granddad pulled up to pick him up from work. Hand in hand, Ella Jane walked with him to the truck.

“Hi, Pops,” she called through the open window. “Mama made sweet potato casserole for you and Gran if you want to come in and get some. Or I can run in and get it.”

“Hey, pretty girl,” Edwin Prescott called back with a wink. “Save me some. I’ve gotta get to the tractor supply store before they close.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gravel and dust flew around them as Coop and Kyle pulled up in the driveway behind Hayden’s grandpa. Ella Jane’s shoulders stiffened. Well…it was now or never. She stepped in between where Hayden stood and where Coop’s truck was parked.

Testosterone surged among the three of them as the two boys got out of the truck. Kyle nodded and stepped around to speak with Mr. Prescott. EJ half-listened as they chatted about football. Cooper glared at Hayden and Hayden glared right back.

Well this was awkward.

“Come on, boy. Let’s go. I gotta get movin’,” Hayden’s grandpa called out, his tone completely different than the one he’d used when speaking to EJ.

“I’ll call you later,” Hayden said quietly. “If you want me to.”

Ella Jane turned her back on Cooper and Kyle and frowned up at him. “Of course I want you to.”

“Okay. See ya.” He started to get into the truck but she wasn’t having it. He’d asked what she would’ve done in front of Kyle and Coop. He was nervous that she’d trade him in for Coop or something. And much to her own surprise, she realized that she wouldn’t.

So she pulled at Hayden’s arm and kissed him square on the mouth in front of God and everybody.

26 Kyle

“I bet Mom would be thrilled to know you’re sucking face with the new lawn boy every chance you get. Pretty sure she’s not paying him to stick his tongue down your throat.” Kyle Mason crossed his arms and glared at both his sister and the memory of what he’d just seen.

“You shut your mouth, Kyle Mason. You don’t go rattin’ me out for kissin’ when you know good and well I could hear you and Mindy Christensen in your bedroom all those times. That headboard was slammin’ like a screen door in a thunderstorm. Neighbors probably heard it.”

“Jesus. Fine. My lips are sealed. But from now on, you keep yours sealed too. And don’t ever bring that up again.” He turned and started to walk toward the barn. Coop had already bolted out there the second he saw EJ’s lips land on Hayden Prescott’s. “Hey, EJ?” He stopped and turned back to his sister. “Promise me you’ll use your head. Some guys—”

“I’ve already had the birth control talk with Mama. I don’t need a refresher course from you.”

“Omigod. No.” He shook his head in disgust. “We are not talking about that. And for the record, you are way too young to even be thinking about that.”

“Says the guy who lost it to a senior girl his freshman year,” she replied.

“What? How do you…Who told you?” He stumbled through a slew of barely coherent words.

“Small town, remember?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her brother to collect himself.

“Anyway,” he continued on an exasperated sigh. “What I was going to say is be careful. Don’t go falling in love with the first guy that shows you a little bit of attention. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.” He looked at the barn and saw Coop leaning up against the door waiting for him.

“I’m a big girl, Kyle,” she began, glaring at him with everything she was worth. “I can handle it. For your information, I’m basically running this business. Dad’s gone and you’re never here and Mama is more depressed than she lets on. I make sure the work orders get put in and finished. I’m the one here handling inventory and payroll and—”

“Okay, I get it. You can handle it. I know you can,” he said, raising his arms in surrender before wrapping them around her. “I just worry about you ending up with some asshole. Some guys only want one thing, and I don’t want you to get taken advantage of. Because spending my life in jail for murder would suck.”

His little sister rolled her eyes up at him. “I know that. I’m not stupid. I would never just give it up to some asshole.” She pulled back to look at her brother. “And for the record, Hayden is not an asshole.”

“I’m not saying he is.” He sighed deeply. “I just want you to really think before you jump into something serious.”

“I will,” she slapped him lightly on the chest as they broke their hug. “It’s not like it matters anyways.” She paused to smile up at him. “In your eyes, no guy is ever going to be good enough.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” He snickered as he walked away. “There might be one or two out there that I wouldn’t punch in the face for looking at you.” He gave her a wink and headed off.

“Thanks, big brother,” she called out. Shaking his head, he smiled to himself. His little sister was growing up. Soon she wouldn’t need her big brother around. But he would still be there. No matter what, he’d promised himself he would always be there for EJ. Always.

“You know he’s just using her, right? Passing the time until he goes back to Bitch Boy Land,” Coop threw at him as soon as he entered the barn.

Kyle took a deep breath as he sat down on a stack of fertilizer bags still bound by shrink wrap. “I just had a talk with her. I mean, I told her to be careful, you know? Not a whole lot else I can do about it.”

Coop frowned at him. “Uh, yeah, the hell there is a lot else you can do about it. You’re her big brother. Scare the shit out of him. Tell her to stay away from him.”

He shook his head. “Come on, man. We were both sixteen not that long ago. You know good and damn well what happens when someone tells a sixteen-year-old not to do something. The minute I pull something like that, she’ll be sneaking off with him every chance she gets.” He smirked at his friend, whose jealousy was showing plain as day. “He might not be so bad. He’s a hard enough worker. Other than that, what do we know about this guy?”

Coop huffed out a breath. “Exactly. That’s exactly the point. We don’t know shit about him. But I don’t like him. And I sure as hell don’t trust him.”

“Yeah, I’m picking up what you’re putting down. I am. But you’re not the one dating him, right?”

Coop’s face was a deep shade of crimson by the time he responded. “What the hell, man? You freak out about any guy so much as glancing in her direction. But this guy, this shady dick from the Bluffs, sticks his freaking tongue down her throat and you’re just cool with it?” Something crossed his face that looked an awful lot like hurt—or maybe betrayal.

“I wouldn’t say I’m cool with it. More like I’ve just realized that sometimes there’s more to it than what’s on the surface.”

Kyle couldn’t help but think of Cami. If he and Cami could have something real, despite being from two different worlds, maybe Ella Jane and her Bluffs boy could, too. Didn’t seem so unreasonable. At least the guy had the guts to be upfront about his feelings. Kyle had given him a few intimidating stares, just to see if he backed down. He hadn’t. Obviously, whatever he had going with EJ was the real deal if he could stand his ground with her big brother. It was more than he could say for Coop.

“You got something you want to tell me, man?”

“I don’t know, Mase. Maybe. You tell me about your mystery girl and maybe I’ll tell you why I hate Bitch Boy so much. What do you say?”

The grin that lit up Kyle’s face at the mention of his mystery girl should have answered any question Coop could possibly have. But he was worried his friend was going to have an aneurysm if they kept talking about EJ and what’s-his-ass. So he threw the guy a bone.

“She’s…special. Open and guarded all at the same time. It’s her family’s account I do work for on Sunday afternoons.”

“In the Bluffs?” Coop asked while leaning up against the interior wall of the barn.

“Yeah, so?”

“So you got a sugar mama now. No wonder you’re all soft and shit.”

“I’m not soft, it’s just…I don’t know, man. She makes me think about things differently. Everything isn’t black and white, rich and rural, us and them. Her life isn’t as easy as it looks from the outside.”

“Oh yeah, I bet life in the Bluffs is real tough.” Coop paused to snort out a noise of sarcasm. “So you get to play Prince Charming and she has a fling with the help. Sounds like a porno I saw once.”

“Just once?” Kyle clenched his teeth, glaring hard to let his friend know he wouldn’t tolerate any shit-talking about his Belle. “Watch yourself, Coop. Best friends or not, I’ll still kick your ass. Her parents ditched her this summer. We talk a lot, and…” For a moment, all Kyle Mason could see was her face. The wariness in her eyes, the fear of opening up only to be hurt. Let down. Like that’s all she knew. Expected. His voice thickened as he recalled her words. “They never tell her they love her. Like, ever. I get the impression they’re dicks.”

“Well…that does suck.”

“Yeah. So that’s all I’m sharing today, doctor. So what about you? You ready to tell me what your real problem with EJ’s little friend is?”

“Call it a gut feeling. As in, every time I see him, I want to punch him in the gut. Or the face. Or maybe both.”

Kyle folded his arms and watched his friend fidget. “Yeah? You ever think about why that might be? Specifically, I mean.”

Coop shook his head. “Forget it. You’re her brother and you’re not worried. Guess I shouldn’t be either.”

“Man, I worry about her all the time. Just like I worry about my mom, baking night and day so she doesn’t have to stop and face the fact that my sorry-ass dad left us hanging in the wind.” Kyle paused to swallow the emotion his words had drudged up into his throat. “It kills me that EJ has to pick up the slack with the business instead of just getting to enjoy her summer. But I’m leaving soon. I can’t very well tell both of them what to do and how to live their lives and then leave just like he did, now can I?”

“Guess not.”

After that, Coop dropped it, but Kyle could see the warning signs, the storm brewing in his friend’s eyes. The clenched fists and the ticking jaw told him Coop was definitely still worried about it—and still holding a serious grudge. No matter what he said.

But if he’d learned anything growing up in Oklahoma, it was that sometimes it didn’t matter how many warnings you had. Sometimes you still couldn’t see the storm coming until it was too late.

27 Hayden

“HEY, Pops, can I ask you something?”

“Better ask quick. I ain’t gettin’ any younger.”

Hayden watched out the window as the Oklahoma plains blurred past. Hope’s Grove had grown on him. He felt more at home here than he ever had in his actual house. “How old were you and grandma when you got married?”

The old man whistled under his breath. “That musta been some kiss little EJ laid on you.”

Chuckling, he clarified. “No, I mean, weren’t you in the war and stuff?”

“The war and stuff.” He snorted. “What the hell are they teaching you kids in school these days?”

Not much, Hayden wanted to tell him. But that was beside the point. “I thought I heard Dad say you got married and then you deployed right after.”

The old man cleared his throat and readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “I shipped out the day after our wedding. Why?”

“I just wondered…I mean, how did you know grandma wouldn’t just find someone else while you were away?”

“I didn’t. No way I could’ve known what would happen. I look like a damned fortune teller to you?”

“No, sir.” Hayden fought the urge to roll his eyes. “So if you didn’t know for sure, why get married when you were leaving anyways?”

Surprisingly, the old man’s eyes began to look a little watery. Hayden gaped at him.

“We got married because we were in love. If she’d have found someone who made her happier than I did while I was away, well, so be it. That’s what love is. You put the other person’s happiness before your own. Even if it hurts like hell.”

He considered this for a minute. If Ella Jane decided she’d be happier with Cooper, Hayden didn’t know if he could handle it. Not like that anyways.

“I would’ve shot the bastard’s balls off when I got home, of course. But then I would’ve shook his hand and wished them the best.”

Hayden grinned. Yeah. That was more like it. “You know, you’re not so bad sometimes.”

“You either, kid. In fact, I might not trade you for anyone else after all.” His granddad’s expression hazed over as he scratched his chin. “But if you knock up the Mason girl, you’re as good as dead to me.”

Hayden shook his head as they pulled into the parking lot of the tractor supply store. “It’s not…it’s not like that.”

“Son, I was seventeen once. Granted, it was a long time ago. But seventeen is seventeen. And if I remember correctly, it’s always like that.”

AFTER running errands with his granddad for most of the evening, Hayden was starving by the time they got home. He knew his grandma was already in bed, so he only heated up two of the chicken pot pies Ella Jane’s mom had brought.

As the minutes ticked down on the microwave’s timer, he tried not to think about how much time his grandma was spending in bed this summer.

Though his memories weren’t crystal clear, he could still remember that she’d been the one to get up and cook breakfast when he was a kid. And she’d been the one to tuck him in every night. He’d held on to those memories for as long as he could because his parents weren’t like that. And their housekeeper Marisol wasn’t either. The only real love and affection he’d ever received was from his grandma. He smiled at the memory of her being his wingman a few weeks ago. He probably had her to thank for giving him the courage to make a move with Ella Jane.

But his grandma wasn’t the same fiery woman she’d been. Now she was still resting when he left for work and already in bed when he got home. Glancing around the untouched kitchen, he wondered if she’d actually gotten out of bed much since getting out of the hospital.

“None for me,” Pops said, interrupting Hayden’s thoughts as he stepped into the kitchen. “I’m heading on up to check on your grandma then I’m sacking out myself.”

“You sure, Old Timer?” Hayden pulled the pie out of the microwave and set it aside. “A man’s gotta eat, you know.”

