Chapter Fifteen

BRYCE

Bryce followed Dakota’s pickup truck up the bumpy dirt driveway. Two brown dogs ran next to the truck, barking wildly the entire way. Were they his dogs now? No. That was ridiculous. Even if they had belonged to his unknown great-uncle, they obviously would be Dakota’s dogs. He wondered if his mom would want a dog.

The Chicago condo she lived in didn’t allow dogs. She’d moved back to the city after the twins graduated high school. He remembered how he’d felt when he’d bought the big house in Evanston for her after he’d signed his first multimillion dollar paycheck.

He’d been eighteen years old, and he thought he would burst with joy at finally being able to start paying his mom and siblings back for all the sacrifices they’d made for his dreams.

The cozy, ramshackle house they passed must belong to Dakota. Fallow fields stretched out behind it, and a few brown leaves clung to the gnarled and twisted branches of the tall trees in the yard.

Bryce drove up a small rise and around a curve, past a thicket of some kind of bushes. As he cleared the top of the rise, and the big house he had only seen in pictures came into view. His breath caught in his throat. It was perfect.

Rows of apple trees stretched out behind the large white farmhouse. A wide screened-in porch fronted two sides of the house and dark green shutters flanked the wide windows. There was even a rooster-topped weather vane on the top of the roof.

Bryce could already see imaginary Christmas lights twinkling from the trim and his future children playing football on the lawn. This wasn’t just a house, it was a home.

And it was all his if he wanted it. He could retire, move here, and figure out what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

There was so much space in the house and the orchard. He didn’t need to own Dakota’s house and land on top of it. He wouldn’t even miss it. Why wouldn’t Bryce sell him his land for as low as he legally could? Heck, he’d let Dakota stay rent-free as long as he wanted.

Dakota stopped his truck at the side of the house, and Bryce pulled up next to him. The brindle dogs ran in circles around both vehicles. One jumped up at Bryce’s door, and he flinched at the sound of nails scraping on the paint of his loaner car. Hopefully, that wouldn’t cost him.

Bryce whistled under his breath as he stepped out of the Camry. Groaning, he stretched his back out. Most cars were a tight fit for him. It would be nice to get his truck back. Could he call it a truck? It wasn’t a car. Technically, it was an SUV, but that didn’t sound as cool as truck.

If he lived in the country, he could get a real truck. Deep in his heart, he’d always loved the way they looked, but he could never justify buying one.

The other dog jumped into the Dakota’s truck’s bed and started nosing around.

Now Dakota drove a real truck, a dirty light-blue Ford pickup. Bryce knew it was a Ford because it said FORD in giant letters across the tailgate. The bed held hay and tools and tarps in the back. It was a working man’s truck, and Bryce found it almost as sexy as the motorcycle.

“Hey, buddy,” Bryce laughed as the dog darted over for a quick pet then bounded over to Dakota. Bryce followed it over to the truck, waiting almost as impatiently as the dogs for Dakota to get out.

Bryce pounced on him when he finally did. “I can’t believe I dropped you off here last night,” Bryce said incredulously. “We drove right by it.” He’d been so close, and he hadn’t even known it.

“Technically, I drove,” Dakota said, voice flat. “But, yeah.” He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground.

The silence between them was awkward for the first time.

“I like your dogs,” Bryce said, searching for something to say. “What kind of dogs are they?”

Dakota reached down and scratched one of them behind the ears. The other leaned against Bryce looking for some attention. “Devil dogs. As you can see, they’re terrible guard dogs. This one is Beezy, short for Beelzebub. The one lovin’ all over you is Lu, short for Lucifer. Their job is to keep the deer out of the orchard and they suck at it. What they are good at is barking, chasing raccoons, and sleeping on the furniture.”

Bryce laughed. “Great job if you can get it.”

Dakota squinted up at the pale blue sky and shoved his hands back in his pockets. “Come on. I’ll show you the house.”

It seemed cruel to make Dakota walk through the house that had been his second home and tell Bryce everything that was great about it. Bryce could find out by himself. “You don’t have to, Dakota.”

Dakota laughed harshly. “Do what? Turn the house and everything in over to you? Yeah. I do.”

“Fuck.” Bryce kicked the dirt up, sending a rock flying. Beezy leaped up, grabbing it out of the air, then dropping it by Bryce’s feet. “Look. I’m sorry.”

Lu dropped a stick in the dirt near Dakota’s feet. He picked it up and hurled it as far as he could. Both dogs took off towards the fields behind the house. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“I don’t know what to do here. You know that your house and farm are yours. Forever. I promise.”

Beezy came back with the sticking. She let it fall to the ground, and then stared between Dakota and the stick.

Lu came back with a half-rotten apple that he deposited by Bryce, then looked up at him with a hopeful expression in her doggy eyes. “Thanks,” Bryce said, wincing as his fingers touched the mushy flesh.

“Stop making promises you can’t keep,” Dakota said. “No one can promise forever.” He hurled the stick again. Beezy barked once at Bryce, and he threw the apple in the same direction. They watched the dogs race through the field.

“No. You’re right. But I promise you that I will find some way to transfer ownership of that part of the property to you.”

Dakota tilted his head to look at him, eyes narrowed.

Bryce wished he knew what the other man was thinking. “You’ll still have your farm and your house.”

“What about the money? I’m not going to let that drop.” Dakota looked away, embarrassed.

“You said that was your ex-boyfriend, not you.”

“Yeah, but I should have known. I let him get away with it for years.” Dakota shook his head. “I was an idiot. Everybody told me there was something not right.”

“That still doesn’t make it your fault.”

“But –”

Bryce held up his hand. “End of discussion. I’ll have my mom and money guy get together with you and go over the books and find out exactly what happened. If we have to pursue criminal charges against this guy, we will. But you are not going to pay for his crimes anymore.”

Dakota crossed his arms and stared at Bryce, his face inscrutable. Lu woofed and looked between the stick and Dakota. “Go play,” Dakota told the dog. “Go be useful.” Lu laid down in the dirt, panting, with her tongue hanging out. “Fantastic.”

Bryce wasn’t sure if Dakota was talking to him or the dog. “It will be. I really think everything is going to work out for the best. And it’s kind of fun that we’re, well, neighbors, for a little while anyway.”

A blush heated his cheeks. He didn’t know if they were supposed to talk about what had happened last night in the cabin, but he hadn’t been able to forget about it even before he’d seen Dakota again. Now with the literal man of his dreams standing in front of him, Bryce found it almost impossible to think about anything else.