Page 62 of The Other Side

“You turned out pretty decent. At least you have good taste in friends.” Brett grinned and pointed to his chest.

“Who said we’re friends?”

“I said. There was a meeting, and the vote was unanimous.”

Linc poured out the last sip of his coffee and left the mug in the sink. “Great talk, but I’ve learned a few things the hard way.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Don’t make friends. I’ll keep my eye out for trouble,” Linc said over his shoulder as he headed toward his bedroom.

“We’re friends!” Brett shouted. “Like it or not.”

Linc’s bedroom door closed with a nice thud of wood on wood.

Whatever. Linc talked a lot of gloom and doom, but everyone knew they could count on him when they needed help. He just hadn’t figured out that actions spoke louder than words.

By the time Brett was showered and dressed, the first signs of the sun were filtering through the windows. Hadley would be up, so he texted her. He’d spent the day yesterday getting caught up on work while Thea slept most of the day and night.

Brett: I’m going to town to get Thea a new phone. Will you ask her if she has a cell plan and if she needs anything else while I’m out?

Hadley texted back with the name of the service provider and a request for comfortable pants for Thea. It had been a long time since he’d worn a leg brace, and he’d forgotten about that never-ending discomfort.

He climbed into the truck and checked the clock on the dash. He had a little more than an hour before he needed to be at the barn. The general store opened in fifteen minutes, and the cell phone store opened a little after that.

The store had a few pickup trucks in the parking lot, and he made his way straight to the trash bags. On his way to the register, he picked up a bottle of pain relievers.

A helium balloon attached to a display table in the bakery section caught his eye. Thea would like a cupcake too. Strawberry. She’d eaten the one he got her at the hospital like she was starving.

Half a dozen cupcakes it was, then.

A bouquet of pink and yellow flowers caught his eye. He didn’t know what kind they were, but they were pretty, and Thea needed something pretty.

Ten minutes later, he checked out of the store ten pounds heavier and fifty dollars lighter.

The cell store was open, and he was able to get Thea a new phone after a bunch of back and forth about plans and contracts. He’d had to call Thea on Hadley’s phone so she could give him permission to buy a phone for her while she couldn’t be present. He gave himself a good pat on the back for keeping his temper in check when it seemed way too complicated to just buy a cell phone.

Back at the ranch, he found Thea in Ava’s office. He knocked on the open door, but the women had seen him coming, or at least heard him. His boots thudded against the old wooden floor.

“You two keeping this train on the tracks?” he asked as he leaned against the doorframe. It was Thea’s first day “on the job,” and if things went well, maybe she could be convinced to stay.

“Always,” Ava said. “Whatcha got there?”

Brett pulled the container of cupcakes from under his arm. “A mid-morning snack.”

“It’s still early morning, but feel free to come back at mid-morning with another surprise,” Ava said.

He put the cupcakes on Ava’s desk, handed the new phone to Thea, and sat in a chair. “Don’t tempt me. I’ve been looking for a reason to sneak back over here later.”

Thea slipped the phone into her pocket, said a quiet “Thank you,” and looked down at the papers on the desk in front of her.

Ava reached for the cupcakes. “I know you brought these for Thea, but I’m having one.”

Thea giggled. If she’d lift her chin, he’d get a chance to check her bruises this morning. And he’d get a look at her pretty face. He’d been imagining it wrong these last five years. She’d been beautiful back then, but she was gorgeous now.

She was hot. Bruises and all. No way around it. He hadn’t seen her in makeup or with her hair fixed any way other than brushing it, and he had trouble looking away from her most times.

Thea reached for a cupcake and glanced at him for half a second. “Thank you.”

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