Chapter 2—One and Done

* Riley *

Uncle Coop got me, but it hadn’t always been that way. When I first came to live with him, we butted heads every other day. After the shooting we bonded, one of the few good things to come out of that dark time.

Cooper Black is a local celebrity, newly retired captain of the Sockeyes hockey team and now an assistant coach of the same team. He can be a little too serious and intense, but his wife, Izzy, tempers that. Izzy is incredible, and most of my buddies are in love with her. Hell, I was once, too. I had the biggest crush on her when I first came to live with Uncle Coop when I was fourteen.

She’s beautiful inside and out and doesn’t take any crap from my uncle. In fact, she has him wrapped around her little finger the majority of the time, which is freaking hilarious to watch.

I visit my aunt and uncle once a week, depending on Uncle Coop’s hockey schedule. Sometimes I brought my buddies, sometimes I went alone.

Tonight, I was flying solo.

Izzy wouldn’t be home. She was “crashing” a black-tie event in downtown Seattle. She owns a professional party-crashing business with two of her three sisters. They get paid to make sure the events are a success by pretending to be uninvited guests. They’re über-talented and sing and dance and are all gorgeous. I did some party-crashing this summer for them and made some fun, fast money.

At 8:00 p.m. on the following Friday night, Otto—my six-year-old Newfoundland dog—and I let ourselves into Uncle Coop’s house. My uncle was watching an NHL game, no huge surprise there. If he wasn’t coaching, he was studying film. The man had a monster work ethic. He glanced up and smiled as I made my way to the kitchen and pulled a beer out of the fridge, then joined him in the family room.

Uncle Coop shot an appraising glance my way before turning back to the game. He frowned as Otto made himself at home, ignoring Uncle Coop’s scowl as he hopped onto one end of the couch and lay down. Uncle Coop liked to play the tough guy, but he was a softy at heart. He’d brought home Otto as a puppy after the shooting, thinking I needed a dog to help me heal. Otto had helped, and he’d been my constant companion ever since. Aunt Izzy thought he’d make a great ottoman. From that point forward, he was Otto.

“How’s it going?” he said. His deceptively casual voice didn’t fool me. Uncle Coop could be a bit controlling, and very little got past his eagle eyes.

“Okay.” I didn’t sound very convincing.

“It’s Friday night.” He leaned back, one hand on Otto’s forehead, the other wrapped around a beer. He took a pull, watching me over the rim of the can.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. And you’re here instead getting into some kind of trouble I’d rather not know about.”

“And you’re complaining about that?” I grinned at him, and he grinned back.

“Crazy, huh?” He saluted me with his beer and winked.

“I have a game tomorrow. Besides, I didn’t feel like partying.”

Now I had his full attention. He muted the TV and turned, his brow furrowed with worry. He narrowed his eyes and studied me. “What’s up?”

I hesitated, not sure I wanted him to know. He’d never been a huge Tiff fan.

“Riley,” he said in his team captain’s voice.

“She’s back,” I blurted, swallowing past the lump in my throat, blinking rapidly and struggling to maintain my sanity. I was pissed she still had this mad power over me.

I could see his wheels turning. She could only be one of two people—my heroin-addict mother I hadn’t seen since I was fourteen, or Tiff.

“Tiff?” he guessed correctly.

“Yeah, Tiff.”

He relaxed slightly, probably figuring Tiff was the lesser of two evils. I wasn’t so sure. “Have you talked with her?”

I shook my head and stared at the label on my beer. My stomach twisted into a pretzel. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and scratched my head.

“Where did you see her?”

“At a frat party. She laid eyes on me and shot out of there like her ass was on fire. I tried to catch her but couldn’t.”

“I thought she was attending some California school.”

“It would appear not.”

Uncle Coop rubbed his chin and regarded me with his intense blue eyes. “What are you going to do?”

“What can I do? She obviously wants nothing to do with me.”

He appeared to be debating whether or not to say anything but kept whatever it was to himself.

“Do you think Avery might know anything?” I asked anxiously. Avery was Izzy’s sister, and she trained horses out of the same barn where Tiff had once kept her horse.

