Page 98 of Savage Heart

The room goes silent. Cameron and Grady’s forks pause midair. Charlie chokes on her coffee, and Billie’s eyes are wide. Even Mom gulps hard in disbelief.

“What’s going on?” Grady asks.

“What are they doing here, Mav? What are you doing?” Charlie asks.

“You’ve been the one against her the most,” Billie hisses. “Well, I guess we’ve felt the same, but . . . why, Maverick?”

I take a breath, meeting their stares one by one. “There’s more to the story than we knew. A lot more. But it’s her story to tell. Just . . . trust me on this.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Grady asks.

Mom comes over and stands by me, her hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re giving her a chance,” she says quietly.

I look up at her in surprise. “You are?”

She laughs quietly. “I’ve been trying to convince you and Jennifer to give her a chance for years. I guess that answers my question about whether you were listening to me or not. I’m not sure she’ll ever be ready, but . . . I think you’re doing the right thing, Son.”

“Really?” Billie bursts out. “Lincoln was like our brother.”

“And Iris was our family too,” Mom says gently. “I’ve never felt right about the way she was treated. In fact, I’ve—” She stops when Jennifer walks in.

Jennifer’s smile drops when she sees how tense the room is. “Am I interrupting something?” she asks.

Everyone looks at me, and I shake my head. I should tell her . . . prepare her . . . but I decide to just do my best to keep Linc and Iris as far from her as I possibly can. At least for now.

“Mornin’, Jennifer,” I say, and everyone else chimes in. “Everything tastes great, Mom. Better than ever.”

There’s a collective breath as Jennifer grabs her coffee, and she and Mom and a handful of the wranglers get their food.

“Be careful, Son,” Dad says under his breath. “I really don’t want to see you get hurt. And I don’t want Jennifer hurt either,” he adds.

I nod and finish the rest of my breakfast in silence. Iris and Linc are the ones who’ve been hurt the most by all this. They’ve been on their own for so long. Iris has carried this burden alone. I don’t want to hurt Jennifer either, but I think this is the closest I’ve been to right in years.

Chapter 25: What Could Be

Iris

I stand in front of the mirror, twisting this way and that, trying to decide if the blue blouse is too much or if the green one says casual without screaming trying too hard. My stomach flutters with nerves. Last night with Maverick was intense and reckless, and now here I am, about to face him in broad daylight with my son in tow.

What are we doing?

I shake off the doubt and settle on my favorite jeans—the ones that hug my hips just right—and a fitted black T-shirt. I secure my silver bar necklace and slide on my stack of bracelets, glancing at myself in the mirror one more time. I smile at the flush in my cheeks, and that’s when Linc bursts in for the third time.

“Mom, are you ready yet? Maverick said we could ride today.” His eyes are bright, and it melts away the last of my hesitation.

We can enjoy the day without reading too much into it. Right? Just a nice day at Harrington Ranch.

“You know . . . I used to go to Harrington Ranch and ride all the time. I started going over there when I was five. Mr. Harrington—Hatcher—used to say that Lady was mine.”

“Really?” he gasps. “I thought you were just friends with Dad and Maverick in high school.”

“No, it was a lot longer than that.”

He blinks up at me. “But why do you never go ride now?”

“The car accident changed a lot of things.”

“Do you miss it?”