Page 4 of Eyes Like a Hurricane

“Yea, you were a catch, Ais. Smart, beautiful, and successful. The whole package,” Paisley interrupts.

“You guys, we were together less than five months. I’m twenty-eight years old. Granted, he is turning thirty this year. But I think he would be happier with a woman who wants to go to charity balls and fancy restaurants. I don’t fit that persona. Getting ready for those events and outings was fun the first few times, but I want to live in leggings with pockets and my Hoka running shoes or boyfriend jeans and a flannel shirt. I plan to wear my trucker cap and aviators, not French twists and diamond studs.”

“That is why you are coming back here,” Kieran hollers from somewhere beyond the room where Paisley and Leo arelikely sitting. Knowing Kieran, he is probably in the kitchen, working on a new brisket or cornbread recipe. My brother and I both inherited the desire to be in the kitchen. His specialty is cooking, and he turned his passion into a career in Kalispell. I’m just the person at work who brings in baked goods because I love to bake as a hobby.

“Kieran is right. Getting to be myself is one of the many reasons I’m returning to Montana. I can’t wait to show you guys the house I bought. It’s right on the lake. It has the sweetest little porch facing the lake. I plan to get enough Adirondack chairs that we can all sit there when Kieran barbeques for us,” I say wistfully. I can already picture waking up to the blue lake, quiet trees, and mountains in the distance. We will be so close to the national park that I can take day hikes with Chloe in the summer.

“We’re all excited to see the house, too! I stalked the online listing. But we’ll let you go. Give Chloe rubs from us. We can’t wait to see your face! You have twelve hours to get here before we call the sheriff to form a search party. You are coming straight through, right? No stops? Google Maps says it should take eight hours to get to Topaz Falls from Bellevue. Between your snack stops and bathroom breaks, we will give you ten hours before we start to worry. At twelve hours, we draw the line,” Paisley says matter-of-factly.

I sigh, pretending to be annoyed, knowing full well Paisley is serious about her timetable. With a smile on my face so she can hear that I’m not really annoyed, I say, “I plan to stop at North Bend Safeway for some snacks and top off the Jeep’s gas tank. Then hopefully I can make it to Spokane before my next stop. After that, I plan to drive straight through Idaho. If I need to make a stop for Chloe, I will try to get to the Hwy 135 turnoff first. That is my overall plan. Obviously, things may change, butI will try to stick to this schedule, so you guys don’t worry. It’s 9 a.m. right now, so hopefully, I will be pulling into your driveway at about dinner time. I’m dying to know what Kieran has coming out of the oven. Since he isn’t next to you two, my only guess is he has some new recipe he is trying out.”

Kieran shouts, “You’ve got that right, Sis. I will have a few things to fill you up.”

Leo adds, “Have you decided whether you’re crashing on our couch or Paisley’s tonight?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far in my planning. How about you two do a round of rock, paper, scissors to see who gets Chloe and me for the night. Are you three coming with me tomorrow to get the keys from the real estate agent’s office? She said I could pick them up any time. I know the restaurant doesn’t open until 11 a.m. for Kieran, but do either of you have anywhere you need to be?” I ask. I’m fairly independent, but after turning my entire life upside down to follow my gut back to Montana, I could use some moral support.

“Hun, Kieran and I will be there, rain or shine. He traded days with someone so we can be with you all weekend. I’m not sure of Paisley’s schedule. I want to visualize where my Adirondack chair will be positioned on your deck. I’m getting an aqua blue one with a comfortable neck pillow. I know Paisley will want a butter yellow one. I’m thinking we should get Kieran a navy one to coordinate with mine. I haven’t decided which color you should get to match Paisley’s yellow, but I know it will come to me the moment I step on the deck and envision it properly,” Leo says with a dreamy voice. I can tell he is already visualizing the seating arrangements of my new deck.

“Alright, that means a lot. Paisley, let me know when you know. No pressure,” I say.

“Oh. It’s not that I don’t want to go. I just might have a coffee date with a guy from the dating app I told you about last week. But he hasn’t confirmed the time or location. So for now, count me in. First come, first serve, and since he hasn’t responded, his loss on not getting the time he wanted. You come first, girl,” she replies with a laugh, but it sounds stilted.

I can tell she is really looking for Mr. Right, but all the guys she has been meeting from the app have been terrible. Although I sheepishly admit the stories are hilarious, I keep my mouth shut.

“Okay, sounds great. I’m getting near the North Bend exit, so I’m going to let you guys go for now. I will check in during my next pit-stop, even if it’s just a text to let you guys know my progress,” I say.

