Stubborn Page 3

  My eyes climbed to study her face. Her cheeks were ruddy and full. Long gone were her days of tight military abs and bony features. She looked prettier than I remembered.

  I couldn’t think of a response. I felt ill. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend the summer here. Fun wasn’t exactly on the radar. It seemed impossible to achieve without my friends or money or a boyfriend.

  “I’ll get you caught up on my newest aggravations, but first you need to get familiar with the renters.” Meggie tapped her forehead with a gnawed pencil. “Some pay up front for three months. These guys you don’t have to worry about. Others pay cash every two weeks. I’m usually hunting them down mid-month to remind them. Sometimes it’s my job to play mom.”

  I crossed my arms over my tank top. “How many guys are we talking about?” My quick scan of the outside building didn’t render much information.

  “About sixteen, honey. No more than I can handle. I put rules down. If they break them, they hit the road. I’ve got a good rapport with the local sheriff if need be. Why don’t you go outside and take a look around. Get familiar with the coop. They won’t bite. I need to run some numbers.”

  The bell chimed on my exit. The morning heat was almost unbearable. I twisted my ponytail into a knot and fanned my clammy neck. I wanted to see if the black Ford was parked under my window, so I shot a curious glance over my shoulder on my walk to the hotel. Plain as day, it was sitting there. Trying hard to put the yellow shirt out of my mind, I continued on until I came to the first door.

  The drone of an air conditioning unit emanated from the rear. The white cinderblock structure was unimpressive, bare. I couldn’t imagine what the insides looked like. Thankfully, the drawn curtains on the first apartment spared my exposure to a potentially horrific scene.

  Again, my mind drifted. Which room did the yellow shirt live in? I didn’t know why I was so fascinated with the faceless person. I was in no position to lecture him about staring at people’s windows when I was doing the exact same thing.

  The bell over the office door rang, disturbing my thoughts.

  “Be back in a minute,” Meggie hollered. She scuttled across the lawn holding a hand on her stomach and waved backward at me.

  I stepped closer to the next boarding room. The number two was hanging upside down on a nail. I flicked it with my finger and watched it spin around. I stepped back, startled, when the 50s-style drapes in the window spread open. Then the door swung wide. Stooping slightly, a tall boy wearing a cowboy hat emerged. It was the same hat from the pickup earlier, yet he’d changed his shirt. The rim of the hat lifted, and he arched a humorous brow and an almost-there grin.

  The familiar face came into view. My heart launched into my throat and jiggled. My skin prickled everywhere.

  “Uh...hiya,” said the boy with a heavy accent.

  His dark lashes and hazel eyes turned down. He swung around to check the lock on his door.

  I thought I saw a slight blush paint his already tan features. I wanted to stare longer. A shiver twitched my bare shoulders; my voice stuck in my throat along with my heart as the hairs on my arms uncurled among the gooseflesh. He was the same boy who stood up for me on the train and knocked the daylights out of the sleazebag who sassed me.

  I knew his face. I had memorized it. But I thought he was much older.

  “Hey,” I mumbled, shoving my hands in the tight back pockets of my jean shorts.

  Didn’t he recognize me? For some reason I found myself struggling to keep a calm expression as I attempted to form a complete sentence. I wanted to thank him for assisting me, tell him I appreciated what he did.

  Under his breath he muttered, “Might wanna tuck that shirt in, ’case the wind gusts real high. Catch ya on the backside. Later.”

  He motioned to the hem of my top with the rim of his hat and then tore off.

  It took me a second to process what he said. I swiped at the perspiration beading on my forehead. He had a sense of humor to go along with those starry looks, but he wasn’t big on making small talk. I gazed, enamored, as his long legs made fast strides along the grassy path. There must have been a blazing fire somewhere calling his name.

  Whatever his name was.

  I felt awkward thinking about him looking up at me.

  All of me.

  I mumbled, “See you later, I guess. Thanks for knocking out the dirtbag yesterday. You sure are good looking.”

  I stared in awe as he hopped into the cab of his black pickup, started it up, and gunned down the lengthy driveway in reverse. A chalky dust cloud formed, encasing his vehicle.