His grandfather nodded and forced a smile. “I’m good. I ate earlier. Night, kiddo.”

“Pops?” Hayden called out.

“Yeah?” The old man turned and raised a weary brow.

“Gran’s okay, right? If something was really wrong, you’d tell me—wouldn’t you?”

His granddad paused for a beat but then nodded. “Yeah. It’s nothing to worry about. She just gets tuckered out more easily than us men do.” His weathered mouth attempted a grin but wasn’t successful.

Hayden froze just as he was about to put the extra pie back in the fridge.

A memory that had been lost in the years since surfaced and pulled him back in time.

It’s not anything to worry about, his granddad had told his seven-year-old self. She just gets tuckered out more easily than us men do.

He gripped the counter in an attempt to stay upright. This had happened before. His very last summer in Hope’s Grove.

The pie he’d meant to slide onto the shelf fell to the floor. “No,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he remembered. “You lied. You lied back then and you’re lying now.”

Shoving past the old man, Hayden bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He didn’t so much as take a breath until he reached her door.

“Dammit, Hayden,” his granddad called up after him.

Pressing the door open, Hayden nearly lost his power of speech when he saw her. She looked so small and frail in the big bed, surrounded by pink, flowery pillows. She looked peaceful. Too peaceful. More like she was on death’s doorstep than just resting.

A lump rose in his throat as his grandpa appeared behind him. “Let her rest. She needs her rest.”

Whirling around, Hayden glared at his grandpa. “I’m seventeen, not seven,” he hissed out. “How about you tell me the truth now?”

Crooking his finger and gesturing back at the doorway, his grandpa left the room. Hayden followed. Once they were safely in the hallway, his grandfather spoke, keeping his voice even despite the anguish rolling off of him. “Your grandmother has a rare form of dementia, kind of like Alzheimer’s. She gets confused, gets tired easily, and sometimes has no idea who any of us are. Herself included.”

“What? No.” Hayden shook his head. She was the sharpest woman he knew. Always had been. Except…slowly, as if a movie was playing backwards in his head, he started to recall strange things from his childhood. Jumbled pieces of memories that made no sense.

Him and his grandma wandering around in the parking lot at the grocery store, looking for their truck when they’d walked there. Her leaving the oven on one Thanksgiving and setting a green bean casserole on fire. The summer she’d filled a kiddie pool for him and accidentally flooded the whole house. And a few weeks ago when she’d cut herself making pie with Ella Jane and hadn’t even noticed. He and EJ had to bandage up her hand, both of them trying to ask her if she was okay while she gazed at them with a vacant look in her eyes.

“It was just before your eighth birthday when we found out it was more than just forgetfulness. It was a lot for a little kid to handle. And by the time she was on medication and doing okay, you already had plans for the summer.”

“And now? You’re telling me now because—”

“Because doctors aren’t giving her much time. She barely eats. I took her to the ER because she collapsed. They said at this rate she might not make it another month. You’re here this summer because it’s probably her last.”

Emotions Hayden wasn’t familiar with burst through him in rapid succession. Anger. Fear. Sadness. Frustration. Anger again.

“But…” he began, struggling to get the thoughts to form into words. “All these years, why didn’t anyone tell me? I could’ve been coming every summer and helping and I would’ve—”

“Ah,” his grandpa huffed out a breath. “You had summer camp, then lacrosse tournaments, and that study abroad program. You didn’t have time for us old folk.”

Regret nearly choked him. His parents had asked a few times if he wanted to visit Gran and Pops but he blew it off year after year. He just wanted to be with his friends. Friends that couldn’t give a shit about him really. But he’d chosen them over the woman who loved him more than anyone ever had. Because he was a selfish dick.

“I don’t…I didn’t know,” was all he could say for himself. But deep down he wondered if he would’ve come even if he had known. “So they’re just doing nothing? Can’t she stay in the hospital? They could feed her through a tube or something.”

His grandpa shook his head. “What kind of life does that sound like to you, son?”

“But she can’t…she can’t just…” She can’t just die, he wanted to say but couldn’t bring himself to. “There’s got to be some type of medicine or therapy or something…”

“Hogwash,” his grandpa growled. “Your Gran and me don’t trust those kooks as far as we can throw them. This is life, son. We’ve had a long, happy life together, and that’s how we’ll go. Together. In this house. Our home.”

Hayden stood there, across from the toughest man he knew as the old man’s eyes filled with tears. But the hardened war vet didn’t allow a single one of them to fall.

“You being here this summer meant a lot to her. Don’t go ruining the rest of it by acting all sappy around her. You know nothing, you hear me?”

“Y-yes. Yes, sir,” Hayden choked out. “What about the end-of-summer thing? Surely we’re not still doing that.”

Every year he’d been allowed to throw a party on some of his grandparents’ land. A huge field that straddled the line between Hope’s Grove and Summit Bluffs. Even though he hadn’t had anything to do with them, they’d still let him have his back-to-school bonfire on their property.

Some of his buddies from back home had already been texting him about it. He’d actually been looking forward to taking Ella Jane, but now a party was the last thing he wanted.

“Yes we are still doing that. I meant what I said. Your gran would be pissed if we started fussing over her. She nearly tanned my hide for taking her to the hospital last week.” The old man got a faraway look in his eyes. But then he snapped back to the present and pinned Hayden with his I-mean-business stare. “You do your thing, business as usual. And don’t go running and telling the Mason girl—or anyone else for that matter. It would break her heart if she knew people knew and were pitying her. You break her heart and I’ll break your neck. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Hayden answered as he ambled off to his room.

That night he lay awake in bed thinking of all the ways he’d failed his grandparents over the years. All the summers he’d filled with asinine bullcrap instead of being with them. Maybe if he’d helped out more…but he didn’t know for sure if it would’ve made any difference.

In two weeks he’d just go back home and desert his grandma again. And a beautiful blue-eyed blonde he couldn’t stand to think of leaving. But what choice did he have? It felt like everyone had been making decisions for him his whole life. Where he went, what he did, how much he did or didn’t know. He had no idea how to get control of the runaway train that had become his life.

28 Cameron

“I cannot wait to hear all about St. Tropez,” Raquel, Cami’s friend, excitedly gushed through the phone receiver. “This summer has sucked without you.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Cami replied, rolling her eyes. She knew exactly what Raquel meant when she’d said the summer had sucked without her.

Cami was sure Raquel was dying to know what Cami was doing. That was kind of her thing. They may have acted like best friends, but frenemies was probably a more accurate term. Sure, they loved shopping, talking about boys, and doing all of the superficial things friends did together, but she wouldn’t have trusted Raquel with her goldfish—if she had one, that was—much less with any of her actual secrets. Add all of that to the fact that Raquel was Cami’s number one competition in all things pageant and it was pretty much guaranteed that their relationship would never be classified as solid.

“So did you give it up to some hottie poolside or what?”

“Something like that,” she answered vaguely. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get home next week,” she lied. Cami had decided that she was going to let the summer blow over and then she was going to slowly introduce Kyle to her world. By the time the new school year got underway, everyone would be over the summer vacation gossip.

“Can’t wait! I’ll see you soon! Kisses!” Raquel disconnected the call, leaving Cami wondering why she’d ever even attempted a friendship with her. Kisses? Really?

When she pulled her phone from her ear, she noticed a new text message. It was one she’d been dreading all summer. Hayden.

We need to talk when you get home.

Cami thought about how to respond for the better part of five minutes. What does he need to talk about? She knew that when they’d agreed to take a break this summer, there had been an unspoken agreement that when school started back up they’d be back together, but things were different now. She messaged him back.

I’ll call you when I get back in town.

They had been friends for long enough that both of them knew the other person wasn’t truly content with the façade of a relationship they put up. Surely Hayden would understand that she was in a new relationship. He’d be happy for her. She hoped.

The summer sky was overcast that day, and according to weather reports, Cami and Kyle’s first official date was set to include a thunderstorm. Rescheduling was out of the question too. Nothing but thunder and lightning over the next few days.

She fiddled with the strap of the dress she was wearing as she watched out the front window for him to arrive. Mother Nature was right on cue, and as soon as she saw his truck pull into the driveway, the clouds opened up, releasing a summer’s worth of rain.

She giggled as Kyle booked it from his truck to the front door, using a bouquet of fresh daisies as a makeshift umbrella. Before he could knock, Cami pulled one of the double doors open and motioned for him to come into the foyer.

“Nice place,” he exhaled as he caught his breath and looked around her house, shaking the water from his head and hands. All those nights spent with Cami in the backyard and this was the first time he’d actually been inside.

“Thanks,” she grinned, waiting for him to hand her flowers. “Those for me?”

“Maybe,” he chuckled, tucking the flowers behind his back. “What’ll ya give me for ’em?”

She tiptoed up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “This,” she whispered, lightly pressing her lips to his. Before he could snake his free hand around her waist and cinch her to him, she reached behind him and grabbed the flowers from his hand.

“Hey!” He tried to grab her hand, but she gracefully spun away, taking her daisies with her.

“These are beautiful.” She beamed, admiring the ribbon-wrapped bouquet in her hands, and made her way into the kitchen.

“Yeah they are,” he agreed. “Definitely worth more than some measly peck,” he teased as she placed the flowers in a vase she had waiting on the counter. He made his way up behind her as she arranged the flowers the way she wanted them and wrapped his arms around her.

“I suppose I owe you a proper thank you,” she conceded as his lips burned hot against her neck.

“I’ll take an IOU.” He laughed. “Right now we need to figure out what we are going to do since my mostly outdoor date has been sidelined by the rain.”

“Lucky for you, I’m an excellent date planner,” she sassed. “I actually checked the weather.” Cami pulled away from Kyle’s embrace, linked her fingers between his, and led him out the French doors to the place they always seemed to end up. The steady flow of rain danced across the top of the pool as Cami and Kyle stood side by side under the porch awning.

“I hope you’re not wanting to take a swim,” Kyle said. As if on cue, a clap of thunder rumbled overhead.

“Nope,” she grinned and pointed at the pool house. “We’re headed there.” A soft glow illuminated its windows. She dropped her hand from his and, with a playful wag of her finger, invited him to follow her.

Despite her best efforts to make a mad dash across the patio, by the time Cami slid the glass door open and stepped in, the drenched turquoise sundress she’d picked out especially for Kyle clung to her skin. As she attempted to detangle her rain-soaked hair, Kyle stepped through the door behind her.

“What’s all this?” he asked, running his hand through his wet, sandy-colored hair. The low platform bed in the center of the room was surrounded by dozens of glowing candles.

“I didn’t want our date to be a total waste because of the rain.” Cami pulled a towel from the shelf next to her and wrapped it around her shoulders before tossing one to Kyle. “I thought maybe we could move our picnic inside,” she added, walking over to the bed and opening a picnic basket that was waiting in the middle.

Before Cami could retrieve the items from the basket, Kyle stepped up behind her, closing the basket lid.

“Not hungry?” Cami asked, turning to face him. “I cooked all day for you,” she said, trying to fight back a smile. “And by me I mean Sophie.”

She expected Kyle to give her some grief about being a stereotypical spoiled, rich girl who couldn’t cook, but his eyes said that whatever he was about to say was serious.

“It can wait.” Reaching for the towel Cami held snugly around her, he tugged her toward him. “There’s something I need to do first,” he stated.

Cami felt her heartbeat speed up as Kyle removed the towel from her shoulders and tossed it aside. She thought about the first day they met and how she was quick to reveal what she had under her towel. But now, something had changed. Despite the fact that she was fully clothed under that towel, she felt ten times more vulnerable than that first day.

Maybe it was the fact that she knew what was about to happen in that candle-lit pool house, or maybe it was the fact that, unlike that first day, she was in love with the boy standing in front of her. But she was pretty certain that it was because she knew, without a doubt, that no one was ever going to love her the way Kyle Mason did.

29 Kyle

THIS was it. The moment he’d thought about pretty much every hour on the hour since he’d first laid eyes on her. Kyle felt his hand tremble as he brushed a piece of hair from her face and hoped that she couldn’t sense how nervous he really was. He’d never told a girl he loved her before, and as much as he wanted to shout it from the rooftops, a small part of him was worried she’d reject him. She was champagne and caviar and he was beer and corndogs.