After a round of goodbyes from the three of them, I hang up and reach across the center console to pet Chloe behind the ear. It’s so therapeutic to run my fingers through her fur. As the Bellevue skyline gets smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror, I can feel my stress level dropping. The exit for North Bend is half a mile away. I put on my blinker and make my way off the freeway in search of sustenance.

Chapter 4

Lachlan

The off-ramp could not have come at a better time. Finn clearly likes riding in the truck, but I need to get him in the back seat. I feel uncomfortable with the idea of going over the pass and another four hundred miles at 65 mph with him in the bed of my truck. I see a sign for Safeway and take a right. Snaking around, past some fast-food places, I locate Safeway and pull into the gas station.

I leap into the back and clip on Finn’s leash. He jumps out of the back with the grace of a cougar. There is a nice strip of green grass off to the side, so we make our way over there so he can relieve himself before getting in the back seat.

While I check my texts to see if Callum has reached out, I hear the throaty sound of a car pulling into the gas station. I tilt my head up and through my sunglasses, make eye contact with a beautiful brunette in a white Jeep Wrangler. Her long hair is braided down her left side. She’s wearing an adorable trucker hat and aviators, which appear to be purple.

As she opens her door, a smirk forms across my face as she has not stopped staring at me, or is she scowling at me? I honestly can’t tell. I watch one long, jean-clad leg followed by asecond as she hops out of her car. She turns, showing me how nicely the jeans fit her backside.

Suddenly, a ball of black, gray, white, and brown flies out of the Jeep. The woman is holding on to a leash with confident strength, and I realize it’s a stunning Australian Shepherd.

As she stomps toward me, I gather she probably wants to let her dog do its business just like Finn. I gently tug Finn’s leash, leading him off to the left of the green area to give her and her dog space. When she is about ten feet away, her dog looks like it wants to approach Finn. I quickly say, “I just picked this boy up, so I’m not 100 percent sure how friendly he is with other dogs.”

With a scoff, she whips off her aviators. My breath catches at the sight of the brightest turquoise eyes I have ever seen, glaring at me. They are like a hurricane approaching the shore of a Caribbean Island. Her eyes are heated, with a passion that can only be directed at me as she says, “That explains why you had this beautiful creature sitting in the bed of your truck, going 70 mph on the freeway. I hope you put him in a safer place if you plan to continue driving for much longer.”

Taken aback but still entranced by the pools of lake water staring back at me, I fumble to say, “Yes, I literally just picked him up an hour ago. The previous owner didn’t know if he was a good car rider, so I harness-tethered him into the truck bed until North Bend to assess his car riding comfort. He seems to be doing great, so I plan to put him in the back seat for the remainder of my trip home to my ranch.” I rub the back of my neck, slightly overwhelmed by her scrutiny.

Flustered and clearly not expecting such honesty from me, her anger quickly dissipates, and her face breaks into a huge smile. If I thought her eyes were mesmerizing before, smiling makes them sparkle.

She says, “Um, that is great to hear. Yeah, definitely good thinking. He is a beautiful Pyrenees. Sorry for verbally attacking you. I’m very passionate about animals and was checking to make sure he is safe. This is Chloe,” she says gesturing toward the Australian Shepherd sitting near her left leg. “Can she try meeting him to see how he does with other dogs? She is very friendly but not too hyperactive.”

Hesitantly, I swallow and nod at the drastic change in her demeanor toward me. She’s just worried about my dog? Could she one day be that worried about me? Shaking my head to dislodge that train of thought, I wonder where she’s heading. Hopefully, I can at least get her name. When she smiled, her whole face transformed. She has tanned skin and a beautiful, wide smile with straight, white teeth against full lips. This woman is stunning.

As her dog—Chloe, I believe she said—moves closer to Finn, he looks up from sniffing a particular spot for the briefest of moments, then continues to sniff the same place again with an intensity I didn’t know dogs could sniff. Cocking my eyebrow at him, I glance at the woman, and she is smirking at him. Maybe someone dropped a chicken leg there earlier, or with the way he is sniffing, an entire roasted chicken? What is wrong with him?

Before I can stop him, his shoulder dips, and down he goes rolling on his back, twitching from side to side like he has gone spastic. Embarrassed by his bizarre behavior, which I’m clearly not used to, I turn to look at the woman to my side, but she starts laughing hysterically. A big, bold laugh that I find contagious. It’s warm and inviting and feels like a hug after a long day on the ranch. Her eyes are twinkling with delight, watching Finn do his twitching roll.

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