  Meggie emerged in the backyard. “Welcome back, kiddo,” she hollered at the boy. She waved the truck on and made her way to the office. “One of my good ones,” she called across the lawn.

  Good ones?

  Good to know.

  “So, have you seen enough yet, Avery?” She signaled for me as the truck with Texas plates zoomed away doing two hundred miles an hour down the gravel road.

  “Who’s the guy who just left?” I asked, tapping my fingers on the edge of her desk. Could she see my heart racing behind my ribcage? “I’ve seen him before. Is he a worm?”

  Meggie looked up with a puzzled expression and then dropped her eyes just as fast. She gave a hearty laugh and slapped a hand on the desk.

  “No. Not exactly a worm. Where did you hear that? That’s Gabe. He’s an angel, generally. Pretty quiet. Witty kid, though. Reads a lot, that boy. But I don’t think you want to get involved. You couldn’t have seen him before. He drove back last night. Texas. Family’s from there.”

  Texas? Maybe the heat was frying my brain.

  Two

  Max Taylor was a nice enough kid, kinda scruffy with messy blond hair. We sat on a picnic table out back of Meggie’s house and waited for Josh to get home from work and take us out. I was grateful to Josh’s friend for being so talkative. Otherwise, I would have had to strike up conversation with some of the boarders who couldn’t keep their eyes from climbing all over me.

  “Does Joshie, I mean Josh, have a girlfriend? I didn’t wanna ask him flat out.”

  Max gave a hallow laugh. “No. He’s afraid of girls. Why? You got a girl in mind?”

  I huffed. “I just got here. I know about two whole people in this state. Why don’t you try the Internet? They have sites for that,” I teased. He seemed like the kind of kid I could tease. “You’re not afraid of girls. Obviously.”

  I lifted my gaze to see Josh’s beat up truck pull onto the property.

  End of subject.

  The ride in the old white Chevy pickup was less than enlightening. We drove for like fifty miles sandwiched between two container trucks. We just drove and drove and drove. The truck smelled of dirty socks and stinky boy. Thank goodness the air conditioner still worked. In the near dusk¸ the barren lands appeared endless. It was too dark to spot any oil field action other than some flickering burn-off flames in the distance and a few oil derricks lit up like Christmas trees. When Josh and Max got into a debate about a mysterious pair of tiger-striped undies they found in the pasture behind the coop, I about jumped ship.

  I was stuck in between two pubescent boys. I didn’t think they could get their minds out of the gutter if their lives depended on it.

  “And why is it such a fascinating subject?” I really wanted to know what the big deal was. “You got about twenty men living back there. You’re surprised?”

  “Not really,” said Josh. “But you should see some of the girlfriends they meet in town.”

  He got me thinking. Did the yellow shirt named Gabe have a girlfriend back in Texas?

  Josh made a sharp turn, and I was white knuckling the dashboard. I thought for sure he’d driven into a rock quarry. He didn’t slow down when I told him to. It wasn’t until we came upon a field of pickup trucks and ATVs that he decelerated. He parked and jumped out as if a grenade landed in his lap. Max followed. They slammed their doors like I wasn’t even there. I scanned the area and ad
justed my eyes to the bright headlights. A twinge of homesickness hit as I sat alone in the cab listening to myself breathe. I missed my friends and Brianna, but not my parents. I promised myself I would check out the North Dakota social scene before I let the longing set in. So I climbed down and stood in the warm breeze. My nostrils opened to the smell of campfire and pyrotechnics. Music played in the distance.

  Max and Josh had vanished into the night. I was on my own. It was nothing new.

  “Hey, girl. Yeah you, ponytail girl,” yelled a loudmouth comic.

  I turned ever so slowly and fixed a tight gaze on a group of kids clustered around a flashy four-by-four. All eyes were on me. The showoff sat on top of the cab, dangling his bare feet on the windshield, a Corona in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

  I blew out my breath.

  “Do I know ya?” he hollered.

  I rolled my eyes and dismissively turned my back on him. Over my shoulder, I yelled at full volume, “We met in your dream last night. Before your mom came in to check if you wet the bed.”