Cami pursed her lips the way she always did when things started to get intense. He would have bet money that she was racking her brain for some sarcastic remark to detour the palpable tension that had thickened the air in the room. But as Kyle ran his hand down her arms, helping her fight the chill of the air conditioner against her wet skin, he watched her pull in a breath and let her eyes fall shut at his touch.

“I haven’t told you just how pretty you look tonight,” he said, placing his lips on her bare shoulder. Her hands found his chest and fisted the damp gray T-shirt he was wearing, pulling him closer. “I mean it, Cami.” His lips hovered above her skin as he moved his mouth up to her ear. “You’re amazing. I, um, I…” Kyle nervously stumbled over his words while trying to read her expression.

He remembered one of their lounge chair conversations. The one where she confessed that she had never been in love. Hell, the girl had told him that she’d never even said those words to her parents, and sadder yet, they’d never said it to her. He couldn’t imagine growing up in a house where he didn’t hear those words. His mom told him and his sister that she loved them all the time.

Back then, it was easy for him to give her a flirty response “Let’s see what we can do about that then.” But that was two months ago, and he knew now that they were beyond a summer fling. He loved this girl and he wanted a future with her. He wanted to be the one to say I love you to her every day.

Just as he’d finally mustered up the courage to tell her how he felt, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The urgency of her mouth against his led him to believe she was done talking.

Her hands moved down to tug at the hem of his shirt. He lifted his arms, allowing her to pull it over his head. A questioning smile appeared on his face as she tossed the shirt to the floor. A questioning smile that silently asked if she was sure she wanted to continue. He had never pressured her to do anything with him. In fact, he was the one who had set the pace for their physical relationship.

Cami may have been reluctant to get to know Kyle back in the beginning. She’d made it pretty clear that day they met that if he’d wanted to hit it and forget it he could have. As he looked down in her brown eyes, he was glad he’d suggested they take it slow. Sure, it might have resulted in more than one cold shower on his part, but he’d known the moment he saw her that she was something special.

Every Sunday they’d spent together in that lounge chair—the sweet kisses in the pool, the late night phone calls and texts, the sharing of secrets and dreams. They had all led here. To this moment. A moment that would change the rest of their lives.

His body moved to hers and he slipped one strap of her dress down her shoulder. As if to confirm her desire to be with him, she reached her hand up and pushed the other strap down, sending her dress to the floor.

The heat of their damp skin against one another’s seemed to only intensify their bodies’ reactions as their lips collided. Cami smoothed her hands up Kyle’s back as his moved down hers, locking his wrists behind her back. He slowly lifted her up onto the tips of her toes, their lips never parting, and walked her backwards to the bed. Where they spent the rest of the evening, completely tangled together.

30 Ella Jane

“UM, Hayden? I think the roses are good,” Ella Jane said softly, cutting off the water before he drowned her mama’s garden. Hayden was out of it today. In fact, he’d been out of it all week. She was trying extremely hard to convince herself it wasn’t because summer was ending and he was blowing her off.

“What?” He turned to her with a blank stare. “Oh shit. Sorry,” he said, shaking his head as he wound the hose around his arm.

“You okay?”

He grinned at her, but it wasn’t his usual grin. The cocky one she loved and couldn’t resist kissing off his face. This one was fake. Forced. “I’m great.”

She tried to ignore the fact that he hadn’t called her angel face. Or babe. Or even by her actual name. “Gran doing okay?”

His eyes widened for a split second but then he shrugged. “Oh you know. Same old same old.”

“All right. Well I’m going to head over to my friend Lynlee’s house in a little while. She’s been in California all summer. She’s only back to visit for a few nights so I want to hang out with her while I can. You could join us tonight if you want. We’re thinking of going to a movie or something.” She bit her lip, knowing he probably wouldn’t want to go with them to some chick flick. “Or we could meet up at The Ridge later. Watch the night train. Just me and you.”

“Uh, no. I’ll take a rain check.” He gave a quick glance at the sky, since it looked like actual rain was coming. “I’ve got some stuff to do for Pops. But you two have fun.”

She tried to get him to look her in the eyes but he busied himself putting the hose away.

Her stomach twisted. This was it. The brush-off she’d prayed wouldn’t come but kind of assumed would. Summer was almost over, and her brother had been right. Maybe it was just a fling for Hayden. Maybe he really was an asshole who was just toying with her for lack of anything better to do.

It hurt. It was hurt on top of hurt.

Angrily, she stormed around the property, picking up discarded tools and tossing them roughly into the shed. With every step, she cursed herself internally. Even though it had seemed too good to be true, she’d fallen for his “And that’s when I fell in love with you” BS.

She’d let herself fall in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way. Again. At least with Hayden she wouldn’t have to see him all the time. And in a way, she couldn’t even bring herself to regret what they’d had because he’d helped her get over her silly crush on Coop. But now she was barely fighting off a broken heart and it was sucking up all the energy she had left.

She’d been strong for her mom when her dad moved out, had put on a brave face as Kyle prepared to move away for college. She’d even slapped on a smile when Coop blathered on about some new girl he was dating who was apparently his “favorite.”

But this—Hayden totally ignoring her and not even having the decency to say “Hey, it’s been real and it’s been fun, but it ain’t been real fun, so peace out”—stung like nothing she’d ever felt.

After she practically threw the last armful of hedge clippers, sprinkler heads, and shovels into the shed, she whirled around and slammed right into the object of her frustration.

“Whoa. Sorry,” Hayden said, gripping her by her upper arms to steady her.

“My bad,” she said, jerking out of his grasp. “I’ll try to stay out of your way from now on.”

“Hey,” he called out as she marched away from him. “Ella Jane, hang on a damn second.”

She heard him coming up behind her but she kept walking. She wasn’t going to beg him to give her some big goodbye. All that crap about weekends and real dates had obviously been just that. Crap. She didn’t need to hear any more of it.

Somehow in just a few short months, the city boy who drove her crazy had become precious to her. He’d carved out a spot on her heart and now he was leaving it empty. Vacating it without any explanation as to why. Well she wasn’t going to hand him a knife to carve any more holes. Her dad had already done enough damage.

“Stop,” Hayden commanded, grabbing her and yanking her back toward him. “Talk to me. What’s going on with you?”

She looked everywhere but at him. Heart pounding against her ribs and chest heaving with every breath, she willed herself not to cry. “Me,” she snorted out. “What’s going on with me? I’m not the one blowing you off like it’s my job.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not blowing you off.” His eyes were dark and stormy, a swirl of green and gray that reminded her of the sky just before a massive downpour.

“Sure feels like it,” she said softly, hating how weak she sounded.

He sighed and tilted his head to the side. “I’m sorry, angel face. It wasn’t intentional. Promise.” He used the pad of his thumb to brush the side of her face. The wind kicked up and he tucked the swirling strands of her hair behind her ear.

Still tingling from his touch, she searched his face for any trace of evidence that he was lying, playing her. “Tell me then. Tell me what’s really going on. I’m not stupid, Hayden. I can tell something’s up with you.”

The sound of a truck pulling into the driveway distracted them both. Reluctantly, Ella Jane pulled her eyes from Hayden. His grandfather looked exhausted behind the wheel of the truck.

“I guess I need to go.”

“He looks tired. Maybe you should drive home.”

“Yeah, maybe. Not that his stubborn old ass would let me.” A flash of something dark and sad flickered in Hayden’s gaze.

“Hayden? Tell me. Tell me what’s going on,” Ella Jane prompted.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” He shook his head and released her as they turned to walk toward the truck. With each step he seemed to get farther away, even though she was keeping pace with him.

“After the movies, can I call you? Will you meet me at The Ridge so we can talk?”

“Can’t,” was all Hayden said as they reached the old pickup. “I’ll try and text you later though.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead and climbed in the cab beside Pops.

She called out a goodbye but the old man put the truck in reverse and soon all she could see were fading taillights.

“UGH. I think I liked you better when you were lusting after Coop,” Lynlee said with an eye roll. “I mean, not to be a bitch, but there were like half a dozen other people I could have hung out with tonight.”

“Sorry,” Ella Jane mumbled. They entered the theater and the scent of stale popcorn hit her in the face. She knew she was sucky company. All she’d really done for the past hour was wonder out loud what was up with Hayden.

“Sounds to me like your brother was right. It was a summer fling. Just take it for what it was and move on.” Lynlee stepped into the ticket line and fingered a strand of her strawberry-blonde hair before letting it drop. “What’s that saying? Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened? Or some crap. Jesus. Just stop moping like a wounded puppy. It’s not attractive.” Winking at two guys ahead of them in the ticket line, she practically trampled EJ to get a better view.

“Well hello there, ladies,” the taller of the two guys said as both boys turned. EJ looked up and saw him ogling Lynlee’s overexposed chest. “What are you two doing later tonight?”

Ella Jane almost asked him if he meant the two of them as in her and Lynlee or if he was talking to her friend’s double Ds.

“You tell us,” Lynlee teased, giving them a coy smile, at the same time Ella Jane answered, “Washing our hair.”

“Ow,” she grunted when her friend elbowed her in the ribs. Hard.

“What are you boys getting into tonight?”

“Hopefully you, Red,” Tall, Dark, and Swarthy answered.

“Oh. Ew,” EJ groaned. “Please turn back around before I vomit.”

“Excuse my friend. He’s a disgusting pig,” the shorter, stockier guy said, glancing up from his phone to smile at Ella Jane.

“Only if you excuse mine,” Lynlee piped up. “She’s a boring prude.”

“How about we skip the movie and go hang out somewhere a little more private?” Swarthy asked.

“Pass. Hard pass,” Ella Jane answered dryly.

“She’s moping because her non-boyfriend dumped her ass. Maybe you could cheer her up, handsome,” Lynlee said to the shorter guy.

Just as they reached the ticket counter, the boys stepped out of line and Swarthy gestured for the girls to do the same.

“No, Lynlee. Hell no,” EJ said, tugging at her friend’s arm. “They’re Summit Bluffs guys and they’re probably dicks.” The taller one had on a green SBHS lacrosse shirt.

“Like your precious Summit Bluffs guy turned out to be? Let it go, EJ. He’s done with you. The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”

Ella Jane gaped at her friend as the girl ducked under the velvet rope and stepped out of line.

“Come on. Live a little.”

Ella Jane glared at the girl and moved to the side so the people behind her could get their tickets. “No,” she hissed at her friend. “You don’t even know them.”

Lynlee made a big show of rolling her eyes. “God, I don’t even know why we’re friends. This is why Coop calls you Ellie May. Because you’re so freaking naïve and vanilla.”

Vanilla? “I don’t even know what that means.”

“Of course you don’t. That’s the point.” Lynlee smirked at the boys flanking her. “Sorry, guys. Guess you’re stuck with just me.”

“Oh, we don’t mind,” Swarthy said.

“Hey, I promise I’m not a dick like my friend. Come hang out with us. I’ll be a perfect gentleman, and if at any time you want to leave, you’re free to go.” The shorter guy did have kinder eyes. And adorable dimples. Ella Jane smiled back at him. But she just wasn’t up for a random night of risking being date-raped.

“As much as I enjoy being roofied and waking up wondering where my pants and my dignity are, I think I’m just going to call it a night.”

“Lame,” Lynlee called out after her.

“I’m Jarrod, by the way. Jarrod Kent,” the shorter guy said as the four of them walked out of the theater. “And I promise I’d help you find your pants.”

“Nice to meet you, Jarrod.” Ella Jane smirked at him and glared at her friend one last time before heading in the opposite direction where her truck was parked. “Hey, do me a favor? Make sure your friend doesn’t slip my friend any illegal substances and take advantage of her stupid ass, please.”

“I’ll do my best. Scout’s honor,” he promised, holding up a salute.

“Thanks,” EJ said as she dug for her keys in her purse.

“He’s a lucky guy,” Jarrod said as she turned to leave.

“Um, who?”

“Whatever guy you’re ditching us to go hang out with.”

EJ couldn’t help but smile. She was ditching them to go see Hayden. Even though Hayden didn’t know it yet. “Maybe someone should tell him that,” she mumbled more to herself than anyone.

31 Hayden

HAYDEN watched as his grandpa carried the full bedpan gingerly to the bathroom. He’d never seen anyone so devoted to another human being as Pops was to Gran.

