had to bail your ass out of jail.”
She huffed. “He put something in my drink, so I decked him.”
Tucker was shaking with laughter. “And here you were worried about her.”
“Well, technically, Sutton decked him. I kneed him in the balls after.”
“Sutton? As in Sutton Wilde?” I asked.
“Yeah. He was there with a few of his friends and one of his brothers.”
“Do us all a favor and leave him out of the conversation when we talk to Mama, okay, darlin’?” Tucker suggested.
“Oh, I know better than to mention a Wilde around Mama.”
It had been the Hatfields and McCoys between our two families for decades. Things started to ramp up again when Wes Wilde, the patriarch of the family, started buying up land that bordered ours before Dad died. They hadn’t been around much, hiring cowboys to run their ranch while they spent most of their days up north instead. Wes was up to something, that much was certain, and I was sure Clint had been keeping an eye on things. The fact that the Wilde boys were spending time out here wasn’t gonna go over well.
“Do we have to tell Mama? I mean, the cops let me leave, no one’s pressing charges, and that guy is never going to show his face around here again, not if he wants to keep his balls intact.”
Damn, but my little sister was feisty when she had a drink or two in her.
“How about we do this—you come sleep it off at my place tonight, and tomorrow, we pretend none of this happened?” Tucker offered.
“I love this man, Sam. You should marry him.”
The silence in the truck was deafening as the weight of her words crushed me. I fucking should marry him. I’d do it right now if I didn’t think he’d say no.
She leaned her head against my shoulder, and before I could answer, she was out like a light. “I think my sister is a lightweight,” I whispered.
“I think she takes after her big brother.”
I laughed. “There’s another reason I don’t drink. This. I had my share of bar fights on the road. Never wanted to wake up in the drunk tank again wondering where I was.”
“Did that happen a lot?”
“In the beginning. I was just a kid, out on my own, heartbroken, angry. You make bad decisions when you’re mad.”
“She doesn’t seem mad. She seems strong as hell.”
He was right. That filled my chest with pride, and I hadn’t done a damn thing to help her become who she was. “She is. She’s all Mama but with my dad’s foul mouth.”
His low chuckle rumbled through the cab of the truck. “Man, when George would get going, he could swear a blue streak at those cows.”
“Mama was always getting on his case.”
“Yeah, she was. We liked to keep a tally on how many times he’d slip up in front of her. Turned it into a drinking game.”
“It’s no wonder you guys were always hungover.”
He laughed again, the warm sound making me smile.
We drove in silence, both focused on memories of my dad, I think. These were good memories I rarely let myself have anymore. I hadn’t thought I deserved them after the way I’d handled his illness and death. Now, I was ready to face it all.
Scooping my sister into my arms, I carried her inside Tucker’s house and settled her on the couch. Tuck pulled off her boots while I filled a glass with water and then brought it over to the coffee table for when she woke up.
“Well, this kind of changes things for tonight,” Tucker said, running a hand over the back of his neck.
“I’d still like to stay. If…I mean, if you’re okay with that.”
“Of course I am. I was expecting you’d stay. I’d just been hoping for a lot more privacy.”
I leaned in and kissed him as he backed through the door to his bedroom. “Don’t worry. I can be quiet.”
Tucker
A week had passed since we’d bailed Sera out, the shared moment of solidarity bringing her and Sam closer. I was glad to see them talking and spending time together, getting to know each other. He’d gone on a ride with her a few times, and the two of them always came back laughing.
Today I hadn’t seen Sam much more than for coffee in the morning because as soon as the day started, we were dragged in different directions by our commitments to the show. In just a few hours, we were putting the city boys who’d come