Kentuckygirl: Did you have fun at the carnival last night?

Sharpshooter: It would have been better if you were there.

Kentuckygirl: Maybe one day, I will.

Sharpshooter: Are you thinking about us being more than friends?

Kentuckygirl: Maybe. Were you able to ride your tilt-a-whirl?

Sharpshooter: My brother recorded my nephew and me riding it. You want to see?

Kentuckygirl: Yes.

Sharpshooter: <Play>

Kentuckygirl: Your nephew is very handsome, like his uncle.

Sharpshooter: He looks more like his dad than me.

Kentuckygirl12: Who is the woman?

Kentuckygirl: You sure you don’t have a girlfriend or are married?

Sharpshooter: Sorry, I had to put my dog out. The woman? She’s my nephew’s babysitter. I’d rather shoot off my dick before I went out with her. I’m not going to lie; I date around, but I’m not serious about any one woman yet. I’m looking for that special woman. And I think I’ve found her if you would just give in and meet me.

Kentuckygirl: Why don’t you like her?

Sharpshooter: Like? God says I shouldn’t hate anyone, but with her, it’s hard not to make an exception. If she had it her way, I would have never known my nephew. God grants forgiveness. I don’t.

Kentuckygirl: I see. Wow. I can understand. I’m sorry that happened to you and your family. I need to get busy. My lunch break is over. Take care, Sharpshooter.

Sharpshooter: You, too.

* * *

“Can I go play with Noah and Chance?” Logan tugged at Holly’s hand as they came out of the church.

Smoothing his dark hair back, Holly smiled down at the little boy she considered her whole world. “Go ahead.”

She watched him run toward the playground, where the other children in the congregation were playing as their parents talked to each other.

She found a seat on one of the benches where she could watch Logan while surreptitiously watch as Greer made a beeline toward the parking lot. Jo was about to get in her tow truck when he must have said something to her. Holly watched as she leaned against the door, unable to hear what they were saying.

She hated herself. Why should she care what Greer was saying? He had made it painfully clear what he thought about her. Every hope she had harboring in her heart had been crushed and stomped on, and he hadn’t even known. It would have made his year to know how badly it had hurt her when he had said that he would rather shoot off his dick than touch her.

“What has you looking so sad on this beautiful Sunday?”

Startled, Holly looked up at her pastor. “It is beautiful, isn’t it? I enjoyed your sermon, but I think some of the men wished they had stayed home in bed.”

Pastor Dean sat down next to her with a smug grin. “Was I too obvious giving a sermon on Luke 6:29?”

“If most of the men weren’t already regretting being involved in the fight at the carnival, your sermon did it.”

“Were you there?”

“Yes. The ones who could have benefited from your sermon the most weren’t in church this morning.”

“Justin and Curt don’t make a habit of attending church. I’m sad to say that even if they weren’t in jail, they wouldn’t be sitting in church. Those two are walking a fine line of hurting someone bad, or getting killed themselves.”

Holly wasn’t shocked at her pastor’s comment. He wasn’t a conventional preacher. He rode a motorcycle and had built a new home on the property belonging to The Last Riders. He wore suits when he was in church, but outside of that, he wore jeans and T-shirts, having no compunction about showing off the tattoos that were visible. He was so good-looking, many of the women would be so wrapped up in his sermons they would have to sit several minutes before they had realized he had finished.

“It won’t be them. I was close to where the fight broke out. They were the ones who started the fight, but they didn’t have a mark on them. Tate said they’re used to getting in fights and then standing back and watching everyone else go at it.”

“I’m surprised the Porter brothers didn’t join in.”

“Tate wanted to get Sutton out of there, and Dustin had Logan,” Holly explained.

“Greer must not have been there. He would have loved the chance to fight.”

“He was there. He kept me from getting hurt when the fight started.”

Pastor Dean gave a low laugh. “I knew there had to be a reason.”

“He fussed about it for the rest of the night. So did Tate and Dustin. It was a close call between Greer and Holt, but Knox put an end to it. There’s no love between the Porters and the Hayes.”

“I can see them being upset about that. Especially Greer; he loves a good fight.”

“Yes, he does.”