  A round of howls and laughs erupted. I flipped my hair and walked away from the pickup. I wasn’t feeling that confident. I wasn’t going to hang around and wait for a response. He had a gun for heck’s sake.

  Josh galloped toward me. “Where did you go?”

  I crinkled my eyes and scowled. “You two just up and left me in the truck. Way to show me around.”

  I really wasn’t fond of being the new girl.

  “Well, c’mon then. Everybody’s here. Molly wants to meet you. C’mon,” he cajoled.

  I thought for a second he was going to pick me up and lug me into the woods. “Who’s everybody?”

  “Me, Max, Molly, her, uh, boyfriend and some others,” he called over his shoulder.

  As I followed his lead, a loud firecracker exploded into the sky. A girl let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

  “Nobody waits for the fourth around here.”

  Beyond a tree-lined expanse, the dark field opened up. A bonfire, bigger than any I had ever witnessed, towered at least two stories high. Without counting, I guessed there had to be like fifty kids. Everybody looked to be high school age. I didn’t feel so lost. But heading straight at me was a girl who looked no older than a third grader, until she got up close. She pulled her blonde corkscrew curls back into a pink bandana. I watched in awe as she downed a nearly full bottle with a label I didn’t recognize. I stood uneasily as her face transformed at the sight of me.

  She stopped a few feet back and parted her lips. She paused and the side of her lip fell. “He didn’t say you were a smokin’ hot supermodel.”

  I eyed her with distaste and crossed my arms over my shirt. I tried to look shorter, but I couldn’t cut it. A snarky princess. Perfect.

  She was just like me.

  A smile grew on her face. “I’m Molly Taylor. I’m just messing with you. Joshie said his cousin from New York was coming to stay. But I had no idea what to expect.”

  I was no supermodel, but I sure was taller than her. By like a foot. “Hi. He wouldn’t let me call him Joshie.”

  She flashed a glance at the fire. “Wanna drink?”

  I shrugged. “No thanks.” My gaze fell to the bottle in her hand.

  “Pop, not beer.” She shook the empty. “I don’t like to drink.”

  She was so small. She probably couldn’t handle a sip. “Me neither,” I said coolly.

  She smiled up. “So how do you like living over there?”

  “It’s okay so far. I haven’t really met anybody. My aunt’s putting me to work.”

  Molly grunted.

  “I work at the pharmacy in Albertson’s, the grocery store in town. Ya know it? What a drag. It’s the lamest job ever. I just do it in the summer and on breaks from school. You go to college? Joshie never said.”

  “I’ll be a senior. In high school,” I told her grimly.

  She leaned closer to confide.

  “I won’t tell. You could pass for twenty-one around here. You know my boyfriend lives over at Josh’s place. Do you have a boyfriend?”

  I let my gaze flutter across the mass of kids. Some of them were glaring, as if I just landed from another planet or had three pairs of eyes. I couldn’t help wondering if the yellow shirt was there. Was he in college too?

  “I’m on a break. I swore them off for a while.” I lied through my teeth. I just hadn’t found the right guy.

  Molly gave a quick laugh. “Did you get burned or something?”

  My face lifted with surprise.

  “No. I just had enough with high school boys. Back home they’re all immature and all looking for one thing.” I absently ran my fingers through my hair.

  Molly gasped. “What happened to your face?”

  The music grew louder. My cheeks flushed. I could feel the fire burn under my skin. How could she see in the dark? I thought the words were fading.

  “Boys,” I snorted. “Boys happened.”

  I quickly arranged my bangs.

  “I would’ve taken the pen and poked his eyeballs out for good. You gotta tell me, what provoked that?” She bit her lips together and waited.

  The music died behind us.

  “Shot him down like ninety-nine freaking times. My best friend paid him back and poured an entire bottle of habanero sauce down his pants when he was passed out cold.”

  We shared a laugh. Our shoulders shook in unison. Then mine stilled. My breath caught hard in my throat. A sharp pain stabbed my chest.

  It was Gabe.

  He was there.

  And he walked toward us with the same long strides, his face masked by the shadow of his HalRem cap.

