Page 9 of Fall Wherever They May

“We got off on the wrong foot. Now that I know we are neighbors, maybe we should just, you know, start over. Be cordial . . . I don’t want things to be awkward when we see each other in passing.” He waves his hand back and forth between us.

“Oh, no! No way! You had your chance to shoot your shot, and you missed . . . completely.” I keep my eyes on Callan and pet the pup’s head when he starts to lick my hand for attention.

“I fucking knew it!” He points at me with eyes squinting.

My eyes roll. “You don’t know jack shit. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more important things to do than stand here and bicker with you.” This guy truly is as frustrating and annoying as he is sinfully hot.

“Shoot your shot. Really?” He throws his hands out at his sides.

I shrug, truly not understanding what the fuck he’s talking about. “It’s a common figure of speech.”

“Yeah. We can go with that,” he says sarcastically.

“Or we can go with this . . . go screw yourself!” I flip him the bird, then turn and waltz into the house.

The door slams behind me as I drop my keys in the bowl resting on the entry table. I take a gander around the living room looking for Tucker. Not seeing him, I focus on River sitting on the living room floor, back against the couch. Her short legs are stretched out in front of her, and she has one of my romance novels in her hand. She swipes her long blond locks out of her face and peers up at me over the top of the book with her big brown, almond-shaped eyes.

River and I have been inseparable since birth. Our mothers are best friends, and they’ve joked our entire lives that she and I were best friends even when we were in the womb.She’s my sister, not biologically, obviously, but I believe you can choose your family. Especially when they are the only family you have. I’ve always referenced and introduced her as my sister. There isn’t a secret, vacation, heartbreak, or milestone of our life that we haven’t shared together. With her going through her own issues, she couldn’t run away from Oklahoma fast enough. That, and she wasn’t going to let me move to start a whole new career and life in a huge city on my own.

I take a deep, calming breath and steady my tone before speaking. “Well, I just met the dickhead who lives across the street. The fucker hit my car.”

With a shocked expression, she bookmarks the page, then sets the book down beside her as she gives me a questioning look. She brings her knees up and wraps her arms around them. “The frat boy? Wait. Hold that thought. One thing at a time. Can we talk about the puppy you have in your arms right now?” She points to the fur ball.

Tucker bounds down the stairs with excitement on his face. “You got us a puppy?”

My son is the spitting image of me, with black hair and green eyes. Our dark hair comes from our Native American heritage on my mother’s side. I think the only attributes he inherited from his father were his athletic ability, nose, freckles, and wavy hair. Tucker is the absolute best thing to ever happen to me, even if we did basically raise each other.

With how adorable this puppy is, I worry he will become attached, resulting in heartbreak. I set the puppy down, and he immediately runs to Tucker, wagging his tail and licking him all over his face as he bends down to pick him up.

Tucker stands up, holding the puppy in his arms. I squat down in front of him. “I’m sorry, Buddy. He doesn’t belong to us, but we can keep him for a couple of days while we find his owner.”

“Oh! We can make flyers!”

“That, we can do.” I throw my thumb over my shoulder. “Can you put the puppy in the utility room, so we can unload the car?”

Tucker takes the puppy and makes his way through the kitchen as I stand up. “I promise I won’t leave you in here long . . .” His voice trails off as he coos at the pup.

When he returns, he’s the first to run outside. River and I trail behind him.

“Did you talk to your mom?” River questions.

“Yup.”

“And?”

I stop at the trunk, pop it open, then face her, resting my hip against the back of my car. “And . . . I’m not ready.”

River pulls a few grocery bags from the trunk. I do the same, then we head inside. “Everything they did was done for your own good, and you damn well know it.” She doesn’t pull any punches. We set the groceries on the counter, then head back outside.

“Maybe their heart was in the right place, but it doesn’t mean they didn’t betray me.” We both grab more bags from the trunk. “It’s like they didn’t think about what would happen to their grandchildren one day. You know?”

River closes the trunk and follows behind me. “We’re all the family we have, Aspen. Maybe try to have a little grace.”

“Grace would have been someone giving me a heads up before throwing me to the wolves. Look, I get what you’re saying. I’ll work on it.” I walk to the island, where Tucker is unbagging the groceries, and set more bags down.

“Ooh! You got stuff for pizza! Can we have that for dinner?” Tucker licks his lips, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

I kiss the top of his head and ruffle his hair. “How can I say no to that?”

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