Page 67 of When Sparks Fly

“When I was a teenager, Stephanie and I were attacked outside of a grocery store here in town.” His fingers still in my hair.

Even before the attack, that day had felt incredibly long. All the shopping and arguing Stephanie and I had done was exacerbated by needing to finish with grocery shopping. We both wanted nothing more than to get home and be apart.

“A man in a ski mask got aggressive. It was never really clear what he wanted. He seemed more interested in me than her. He was rough, but I don’t think he planned to rape me. For starters, we were in the grocery store parking lot, but it was more like he wanted to scare me. Teach me some unclear lesson.” The only thing I learned was that no one else could protect me.

“What happened?”

“After?” I take a deep breath. “A couple saw what was happening. The man ran to help us and the woman called the police. The guy in the mask ran off around the car and no one ever saw him again.”

I push up to sitting and Sutton releases me this time. Anger pulses through me as I remember the conversation with my mother recently. “It was because of my step-father.” Venom seeps into my voice.

Sutton’s eyebrows pull together and he sits upright. “He set it up?”

“No.” I shake my head. The next part comes out more for myself. “I can’t believe she kept it from me all those years!”

Confusion morphs into frustration on his face. “Who? Your mom knew?”

I nod solemnly. My emotions are erratic. A part of my brain whispers how much has happened in the last few weeks that I’ve yet to deal with, and another part is telling that part to sit down and shut up. My mouth carries on anyway. “My step-father, Alan, apparently had a gambling problem. It resulted in a huge debt and they threatened us, so he and my mom were discussing moving. She said he managed to pay off the money and they thought all was said and done until the attack. So we moved to Austin. To get away.”

Sutton’s jaw is the tightest I’ve ever seen. He’s waiting for me to continue, still as can be in his spot against the headboard.

“My mom froze. During the attack. It was panic, I’m sure. I did for a few seconds, too. Afterward, I decided I would never be without an option to protect myself in the future.”

He nods his understanding. “You carry it all the time?”

“Not all the time. Obviously, there are some places I can’t take it legally, so it stays in my car. But yeah, most of the time I have it.” I feel my face flush. “I even bought specific clothing with built-in holsters for women.”

His eyes gleam and I detect a little bit of satisfaction coming off him.

“The vest,” I gesture to the couch, “a couple pairs of pants, and a few shirts have hidden areas in the waist or around my ribs…”

He reaches out and rubs my thigh with one hand. “My Firecracker. Ready to go off at any time.” His mouth tips up and I grin at him. Partially at his comment, but even more so because of his use ofmy.

Later, we grabbarbecue takeout and eat on the couch.

“So tell me about life on the ranch.”

Sutton chews slowly watching me. “What do you want to know?”

I smirk. “I know you don’t like talking about yourself, but what do you do out here?”

He stares.

“You have a horse, I assume.”

“Yea. Johnny Walker.”

I snicker. “Okay. And what about Strickland Ranch?”

Sutton’s lips tip up at the corner.

“Don’t. I know what a cattle ranch is. At least, reasonably. I want to know what a day is like for you.”

He takes a deep breath. “No day is the same. We have two herds. They aren’t very big, but if we get the land I told you about, we’ll be expanding the herds. Maybe add another.”

“What’s ‘not very big’?”

He sets his food aside. “Each is about seventy-five pairs. Cow and calf. We rotate the herds as to which group is calving. One is a spring season and one is a fall season.”

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