“Thank you. I’ll give it to him when… if he gets home.”
“Your…?” Knowing she could very well tell me to mind my own business, I asked and then looked down at my work boots, wanting to kick myself for asking a question that was none of my business. But I wanted to know.
“My dad.”
And she shut the door. The look on her face before she closed the door spoke volumes. I had a feeling this wasn't the first or the last time he would be served. What I couldn't understand was if I lived in this dump, I would light it up, sit, and watch it burn.
Breigh living in this place made zero sense and made me wonder even more about her.
BREIGH
How damn embarrassing! Of all things, I cannot believe Wyatt showed up at the door, delivering my dad’s eviction notice.
It wasn’t lost on me that the guy I had met last night showed up on the front doorstep. Why? What kind of joke was being played on me? Not only did I look like I had been hit by a Mack truck in my ugly ACDC shirt, but also being served an eviction notice. Again. My phone rang and I was thankful the thought was taken from my mind.
“Breigh… I had the best time last night… Cash was such a sweetheart.”
“Well, hi, Emma.”
She was in full conversation with herself before I confirmed I was even on the line.
“Are you there?”
“Yep. I was waiting for a chance to talk…I just had the oddest coincidence happen. Embarrassing, actually. Wyatt… he just served my father’s eviction notice to my dad’s place as I was about to leave.”
“How? And again? Does that man ever take care of anything on his own? Do not give him money this time, Breigh! And were you actually there cleaning this morning?”
“I don’t know. Apparently Wyatt is a deputy. He was banging on the door, and I answered it, looking like crap. I was going to make the trailer payment and then head home, but when I walked in it smelled like death: dishes were piled all over and cockroaches and gnats were in the kitchen…He, on the other hand, looked AMAZING in his uniform and smelled like heaven…”
“Love a man in a uniform. How is it a uniform on a man always shows off what it needs to show off, but yet on a woman it is never pleasing?” She laughed with a snort. “As far as the eviction notice, that is your father’s problem not yours! Why are you cleaning and paying his bills? Was the bum not there?”
“Of course not.”
“Breigh, how many times do I have to tell you not to take care of someone who has never taken care of you? He has caused more pain than happiness and I just don't understand why you…”
“STOP, Emma.” I was beginning to tear up. She was speaking the truth, but I still always felt bad for him. I didn’t need to hear it again and again. It didn't make anything easier.
“Okay… okay…well… was he as cute this morning as he was last night?” Everyone had an experience thinking someone was a ten, but then seeing them again and they were a two, tops.
I giggle like a schoolgirl. “Yeah, he was… But doesn't matter. I can’t deal with anything else. Between work, Dad, and my broken heart, I’m still recovering.”
“A guy can help with that. And don't forget you looked pretty happy with him last night on that dance floor. Miss Only One Dance…”
“So we danced a couple songs… but that’s where it ended,” I said firmly. “Yes, so I had a good time. I can admit that.”
“Guess what? Cash has money, honey. He has a very successful career and works at some big stock firm in Houston. He’s rich!”
“Was he bragging about it all night or what?”
“He was… a little… but I found it incredibly sexy. Just the way he dresses, carries himself, is something I’ve never had.”
“Ick! Not my type. Not a fan of the cockiness.”
She laughed. “Exactly my type.”
I had been friends with Emma for over fifteen years now, and she has always been the same. She loved the playboy. She didn't think about the future but purely what was right in front of her. Lived for the moment. My polar opposite.
“So one brother is a sheriff’s deputy, probably earning peanuts and playing by all the rules, and the other’s in an office in Houston, wearing suits breaking them all.” Emma does a replay.
“Sounds like it.”
“We are going out tonight before he leaves town.”
“Be careful, Emma.”
“You don't need to warn me. I’m a big girl.”
I wish I had thought to record that. She was notorious for acting like a girl who just hit puberty, boy crazy as all get out.
She might be the death of me.
4
WYATT
“I’m putting in the paperwork for a promotion for you, Wyatt. I appreciate all your hard work, son, and I want you to be rewarded for it.”
“Son?”
“I know you’re not my son, but you are the closest thing I’ll ever have to it. You have worked harder than any guy on the force, in just the short amount of time you have been here.”
“I really appreciate that, sir. I… With all due respect, I really want to work my way to the Texas Rangers. I don't know if you remember, but I want to…”
“I know. And I want to help you with what I can. It will be a long road ahead of you to get there, but if anyone can do it, you can.”
“Thank you. I sure don't want to end up stuck in an office pushing paper. Some days it feels like all I do is paperwork for the guys who don't want to finish it.”
“Exactly. I’m the same way. Sitting in this office drives me crazy.”
We laugh for a split second. “I really appreciate your confidence in me. I