“I’m going to try and get her to eat some soup,” he said, stepping aside to let the older man pass him in the hall.

They’d moved his grandma to the couch downstairs so she’d be closer to everything and not cooped up in her room. So far it didn’t seem to have helped much. He forced a smile at his grandma as he lowered himself into the chair beside her.

“Can you try a little? Please, Gran?” he pleaded, holding a spoon full of broth to her mouth.

“I’m not hungry, Kevin,” she said, waving a hand so close it almost knocked the spoon from his hand.

“I’m Hayden, Gran. Kevin is my dad.”

She glared at him for a second, her eyes milky and moist. “I know that. Where’s Edwin? He was supposed to pick me up an hour ago.”

Hayden sighed. If anything, his gran was just getting worse. A part of him wished he could go back—back to the blissful ignorance of not knowing.

Guilt tightened the muscles in his stomach. This is where he should’ve been every summer instead of off screwing around with meaningless bullshit.

“He’s on his way, Gran. Here, eat a little bit of soup, and by the time you finish, he’ll be here.” He’d learned quickly that when she was in one of her moods it was best to go along with whatever her version of reality was.

“I don’t want any damn soup,” the old woman hollered, knocking the bowl from his hands. Hot liquid splashed in Hayden’s lap. It burned like hell but he didn’t want to upset her by crying out in pain or jumping up. Sucking in a breath through his teeth as the hot liquid scorched his flesh, he stood slowly.

“Okay, no soup. Got it.” He turned toward the kitchen to get a rag to clean up the mess and flinched when he saw Ella Jane standing behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked softly. Her voice reflected the wounded expression in her eyes. “Is she okay?”

“How’d you get in here?”

“Front door was unlocked. I’m sorry, I just wanted to…”

“Well you came. You saw. Now go,” Hayden ordered. He couldn’t stand anyone seeing his gran like this. She deserved to be remembered as the strong spitfire of a woman she was. Not some delusional nutcase.

He was barely holding his shit together as it was. Ella Jane Mason would be his undoing. If he let himself break down in front of her, let himself give in to the overwhelming need to kiss her, to touch her, to bury himself inside of her until he forgot every screwed up thing in his life, then there’d be no going back. And she deserved better than some jackass who’d put himself first at every turn. He was done doing that.

“I’m not leaving.” They faced off, him sighing and her squaring her shoulders and wearing that same determined expression she had on the first day he’d met her. Well, the time he remembered. According to Pops, they’d met before.

“You don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, Ella Jane Mason,” Pops said from the doorway. “Not even to your mama, you hear? My Netta is going to go with dignity. Ain’t nobody’s business what’s going on with her mind.”

“Yes, sir. I’m Fort Knox. Not a word.”

Hayden watched Ella Jane meet his granddad’s stare and nod as they reached a silent agreement.

Hayden shook his head and stepped around the only girl tough enough to take on Edwin Prescott. She followed him to the kitchen and glared at him with a hand on her hip as he wiped the soup from his athletic shorts and legs.

“Just say it, angel face. Get it all out.”

She huffed out a breath. “You’re kind of a terrible boyfriend. I thought you were trying to dump me because summer was over.”

Hayden raised a brow. He hadn’t meant to make her feel like that. And he hadn’t really labeled himself her boyfriend. Though he did like the sound of it.

“But you’re a wonderful grandson.” She bit her lip and her eyes began to water. “So I forgive you.”

“Hey now. Don’t cry.” Hayden stopped his cleanup effort and stepped over to her. “It’s okay. We’re doing okay. She has good days and bad days. Today just happened to be a bad day.”

“How did I not know? How does the whole town not know?” She shook her head. “It’s impossible to keep secrets like this in Hope’s Grove.”

“Pops runs all the errands. Gran only goes to church. Which doesn’t require much. Hell, I lived here in this house and just now caught on to how bad it was.”

“Look at them,” Ella Jane said, nodding toward the living room. Hayden turned and saw his grandparents leaning together, their foreheads touching as they held each other. “They love each other so much. That kind of love can handle anything I guess. Protect you from the prying eyes of a small town even.”

Her voice was thick with an emotion Hayden couldn’t name. He wondered if she was thinking about her mom and dad. Or maybe about him and her. He wasn’t sure. So he changed the subject. “How was the movie?”

Ella Jane turned to him and frowned. “No idea. Lynlee bailed with some guys you probably know from school. So I came here.”

Hayden tried to ignore the strange twinge of panic Ella Jane mentioning guys from his school caused. Talk about worlds colliding. “Oh yeah? Who were they?”

“Jarrod Kent and some tall, dark-haired guy,” she answered, still keeping her gaze on his grandparents in the other room.

“Devon Keshner?”

“He didn’t give his name,” Ella Jane responded with a shrug.

Hayden took a deep breath so his jealous dickhead side didn’t rear its ugly head. Doing everything he could to keep his facial expression calm, he said, “Jarrod and Devon are not good guys. They have this little habit of getting girls drunk and filming them doing things they wouldn’t normally do. They have a YouTube channel where they post the videos, but no one has been able to prove it’s them.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t freak out. She did pull out her phone and send a quick text, which he assumed was to her friend. For a moment, the kitchen was silent until her phone chimed.

“That’s what I thought,” Ella Jane said under her breath.

“Your friend okay?”

“She said she’s going to a party in Summit Bluffs with some other guy she met. Guess she already ditched the other two. Lynlee’s…different.”

“Different how?” He wasn’t sure why he’d asked since he could pretty much guess the answer. Different as in the kind of girl he used to think he wanted. Easy. No strings attached.

“Different as in, if there’s a video of her, she’ll be the first one to tweet the link to everyone she knows.”

“Ah.” Hayden started to ask her if she minded if he took a quick shower, since he probably smelled like chicken soup, but a ruckus from the living room interrupted him.

“Get that girl out of here. That girl’s no good for him. She’ll ruin him,” his grandmother was shouting.

Ella Jane’s eyes widened. Recoiling like she’d been slapped, she gaped at him. “Is she…is she talking about me?”

Hayden stepped into the living room and watched as Pops wrapped his arms around her. “Shh, that’s not her, Netta. Penny and Kevin broke up years ago. That’s Millie Mason’s daughter, EJ. Remember little EJ? Hayden used to chase her around and—”

“Get that cheating whore out of my house! Get her ass out now!”

Holy hell. Hayden was starting to suspect his gran might need an exorcism. She never cussed. Ever. Much less called anyone a whore—and certainly not Ella Jane. “Gran, calm down. Remember Ella Jane helped you make pie?”

His grandfather flinched as the woman in his arms stuck him hard on the chest.

“She’ll break his heart and run off with that Cooper boy.”

Now Hayden was really confused. What did his grandma know about Ella Jane and Cooper?

“What is she talk—”

“You kids get out of here. Hayden, take EJ somewhere and calm her down. Give me an hour or so,” Pops ordered.

Calm her down? Glancing over, he saw that Ella Jane was trembling, frozen where she stood. Hayden placed his hand on her lower back and guided her gently out the front door to the soundtrack of his gran screaming about hussies and harlots, whatever the hell those were.

“What in the world was that all about?” Ella Jane’s voice shook. Once they were all the way out of the house and standing next to her truck in the driveway, Hayden wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head.

“She’s sick. She has dementia. It’s getting worse.” He sighed, enjoying the way her arms felt around his waist. Despite the bleak situation with his gran, Ella Jane’s touch affected him. Being wrapped up in her both comforted and unsettled him all at once.

A screeching cry from inside the house caused them both to flinch. As they clung to each other tightly for support, their gazes collided and the tension between them sparked in the darkness.

“Let’s go to The Ridge,” Ella Jane whispered up at him. “Please.”

Hayden hated to leave Pops alone to deal with his gran, but he’d been ordered to do so. And when Pops gave orders, people listened. And when Ella Jane Mason looked up at him with those blue pools of pain and need and said please? Yeah. There was no saying no to that either.

32 Ella Jane

ELLA Jane had no idea what had gotten into Grandma Prescott. She’d known the woman her entire life. Gran had treated EJ like one of her own grandkids. Always.

Seeing one of the strongest women she knew breaking down like that, seeing that look in her eyes… Lost. Confused. Angry. And the worst one of all—helpless. It was more than she could handle.

She shuddered as Hayden backed her truck out of the Prescotts’ driveway.

“You cold?” he asked, turning on the heat before she even answered.

“How bad is it?” Ella Jane whispered. She watched him take a deep breath. Guilt and despair filled the small space in the cab of the truck. Hayden stretched an arm over the back of the bench seat. She decided to take it as an invitation. And after what she’d seen, she needed…something. Closeness. Contact. Sliding over on the worn leather seat until she was nestled in the crook of his arm, she sighed. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have asked. You don’t have to tell me.”

With her head so close to his neck, she could feel him swallow. “She’s dying.”

Her intake of breath was so loud she was embarrassed. “No,” she said, her eyes filling as she sat up straight and shook her head. “She can’t be. Gran and Pops are—”

“They’re in their seventies,” Hayden said softly. “Doctors give her a month or so. She doesn’t eat. She doesn’t always know who we are. Who she even is.”

Her head began to shake back and forth. No. No more of this. She couldn’t take any freaking more.

Her dad, her brother, her best friend—who she was starting to think wasn’t much of a friend at all—and now Gran. The woman who’d taught her to make pie, who’d told her it was okay to be a tomboy, who’d told her she was special and perfect just the way she was.

“Pull over. Now,” Ella Jane practically shouted at him.

“Okay, hang on. We’re almost—”

“Now!” she screamed, suffocating from the lack of oxygen in the cramped space.

Her body jerked forward as he slammed the truck into park. Bailing out the door, she saw that a train was coming through, its headlight cutting into the darkness the way the pain of change was cutting into her soul.

Once upon a time, she’d been young and innocent. Childhood had been a magical place where nothing changed, no one left, and no one died.

That time had ended without anyone asking her if she was ready. Racing into the wide-open darkness toward the train, she didn’t think about what she planned to do once she reached it. She just knew she had to.

The sound of Hayden calling her name was lost in the wind behind her.

Tears streamed down her face, hot trails of her refusal to accept what the world had decided shone in the moonlight. She cried for Gran, for her mom, for herself.

“Dammit, Ella Jane.” Strong arms wrapped her waist, lifting her from the ground and turning her away from the rickety boxcars flying past her face.

She screamed into the night, releasing everything that had been building inside of her since the day her daddy left. The train’s horn blared, drowning out her pain.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Hayden’s deep voice thrummed low in her ear. She didn’t fight the shiver it sent tingling through her spine.

“It’s not,” she whispered. “My dad quit our family. My mom is practically in denial. Gran’s dying. You’re leaving in a week. Nothing’s going to be okay.” She choked over the last few words.

He released his hold around her waist to grip her shoulders and turn her to face him. “I know, okay? She’s dying, and I’ve spent the last ten years being a selfish ass.” She watched him run a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do. God, I wish I did. Tell me how to make it better. How do I get that time back? How do I make up for not being there for the one person who was always there for me?”

Wetness soaked her cheeks but it wasn’t tears. Well, not just tears. Rain had begun to fall in the midst of her breakdown. She looked up into his bright green eyes gleaming in the darkness, and for the first time all summer, she remembered. Really remembered.

Him chasing her when they were kids, the way he smiled at her back then. Like he looked forward to seeing her. He didn’t so much as flinch when Coop and Kyle had made fun of him for spending time with her instead of them. She’d cry when they left her out, and he would…he would make it better. Now he was hurting and she wanted to do the same.

She didn’t think, didn’t consider the consequences of what she wanted—or what it would lead to. Taking a page from the universe’s do-as-I-damn-well-please book, she launched herself recklessly into the arms of the boy she loved.

SOMEHOW they’d made it back to her truck without separating. Hayden’s breath was ragged as he held her to him, kissing her with the same heated need she was attacking his mouth with.

The groan of the metal door protesting as he jerked it open barely registered in her mind. Rain slapped against her bare skin as he lifted her higher on his waist. She fought to stay in the present, to memorize every single touch, every flick of his tongue against hers, the warmth and the wetness of it.

But the heady sensation of him possessing her, gripping her tightly and pressing hard against her, sent her floating into outer space somewhere.

“Hayden,” she breathed into his mouth as the tumbled clumsily into the cab of the truck. “I want you.”