Her pastor’s eyes sharpened on her. “Has he been giving you trouble?”

She looked to where Greer and Jo were still talking. Biting down her jealousy, she went back to watching Logan play. “He hates me.”

“Greer hates everyone but his family.”

He had a point. Greer had something mean to say about most of the people in town.

“Not as much as he hates me. Have you ever done something so bad that someone can’t forgive you for?”

She paled at the look of deep sadness that came across his face.

“Actually, I have.”

“I … I was just speaking for myself. I didn’t mean …”

“It’s fine,” the pastor told her. “I know you meant it rhetorically. You were talking about Greer, weren’t you?”

“Yes, he’s never going to forgive me for not going to the police over Logan.”

“Have you forgiven yourself?”

She answered him honestly, “I tell myself yes, but deep down, I still regret that I handled it wrong.”

“Once you forgive yourself, then what Greer feels won’t matter.”

“Diamond says that, too. I wish that were true.”

“It is. Holly, I nearly lost Willa to a man who hated me so badly he nearly killed her and a young girl. I could have put a stop to him long before he almost killed her, but I didn’t because of the guilt I felt. When we confess our sins to God, He forgives us. You’ve had to walk your road to forgiveness ever since it was discovered you had Logan. Only you know when that road to forgiveness ends. Mine ended the day Willa was hanging over that cliff. You do not have to travel the road alone, Holly. God is there, beside you, every step of the way, and I’m here if you need me.”

“Thank you, Pastor.”

“You’re welcome. Are you staying for fellowship?”

“I’d like to, but it looks like Greer is finished talking to Jo, and he’s ready to leave.” Holly shot the pastor an apologetic smile when Greer got in his truck and started laying on his horn. Of course, he had waited until Jo had pulled out of the parking lot.

“I’ll see you next Sunday, then.” Pastor excused himself, going to talk to the other parishioners.

When Greer blew his horn again, she jumped up from the bench and called to Logan.

“Why can’t I stay?” Logan complained breathlessly.

“Your uncle Greer is the one who’s in a hurry.”

Logan stopped protesting, meekly running toward Greer’s truck.

“You hard of hearing? What was taking so long?”

Holly helped Logan into the truck, then climbed in herself. “I was talking to the pastor.”

“Like that’s going to do you much good.”

His callous words had her going pale. “What does that mean?” She turned sideways in her seat to see Logan watching the interaction between them.

“You know what it means.”

If he weren’t driving, she would have struck him.

Sitting forward, she mutely stared out the window as Greer asked Logan if he wanted to go fishing.

“Yay!”

“I’ll change my clothes when we get home.”

“Can Daddy and Uncle Tate come?”

“Yep. Your pa should be out of bed, and I’ll call Tate.”

“I’m going to catch a big fish, Holly, just like I did last time. This time, you have to watch me get the hook out of its mouth. I’ll be careful—”

“She ain’t coming.”

“Why not?”

The silence in the cab was tangible.

“Holly?” the little boy asked uncertainly.

“I have some cleaning to do. I’ll ask your father to take some pictures for me.”

The silent journey wasn’t over soon enough for her. As soon as Greer brought the truck to a stop, she jumped out.

Greer rolled down his window. “You trying to break your neck?”

She wanted to scream at him that he wouldn’t care if she did. Conscious of Logan listening, though, she went inside, leaving the door open for them.

Dustin was sprawled out on the couch, watching television. He took one look at her angry face and sat up. “What’s wrong?”

Logan didn’t give her time to answer as he came running into the house. “We’re going fishing!”

Dustin stared at Logan’s ecstatic face, then Greer’s unconcerned one, and drew his own conclusions.

“If we’re going fishing, you need to change your clothes.”

“Okay.” Logan started to go to his room.

“Shut your door and watch one of your movies until we’re ready to go,” Dustin instructed him before he could get out of earshot.

“Can I color instead?” he yelled out.

“Yes, and lower your voice.”

Holly waited for the door to shut before she set her purse down on the counter. “Dustin, may I please talk to you alone?”

“You got something to say to my brother, you can say it in front of me.”

She knew that was coming. “Fine. I’m going to make your day.” Giving Greer her back, she focused on Dustin. “Tomorrow, I’m going to start searching for an apartment.”

