Chapter Two
Liam
“HOLY SHIT!” I YELL OUT as I slam my foot against the brakes as hard as I can. My hands clench around the steering wheel, my knuckles strained white with fear-gripped anticipation of the horrible thud to come.
I’m propelled forward, and my chest hits my seat belt, sending me back into the seat. The truck has come to a complete stop. I don’t loosen my desperate grip on the steering wheel as I cautiously look out the windshield.
Inches away from the front end of my truck is a woman. She’s standing, untouched.
Oh, thank you.
I say a prayer of gratitude as I swing the door open and jump out of the truck.
My gratitude turns to anger as the thought dawns on me that I could have killed this chick because she decided to step in front of a moving vehicle.
“What the hell? Are you okay?” I say to her as I round the front of my truck.
She opens her eyes wide, and the next angry question I was going to shout out gets lodged in my throat because I know those eyes. I’d know them anywhere.
“Eleanora?”
This seems to snap her out of her state of shock.
“William,” she scoffs, her beautiful green eyes squinting in anger.
“It’s Liam,” I answer her like I always do.
“Yeah, well, you know damn well that it’s Leni.” She rolls her eyes and begins to stomp the rest of the way across the road.
“Wait! Eleanora—Leni, stop.”
God, this woman makes my blood boil.
Woman? I suppose she is.
I haven’t seen Leni since she was sixteen. I guess she’s twenty-three now. I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about her a little too much over the years. Despite her irrational hatred toward me, I’ve always found her insanely gorgeous.
She no longer wears her little pixie cut that she insisted on when she was younger despite her mother’s pleas to let it grow. Her auburn locks fall in waves down the center of her back. Her nose and the tops of her cheeks are still splattered with light freckles that have always turned me on way more than they should have. And yet the part of her that has always gotten me is her eyes. They’re a deep emerald green, and I can’t describe them any other way but to say that they almost sparkle—usually with rage when they’re directed my way but a sparkle just the same.
“What do you want, Liam?” she says with a sigh as she turns toward me.
“Was that hard to say?” I smirk, knowing she wants to call me by my formal first name, just as I want to call her by hers. It’s always been a tool of ours, a surefire way to piss the other one off.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Well, I want to know why you just walked in front of my truck.” Anger builds as I remember what just happened. “I could’ve killed you.”
She rolls her eyes. “I didn’t mean to walk in front of you. I was thinking about stuff and clearly wasn’t watching my surroundings. I’m just tired. Thank you for not killing me.” She turns and starts to walk away from me.
“Wait!”
“What?” she snaps.
“What are you doing here?” My attention falls to the large bag she’s pulling behind her.
“I’m going to Mimi’s.”
“Do you want a ride?”
She shrugs. “No, it’s fine. I can walk.”
“You’re going to walk to the farm?” I ask slowly.
“Yeah,” she says with a nod, as if it’s not a big deal.
“That’s stupid, Leni. Let me drop you off. I’m obviously going that way.”
She shakes her head. “I’m fine with walking.”
I just want to scream at her. How can she still be so stubborn after all these years?
“Get in the truck!” I yell at her.
“No!” she yells back.
“Damn it, Leni! Get in the truck! You can’t even walk across the street without almost getting hit. How are you going to walk five miles to the farm? What would I tell your grandmother if you got plowed over by someone else?” I grab the handle of her bag and yank it from her grasp. I throw it in the back of my truck. “I would’ve thought you’d grown up some in the big city. Evidently, you haven’t.”
She huffs as she climbs up into the passenger seat and slams the door closed. She crosses her arms across her chest and glares at me. “Well, William, I can assure you that you wouldn’t know anything about that since you’ve never left this town. It’s hard to gauge appropriate human behavior since you only communicate with cows.”
The second her seat belt is fastened, I hit the gas and peel out down the street. I can’t wait to drop her off.
“Well, Eleanora, actually, I went to college for four years, so I have left this town. And I can assure you, I understand people just fine. Like, for instance, I can see perfectly clear that you’ve grown up to be a pretentious, judgmental witch, just like your mother.”