A low tortured sound escaped from somewhere deep in his chest. “I want you too, angel face. But—”

“But nothing. Everyone else gets what they want. Because they take it. I’m taking it. I want you.”

Yanking his white T-shirt over his head, she paused her violent ravaging of his mouth to admire his body. He was lean and muscular, hard in all the right places. Running her hands over his firm pecs and then down to his rippled abs, she thrilled with pleasure at being able to touch him in such an intimate way.

“Ella Jane.” Her name was a plea, but she didn’t know if he wanted her to stop or proceed. The hardness beneath her answered that question. His head lolled back when she pressed her hips down against his. As his warm, wet tongue lashed against hers, she gave in to the urge to slip her hand down his pants. Gripping the thick, hard length she’d felt pressing into her, she pulled back and met his intense stare.

He closed his eyes for just a moment. When he opened them, they burned into hers.

“Wait. Stop for a second.” He gripped both of her wrists in one hand and tugged them upwards.

Ella Jane couldn’t help but pout. Wasn’t this what boys wanted? It was dang sure what she wanted. She was throbbing with need to the point of actual physical pain. He was panting, so she was pretty sure it was what he wanted too.

“Hayden, this summer…this summer I needed someone. Everything was so…” She stared into his handsome face as she tried to find the words to say what she needed to. “For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m doing something right. Something no one else can judge or ruin. Or take away.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said so low she barely heard him.

Leaning into the hand he used to brush the hair from her face, she pressed her lips to his palm. “So don’t.”

Leaning back to give him the choice, she held her breath and waited. Both of their hearts beating fast, in time together, measuring the seconds that passed as they stood on the edge of the unknown.

“We’ll go slow. If you want to stop, at any time, just tell me, okay?”

She smiled as he submitted to her. Nodding, even though she knew what she wanted and that she’d never want him to stop, she leaned in and kissed him again.

“I’ve never wanted anything the way I want you,” he said between kisses. His words burned into her heart, imprinting themselves onto her soul—where she planned to keep them forever.

They were the last ones she heard before she gave her innocence to a boy she loved in the middle of a dark Oklahoma night under a starless sky.

33 Cameron

“CAMERON,” Sophie called from the doorway leading into Cami’s room. “Your mother is going to be home today. You might want to actually get up and take a shower. You know how she feels about wallowing in self-pity.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cami answered with zero enthusiasm. Sophie was right though—she did need to bathe. She almost felt bad for Sophie when she came over and sat on the edge of her bed. She had to reek of sleep, sweat, tears, and regret.

“I don’t understand what’s gotten into you, Cameron Nickelson, but I don’t like it.” Sophie moved her hand up and tucked a piece of Cami’s greasy hair behind her ear. “Last week you were over the moon and this week you’re acting like OPI just discontinued your favorite color of nail polish.”

She forced a half-assed smile and shrugged. She wanted to tell Sophie exactly what had happened, but she was still reeling with guilt for letting her shallow, egotistical upbringing rear its ugly head again.

“It’s nothing,” Cami told Sophie, trying to appease her. “I’ll get up.” Maybe if she took a shower Sophie would drop the interrogation. She really didn’t feel like talking about what she’d done. As she rolled herself to the edge of the bed and dropped her feet the floor, Sophie kept prying.

“Is this about the landscaper? If he makes you happy then don’t let anything stand in your way.”

Cami looked over her shoulder as she walked toward the bathroom door. The fake smile she’d perfected took its place and she nodded. Oh, Sophie, you romantic fool. If only it were that easy.

As soon as she was alone in her bathroom and the hot water was raining down on her from the showerhead, Cami thought about how everything had gone to hell faster than a sinner running to church on Sunday.

She’d woken up in the pool house wrapped up in the arms of the boy she’d just spent the better part of the night completely consumed with and then she remembered the piece of mail sitting on the nightstand that was going to change everything for them. And hopefully solidify her happy ending.

“I’ve got something exciting to tell you,” she’d told Kyle the morning they woke up together in the pool house. Exciting didn’t even begin to describe what she felt that morning waking up in his arms. That’s when she handed him the letter from OSU. The letter that stated she’d been accepted early and guaranteed that if she and Kyle could make it work for one year as a long-distance couple they could be together at college next year.

She had watched Kyle’s blue eyes scan the paper and saw the smile creep across his face as he deciphered what the words on the paper meant for them.

“This is great, babe,” he said, sitting up to pull her into his arms. He may have thought he was playing it cool, but Cami saw the smile fade as quickly as it had appeared.

“I thought you’d be more excited,” she confessed, pressing her head to his chest and tracing a pattern across his skin with her fingertip. She was nervous and she could tell by the heavy sigh he let out that she had a good reason to be. She was certain he was about to tell her that things between them were not going to work out the way she’d hoped.

I’m just a summer fling. He doesn’t want me joining him at school. He’s probably already got a girlfriend there.

“Quit it.” He pressed his hand on top of hers. “I can tell what you’re thinking and it’s not like that.”

“Well, I thought you’d be a little bit more excited about us being at OSU together. I know it’s still a year away, but we can make it work. I really want to try.”

“I really want to try, too.” He turned her in his arms and, with his finger under her chin, lifted her face to his. “It’s just…” He stopped short of telling her and pressed his lips to hers. The calm before the storm.

“Just tell me,” she demanded, pulling back from his embrace. She couldn’t take the not knowing.

“I’m going to turn down the scholarship,” he blurted out.

“What? Why?” She didn’t understand. He’d had his future handed to him on a silver platter, complete with a girlfriend, and he was just going to throw it all away.

“I want—” He shook his head. “I need to stay home and help with the landscaping business.”

“No,” she disagreed, for more selfish reasons than she wanted to admit. “You need to go to college and get a degree.”

“I’m still going to go to college. I already applied at the junior college in Oklahoma City. It’s only thirty minutes away and I can go at night. My mom and my sister need me more than the Cowboy football team. I thought you’d be excited that I was going to be home. We’ll get to see each other all the time now, not just the weekends.”

As nice as seeing Kyle all the time sounded, deep down she knew this was the moment that they would have to be just a summer fling. After he’d told her he was staying home, she knew that there was no way she could introduce him to her parents with ‘junior college attendee’ and ‘blue collar worker’ as her lead-ins.

They would never understand and they’d make sure she knew it. At least when he was going to OSU his future had been bright. Not to mention the ninety-mile drive would’ve provided a buffer between her and her parents.

She had told him that morning that she understood his decision because she really did, even if she hated it. Then she did what she always did when things didn’t go her way. She ignored it.

She ignored the text messages and calls from Kyle. The ones that started: Hey Belle. Can’t stop thinking about you. And more recent ones that said: Please call me back. I need to talk to you.

When her mother called from the airport in Dallas to tell her that her flight was delayed due to bad weather, she tried to ask her for advice.

“Mom, I got my early acceptance letter to OSU.”

“That’s great. That’s where Hayden is going too, right?”

“I don’t know,” she lied. She knew Hayden was going there—or at least he’d planned on it. She didn’t want to talk about Hayden though.

“Mom, what if Hayden and I aren’t together anymore?”

“Since when?” Her mother sighed on the other end of the phone. “Well, I mean, I guess if you two aren’t together it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. I’m sure there are some very nice pre-med or pre-law students at college that would be suitable. Though it would break your father’s heart.”

She wanted to tell her mother that she was in love with Kyle, but before she could muster the courage to do so, she heard her mother’s fake pageant voice call out. “Oh my goodness! Rebecca Freeman! I’ve got to go, Cameron. I just ran into an old friend.”

“Thanks for your advice, Mom,” Cami said into a dead receiver. “Great chat, as always.” She rolled her eyes and tossed her phone on the bed willing herself not to cry. It really pissed her off that after all this time she still held out a tiny sliver of hope that one day her mother would actually give a shit about her.

Her laptop chimed from across the room. A new Facebook message. From one of Hayden’s douchebag friends. Prescott’s Back to School Bonfire Tonight @ 8 p.m.

Hayden threw a party every year in one of his grandparents’ fields that bordered Summit Bluffs. Maybe this is exactly what she needed.

Maybe it was time to get back to her old life, old friends, old boyfriend, and forget about the summer—and more importantly, Kyle Mason. The landscaper, since that’s all he was ever going to be.

Before this summer, she wouldn’t have batted an eyelash at blowing a guy off for not doing things the way she wanted. But now it stabbed her deeper than any of her parents’ hurtful actions ever had. She fought off the pain, the feelings, and searched for the shield of numbness she usually wore.

It was just about time to channel the old Cameron and get back to her regularly scheduled life. The one that didn’t include Kyle Mason.

34 Hayden

“YOU’RE coming tonight, right?” Hayden asked Ella Jane as they finished cleaning the shed out on his last day of work at Mason Landscaping. Well, half the day they’d cleaned out the shed and reorganized. The other half of the day they’d spent consumed with kissing and touching and being as close to one another every stolen moment they could manage.

“Hmm, am I?” Ella Jane raised an eyebrow and then winked at him from much too far away. Her innuendo made his knees weak. He shot her a wicked grin as he steeled himself. Turned out his angel had a little bit of devil in her. He loved it. He loved her. All of her.

“Oh you are. Most definitely,” he said, reaching out a hand to pull her to him. He inhaled her sweet honeysuckle scent and claimed her mouth with his. “Every weekend will never be enough. Can I sneak in your window every night?”

“Maybe I’ll sneak in your window. I’m squirrely like that,” she mumbled against his lips.

“That you are.” Kissing her beautiful bee-stung lips one at a time, he shook his head and pulled back. “You’ll get me fired on my last day if we keep this up. What if I need a reference?”

“Oh, I’ll give you a glowing reference, Hayden Prescott. Good with your hands, works well with others, always gets up, and never quits.”

Yep. He was a goner. Falling back under her spell, he kissed her until he had to come up for air or risk passing out.

A horn honked in the distance and she let out a little growl that had his dick standing at attention immediately.

“That would be Pops. I need to get going so I can help get everything ready.” He huffed out a breath. The absolute last thing he wanted to deal with was this party. He wanted to have his girl over for pizza and a movie and enjoy what time he had left with both of his grandparents. But Pops was dead set on doing everything as they’d always done it.

He placed one last chaste kiss on her mouth and pulled back, as much as he hated to. “Remember what I said, babe. I’m warning you—some of my friends are complete jackasses. And the rest of them are worse.”

Ella Jane giggled, a sound that made his whole day brighter. His whole life maybe. “Hmm, I remember thinking you were kind of a jackass at one point.” She hopped up on her tiptoes and gifted him one last kiss. “If I can handle you, I’m sure I can handle them.”

“Will you think about my request? Pretty please?” he pleaded as they left the shed and began the painfully slow walk to where his granddad was parked.

He’d asked Ella Jane to spend the night with him. His gran slept downstairs and Pops slept like the dead. He needed one entire night of her before he went back. Needed to leave her with something to remember him by so she wouldn’t forget him and fall into the arms of his least favorite farmer while they were apart.

“It’s all I can think about,” she said softly, looking shy for the first time since they’d made love a few nights ago. “If Mama says I can stay with Lynlee, then I’m there.”

Before he could respond, she spoke again. “Hey, what if it rains tonight? Forecast is callin’ for a storm.”

“It’s Oklahoma, angel face. They call for a storm every other day.” He chuckled. “Besides, last time it rained, we managed to figure out what to do.”

“We sure did,” she giggled. “The party getting rained out would give us a little more alone time.”

Hayden wondered if his heart was going to explode straight out of his chest at the thought of having her to himself for an entire night. Their first time together had been nice. Nice but cramped and awkward in the cab of her truck. He wanted to lay her out in his bed, please her every way possible, and then hold her all night afterwards. He wanted that more than he’d ever wanted anything.

God he hoped it rained.

IT was after seven when the summer sun finally sank into the horizon. Two cars full of his friends from school had already arrived. A part of him had hoped maybe no one would remember. He hadn’t sent out anything about it this year in hopes of calling the stupid thing off.

After checking to make sure his grandparents were all right for the night, he drove their truck out to the field.

Sitting around a fire on bales of straw and tossing back a few beers would’ve been nice if the dipshits he knew from high school weren’t there to ruin it. Jarrod Kent and Devon Keshner were among the first to arrive. And they were going on and on about their latest run in with a certain redhead that Hayden was almost positive was Ella Jane’s friend.

