Never is a Promise(15)

His words worked their way back to the forefront of my mind, and I found myself getting worked up over his accusation. He had it all wrong. But I didn’t know how to tell him exactly why without jeopardizing the interview.

* * *

We pulled into a Ford dealership on the outskirts of Darlington, and the second Beau slammed his truck into park, a lanky man with oiled hair the color of midnight and a coffee-stained smile ran out to greet him.

“Mr. Mason, good to see you. We have everything ready to go,” the man said, ushering Beau toward the office. I stayed in the truck.

I drew my knees up against my chest, resting my heels on the seat the way I used to when we were younger. The wind from the rolled window ruffled my hair once more, and I watched the cars stop and go at the intersection down the road. It was just an ordinary day for local Darlingtons. I ran my finger across the dusty dash and examined it before wiping it across my thigh. Some things never changed.

His words replayed in my head…I promised never to love anyone the way I loved you. I never broke that promise…

Minutes later, Beau slid back into the truck, sliding a small stack of paperwork across the heat vents of the dash.

“Trading in New Old Blue?” I asked.

“Never.” He pulled his seatbelt over his lap and clicked it into place. “Got Ivy a car.”

“That’s very generous of you. I bet she’ll be thrilled.”

“She doesn’t want it.” He pulled out of the parking lot. “She doesn’t like asking for help, but she needs something reliable. Can’t have her car breaking down left and right with Miles and Gracie in the back.”

I tried to imagine Ivy as a mom, and all I could imagine was a wild-haired girl with a mile-wide grin who fed her children ice cream for breakfast and let them stay up late and watch scary movies. There was no doubt in my mind that sweet little Ivy was a fun mom.

“I should probably go see my mom tonight,” I said, “since I’m in town and all.”

“How is Tammy Lynn these days?” He glanced into the rearview mirror, checking on Ruby again.

“She’s…Tammy Lynn.” I didn’t care to elaborate.

Beau turned west and headed back down the highway toward his ranch.

“Should we continue the interview when we get back?” I asked. “We got a little off track earlier…”

“Kinda like to get a few things out of the way first,” he said, his right hand white-knuckling his leather-wrapped steering wheel as his left elbow rested on the window ledge. His entire demeanor had changed without warning, as if someone had flipped a switch.

“Such as?”

“You and I have some old business to sort out,” he said, causing my stomach to drop. “Let’s get ourselves right before we continue with our little interview.”

“You’re holding me hostage again, Beau. I don’t appreciate it.” I turned to face the window, watching field after field of lush greenery pass by.

Does he know?

“Yeah, I’m not holding you hostage,” he said, peering over the dash. “Just want to talk with you is all.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about you and me.” I leaned against the passenger door, as if the cab of the truck had suddenly shrunk and we were too close for comfort. “What’s done is done, Beau. Nothing can change that.”

“I’m a man of my word,” he breathed. “I just wanted to make it clear to you that I kept my word after all these years. Even if you didn’t. I did.”

My lips parted to fight back, but I rested my battle weapon in favor of not losing my cool and blowing the interview. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to honor the promises we made to one another when we were kids.”

“We were younger then, Kota, but we sure as hell weren’t kids.”





The second we returned to the ranch, Dakota climbed out of the truck with concerning silence. She stepped toward me with her shoulders back and crossed her arms, eyebrows raised.

“I loved you, Beau. I loved you more than I’ve ever loved anything in this entire world.” Her words held a frozen, almost business-like quality to them. For a girl talking about love, there was very little emotion in her tone. “But we were over, and I’ve accepted that. I moved on.” I didn’t believe her. She was lying. I saw it in the way her eyes danced between mine and in the way her fingers twitched like they were the one part of her she couldn’t control no matter how hard she tried. She backed away from me, staring down at the gravel drive as she dug the toe of her shoe into powdery gray rock. “Being here with you in Darlington is hard for me. I just want to do this interview and go home. We don’t have to talk about you or me or what happened a lifetime ago.”