Page 56 of Downpour

“You really love them, don’t you?”

His hands squeezed my shoulders. “Yeah. They were my girls as much as they were Christian’s.”

“Why won’t you talk to them or let them see you?”

Ray’s grip tightened. “Because I’m not their hero anymore.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Brooke—”

I turned on the couch and curled up beside him. “I don’t think you were their hero because you were a rodeo star. You were their hero because you were there for them when they needed you. So, yeah. You’re not their hero right now because you won’t let them see you. You chose that. It has nothing to do with being able to walk or not.”

I expected the anger to come, but it didn’t. Ray’s face never changed. “You know, you’re the only one who can get away with saying that to me right now.”

“Then I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Don’t push your luck, Sunnyside. I’ll fire you.”

I laughed. “I’m starting to think you just talk a big game about firing me.” I let my hair down. “I think you like me.”

“I don’t hate you.” But his dark eyes were twinkling like a starry sky. “But you are a walking disaster and a big pain in my ass.”

“This is the best job ever. Even if my boss is a jerk sometimes.”

Ray lifted an eyebrow and twisted one of my curls around his finger. “Yeah?”

I closed my eyes. “I love being out on the ranch. Your house is awesome. It’s so quiet out here. Sitting by the pond is my favorite. That big tree out there reminds me of one I had in my yard growing up. I had a tire swing and I would spend hours out there pretending I could fly.”

“Are you close with your family?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t have much family left. My parents passed away when I was about Gracie’s age. They died in a house fire. I was at a sleepover,” I said calmly, the same way I did every time I had to regurgitate the statement. Sadness lived inside of me. It always would. But it didn’t control me. “I lived with my Grandma after that, but she passed away a few years ago. I have some extended family that lives in Missouri, but I’ve never met them.”

People always got weird when I talked about my family, but Ray didn’t. In fact, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he passed me a new plastic bag of Sweet Tarts with the pink and blue ones sorted out just for me.

“Wanna watch a movie?”

I tossed my tank top onto the coffee table and grabbed the remote. “You can pick. I’ll probably fall asleep halfway through. I think the sun sapped all my energy.”

He picked up a pillow and dropped it on his lap. “Come on.”

I curled up beside him and laid my head on the pillow as he flipped through the channels. When he landed on a heist flick, he set the remote down. Gentle fingers brushed my curls away from my face and combed through my hair.

“Sorry,” I said with a yawn. “My hair’s probably sweaty.”

“I don’t mind,” he said gently.

And I didn’t either.

14

RAY

It was official. I hated Saturdays. Granted, I hated most things these days, but especially Saturdays.

Brooke had left last night to spend the weekend at her house, and I wouldn’t see her again until Monday. After spending every waking moment with her and every slumbering moment dreaming about her, it was weird for her to be gone.

The house was too quiet. I kept aimlessly wheeling around every few minutes, as if something would have changed between noon and 12:30.

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