Read Online Burning Barriers (Barriers Series Book 3) by Sara Shirley - Free Book Online Page B

try to get me to somehow agree that we were supposed to be together until she did something she thought would make me jealous and fight for her. She hooked up with SJ, and well, that little faux relationship continues to this day simply because both families come from money and prestige. Laurel’s plan backfired on her. It doesn’t mean she still doesn’t try to get me to see her side of the story, though. She does. I just don’t listen anymore.
    Laurel was always the thorn in Lucy’s side when we were at the ranch. She never had any reservations about flirting with me in front of Lucy. She came from money and had beauty and confidence on her side. I could always see the desire in Lucy’s eyes to want a little piece of what Laurel had. Laurel always had some excuse to try to get me to pay her more attention than Lucy. Until that drunken night in the barn, Laurel could never get her claws in deep enough. Because she did, she still thinks she has the rights to me after all this time.
    That is why I’m praying that Laurel doesn’t try to pull her typical rich bitch attitude if she runs into Lucy. Breckenridge is a small town, and SJ tends to have a big mouth. She’ll find out soon enough, if not already, that Lucy is here. And when she does, Laurel will have no problem trying to sink her claws into Lucy.
    Lucy continues to play with the string on her sundress when I reach out and lift her lowered chin with my finger. My eyes search hers for acceptance of our pasts. “Look at me, Luce.” Glistening with wetness, her eyes slowly open and gaze back at me. “We can’t change what happened then, and who the hell knows if you and I would be standing here now like this if you had never left. What matters now is that we live this day like it’s our last because tomorrow might not be here. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from years at the fire department, it’s that second chances may never come back. You get what I’m saying, Luce?”
    Summit starts to grow anxious and scratches at the back door, ultimately breaking the connection Lucy and I just shared. I tentatively back away from her as her eyes strain to think through something in her head. Staring into space, she doesn’t focus on anything. I watch her out of the corner of my eyes while Summit follows me to the back door. The minute I pull the screen to the back patio door closed, Lucy glances up in my direction.
    “Jake, I need to tell you why I had to come home,” she timidly suggests as she sits on the leather ottoman in front of the sofa. I nod and walk back in her direction. She pulls the front of her denim jacket shut and rubs her hands over her arms. I head toward the fireplace, grabbing a few small logs and the automatic lighter to get the fire rolling. I’m hoping that having it on not only warms her body but also eases her nerves as to what I know is possibly a difficult story to tell.
    The flickering of the flames keeps her attention at the moment as I grab the empty beer bottle I left on the mantle earlier. Heading to the kitchen to toss it into the trash, I hear Lucy clear her throat.
    “Jake, I don’t suppose you have anything stronger than beer I can drink. Do you?”
    If she only knew that story. Another time and place for that.
    I shake my head because I know if she remembers the house at all, then she’ll recall my dad’s liquor cabinet that used to be in the family room downstairs. Luce and I slipped in there one night when she sneaked out of her house to see me, and we raided the bar, thinking we were “so cool”. When Dad found us passed out there the next morning with the empty bottle of vodka, we paid the price dearly. Our punishment consisted of one week of cleaning out the horse stalls after school and taking the horses through simple runs around barrels.
    I can laugh now because I know my dad was probably doing the exact same thing when he was that age, but after he died, that room held a lot of painful memories for me. SJ