Uncle Coop sat back and blew out a deep, troubled sigh. His lips pulled into a thin, grim line. “Riley, you can’t make someone love you. Not if they don’t feel it. I hate to see you get all tied in knots over her again. She’s never given any indication she has any feelings for you beyond casual friendship.” He smiled sadly and patted my arm. He just wanted me to be happy, and he’d never felt Tiff was the one for me. He’d voiced many times his suspicions she’d used me until something better came along. Maybe she had. Maybe I should get a clue and stop being such an idiot over her. Maybe if I could just talk with her one last time, make sure she was okay, then I could truly move on.

And if she wasn’t okay, then what happened? I’d get drawn back into the dysfunction that was Tiff.

I’d healed.

She hadn’t.

Even worse, seeing her brought back those nightmarish minutes in the cafeteria, minutes I’d just as soon not relive. I didn’t need to invite drama into my life.

And I really didn’t need Tiff disrupting my world.

If only I could convince my heart.

* Tiff *

“The cute guy in my PT class asked me out,” I told my horse, Dexter, as I groomed his already-gleaming coat. Dex turned his head and regarded me with big liquid brown eyes. He’d been my confidant and my therapist through all the tough times, healing me in ways no human ever could, which is why I’d decided to make a career out of equine therapy. Samantha, the owner of this barn, had offered me a job after I graduated. She’d been wanting to start such a program, utilizing an older, seldom-used arena on the property. Her wealthy husband and his mother had shown interest in funding the project. It was a job made in heaven, but it required I stay in Seattle. I wasn’t convinced any job was worth that.

“Did you tell him yes?”

I jumped backward and hit my elbow on the wall.

“Sorry, Tiff. You okay?” Avery, the assistant dressage trainer, stood a few feet away, watching me with concern in her eyes.

“I’m fine. Really.” I rubbed my elbow. I’d hit it just right and it stung, temporarily numbing my entire arm.

“Good. So, did you say yes?” She smiled at me, watching me carefully. After the shooting, I’d retreated into myself, refusing to ride and not talking to anyone but Dex. I’d spent hours at the barn either grooming Dex or holding his lead rope while he grazed, unmindful of the weather. Avery and Sam watched helplessly during those dark times, always there if I needed them, but never pushing me.

“I didn’t.” I shook my head.

“Did you date much in California?”

“Not much.” In fact, I’d been a one-and-done type of girl, and I’m not referring to sex. One date, and I’d find something wrong with the guy and never go out with him again. Except for Riley. He’d been a one-and-get-the-hell-out-of-town kind of guy because Riley made me feel, made me lose control, and releasing the tenuous grasp I had on my emotions was unthinkable.

“It’s good to have you back, Tiff,” she said sincerely, smoothly changing to a safer subject.

“It’s good to be back, even if it is a little weird at times,” I admitted.

“I’m sure it’ll get better as time goes on.” Avery looked down, pushing a piece of straw around with the toe of her boot. I went still inside, sensing something was coming, and probably a something I wouldn’t be thrilled about.

“What is it?” I asked, unable to stand the suspense any longer.

She lifted her gaze to meet mine. “Riley was asking about you.”

A chill ran down my spine, and I leaned on Dex to steady myself. “What did you tell him?” I hated the hitch in my voice, betraying how much this small piece of news upset me.

Avery regarded me sternly. “I’m not going to lie for you. I told him you were keeping Dex here.”

I sighed and blew out a breath. Of course she told him. I couldn’t expect to keep my whereabouts a secret forever, not when there were mutual people in our lives. Riley was her nephew by marriage. Sam and Avery had been my trainer since I was young. One more way Riley’s life and mine were bound together.

“Why don’t you get it over with and talk to him? Have your say and let him have his, then you’ll have closure, and you can both move on.”

“I have moved on,” I shot back a little too abruptly, and drew another one of those infuriatingly sympathetic gazes from her.

“If you had, you wouldn’t have run from him like a frightened fawn.”

“He told you about that?”

Avery nodded. “Meet with him. I have his contact info if you need it. Let me know.” She patted Dex, gave me a sympathetic smile, and walked away.

I put my arms around Dex’s neck and buried my face in his soft hair as I’d done so many times before. I was still a screwed-up mess, and I hated how I’d gone backward since returning to the area. All this had been behind me. I’d healed.

Only I hadn’t. I’d been fooling myself. Avery was right. We both needed closure.