Diamonds and Dust (Lonesome Point, Texas) (11 page)

“Hey you!” Tulsi smiled, amazed that Reece had called her back so quickly. Usually, it took at least three days for her sister to get around to returning a call. “Oh, nothing much. I was just feeling down about Daddy and some other stuff and wanted to hear your voice.”

“You needed someone to tell you that he’s an asshole, and you shouldn’t listen to a word he says?”

Tulsi’s smile widened. “Something like that.”

“He’s an asshole,” Reece said, shouting to be heard over a sudden roar of approval from the crowd at whatever stadium she was in tonight. “It doesn’t matter that he’s great with Clementine and has mellowed out since we were kids. He’s still an asshole, his thinking is back asswards, and he doesn’t have anyone’s best interests at heart except his own.”

“He’s still charging me rent to use the barn,” Tulsi said, ignoring the voice in her head that said it was disloyal to gossip about Dad when he’d done so much for her and Clem. “And he said he’s kicking all the therapy horses out if I miss even one month because of the funding cuts.”

Reece swore colorfully, calling Daddy a few curse words Tulsi had never even heard before, proving she wasn’t the Hearst sister with the potty mouth. “He’s leaving the ranch to you when he dies, anyway. And you’ve worked your ass off breaking horses for him for free and hiring staff to keep the rest of the ranch running. What the hell is wrong with him?”

Tulsi shrugged, smiling as Mia returned with two generous slices of apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream. “I don’t know. He says he’s trying to teach me responsibility.”

“You’re plenty responsible. It’s not your fault your funding was cut all of a sudden. Do you want me to call him for you? Tell him he’s being a dick?”

Tulsi sputtered at the thought. Reece and her father hadn’t seen each other in person for nearly twelve years and only talked on the phone for a few minutes at Christmas and on Father’s Day. They preferred to communicate with passive aggressive gifts and the occasional smart-ass greeting card. “Oh my God, no. That would only make it worse. He’d know I’ve been talking about him behind his back.”

“So what? I think it’s high—” Reece broke off, her voice dropping as she spoke to someone in the background. “Listen, I’m about to ride in a few minutes. Want me to call you back later?”

“No, no, that’s okay,” Tulsi said, pulse leaping the way it always did when she thought about her big sister’s career. Bull riding was a terrifying sport, and being the only female rider in the pro circuit ensured Reece attracted more than her fair share of attention. The combination of danger and scrutiny her sister endured on a weekly basis made Tulsi positively ill with nerves, but Reece loved her job and swore she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. “You go get ready. And please be careful.”

Reece laughed. “I don’t do careful. I don’t do good girl, either, so let me know if you change your mind and want me to rip Daddy a new asshole for you.”

Tulsi’s stomach roiled. “You say that stuff just to freak me out, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” Reece confessed. “I’m sending Dad a new horse on Friday, by the way. This one is a real pisser. No way you’re breaking him in a month.”

“Are you trying to get me killed?” Tulsi asked, rolling her eyes as she took the plate Mia offered. “I got thrown twice by the last
present
you sent.”

Reece was quiet for a moment, making Tulsi worry she’d made her sister—who could be as volatile as their father at times—angry. “No, T.T.…I guess I just keep thinking that if you stand up to enough horses, you’ll work up the guts to stand up to Dad. No one can give you permission to stop giving a shit about his bullshit except you, you know?”

Tulsi swallowed, but before she could think of what to say, she heard Reece’s name called on the loudspeaker on the other end of the line.

“I’ve gotta go, talk soon,” her sister said. A second later, the line went dead.

“Reece?” Mia asked, popping a bite of apple pie between her lips.

Tulsi nodded and dug her fork into the golden crust where the vanilla ice cream was just starting to melt, ignoring the churning feeling in her stomach. “She’s riding tonight and had to go.”

“She’s insane. It’s amazing she hasn’t broken every bone in her body by now.”

“She’s broken a lot,” Tulsi said, stabbing another bite of pie. “But she keeps going back for more. Some people don’t learn from their mistakes; they just keep making the same ones over and over again.”

Mia hummed knowingly around her fork. “Talking to her always pisses you off.”

“It does not,” Tulsi said, aiming for a light tone and failing. “I’m not pissed off.”