“Where’d you meet her?” He tried to sound uninterested, taking a long pull from his bottle of Michelob as if he couldn’t care less about the answer.

“Movies over at the plaza. But we didn’t stay and watch—not that movie anyways, if you know what I mean.” Devon Keshner was as shady as they came. Obnoxious as hell and cocky for no good reason.

Hayden fought the urge to sink his fist into his face just for the hell of it.

“J-Rod got shot down,” Devon said, placing way too much emphasis on the last word. “Uptight blonde had a boyfriend or some shit.”

“Naw, she just knew she couldn’t handle The Rod,” Jarrod shot back.

Hayden saw red. He knew exactly who they were referring to now. He had a feeling this night wasn’t going to end well. Storm clouds were rolling in from the east and the wind was already too brisk. If either of them said a word to Ella Jane when she got there, he’d kick both of their asses with a smile on his face.

His phone buzzed in his back pocket and he retrieved it with his free hand. Hoping it was his girl, he grinned and ignored whatever the other guys were bullshitting about. But his hope was short-lived. It was his dad’s number calling.

Standing and stepping away from the group, he answered. “Hey, Dad. I probably won’t have service. I’m—”

“Where’s the black notebook, son? The one you keep your bets in,” his father clarified.

The urgent tone and the fact that his father was bringing up their illegal gambling operation made him uneasy. “Um, it’s either under my mattress or in the Nike box in the top of my closet. Why?”

His chest constricted as he waited for his dad to answer.

“What did I tell you about keeping track of this stuff, Hayden? For God’s sakes, do you know what would happen if anyone found out you took bets for me at school?”

Hayden rolled his eyes as he polished off his beer. Probably the same thing that would happen if people found out his dad paid high school and college athletes to shave points and throw games. Summer wasn’t even over and his dad was already sucking him back into his mess. “Yeah, I know. Which is why I didn’t want to do this in the first—”

“Found it. It was in the closet. See you next weekend, son.” And with that, his dad was gone.

When Hayden looked up from tucking his phone back in his pocket, he was startled to see that the party was in full swing. At least a dozen more cars were there. He scanned them. Beamers. Lexuses. Jeeps. Range Rovers. Black. Silver. Gold. All shiny and proud, parked in the expansive field. No faded blue Ford pickup carrying the girl he wanted to see more than anyone else.

But when he turned to head back to his seat, he saw a girl he wasn’t so sure about seeing. And she saw him.

“Hey Cami-girl,” he greeted the statuesque brunette as she pulled a beer from the cooler. “I thought drinking ruined your skin or something?”

She’d always stayed away from drinking, smoking, or anything that would cause premature wrinkles. Pageants were his ex-girlfriend’s life pretty much.

“Yeah, well. It’s been a long summer. I need a drink,” she said, plopping down on a bale of straw positioned slightly away from everyone else. “You said you wanted to talk. Talk,” she said, gesturing with her bottle.

Hayden cleared his throat. “Um, okay. First things first. How was your summer?” Before she could answer, Devon and a few other guys from the lacrosse team let out a few low whistles and catcalls.

“Get you some, Prescott.”

“Shut your mouth, asshole,” he snapped without thinking. The old him would’ve given a thumbs up behind Cami’s back or a nod over her head. The old him was a dick.

“What’s your deal?” Cami asked, leaning away to get a good look at him. “Why are you being so nice?”

“I just called a teammate an asshole. If this is me being nice then I must’ve been a real jerkoff before.”

Cami shrugged. Her long, dark hair fell over one shoulder as she took another drink. She really was beautiful—there was no denying that. But sitting here with her was just…nice. She was more of a friend than anything. Granted, she was a friend he’d had sex with on a regular basis for the past year, but it wasn’t anything like what he’d felt when Ella Jane was anywhere near him.

With Cami he was comfortable. With Ella Jane Mason he was on edge like a long-tailed cat in a door-slamming factory, as Pops would say. But he loved every second of it.

“So I was thinking,” Hayden began just as Cami opened her mouth to speak.

“Go ahead,” they both said at once.

Giving her a tense grin, Hayden ran a hand through his hair. “So I know we talked about just taking a break for the summer, but—”

“But you didn’t miss me, did you?” Cami let out a small laugh and tilted her head, eyeing him knowingly. He didn’t see any traces of hurt in her expression—just mutual indifference.

“Um, it’s not like that, Cam. It was just…This summer was…”

“Crazy,” she finished for him. She pulled the red-lidded cooler closer and retrieved another beer. After handing him one, she practically downed her own.

“Whoa. How many of those have you had, sailor?” Hayden smiled but something was seriously off. He knew her parents were shitty people for the most part, but she’d spent the summer at some fancy French resort. So what had her so upset she was downing beers like an old pro?

“Oh-em-gee,” two girls squealed loudly as they approached.

Shit. Dread crept up his shoulders, pulling at the muscles in his neck. He’d forgotten just how obnoxious and irritating Cami’s friends were.

“Hayden and Cami. Cami and Hayden,” her friend Raquel sing-songed before smirking at them. “Guess summer’s really over, huh?”

He raised an eyebrow as the girls exchanged a few words. Raquel gave him a lingering glance as she walked away. “Great party, Hayden. Hopefully, I’ll be seeing you later.”

“Doubtful,” he muttered under his breath.

“Raquel seriously wants you,” Cami informed him. But her voice held no hint of the old, petty, jealous version of herself. He didn’t feel like he was even sitting with the same girl he’d dated off and on throughout most of high school. “She probably spent all summer plotting how to get in your pants behind my back this year.”

Hayden snorted. “If she did, Raquel needs a new hobby.”

“Cheers to that,” Cami said, clinking her bottle against his and dissolving into a fit of giggles. “Wait. Is…is being a massive bitch a hobby?”

Hayden chuckled but gently lifted her bottle from her hands and sat it on the ground next to their feet. “Everything okay, Cam? You seem a little…” He knew the wrong word might set her off. She might have relaxed a little this summer but she was still female. “On edge.”

She let out a deep sigh and stared blankly at the chaos ensuing around them. “You ever just feel like it’s all…pointless? All the crap we do to impress everyone, each other, our parents. I mean, really. I feel like I spend every waking second trying to please other people, and for what? I don’t get anything out of it. Not a single thing.”

Yeah. He felt like that pretty much all of the time. “Maybe you should stop.” He shrugged and surveyed the crowd. He didn’t really care about any of these people anymore. Not since he’d learned what it was like to really care about someone. The way he cared about Ella Jane, the way he cared about his grandparents.

A few guys were already arguing, some couples were dry humping in plain sight, and girls were prancing around like they did. Grouping up and giggling at stupid shit. God, he was ready to see his girl. The one who was just herself, all of the time. No games and no bullshit. But looking at Cami, he knew he needed to explain before the whole situation was just thrown in her face. She was down about something, and he cared about her enough as a friend not to pour salt in her wound.

“Look, I can tell something’s wrong, and if you want to tell me then that’s cool. But if you don’t then that’s okay too. But I’ve got something to tell you and I’d rather you hear it from me.”

She turned her round wide doe eyes to his. “What’s going on, Hayden?”

“You probably won’t even care. It’s not like you want to get back together or anything. Um, do you?” God, he hoped the answer was no. Otherwise this was about to get extremely awkward.

He watched as her eyebrows dipped in contemplation. Before he could even blink, she grabbed his shirt and yanked him forward. He sputtered and nearly choked on his own tongue when she slammed her mouth down on his.

As soon as she pulled back, he rubbed the traces of her kiss from his lips. “What the hell was that for?”

“Egh. Just had to see. You’re in the clear. I don’t want to get back together.” She shrugged. “So you can save your breakup speech for the next girl.”

Suddenly uneasy, Hayden took a slow sip of beer. Ella Jane probably wouldn’t have approved of his ex laying one on him like that. “Cami, I’m sorry. I met someone this summer. She’s…she’s not like anyone we know. She’s different…and pretty amazing. And I hope this doesn’t hurt you or make you mad, but I wanted you to hear it from me.”

When she turned to face him, there were tears in her eyes. He felt like a complete and total jerk.

“Shit, Cam. I’m sorry. I thought we were good. You said you didn’t want to get back together.”

She shook her head, causing a few of her tears to fall. “I don’t. This isn’t…” She paused to scrub her hand roughly across her cheeks. “This isn’t about that. I met someone too. Someone…different. And amazing. And I blew him off because…” She was cut off by the sob that left her choking on her words. “Because I’m an idiot.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Hayden slung an arm over her shoulder. “You’re not an idiot, Cameron Nickelson. Far from it. I’m sure whatever dude you blew off is sitting around crying in his French beer hoping you’ll change your mind soon.”

“You think?” She frowned but then her expression turned hopeful.

“I’d bet my ass on it. And betting is my specialty.”

She grinned, and for the first time since he’d seen her tonight, she looked happy. Excited. “Thanks. And hey, good luck with your girl.” Planting a quick peck of a kiss on his cheek, she hugged him. “I gotta go.”

“See ya, Cam.”

As she hopped up and walked away, Hayden felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Cami had met someone, too. He knew a smile was spreading across his face as he pulled his bottle to his mouth. She understood. No drama necessary. After everything this summer with his gran, he really needed something to actually go his way for once.

But his relief didn’t last long. When he turned back to the party, he saw someone he was absolutely positive he hadn’t invited.

Brantley Cooper was heading his way. And from the looks of it, Cooper was the bull and Hayden was a shiny red flag.

35 Ella Jane

“SO where is lover boy?” Lynlee asked, lifting onto her toes to try and see through the crowd. “I’ll give him this much—he knows how to throw a decent party. For a city boy.”

Ella Jane laughed. City kids throwing some bales of straw around a fire and calling it a field party made her smile and shake her head. Bless their hearts. They tried.

“His name is Hayden, Lyn. Hayden Prescott. Though he might like being called loverboy. He’ll be around here somewhere. He wasn’t too excited about the whole thing.” Ella Jane shrugged her way through the crowd beside her friend. “He’s really worried about his gran. She’s not doing well.” She bit her lip to keep from saying anything else. Pops had sworn her to secrecy, and she hadn’t even told her mama about Gran’s dementia. Her stomach twisted at the memory of what she’d just seen.

On her way to the party, she’d stopped to drop off the chicken and dumplings her mama had made the Prescotts. She’d hoped to catch Hayden before he left but he was already gone. Pops was sitting on the porch swing with Gran’s feet in his lap when she arrived.

Thankfully, she hadn’t freaked out and called EJ any mean names, but she was singing softly to herself and seemingly unaware of her surroundings.

“Good day or bad day?” she’d asked Pops. He smiled and nodded for her to take the food in the house.

“We’re together. Far as I’m concerned, that makes it a good day.”

Her heart had both swelled and ached from the encounter. Love could be fleeting. She knew that from her parents. But the Prescotts had something she hoped she’d have one day too. The kind of love that never ended. The kind that made it through fights, time apart, illnesses, and whatever storms came their way.

Maybe she and Hayden would have something like that. One day.

The idea she’d just given birth to died a fiery death the minute she laid eyes on Hayden. The crowd had thinned a little over by the fire, and between the bodies and the shadows the flames cast around her, she saw him. He was smiling, looking more carefree than she’d ever seen him. The gorgeous brunette sitting next to him kissed him square on the mouth. EJ’s hand flew to hers.

Her chest felt like it was trying to cave in. She didn’t know if it was trying to protect her heart or crush it. Hurt like hell either way.

Fate must’ve decided she’d had as much as she could take because a group of guys moved in her path, blocking her view. She used the brief reprieve to try and catch the breath that had fled from her lungs.

“Was that him? With the Kardashian wannabe?” Lynlee was actually somewhat subdued as she looked on in the same direction. Ella Jane was thankful her friend didn’t take the opportunity to make some bitchy comment about how that’s what she got for committing to one guy.

All she could do was nod and blink. Trying her best not to lose control in front of all these people, she glanced down at the denim dress she’d worn to remind him of their first date.

“Well he didn’t look all that upset about Granny to me,” her friend said, barely loud enough to be heard over the music.

I am exactly the naïve hillbilly idiot he thought I was.

