rivals the next day, so Jake’s practice would run late. That meant he’d walk to the bar afterward and then I’d drive both boys home.
“No cutting classes, Josh,” I ordered.
Jake shoved Josh in the shoulder. “Don’t be an idiot in general.”
“Dickweed,” Josh grumbled, rubbing his arm.
It was a good thing I loved them or I’d shoot them both just to get some peace and quiet.
My phone vibrated on the dash, and all three of us looked at it as if it were a snake. I meant it when I said no one ever called me. Josh reached out and grabbed it, frowning at the number.
“Who is it?”
“It says Chance Bear.” He turned incredulous eyes toward me. “Since when do you have that dickweed’s number?”
I nearly ran off the road at his reply. I’d gotten his number from my best friend, Jamie Webb, who’d obtained it from Chance’s ex-wife, Kenzie Cox. I wasn’t sure I’d ever use it, but a small part of me—deep down in the recesses of my heart that I refused to admit to—still hoped we could forge some type of relationship with our older brother.
Chance was ten years older than me with a thirteen-year-old son he’d had with the Ennis beauty at the age of twenty. Kenzie was sixteen at the time, and no one said diddly-squat about the age difference. They’d married quickly at the urging of her parents, and six months later Chace Bear was born. Five years after that, they were divorced.
I quickly pulled off the road and stared at the phone as it rang in his hand. Chance had never called us. Not even to send condolences when our father passed. When it stopped ringing then started up again, I knew this was trouble. I may have secretly wished things were different with Chance, but he’d made it crystal clear—whenever we met by accident in town—he preferred the status quo. So we gave him a wide berth and he returned the favor.
I glanced at Jake with wide, scared eyes. For once I didn’t want to be in charge of our merry band of misfits. I just wanted to be Skylar: twenty-three and lost in the big bad world like everyone else.
Jake caught a glimpse of the fear coursing through my body, and his expression hardened instantly. He grabbed the phone from Josh, answering it for me.
“What the fuck do you want?”
I drew in a breath at his expletive. Jake sometimes forgot Chance was the most powerful man in our county, now that his father was ill. He shouldn’t antagonize him.
Jake listened as Chance spoke, paling a bit as the silence stretched. He stared back at me with no small amount of fear, then hung up without saying goodbye.
“What?” I exhaled the word, then drew in another breath so I could hold it together in front of my brothers.
“He wanted us to know that Justice Bear died last night, and to inform us that his father’s dying wish was for Chance to ruin what was left of our family and get The Sarah back. He also wanted us to know he just bought our loan from the bank and he’s calling in the full amount. We have thirty days to pay or move out.”
Two
Ghosts
LOGAN STORM WOKE with a start. Sweat clung to his body in a layer of sheen and his breath came in harsh bursts while he tried to control the tremors racking his body. He flexed his hands, then drew them into fists while the ghosts in his head echoed like a thunderclap. Logan took another deep breath, then let it out, repeating the action until his heart rate slowed. With a groan he felt deep in his soul, he rolled to his side and opened his eyes, trying to focus on his surroundings. He was no longer in Afghanistan where bombs exploded around him and his brothers died before his eyes. He was in heaven on earth, or very near to it. The clear lake and blue skies surrounding him told him that much. Pushing up into a sitting position, Logan tried to remember what state he was in. A sharp blast of cold air ruffled his hair; the scent was clean, untainted by fossil fuels. Montana. He was outside of some small town, sleeping next to a lake as the sun crested the horizon. He’d headed to Montana on the road to nowhere, trying to find the last vestiges of peace he’d known since discharging from the army.