  He lifted the hat and waved as Molly examined my face.

  “Agh!” she cried as he slid a hand around her tiny waist from behind and lifted her off the ground like a doll. “Put me down, dang it,” she screeched, half laughing. “Caleb! I’m not a toy. Put me down!”

  My breath released.

  Caleb?

  I thought his name was Gabe.

  “Hell-o,” he sung, letting Molly slide down his front. She was at least two heads shorter. “You’re Meggie’s niece?”

  Okay, he wasn’t Gabe. But boy did he look just like him. Sounded like him too. My jaw was probably scraping the ground. I was almost relieved he wasn’t who I thought he was.

  Almost.

  “Avery Ross,” I offered. Then I shoved my sweaty palms in my back pockets.

  Caleb set his chin on Molly’s head and squeezed her petite shoulders. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or you threw back a few too many already. Which is it?”

  He had the same southern inflection as Gabe. I think he was older. Maybe his hair was lighter.

  “Uh...more like I’m seeing a ghost,” I told him.

  The corner of Molly’s mouth turned up into a grin. “She’s seen all you boys. That’s it—right?”

  From my vantage point, I spied fireworks shoot out of the bonfire. Molly and Caleb cranked their necks and then drew their focus back to me.

  “Huh?” I tried not to stare at his intense hazel eyes. He was as arresting as his brother, if not more.

  “Me, myself and I?” Caleb teased.

  Molly flicked a finger at his forearm and then gave his hip a playful slap. He lifted her off the ground again.

  “Jeez. Cut it out,” she scolded.

  He set her down and dropped his hat onto her head.

  “My little brother Gabriel. You’ve seen him at the house. We room together. He got back last night. Looks like me, only not as good looking. I’m a hell of a lot funnier. Right Moll?”

  He pulled the hat over her eyes.

  A laugh disguised as a hiccup escaped my throat.

  “Yeah. Sure. You’re like every way better than him, except he’s the smarter smartass.”

  “I sorta met him,” I disclosed, wondering if he and his brother talked much. Had he shared anything about the new girl in the window? I wanted to ask if Gabe was there.<
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  Molly laughed. “Sorta?”

  “Not really, I guess.”

  “I’ll let y’all gush about me some more. Just don’t be wasting any time talking about Gabe. I got a hankering for some brew. I’m gonna check out the action.” He spun around to lay his lips hard on Molly’s mouth.

  I cast down my gaze. He nearly swallowed her tongue.

  She slapped his butt as he walked off. “He’s a handful, but he’s taken,” she whispered and grinned. “Most of the time anyway.”

  She tipped her head and gave me a look. It was the kind of look you gave somebody you have known for ages. I had just met her ten minutes ago.

  “So what’s with the deer in the headlights stare? What happened between you and Gabe? He’s a serious brooder.” She gave a light chuckle with her warning. “Reminds me of one of those cowboys in the old movies. Always standing back quietly. He’s had a rough time.”

  “Nothing happened. I just thought he was him. I mean I thought Caleb was Gabe. Any more I should know about?” What did she mean he was having a rough time?

  I cupped my hands over my ears; the fireworks were deafening. Overly exuberant applause accompanied the last round.

  Molly made a slow nod. “Lane,” she said simply.

  Is that a name? Another brother?

  “He’s twenty-five.” Her cheeks pinked. “Caleb’s twenty-one, a little older than me. Gabriel’s nineteen. He graduated from some private boarding school for intellectuals or something. They’re from the big state. Near Benjamin. You know, Texas.”

  I secretly enjoyed collecting scraps of information. I had more questions, but I didn’t want to come off too interested, even though I was dying to learn about Gabe.

  “So they’re clones?”

  “Except for their personalities. Caleb’s the loudest. You’ll see. And he’s impulsive. Lane’s an all-around nice guy. Gabe’s quieter. I think he’s here somewhere. We could look around,” she suggested.

  A knot formed in my belly. My hormones were starting to betray me. Why had I come so close to panic when Caleb walked over? How would I handle seeing Gabe again? The place was really doing a number on me.