Memories of watching trains, of kissing in every possible place at work—Jesus, where she freaking lived—of what had happened in her truck, the way he’d moved gently inside of her, asking her over and over if she was okay, telling her how much he cared about her pummeled her like punches from a prizefighter.

She could still remember his promise. I’m a lot of things, but an outright liar isn’t one of them. It echoed louder and louder inside her head.

Her knees went weak as every ounce of blood and oxygen and whatever else she was made of slid to the tips of her toes.

Thankfully, Lynlee had enough pissed-off in her for the both of them. “Kent,” she hollered, grabbing the Jarrod guy Ella Jane vaguely recognized from the movies. “Who’s that girl over there all over Hayden Prescott?”

He turned and grinned at them in greeting. “Well, hey there, Red. And Ella Jane. It’s good to see both of you beautiful ladies again.”

“Cut the crap, limp dick. Wide Ass Barbie, what’s her name?” Lynlee jerked her head in Hayden’s direction.

Ella Jane’s face began to tingle as she listened to their conversation. Just like when her mom had announced that her dad had moved out, EJ wished the words would just go back into everyone’s mouths. Wished she could freeze time and rewind. Go back to before everything hurt so badly.

Before everyone she trusted did their absolute best to break her.

Jarrod glanced over his shoulder. “Cameron Nickelson? She’s Hayden’s girlfriend. Has been for years. Why?” His light gray eyes moved back and forth between them until he saw EJ falling apart and understanding dawned on him. “Oh shit.”

It didn’t help that a small noise escaped her throat. That must be the sound my heart makes when it breaks.

It was one thing if Hayden had used her. But it was worse than that. So much worse.

He had a girlfriend. A serious one he’d had for years.

She’d been the other woman.

The same kind of woman her father had an affair with and ditched their family for.

It was all a lie.

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

36 Cooper

COOP slammed the door to his dad’s truck. He’d taken it by Kyle’s to get him to help him put some pictures of it online. The Cooper family financial situation was still in the shitter, and his dad had given him the job of putting it up for sale. Little did he know that stopping by Kyle’s would result in a wild goose chase. Or a piece of ass chase. Same difference as far as he was concerned.

He huffed out a loud sigh to let his friend know he wasn’t into this. “This is ridiculous, man. If she wants to talk to you, she’ll call.” The last thing he wanted to be doing was going to some stupid-ass party thrown by Bitch Boy himself. “Dude, I don’t even know what she looks like.”

Coop decided then and there that this was officially the shittiest summer ever. Kyle had talked him into coming along to look for his mystery girl. Apparently, she’d pulled a disappearing act on him, and for whatever reason, he thought she’d be here tonight. But so far no sign of her. Not that he even knew exactly what he was looking for.

Kyle was practically jogging ahead of him. “I know it sounds stupid to you, but she loves me. Even if she hasn’t said it, I know she does. It’s not like her to just blow me off. Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”

Coop was about to make a smartass comment about her “blowing him off” when Kyle stopped so fast he nearly ran right into him.

“Hang on a sec. I’ve got to say hello to a few of these shitheads. Then I’ll show you a picture on my phone.”

Coop hung back as his best friend talked to some Summit Bluffs football players about their game last season. The two high schools were rivals, but that must have ended when they graduated because Kyle seemed to be cool with them.

Coop was looking for the keg when he saw Ellie May storming toward him, looking even more upset than she had the day he’d said she was like a sister to him.

“Ellie May? What is it? What’s wrong?” Coop tried to grab her, but she juked right and then left and went around him. The sounds of her broken cries echoed in his head over the shitty music blasting from a nearby SUV.

“Hey.” He stuck an arm out in front of Lynlee Reed. “What the hell happened to her?”

Lynlee licked her bright red lips and eyed Coop’s arm hungrily. “Well…that happened.” She raked her fingernails across his forearm, turning him to face the direction Ellie May had come running from. “Turns out loverboy has a girlfriend. Bet EJ’s wishing she hadn’t given it up to him about now.”

“Given what up…” His voice trailed off as he watched a lanky brunette wrap herself around Hayden Prescott. The pain EJ was running from—it was because of this. His fists clenched so tight he was sure he’d have scars on this inside of his hands. He was going to tear Bitch Boy in two. Or maybe into fours. Yeah, quartering him would be more fun. And then he could feed him to the hogs. He was pretty sure they even ate teeth, so there’d be no way to identify the body.

Thankfully, the smoking hot brunette walked off as Cooper headed that way. Her white dress looked expensive, and he’d have hated to get Bitch Boy’s blood all over it.

Why so many gorgeous girls were fooled by this jackass was beyond Coop. Maybe it was the money. Or the face. If it was the second one, then his luck was about to run out because it was about to be mangled.

Coop couldn’t even count the number of nights he’d lain awake dreaming about sinking his fists into Hayden Prescott’s face on one hand. Which was why he was going to beat his ass with both hands.

A scream rang out from nearby as Cooper grabbed Hayden by the collar of his button-up Polo shirt. “I warned you, you pretty boy piece of shit.”

“Warned me about what?” Hayden’s beer fell from his hand as he reached up to grip Coop’s wrists. “What the hell are you doing, Joe?”

“Fight!” Someone yelled out as most of the party gathered around them.

Swinging him in a one-eighty until his back slammed into a black Range Rover, Cooper got as close to Hayden’s face as he could manage—close enough to breathe the same air, which was closer than he’d ever wanted to be. “I told your stupid ass to leave her the hell alone. That was your warning. But you couldn’t do it. Couldn’t just leave her be.”

“Ella Jane?” Hayden’s face was red and then purple but Coop didn’t care. All he could see was the white-hot rage burning him up from the inside out.

“Hell yes, Ella Jane. Or did you confuse her with the leggy brunette who was just all over your dick?” Pulling Hayden forward just to slam him against the vehicle once more, Coop practically growled in his face as the car alarm began to ring out. “She saw you, you son of a bitch. She saw you with that girl. You know about her dad and you pulled that shit on her. And I know…” Shaking his head, Coop released Hayden violently.

He couldn’t bring himself to say it. He prayed Lynlee was lying. But the shame on Hayden’s face indicated otherwise.

“Where is she, Cooper? Is she here?” Hayden asked frantically as Coop cocked his fist back.

“Whoa, Coop. Easy big fella,” Kyle Mason said as he caught his friend’s fist from behind.

Wrapping him in a bear hug, Kyle yanked his friend out of the circle that had gathered. “Come on. There’s a serious storm coming in. We need to get out of here.” He let go long enough for Coop to surge forward once more. But Kyle grabbed his shirt and pulled him back before he’d taken two steps. “He’s not worth it, man. Whatever he did, he’s not worth it.”

“Oh yeah?” Coop bit out as his adrenaline shot through him at record speed. “What if he screwed your sister and then lured her here to watch him make out with his girlfriend? What if I saw her bawling her eyes out running to her truck less than two minutes ago? He still not worth it?”

Kyle shook his head. “Naw, man. You can’t afford to get in trouble. Your dad’s selling his truck just to get by. You think they want to bail your sorry ass out of jail?”

Coop’s heart rate slowed slightly. The guy had a point.

“But me on the other hand, I have enough money for bail in my savings account. Be sure you get my wallet before the cops cuff me.” With those words, Kyle charged through the crowd toward Hayden with Coop close behind.

The force of someone grabbing him by the neck of his shirt caught Coop off guard and nearly caused him to lose his footing. Suddenly he was facing the opposite direction than the one he’d been headed in. Rain dropped from the sky in sheets, making it nearly impossible to see anything. He swung blindly, connecting a few times with various body parts of the guys holding him back until he broke free.

Bedlam began to break out around him. The Summit Bluffs lacrosse team—Coop knew it was them from their matching T-shirts—had blocked Hayden from his reach. But from the looks of the blood running from his nose, Kyle had landed at least one good punch.

Shit. Kyle. He was lost in the chaos. Punches and shouting and madness took over until a loud clap of thunder rattled the ground.

The siren song of multiple car alarms going off wailed all around them. People began to run in every direction.

“Come on. What’s done is done. We can handle it later,” Kyle shouted as he ran by. “Let’s go, Coop. This storm is here! Now!”

“I’M going to kill him. Swear to God. He’s dead,” Coop told Kyle as they drove the back roads to the Masons’ place. “You didn’t see, man. You didn’t see that chick all over him and Ellie May’s face.” God, that damned look. Letting an animalistic growl escape, he punched the steering wheel, nearly causing them to run off into a ditch.

“Coop, I—”

A long signal blared at them from the radio and both boys stopped to listen.

The severe storm warning issued for Arden, Beacon, Calumet, Dessin, and Owasso counties has been upgraded to a Tornado Warning…Dangerous and extremely large, destructive hail up to softball size is expected with this storm. Locations reporting hail include Arden, Beacon, Calumet, Dessin, and—

Kyle reached forward and turned down the warning. “Relax, Coop. I’m pissed, too. You tried to warn me about him. Deep down I knew…dammit. I knew something like this might happen. I’d just hoped I was wrong.” He ran a hand through his soaking wet hair. “Let’s just get to my house and get her and Mama down to the basement and we can deal with all of this after this storm blows over.”

Coop tried to take enough deep breaths to calm himself down but his heart was pounding right along with the lightning shooting across the sky—rapidly and without any signs of slowing down. Just as he’d begun to get a grip on himself, he turned into the Masons’ driveway. Only to see that Ella Jane’s truck wasn’t there.

An iron fist of dread gripped his heart in his chest, squeezing it hard before flinging it into his stomach.

His best friend turned to him, his face contorted into a mask of fear and confusion. “Where the hell is she?” Kyle asked, voicing Coop’s exact same thought at that moment.

37 Hayden

SHE’D seen. Holy mother of shitty timing. Ella Jane had seen Cami kiss him just to prove that there was nothing between them. Not that it made it okay. He had to find her. Had to explain. Even the worst storm he’d ever seen wouldn’t stop him from getting through to her.

Sprinting to the shelter of Pop’s truck, he thought about how he’d feel if he ever saw Coop’s lips on hers. A shudder ran through him, and not just because he was soaked to the bone.

He was glad her brother had punched him in the face. He deserved it. Even if he hadn’t meant to hurt her, he still had. Covered in mud from Kyle Mason knocking him on his ass in the pouring rain, Hayden made his way to the truck. A drenched Jarrod Kent stopped him just as he reached what would’ve been shelter from the storm.

“Dude. Nice score on the blonde. Sorry I busted you. But since you’re all done, can I get her number?” Jarrod had the nerve to smirk at him.

“What the fu—” Thunder cracked loud enough to drown out his words.

“She didn’t know you had a girlfriend, I take it,” Jarrod shouted over the rain. “She flipped her shit, dude. My bad. Anyways, no hard feelings, Prescott.” With that, the other boy jumped into his Audi SUV and spun his tires, slinging mud all over Hayden and his granddad’s truck.

No. No no no. It was so much worse than he thought. His mind ran wild with the knowledge Kent had dropped on him. She thought she’d been a side thing. Thought he was a lying cheater like her dad.

Surely she would know he wouldn’t have invited her to the party if he were hiding a girlfriend. Wouldn’t she? Jumping into the truck, he grabbed the damp phone from the pocket of his jeans. Luckily he had the most expensive protective case money could buy.

Every second it took the phone to pull up his recent calls was a second she was probably growing to hate him. Chest aching from how hard his heart was slamming into it, he cranked the truck with one hand and clicked on her name with the other.

A few beeps came through the line. We’re sorry. Your call cannot be completed—

He pressed the red end button and cursed the universe. And whoever the hell “we” was in the “We’re sorry,” recording.

The radio let out a long wail of a warning signal and an automated voice began rattling off a warning for nearby counties. Including Calumet. Which he was right in the middle of.

This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. If you cannot get underground, go to a storm shelter or an interior room of a sturdy building now.

The loud, rhythmic pounding of hail and rain on the roof of the truck echoed his frustration.

After trying to call again, he gave up and clicked through to his messaging screen.

His heart nearly thundered to a stop when he saw that he had a missed text from her. It was from ten minutes ago.

If you meant any of it, if any of it was real, meet me at The Ridge.

That was it. Nothing else. No “I hate you,” or “How could you?” His breathing was labored as he struggled to think. The Ridge was probably the worst possible place she could be. It was elevated and offered no protection. But he had to get there if that’s where she was. His fingers flew across the screen as he messaged her back.