“And I don’t want to eat half that pie,” Mia said. “You and Reece are just too different. You’re like the angel and devil characters from those old cartoons. You got all the sweet and she got all the trouble.”

Tulsi wrinkled her nose, not liking the comparison for some reason. Usually, she didn’t mind being called sweet. She
was
sweet. And shy and the kind of person who would bend over backward to avoid making waves or hurting feelings. Even when the church camp director had been making her blood boil on the phone, Tulsi hadn’t raised her voice or said anything impolite. She hadn’t been raised to talk back to her elders, even if her elders were being ridiculous. She’d been raised to nod and smile and to firmly believe that a woman caught more flies with honey than vinegar.

But Reece had been raised the same way, only it hadn’t stuck. Reece had been standing up, speaking out, and letting her sour side show since they were children. She was always ready for a fight and wasn’t shy about calling a pile of poo a pile of poo.

Meanwhile, it had nearly killed Tulsi to stand up to Chad today and fight for something she knew was right. The only person she’d ever stood up to on a regular basis was Pike. For some reason, with him she hadn’t been shy about disagreeing, speaking her mind, or showing him the core of iron at the heart of her. She hadn’t been afraid to show him anything because…he’d loved her.

Really loved her—light and dark, sweet and sour, and everything in between.

The thought made Tulsi’s pie taste like it was curdling in her mouth.

It was true. Pike was the only person who had ever known her, inside and out, even the parts she was sometimes afraid to admit were there, and that’s why she couldn’t bear to be around him. Looking into the eyes of the man she’d once trusted with her every secret and seeing someone who was only interested in a one-night stand was too much to take. She had to avoid him as much as possible until he left town, and now was as good a time as any to let Mia know the float trip was a no go.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” Tulsi said, setting the pie down on the coffee table in front of her, her appetite vanishing in a fresh wave of anxiety. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to make the float trip, after all.”

“What?” Mia’s eyes widened. “But we’ve been planning it all summer.”

“I know,” Tulsi said, hating herself for upsetting her best friend during her wedding week, but knowing she wouldn’t survive twenty-four hours on the river with Pike. “But with my funding getting cut and all the stuff with Dad, I don’t feel like I’d be very good company.”

“But you’re going to be at the wedding, right?” Mia sat her half-eaten pie down on the table beside Tulsi’s, proving how upset she was. Mia wasn’t the type to abandon dessert until her plate was empty and every crumb had been swiped up with a finger.

“Of course! I’m maid of honor. I wouldn’t miss being a part of your big day for the world.”

“Miss it,” Mia said, wiping her hands on her napkin. “I don’t care. Just please, please come on the float trip. It won’t be the same without you
and
Bubba. It won’t feel like old times at all.”

“You can’t be serious, Mia,” Tulsi said, though she could tell that Mia was dead serious. “You’ll still have Ugly Ross, Pike, and Sawyer with you. It will still be a good time.”

“I don’t care about the good time,” Mia said, her eyes beginning to shine. “This isn’t about that. It’s about proving that nothing good is going to change. That even though I’m getting married and Bubba’s moved away and we’re all getting older, we’re still the same people we’ve always been. That we’re still family and we’re always going to be, no matter what.”

Tulsi reached out, taking Mia’s hand and giving it a strong squeeze. “You will always be my family. I love you with every single piece of my heart. You know that.”

Mia squeezed her hand. “Then come with me, Tulsi, please. Let’s make one more wonderful memory before I say I do.”

Tulsi’s forehead wrinkled. “You aren’t having second thoughts about the wedding, are you? I thought you and Sawyer were doing great.”

“We are,” Mia said, sniffing as she brushed a tear from her cheek. “I love him so much, but that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous, too.”

“Why?” Tulsi asked gently. “Don’t you think you’re making the right choice?” She certainly did—Sawyer worshiped Mia and was one of the kindest, sexiest, most amazing men Tulsi had ever met—but Mia’s opinion was all that mattered.

Mia shook her head so vigorously her curls stretched longer. “No, I know Sawyer’s the one for me. I guess…” She curled her feet beneath her and crossed her arms. “I don’t know, I guess I’m worried there’s no going back after the wedding. I may be codependent or whatever, but your friendship means the world to me. Sawyer’s my heart and soul, but you and Bubba are my arms and legs. I can’t imagine the three of us not being as close as we are now. I just don’t ever want to lose you.”