“What in the hell happened at church?”

Holly put up a hand to stop Dustin from saying anything. She was determined to say her piece.

“I love Logan more than I love my own life.” She dug her nails into her palms to keep from bursting into tears and giving Greer that satisfaction. “I can’t keep living my life as an apology to you, Greer, and Tate. It isn’t fair to me or Logan. I know you love Greer, and I don’t want you to have to choose between him and me, and I certainly don’t want Logan to have to do that.

“It will be better if I find an apartment, and if you’re willing, give me visitation. I could keep him after school until you get off. He spends most of the nights playing with you, so he won’t even miss me.” A sob nearly escaped her, but she choked it back to finish. “You like going out on Saturday nights. I could keep him for you and bring Logan back after church. If this doesn’t work for you, then maybe we can work out something else. When I find an apartment, both of us can sit down with Logan and have a talk with him.”

“Holly—”

“If you’ll excuse me, I want to wash my hair, and I have a few things I need to get done around the house.”

She left the two brothers staring after her. It was going to be hard not living with Logan, but it would be better than living with Greer. It was only a matter of time before he figured out how much she cared about him, since it was becoming more difficult every day, even with the escalating tension between them.

As she closed her door, she was able to hear Greer and Dustin arguing. Holly turned on her television then went into her bathroom and turned on the water so they would think she was washing her hair. Instead, she sat down on the side of the tub and cried.

Life with Greer was like living in a briar patch, and she was tired of being stung.

Eventually, she undressed and got into the shower, luxuriating in the warm water.

She was getting out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her head and drying off, when her bathroom door was flung open.

She didn’t even have time to scream before she was pinned against the open door.

“What are you doing!”

“Don’t worry; you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” Greer’s hand went to her throat.

Lifting her eyes to his storm-filled ones, she desperately clutched the large towel to her breasts.

“You cry a lot, don’t you?”

Gaping at him, she forgot to feel embarrassed. “What?”

“Your eyes are red. You’ve been crying.”

“What do you care?”

“You’ve got to toughen up, or the world is going to chew you up and spit you out.” Greer’s eyes slipped down to the towel that was covering her breasts; the whole time she had shared the same house with him, he had never shown any sexual interest in her. Now, he was staring her as if he was claiming her.

She pushed him away from her. “What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until I finished my shower?” she snapped.

He moved away from her and into her bedroom. “Just scoping out my new room.” He turned back to face her. “Dustin and I had a talk. By the way, I don’t appreciate you trying to drive a wedge between me and my brother.”

“I wasn’t trying—”

He waved her excuses away. “Doesn’t matter. It didn’t work. Dustin called Mrs. Langley. Her house has been sitting empty since she moved in with Winter and Viper. Her place hasn’t sold yet, and Dustin goes by every day to check on it for her. He asked if you could live there until it sold. Kills two birds with one stone.”

She numbly stared at him as he walked around her bedroom, staking his claim. Disappointment filled her, he hadn’t been staking his claim on her body; he had been staking his claim on his new bedroom.

“All you have to do now is pack today, and Dustin and Logan can drop you off tomorrow afternoon. You need any help?”

She was standing in front of him, almost naked and vulnerable, and he couldn’t care less that he was trashing her life.

“No, I don’t need your help. I’d like to get dressed. Please go.”

“No problem. I’d figured you’d show at least a little gratitude. Hell, you get to live rent-free until that big-ass house gets sold.”

“I’ll make sure to thank Dustin when he gets back from fishing.”

“You just can’t please some women,” he said testily.

“I thought you were going fishing?” She went to the door of her bedroom, curling her hand around the doorknob.

“I am. Just waiting for Sutton to get here so you won’t be by yourself.”

Holly couldn’t understand why someone had to stay with her today. After tomorrow, she would be by herself when she moved into Mrs. Langley’s house. She had been happy for the older woman when she moved in with her niece, having no clue the Porters would use it as an opportunity to get rid of Holly a few months later.

“Have Logan and Dustin already left?”

“Yeah.”

“Could you do me a favor before you leave?”

Magnanimously, he paused.

“Go fuck yourself.”