On my way. I’ll explain everything, angel face.

A tiny sliver of relief glimmered in his chest. She was okay. He would explain. He would get Cami to talk to her if he had to, to tell her everything and anything she wanted to know. But first he had to get her the hell out of there and to someplace safe.

Pointing the truck toward The Ridge, he pulled onto the main road. The wipers rocked against the windshield as fast as they could in the currents of water washing over them. Hayden squinted, leaning as far forward as he could to try and see out of the windshield. Steam filled the cab and fogged up the windshield.

He pushed the panic rising up in him as far away as he could. If anything happened to her...It will be because of me.

When his phone buzzed in his hand, he nearly cried out in relief. But when he looked down, it wasn’t her calling.

Pops, the screen said.

“I’m heading home as soon as I find Ella Jane,” he said into the phone. “She’s at The Ridge and I—”

“Hayden, get…” The old man’s voice crackled through the line and then static burst into his ear. “Now…shattered…to the hospital.”

“What? Pops, I can’t hear you. What did you say?” Hayden gripped the steering wheel with his free hand and tried to stay in the middle of the road. He could feel the tires threatening to lose their grip in the rushing water.

“Your grandmother… unconscious.”

“Pops?”

“Ambulances…all out. Need you…”

The bad connection made Hayden want to hit something hard and throw the damned phone out the window. He couldn’t reach Ella Jane. Couldn’t understand a word his granddad was saying. Something about his grandmother and ambulances.

“Help,” was the last word he heard the old man say before the connection went dead.

But he couldn’t help. Couldn’t get to his girl and couldn’t get to his grandparents. Because the storm was right in front of him, coming at him like the trains Ella Jane loved to watch. It was wide and black—the devil dropping down to earth as his gran would say—and for a split second, he could only stare at it in awestruck horror.

Snapping out of his brief encounter with shock and turning the wheel as sharp as he could, he had one last thought as the tires squealed in protest, losing their fight against the rushing rapids.

I can’t help anyone, Pops. I can’t even help myself.

38 Ella Jane

ON my way. I’ll explain everything, angel face.

She’d been staring at his reply for every second of the eleven minutes since it had come through. The storm was raging outside of her truck and he still hadn’t shown.

Panic swirled inside of her. Panic and hurt and betrayal and the deep need to know he was okay even if it had all been a lie.

And then once she knew he was okay, she would demand the truth. Even if the truth was she’d just been a summer fling behind his beautiful girlfriend’s back.

Anything was better than not knowing.

Her phone vibrated in her hand, jolting her from her trance of staring at it and playing out a dozen possible scenarios in her head.

Her brother’s face filled her screen. She pressed accept on a sigh.

“Kyle?”

“Where the hell are you, EJ?” The panic in his voice was a thousand times more intense than her own.

“The Ridge. I was supposed to meet—”

“Get your ass home right this second. They just issued a tornado warning. It’s touching down. You have to get out of there.”

Her brother was the calmest person she knew. It took a lot—well, it took a guy making a move on her—to really upset him. And she’d never heard him this upset.

“I am. Hayden is meeting me here and then I’ll—”

“Listen to me, dammit. Forget Hayden. Do you hear me, EJ? Forget him. Get home right now.”

“Okay, okay.” She cranked her truck and jumped at the sound of the wailing sirens both inside and outside of her truck.

Weather Service Meteorologists and storm spotters are tracking a large and extremely dangerous storm cell that has been identified as a tornado six miles southeast of Oklahoma City. Doppler Radar shows this tornado moving east at approximately forty miles per hour.

This is a tornado emergency for the following counties…Arden, Beacon, Calumet, Dessin—

“Kyle. Are you still there?”

Her hand shook visibly—or maybe her entire body was shaking—as she reached to turn the radio down so she could hear her brother through the phone.

“Don’t take the main road. It’s flooded,” he shouted at her.

She reached down and shifted into reverse, but when she hit the gas, the tires spun. Solid thunks of hail began to beat down on the roof and tears slipped from her eyes. This was so bad. She was an idiot. She’d lived in Oklahoma her entire life. She knew the warning signs. But she’d ignored each and every one of them—distracted by something that was over before it had begun.

Slamming her foot down as hard as she could, she cried out when it didn’t budge.

“I’m stuck, Kyle. The truck. It’s stuck in the mud. It’s not budging.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she heard it. Surely the trains aren’t running in this weather.

But she could hear it coming, could feel the vibration.

Static blared through the speaker against her ear, but she thought she heard her brother’s voice.

“It’ll be okay…coming to get you.”

His words soothed her for the moment. Her body trembled in the truck as she clutched her phone and waited for her savior. The one man she could actually depend on, count on to be there for her. The only one she’d ever be able trust.

39 Kyle

“SHE’S stuck in the mud at The Ridge. I’m going to go get her in my truck. Park your dad’s truck in the barn now before this hail destroys it and it ain’t worth shit,” Kyle yelled at Coop through the rain beating down on him as he got out of the passenger side.

“No. Hell no. I’m coming with you. Get your ass back in this truck,” Coop demanded.

“No. This will blow over and then what will you tell your dad? What will he do about paying the bills? Go! Now!”

Kyle slammed the door and started to dart through the rain toward his own truck, but Coop got out and grabbed him before he got there.

“I’m going with you. I’ll put the truck in the barn first but I’m going.”

Kyle jerked free of his best friend’s grasp and shook his head. “There’s no time. EJ’s in the worst place she could be. I have to go now!”

“To hell with the truck, Kyle. I love her. I’m going.”

“I love her, too, Coop. She’s my damned sister. But I need you to stay here. Run inside and make sure Mama is down in the basement.”

“No,” Coop said, shouting to be heard over the downpour. “I mean, I love her like I’m in love with her. You can kick my ass for it later, but I’ve always loved her. I love her more than I should. Not like a brother. Nothing like a brother, in fact.”

Excellent time for a heart-to-heart, Coop. Kyle nodded frantically as water blinded him. “I know that, jackass. That’s why I trust you to take care of her. It’s why I asked you to do that when I’m gone. But I’m here now and I need you here and every second we waste arguing is a second she’s out there alone. Move your truck and then go the hell inside.”

His words must’ve finally gotten through because Coop’s shoulders dropped in defeat as he acquiesced. “Bring our girl home safe, okay?”

“I will,” Kyle hollered as he jumped into his truck. “And I promise to kick your ass later for taking so long to man up and tell me the truth.”

Kyle flashed his lights at Coop as he headed out of the driveway. His headlights barely made any difference in the pitch he was driving into as he pulled onto the back road that led to The Ridge.

Every muscle in his body was tense as he navigated the treacherous path through the worst storm he’d seen in all of his eighteen years. Throwing up a silent prayer that all of his girls were okay—his mama, his baby sister, and his gorgeous Belle—he gripped the steering wheel with all of his strength.

The automated storm warning played over and over on the radio as he drove as fast as the monsoon he was struggling against would allow. If anything, this was just the confirmation he needed that running off to college wasn’t what was best for his family.

What would’ve happened to EJ if he wasn’t here? It made him sick to even allow that thought into his mind. He’d already dropped the ball once and let City Boy break her heart. Though now he had full confidence that Coop would help mend it. Normally, he wouldn’t have let either of them within reaching distance of his little sister, but what he had with Cami had softened him a bit, made him believe that even people from two different worlds might have a chance.

One summer had changed everything.

His Belle would come around. She’d see that his staying home was what was best for all of them. As if she’d been conjured by his thoughts, his phone lit up in the dark cab of the truck.

Dammit. He’d have to lean way over to get to it, and that would mean taking a hand off the wheel.

By the time he was in a safe enough spot to make a grab for his phone, her call had gone to voicemail. Thank God she’d actually left one.

He smiled as her beautiful voice filled his head. Pulling up at The Ridge, he saw Ella Jane’s silhouette illuminated in his headlights. Crazy girl had gotten out and was trying to push her own truck out of the mud.

He was still listening to his voicemail from Cami when he put his truck in park and opened his door to get out and help his little sister. A vibration from his left startled him and he dropped his phone into the mud.

The train was coming right at him. Just like that linebacker he’d felt coming all summer. The one he wasn’t ready for. It was airborne, off the tracks, and being carried straight toward him and his little sister by a funnel cloud that looked to be as wide as Hope’s Grove.

If it didn’t change course, he’d have to go back on the one promise he never thought he’d break.

He couldn’t protect her. Not this time.

40 Cameron

“THE National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning for Calumet County. At 9:55 p.m., trackers confirmed a tornado on the ground,” the radio informed her.

She couldn’t tell which was falling harder—the tears or the rain against the windshield. Even with her wipers on full blast, she couldn’t see to drive. How could I have been so stupid? Being at Hayden’s party, around all the people she used to think were worth impressing, made her realize just how trivial her old life was.

She should have never let her pride get in the way of telling Kyle how she felt, and she should have never worried about what everyone else thought. She was being punished for her past. The way she treated people. The lies. The constant need for approval. All of it.

Mother Nature was letting her know that she wasn’t going to get away with it. And apparently she was a bigger bitch than Cami had ever been.

The howling wind rocked her white Mercedes SUV as she stopped to check her phone. Just like the time before—no signal. She watched the travel time on the GPS increase minute by minute as she sat still in the middle of the road. It had been twenty-two minutes since she put Kyle’s address in back at the party.

She’d taken it as a sign, fate finally helping her out, that the stack of mail sitting on her passenger seat included an invoice from Mason Landscaping and Lawn Care. Seven minutes it had said.

Seven minutes to get to his house and tell him that she loved him and wanted to be with him no matter where he went to school or what he did. Seven minutes to ride the storm out with him holding her close and whispering in her ear that everything was going to be okay instead of out in the middle of nowhere alone.

Maybe fate wasn’t leading her to safety. Maybe it was leading her to exactly what she deserved.

Sheer panic began to take over as the thunder cracked again and a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. She was lost with no cell service. The robotic voice calling out over the radio wasn’t helping matters. Telling her over and over that she was lost in an area that was directly in the path of an oncoming twister.

She wasn’t usually afraid of storms, thanks to the fact that her house had a fully furnished basement she usually sheltered away in when warnings were issued, but out here she had no place to go. She thought about the last big storm that had hit central Oklahoma and the people who had lost their lives by staying in their cars.

“Shit!” She pounded her hand against the steering wheel and tried to remind herself to stay calm. Her palms started to sweat as she held up her phone again, moving it around the car, trying to get a signal.

As she reached into the back seat, staring at a glowing screen, she saw it. Somehow through the wind and rain, she saw it. A light. A small, amber, glowing light fixed to the top of a pole that was rocking back and forth with each gust of wind.

She might not have been country smart, but she was smart enough to know that if there was electricity running to that pole, there was probably somewhere to hide up there.

Cami flipped the switch from two-to four-wheel drive on her SUV and threw it in reverse, driving backward until she saw the lane. Her intuition was right. As she drove up the muddy path, a two-story farmhouse came into view. The windows were dark, and from what she could make out, a few were broken. It was abandoned.

A small barn sat on the corner of the property. The door that once closed off the building was hanging to the side, appearing to have been broken years before the storm had hit. She pulled her vehicle into the barn and let out a sigh as the old roof blocked the heavy fall of rain. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

Exiting her vehicle, she looked down at her phone. A signal. One bar. She didn’t know if it would go through, but she tried to call Kyle’s number anyway. Maybe he knew where this place was and he would come to rescue her. She figured he was pissed at her for blowing him off, but there was no way he’d leave her out there alone in the middle of a tornado.

“This is Kyle. Leave a message.” She heard his voice and her heart raced as she started to leave him a message.

“Kyle, it’s me. I’m so sorry I haven’t returned your calls.” The rain started to let out as she paced the dirt floor of the barn. “I was coming to see you and I got lost trying to find your house. GPS says I’m at 640 East Road.” The winds calmed. She stepped out into the open air and looked around. Maybe the storm was over?

“I think the storm’s letting up. When you get this message, please call me back. I’ll wait here until I hear from you.”

That’s when she heard it. A sound she’d heard so many people talk about, but never actually experienced. Like a freight train running at full speed.

It was too dark in the distance to see where it was coming from, but she knew it was getting closer. With her phone still to her ear, she said something she’d never said to anyone—something she feared she’d never get to say again. “I love you.”