you will not be getting back in the saddle—not on a barrel racer, anyway.”
The smaller version of Adrian crossed her arms and tightened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. There was trouble in paradise.
“Hey, Nikki.” George came from the back, carrying something wrapped in white butcher paper.
The brothers still looked a great deal alike, but she never understood how people got them confused. Adrian was leaner and better looking. She always thought so, anyway.
George smiled. “Good to see you. How’s the knee?” They did have the same smile, but George’s didn’t make her feel weak.
“She’s in pain and needs to get off her feet. We’re checking out then taking her home.” Adrian moved her cart slowly to the checkout. Another difference: George wasn’t as bossy as his twin.
“Great, you’re joining us for dinner. Good thing I decided to pick up a couple of extra steaks.”
Adrian placed the items on the worn laminate counter and smiled at Vickie as she started ringing them up. “Not our house. We’re taking her to her home.”
“Nikki, you should come over and let us pamper you. My grilled steaks and corn on the cob is famous, and Adrian tosses a mean spinach salad.”
Vickie chuckled as she put the unhusked corn in a bag. “It’s true. No one passes up an opportunity for George’s grilling.” She picked up the pills and started putting them in the bag too.
“No, those are mine.” Reaching for them, Nikki winced as the pain shot through her body. “I’m paying for those.”
Adrian’s hand balanced her. “Careful. Just put it on my tab.” He looked at George. “Get the bags. I’m taking her to the truck.”
“Your daughter’s right. You’re bossy.” Biting down on the inside of her cheeks, she let Adrian lead her out the door. As they approached the steps, she wanted to cry. There was no way she was going to make it.
Without warning, her feet left the ground and Adrian had her cradled in his arms like a big giant baby. “I can walk.”
“Right. I knew you were going to say that, which is why I didn’t bother to ask. I’ve never seen someone so stubborn about being in pain, and I used to hang out with bull riders. You’re much easier to carry without a bike attached to you.”
A group of boys walked by, and all the girls giggled.
“Adrian, you finally catch a girlfriend?” one of the boys yelled out.
Another followed up. “He found one that wasn’t fast enough.” The boys laughed at their own stupid jokes.
Adrian shook his head and gave her a half grin before turning back to the boys. “Seth, make yourself useful and open my back door.”
“Yes, sir.” The lanky kid ran past them and stood next to the door.
He looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Adrian eased her into the back seat and turned her so her legs stretched out.
“Seth!” The kid was already back on the sidewalk when Adrian yelled at him. “I forgot to tell your mom that Dr. Rankin had to reschedule. Next month the horse-club meeting needs to be moved to the seventeenth. Go ask your mom to send an email out to all the members. She’s just inside.”
“Yes, sir.” The kid smiled.
Her throat went dry as a face from her past flashed across her mind. “Was that Tommy and Vickie’s son?”
He pulled the seat belt around so she could buckle it. “Yep. He’s about twelve. It’s been a bit rough on him, but he’s a good kid.”
“Rough? Because of the divorce? Seth looks like his father.”
“Yeah, he does. The divorce was bad enough, but then... Tommy’s in jail.”
“Tommy Miller?” She blinked. The world turned upside down. He had been the golden boy. Everyone loved him. She had loved him, until he used her and... “Why?”
“Domestic violence. The worst part was Seth was the one to call 911 and had to step between his father and Vickie. Tommy threatened her with a gun.” He closed the door.
Numb. Her brain was numb.
Mia opened the other passenger door and crawled up into the bench seat. “Are you going to eat with us?”
“No, Mia. She needs to go home.”
Nikki looked up at Adrian. Their eyes met in the mirror. “Please.” She wanted to say more, but if she uttered another word she would start to cry.
One quick nod, and he turned the key. George got in the front and handed her a small bag. “Sure you don’t want to join us? We have plenty.”
Adrian backed the truck out. “She needs to go home and get some rest. I think her day’s been long enough.”
Sometimes being bossy was a good thing. Nikki closed her eyes, thankful that Adrian understood on some level that she needed to hide. At this rate, she shouldn’t venture out of her father’s house ever again. Not until it was time to leave Clear Water, anyway.
Hiding in the corner—well, actually a closet—Nikki sat on an odd chair that had been left behind. Her father wanted her to meet with Adrian and George as they did an appraisal of the remodel. She knew he was trying to get her out of the house and involved in the family business. She would have said no, but she was starting to get a little stir-crazy.
Now she regretted the decision to come to the lumberyard. At least George would be here. She just didn’t want to spend any more time alone with Adrian.
From the dark cubby, she could see through several open doors to the front area. Built in 1884, parts of the store had seen better days. Some of the interior walls had been torn down sometime in the twenties or thirties to make the front half one big room. Rumor had it they used it for dancing, but she couldn’t imagine anyone in her father’s family hosting community dances. Eight columns supported the stamped tin ceiling, and a raised platform gave credence to the live music gatherings. The back part of the space had been living quarters.
The ornate door that she remembered always being locked now leaned against the wall. A heavy carved chair with a strange back elevated above the others in a sea of forgotten chairs. The different styles stood as evidence of each decade that marched through the rooms. It looked as if generations of Bergmanns never threw anything away.
Over the years, her father stood firm that the cost to repair the upstairs of the historic building had been out of financial reach. Money needed to be spent wisely on the areas where customers traveled. Which meant the above and below were left untouched. The basement was used as storage for the business, but the upper floor looked like a graveyard of the forgotten.
Footsteps on the narrow staircase to her left stopped her thoughts. One pair of boots