Tulsi opened her arms, pulling Mia in for a hug as her best friend’s face crumpled. “Oh, sweetie, you won’t ever lose us,” she cooed, rubbing Mia’s shaking shoulders. “Yes, things are changing, but Bubba is a rock, you know that. His love is forever, and so is mine. I’ve loved you since we were little kids and once you have my heart, it’s yours for keeps.”

For keeps
. Which is why she still loved Pike and why it hurt so much to realize his heart wasn’t made of the same stuff as hers. But no matter how painful it would be to spend more time with him, she would do it. Because Mia needed her and that was more important than anything else.

“I’ll be on the float trip and at the wedding and anywhere else you need me,” she promised, rubbing her palm in soothing circles around Mia’s back.

“Even the trail ride, bridal shower, scavenger hunt thing on Wednesday?” Mia asked. “Or whatever my insane grandmother is planning?”

“Of course,” Tulsi said. “I’m bringing a few of my good trail horses and I promised Emily I’d come over early and help her saddle all the others.”

“Good,” Mia said with a sniff as she pulled back from the embrace.

“I’m so sorry I upset you,” Tulsi said, feeling awful. “I didn’t realize you were struggling. I’ve been so caught up in my own troubles I wasn’t paying close enough attention.”

“It’s okay.” Mia smiled. “I understand why you’re upset, but I think the float trip will be a good thing for both of us. A chance to get away from it all, you know?”

Tulsi did her best to push thoughts of sharing a canoe with Pike from her mind. Thursday morning would come soon enough and her mama had always told her not to borrow tomorrow’s trouble today.

“And you don’t think I’m crazy, right?” Mia asked, a vulnerable note in her voice.

“No,” Tulsi said with a smile. “I’m just concerned about one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If Bubba and I are your arms and legs, what body part is Ugly Ross?”

Mia snorted with laughter. “Oh, Ross. I love him to death, but he’s just not an arm or a leg, you know? He’s more like an appendix. Sort of useless, but you’d be really upset if he suddenly started acting up.”

Tulsi giggled. “Poor Ross. I’m going to tell him he’s the vestigial organ of friends.”

“Don’t you dare,” Mia said, slapping Tulsi on the thigh with a grin. “You know I love him. It wouldn’t be home without Ugly Ross. Besides, he’s bringing all the food for the float trip, so we don’t want to piss him off.”

Their talk turned to preparations for the trip and Tulsi did her best to think only of the fun she’d have with her best friend, not how hellish it would be to have Pike so close but still a million miles away.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Pike

Pike and Mia pulled up to their grandmother’s house mid-morning on Wednesday to find the horses for the trail ride already saddled and tied up along the fence. Gram was waiting for them on the porch, sipping a glass of sweet tea in full Wild West attire, including a petticoat under her long skirt and a six-shooter tucked into the holster slung low on her hips.

Mia chuckled as they climbed the porch into the shade. “I thought this was a scavenger hunt¸ Sugar Britches. Should I have brought my sidearm? Are we going to be hunting squirrels on the way down to the creek?”

“It’s not a real pistol, Amelia Louise,” Gram said, pruning her lips. “It’s part of my costume for the Wild West convention next month. I figured I should practice riding in it with family first before I embarrass myself in public.”

“You look great, Gram.” Pike leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. “You’re going to knock all those old cowboys out of their saddles.”

Gram beamed. “See, Mia, this is the way you behave if you want to be my favorite grandchild.”

Mia laughed. “You said
I
was your favorite last weekend.”

“Favorite
granddaughter
,” Gram corrected as she stood to give Pike a proper hug.

“I’m you’re only granddaughter,” Mia said, rolling her eyes. “I’m going to find Sawyer. Is he in the barn?”

“Yes,” Gram said. “I put him to work disposing of those terrible dolls you left last time.”

Mia made a stricken sound and dashed off the porch, shouting, “Don’t do it, Sawyer! Those are
my
naked cowboys! I have more plans for them!”

Gram giggled wickedly as she grabbed her cell phone off the table near her glass of tea and started down the porch steps. “I’ll be right back, Pike,” she whispered. “I need to snap a picture of Mia getting a taste of her own medicine. I’ve got those blow up dolls rigged to fall on her head as soon as she walks into the barn.”