Wild Card (North Ridge #1)

And then he’s in the truck and pulling away, bouncing along the dirt road and potholes.

I know I wanted him gone, but as relieved as I feel that the confrontation is over, it’s left me feeling curiously unmoored. Adrift. I’d always wondered what I’d say to him if I ever saw him again, but I have a feeling that wasn’t it. How can it be? How can a few hasty words exonerate years of pain and turmoil?

I exhale slowly, pushing all the air out of my lungs, my nerves still dancing.

So that was my first meeting with Shane. Well, the first meeting with the new Shane, with the new me.

Then why do I feel like the old bricks of my life are sliding back into place?





3





Shane





PAST – 9 years old





The thunder rumbles, shaking nearly the whole house.

I immediately run out of my bedroom and head for the windows in the living room and dining room that face the river. Fox is already there, scanning the skies.

“Did I miss it?” I ask him.

He nods. “It was fucking awesome.”

“Fox!” Jeanine yells from the kitchen. “You know the rules. No swearing in front of your brother.”

“Whatever,” Fox mutters under his breath, eyes trained to the dark clouds.

“And Shane, don’t go outside. It’s dangerous!” she quickly adds, knowing what I was going to do.

“I can’t hear you!” I yell back at her, and after I throw a smile at Fox, I run out of the house before either of them can stop me. Fox is fourteen and thinks he’s some kind of god now just because he can pick me up and throw me over his shoulder or put me in a headlock. I’m only nine years old, but give me a year or two and I’ll probably be taller than him. At least that’s what Delilah says to me when she’s trying to cheer me up.

The wind is picking up, blasting me right in the face.

I laugh into it. It’s such an odd sound that I laugh louder.

I can’t remember the last time I laughed.

That’s funny in itself so I laugh even more.

The rain is starting to pour over town, heading for us.

Come get me, I think.

That’s when the world cracks open with a flash of white gold light, fork lightning hitting the river.

“Wow!” I cry out just as the air goes BOOM.

This is so freaking cool! October storms are the absolute best. Too bad Halloween is still a few weeks away or it would be extra spooky.

“Shane!” Jeanine appears at the door, a mixing bowl in her arms, her red hair blowing around her face. “Get back inside before you get hurt.”

“The lightning won’t hurt me!” I tell her. I know it won’t. I feel like the lightning and I are one and the same. I can feel it in my bones.

“No, but you’re going to get rained on. Don’t forget, you want to make a good impression in front of the new police chief and his daughter.” She watches me for a moment before she turns back into the house. She put extra emphasis on the word daughter. I’m sure Delilah told her everything.

I grumble to myself, wishing I could stand outside and watch the storm get larger and fiercer, even though I know the horses in the barn are hating this right now. If I was nervous before, I’m more embarrassed now that she knows about my crush.

With a big sigh, I turn around and kick a stone. I watch it hop across the dry earth just as a drop of rain darkens the spot beside it.

“Shane!” Fox is now yelling from inside the house and I know if I don’t hurry he’s going to come out and drag me in.

I run inside before I make things worse. After all, I don’t want to ruin anyone’s Thanksgiving.



“They’re here!” Delilah says excitedly, and we watch as headlights come down through the darkness toward the house. Even in the pitch black I can tell when they’re going over the bridge that skirts over Cherry Creek (just a trickle of water these days), then around the crop of ponderosa pine that my grandpa refuses to cut down.

“Is your father ready?” Jeanine asks. She looks us all in the eyes so it’s hard to know who she’s talking to.

There’s me, sitting beside Del by the windows. Then there’s Fox, arms crossed in the middle of the room like he’s some hotshot. Maverick is hovering by the door like he’s ready to leave.

But since no one moves or says a word, Jeanine yells up the stairs of the big house. “Hank. Your guests are here!”

A pause. Then, “My guests?” he yells back from somewhere upstairs.

“Yes, your guests,” she says, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead and looking worn out despite having put on some makeup and a dress. “It wasn’t my idea to invite the new chief constable and his family over.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” my father shouts back. “It’s Thanksgiving. This is what the holiday means. And yes, I’m ready, everyone hold your horses.”

“Cool your jets,” Del adds.

“Calm your tits,” Maverick says with a smirk.

Jeanine seems too tired to even be mad at him. “Okay everyone, stand up straight and be on your best behavior.”

“Yes, all that too,” my father says, walking down the stairs.

Fox whistles. I always wished I could whistle.

“You’re looking dapper, Dad,” he says.

I’m not really sure what dapper means but I don’t think my dad is it. He’s wearing dark jeans and a jean shirt. The Canadian tuxedo, as Fox calls it. His belt has a huge shiny buckle—I think it’s one he won back from his rodeo days. His hair is slicked back off his face like some mobster in the Godfather movie we watched the other night.

My dad doesn’t seem to believe it either. “This is just what I look like when I’m not covered in cow shit.”

“Hank,” Jeanine warns.

He waves her off. “The boys have heard worse. Where’s your grandpa?”

We hear the toilet down the hall flush and I burst into giggles. “He’s been in there for like an hour.”

“Hey, Shane boy, constipation is no joke,” my father says sternly.

Which only makes me laugh more.

I’m so nervous.

And I shouldn’t be, right? Rachel Waters is the daughter of the town’s new cop. She’s sitting inside the car that’s just pulling up outside the house, next to our row of dusty trucks. She sits next to me in class, and she’s so quiet and so pretty. I really like her, even though she barely says anything. But she does speak to me and not to the other boys, so that counts for something.

My father told us a week ago that we were going to have them all over for dinner, I guess cuz they don’t know anyone in town yet. My dad has a reputation as a grump but my grandpa is like the town’s patriarch, whatever that means, and he said that it’s the right thing to do, to invite them over for Thanksgiving dinner. It must make no difference to Jeanine since she’s cooking for so many of us anyway. Plus, this way, we get to have ham and a turkey.