She gasps. “I am nothing like my mother!”
I chuckle. “Really? Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
I’m ashamed of myself that I’ve stooped to her immaturity level. I should have never brought her mother into this. I know how much animosity exists between those two. Leni just makes me so insane with fury. I used to try so hard to be her friend, and she’s always pushed me away.
She doesn’t have a rebuttal. I’ve silenced the girl who never shuts up, and I feel like an ass.
“I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, you did,” is her only reply as she continues to stare out the window.
“Len, I’m sorry. I truly am. That was a shitty thing to say. I just don’t know why we’re still fighting. We’re adults. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
I think back to when we were really young. I met Leni when I was six. She’s only a year younger than me, but she seemed so much smaller. I called her the girl with lucky eyes because they were the color of a four-leaf clover. Leni’s grandparents’ ranch and my parents’ ranch shared a border, and I spent my time in between them. Invisible borders weren’t taken into account when I was discovering new lands on my adventures. Leni’s grandparents didn’t care if I was on their land anyway. I first met her when she was playing in the rows of corn during one of her summer visits. At six years old, I considered her my best friend. We played every day that summer and every summer after that until the summer of my fourteenth birthday. She turned into quite the brat that year, and it only got worse.
I tried to remain friends with her, but she wasn’t enjoyable to be around. I went over to see her when she arrived the summer of my seventeenth birthday. It was a mistake, as she was incredibly bitchy toward me. I stopped trying after that. I was busy helping my dad with the cattle and crops. I didn’t have time for Leni’s juvenile games.
Yet I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t look toward her grandma’s house every time I passed it over the past seven years, hoping that Leni might be there and that I’d get to see a glimpse of her even if just for a second.
I guess you never forget your first love even if I didn’t realize back then that was what she was.
“So, how long are you in town?” I attempt to lighten the heavy mood.
“Not sure. Hopefully, not long.”
“Well, it’s nice to see you. You look good.” The last statement is a gross understatement. She doesn’t look good; she looks incredible.
“Okay,” she scoffs with an edge to her voice.
I grip the steering wheel tighter and close my mouth shut. My chest feels heavy in a way I can’t fully comprehend. We’re exactly where we left off the summer of my seventeenth birthday.
I’m relieved when we finally arrive. I park my truck in front of the barn and turn off the engine.
“I can walk in by myself. You’re free to go,” Leni says as she hops out of my truck.
After exiting the truck, I lift her suitcase from the back and set it down on the ground.
“Okay, thanks. But I have some work to take care of in the barn,” I force myself to say without attitude.
She walks around the truck and grabs ahold of her suitcase handle. “Why are you doing work in Mimi’s barn?”
“Because it’s my barn.”
“What does that mean?” she quips.
I look to her in question. Does she not know?
“You know I bought your grandma’s farm, right?”
“What?” She glares.
“I bought the farm,” I slowly tell her again.
“When? Why?” she shrieks, her eyes bulging with panic.
“Um, a couple of years ago now, I guess. Because it was for sale, and it’s right next to my dad’s land. So, it just made sense to expand our ranch.”
“Why would Mimi sell her land? Where is she living? So, you just kicked her out on the streets? Why would you do this to her? She’s been nothing but kind to you your whole life!” Leni’s eyes are brimming with tears.
I raise my hands in an attempt to calm her. “Shh. No, it’s not like that. I didn’t kick her out, Len. She’s free to stay in her house for as long as she wants. I’m just farming the land, is all.”
I don’t know if Leni heard a word I said. She just looks to me with so much loathing.
“I can’t believe you did this, William Moore. This is a whole new level, even for you.” She shakes her head as a tear rolls down her cheek.
I reach out my arm to grab hers, but she bolts off toward the house before I can.
I’m left here, watching her run away from me again. And, just like when I was seventeen, I have no idea why she harbors such disgust—and, worse yet, why it bothers me so much.