Tires grinding the gravel heralded the new arrival.

  The western sky bore a band of gold behind the peaks as I parted the blinds to peer out. I saw Carol first as she emerged from the house and crossed the driveway to the red sedan parked where my car had once been. Lloyd and Derek followed closely thereafter, smiles on their faces.

  Katie…

  Lloyd and Carol’s daughter had returned from college, just as Lloyd said she would. Though I could not see her yet, I heard her laughter. It carried easily across the yard, light and unburdened. I had nothing to laugh at, and yet I felt the strange urge to answer it.

  With her back to me, she followed her family into the house. I caught a glimpse of brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Her brother walked behind her, carrying the bags, and obscuring her from view.

  Once they were inside, warm light shone through the curtains, speaking to the cozy family atmosphere within the house. The windows glowed like small promises. I recalled days long past, when I visited my maternal grandparents in Montana. During the Christmas season, it was too cold to do much more than stay indoors, but Grandpa got a fire going under the hearth and combined with the lights of the Christmas tree we forgot about winter’s bite.

  As I gazed out the loft window, it was the birth of summer, and yet I longed for that warmth all the same. At times, Lloyd and Carol had almost treated me like a member of the family. Almost. Yet, there were certain things that made it clear that I was not one of them. The garage was separate from the house, and sleeping in its loft was a constant reminder that though they had shown me hospitality, I remained peripheral, temporary, a stranger. Moreover, there was the simple fact that no one had come to get me when she arrived. Why would they? I was a hired hand, not a relative. A footnote in someone else’s reunion.

  Memories of those Christmas nights in Montana felt impossibly distant now, and despite the blanket around my shoulders, a chill crept over me, settling somewhere beneath the skin. Soon, it seeped in, until I felt it in my chest.

  Have a look, I thought. Just a glimpse of what they’re doing. Maybe just by seeing them together you’ll feel some of that warmth again.

  Following this newly formed idea, I dressed myself and climbed down the ladder. The garage smelled of motor oil, sawdust, and hay. Safe smells. Neutral smells. The kind that didn’t ask questions. But the odors also felt abandoned, hollow. A reminder that exile could be comfortable if you stayed still long enough.

  The walk from the garage to the house took less than a minute, but it felt longer than the drive that had brought me here in the first place. Gravel crunched under my boots, too loud in the twilight stillness. The evening air was cool, carrying the scent of cut grass and distant cattle.

  I pressed my back to the outer wall, trying not to be spotted. If neighbors had been close enough to see me sneaking about in the shadows, they would have surely called the police, thinking me a burglar. I knew the family dynamic would change once I was inside. For the moment, I wanted to allow them this unbroken moment. Derek deserved the chance to give his sister his full attention. They didn’t need the spooky ranch hand in the mix just yet.

  Creeping around the house, I stopped at the back door.

  Through the screen, I could see them at the kitchen table. Carol was pouring lemonade. Lloyd sat back in his chair, a proud grin anchored to his face. Derek leaned forward, elbows on the table, listening like someone afraid of missing even a single word. And then there was Katie, hands moving as she spoke, her gestures animated.

  And she was beautiful of form and appearance.

  Not in the impossible way of the models my father used to photograph. Not polished. Not curated. There was a roughness to her, shaped by long days in the sun and hard work on her father’s land. Freckles dusted her face the way stars filled those rural skies. She looked real.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  The reaction in me was immediate. Physical. Uninvited.

  I cursed myself inward for it, as if my self-hate could cauterize emotional wounds.

  Thorn’s voice rose to join my internal maledictions. What sort of man abandons the woman he loves only to so quickly let his gaze fall upon another?

  Lilah’s face forced itself into the forefront of my mind. The quiet disappointment in her eyes. The memory of little Ophelia’s hand wrapped trustingly in mine. It was cruel enough that I had left them without even saying goodbye. To want anything else now felt obscene.

  You want to curse your father for humiliating your mother, said Thorn, But here you are appreciating the beauty of someone new already. Time to face it, Vincent, his blood is in your veins. You are your father’s son.

  I swallowed.

  Attraction was dangerous. Desire was a leak. A flaw in the mask. People got sloppy when they wanted things. People made mistakes. People revealed themselves when seeking intimacy.

  Worse than that, it felt like I had betrayed Lloyd just by standing there, just by looking. He had given me food, shelter, and kindness without asking questions. And here I was, leering at his daughter through the window like some half-feral stalker. I turned to scurry away, but my foot caught a watering can. It clattered against the siding. I stumbled, barely keeping my balance, but the stillness outside had been broken.

  “Alex?” Carol called. “That you?”

  “Yeah,” I answered, frozen in place.

  “Well, come on in!” said Lloyd. “I didn’t realize you were still up. Don’t be shy.”

  I hesitated, searching for an excuse. I could say I was tired. I could say I wasn’t feeling well. Would they think it rude? Would it be worse to refuse? My head swam, dizzy as if I had just downed too many jello shots, reality blurring at the edges.

  Stabilizing myself with a hand against the wall, I turned and entered the house.

  Katie rose to her feet as I approached, her gaze wandering and curious. There was no distance now. No shadows to hide behind. “So, this is the mysterious runaway you told me about?”

  Derek nodded. “Yeah. He came to my rescue when Lady had me pinned.”

  Katie gave me a grateful smile. Her eyes were the same color as Carol’s, which somehow made it worse. Familial. Familiar. Off-limits in a way that went beyond morality.

  “Alex,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Katie.” She offered her hand.

  I shook it. Her palms were callused, but her skin was warm, and her touch sent a sharp current through me. My heart skipped two beats at the contact, and I realized with a kind of sick clarity that it was the first skin-to-skin contact I’d had since my father’s fingers were wrapped around my throat.

  “How long have you been hiding out in our garage?” she asked.

  Lloyd grimaced, his eyes flicking briefly toward me.

  “A little while,” I said.

  “Derek’s texts make you sound like something out of a comic book,” she said.

  “Oh yeah?” I chuckled and scratched the back of my head, suddenly unsure what to do with my hands, my posture, my face. “I’m pretty sure I don’t have any superpowers.”

  She studied me again, longer this time. There was something in her expression. Not suspicion. Recognition? Realization? Something else that made my stomach tighten.

  This is how it starts, whispered Thorn. You don’t want her, you long to be someone who deserves her.

  Katie sat back down, but her eyes didn’t leave me. “So, what’s your story, Alex?”

  My mouth went dry.

  Lloyd cleared his throat and stepped closer to me. “We’ve already had an agreement. Alex doesn’t have to tell us anything about his past.”

  Katie pouted.

  “My story’s not that interesting anyway,” I lied.

  She gazed up at me with something in her eyes that made my chest flutter. “I doubt that.” She gave me a playful smile, the sort that people give when they know you’re lying.

  The sort that makes you want to keep lying just so you can see it again.

  “I’d much rather hear your story,” I said.

  “Yeah,” said Derek. “Tell us more about college.”

  Lloyd pulled out a chair at the table and gestured for me to sit.

  I hesitated, but when I took my seat beside him that familiar Montana warmth settled in, and I soaked up every funny or fascinating story that Katie told of her time abroad. In that moment, I never wanted to leave that place.