West of Forever (Heartstone Ranch #1)(21)

“I see. Hopefully you don’t deal with that a lot.”

She scoffs. “Like, every day.”

“Can I guess who this person might be?”

“My dad.” She answers before I can guess.

I figured as much. “Most of the time, parents are just doing what they think is best. It’s not that they think they know better.”

At least, that’s something my mom would say, so we’re going to go with that. I’m not a parent, and I have no clue what they think, especially her father.

“Well, they don’t always know,” Sadie says with a fire in her voice that I can feel from over here.

I nod slowly. “Yeah, that’s true.”

She lets out a long, slow sigh and reaches down for her chicken. “I need to go back to the coop. I want to build them a new roosting area.”

“Have you decorated the coop?” I ask.

“Not really…”

“In my coop, they have a chandelier,” I tell her.

Sadie’s eyes widen to saucers, and I see so much of her father.

She has his darker hair color, where Emmy Jo’s was much lighter, as were her eyes—Sadie has Tristan’s shape, but her mother’s eye color.

“A chandelier?” she asks.

I nod. “It’s solar and only there so that I can see them at night, but it’s pretty and I think every girl deserves a little pretty, even if they’re just chickens.”

“I like you, Lark,” Sadie admits.

I feel like I just won the lottery. “I like you, too, but let’s not tell anyone.”

She laughs. “Okay.”

“Sadie?” A deep voice that I’ve heard in my head for the last week calls out. I turn, watching Tristan stride toward us like some freaking scene from a movie. The sun is setting behind him, and he’s wearing tight jeans, a white T-shirt, and a cowboy hat.

The sun makes it impossible to see his face until he’s closer, and oh, what a face.

The man is hot.

I really wish he wasn’t, but he is. He’s rugged and calls to that very base desire I’ve always had, but cowboys are trouble, and I have enough of that.

Sadie turns to her father and then turns to me. “Can I come see your coop?”

“If your dad is okay with it, sure.”

She looks to Tristan. “Am I allowed to visit Lark’s chicken coop one day? She has a chandelier in hers.”

His gaze moves to mine. “A what?”

“It’s a light, you know, hangs inside a lot of spaces.”

He rolls his eyes. “No, I don’t need you getting any ideas.”

Sadie shakes her head. “Whatever. Once again, I can’t do something.”

“Why don’t you bring the chicken back and then wash up for bed,” he suggests with a deep sigh.

She snaps to attention and salutes him. I fight back the laugh that’s bubbling up and turn my head.

“Bye, Lark,” Sadie says.

“Bye, Sadie.”

Sadie stomps off, and Tristan leans against the fence post, watching her go. “That kid is going to be the death of me.”

“She’s a smart girl.”

“Too smart.” He stands and turns to face me. “You said you wanted to talk.”

Oh yeah, that.

“I told the family about your roadside rescue. It went over about as well as you could imagine.”

He huffs a laugh. “You mean they wanted you to be stranded in the storm?”

“No, but…they didn’t want a reason to have to think you might not be the Antichrist.”

“Or that maybe we aren’t the horrible people you’ve imagined us to be, and we aren’t the culprits in this ridiculous prank war that someone else is doing?” he tosses back.

“Or that.”

Honestly, the entire thing is absurd, but I’m not going to win that argument anytime soon. My point of meeting him was to warn him that they know and there will probably be some comments made.

My brothers are not the most mature humans.

“I can handle it,” Tristan assures me. “Thanks for the warning. How did they respond to you about not telling them right away?”

About that…

I shrug. “I have a flair for the dramatic.”

He laughs, and I feel it in my chest.

Stupid heart, knock it off.

“You? Dramatic? I never would’ve guessed. Wasn’t it you who made the posters and stuck them around our high school when you found out that Jenna was dating your ex?”

“I don’t recall any such flyers,” I lie.

Jenna wasn’t just dating my ex—she was dating my then-current boyfriend. So, yes, I used my crafting abilities to show that Guy Parksley had some issues and that women should be cautious.

I’m not proud of it, but I was young and a woman scorned and all that.

“I’m pretty sure Fallon saved one,” Tristan muses.

I roll my eyes. “Anyway, my point is…you’ll probably get a visit from Daddy, and you don’t have to lie about saving me.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Some partner in crime you are,” I scoff. Half joking, half not.

“I’m not lying for you. Your family already thinks we’re untrustworthy and we’re trying to ruin your farm.”