Circle on Home (Lost in a Boom Town Book 5) (5 page)

He actually only had one patient he needed to stop in on, and once he was satisfied the mare would be fine until morning, he headed into town to the Sagebrush Saloon.

Since his father had been such a drunk, Noah had been careful about allowing himself to drink. Sure, he’d been a little wild in high school—he’d been raised to think that real men drank, and he and his friends would sneak out to the reservoir and party. But after his mother died, well, he had been more cautious, more aware of why he drank, and how it made him feel. He’d never been an angry drunk, but, well, he hadn't been drunk in over a decade. He was pretty sure he knew himself well enough to control it.

But tonight, he needed a drink. And he needed to be around people he wasn't related to.

Flynn Tscheulin, the local talent and husband of Sage, who owned the place, was on the stage in the corner of the bar, Juliana McKenna, his sister-in-law, beside him as they sang a sweet duet while several couples danced on the small dance floor.
 

Friday night. When was the last time he’d been to town on a Friday night?
 

He made his way through the crowd to the bar.
 

Where Miranda and her sister Allison sat, giant margaritas on the polished wood in front of them. He had a moment to admire her before she noticed him. Damn, she was beautiful, prettier now than in high school, a confidence in her posture she hadn't had, that she wouldn't have if she had stayed in Evansville. Escape had been good for her—he’d forgiven her for leaving him after his mom died, couldn't blame her for wanting to take off, to distance herself from him when his life had gone to shit. But it hadn't been easy for him when she left, when he lost the one thing that grounded him in that tumultuous time.
 

Then she turned toward him, and her laugh died in her throat.

“Hello, Miranda.”

“Noah.”

“You’re in town a little early for Thanksgiving.”

She pressed her lips together. “I am. How are you, Noah?”

What was he going to say, that his dad was home and he hadn't had any peace since? That she’d come back into town at the second worst time of his life?
 

He should have gone to Garcia’s. There would have been no chance of running into her there. He just honestly hadn't thought that she’d still be in town. He didn't get gossip like that, not even going from ranch to farm.
 

“Doing good.”

“I saw Selena working at the Coyote the other day. I’m glad to see her doing so well.”

He relaxed a little and curved his hands around the mug of beer Tony the bartender had set in front of him. “She’s doing really well. I’m very proud of her.”

“I’m sure you had a big part in that.”

“My aunt Lupita raised her and Ben, when I went to college.”

“I wondered how you were able to go, since you’re a vet. A&M, like you’d planned?”

“Full ride,” he said with some pride. They’d talked about going together, her to study law and him to vet school. He hadn't known how he was going to pay for it, the son of a laborer and a stay-at-home mother, but he was determined to find a way. Turned out, there were scholarships for children whose fathers were in prison. He figured his father owed him that much, so he took advantage, and didn't have one cent in student loans.

“That’s wonderful. I’m happy for you. Do you like it? The way you thought you would?”

How many nights had they laid under the stars at the reservoir and talked about their future? He’d wondered many times since if she’d known then that she wasn't staying, or if his troubles gave her the push she needed to leave Evansville behind and find her own adventure.

“How’s New York? And…what’s his name?”

“Damian. They’re both…where I left them.”

What did that mean? Something in her face, the way her gaze flicked to the margarita, just the hint of sadness in the curve of her lips before she smiled up at him again.
 

“Are you seeing anyone?”

He stopped himself before he snorted his opinion of that. When did he have time? There were several single women in Evansville that he could have dated, if he wanted to. But none held enough appeal for the effort. He’d had one serious relationship since her, but her mother had fallen ill in Houston and Jacinta had had to move there. Noah wasn't about to leave Evansville and the practice he’d built, the place where he could look out for Selena, and the town could watch over her. So he and Jacinta had ended things. He wasn't looking for a relationship now, not with all the crap raining down on his life.
 

But being here beside her, smelling so good, oddly familiar after all this time when he was sure she wasn't using the same soap or shampoo or perfume as she had when they were teenagers. Still, he couldn't resist leaning in a bit and drawing in a deep breath. She noticed, but didn't pull away.
 

“No, I haven't seen anyone in a while.”

She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something. Instead, she pressed her lips together and smiled. “I had heard that you pretty much keep to yourself.”

“Nothing really new there.”

“I don’t know. I remember hanging out with Trace and the others many nights out at the reservoir.”

“Yeah, but that was more because you liked being around everyone. I would have been happy to be alone with you.” He would be happy to be alone with her right now, and glanced past her to her sister, who was deep in conversation with Maggie Dawson from the bank, but not deep enough that Maggie didn't know what was going on. She was giving him a “What are you doing?” look that he was happy to ignore. He wasn't sure why Maggie cared anyway.

“You want to get out of here?” he asked Miranda.

Miranda straightened and glanced at her margarita on the bar. “I don't know, Noah. I mean…”

Her voice trailed off and he wondered if she expected that he would still be angry that she’d left him, when he’d been so down. Maybe he had hated her at one point, but hell, he’d wanted to escape himself, and had managed to do that, later than he’d originally planned. The way she’d done it, left him, had destroyed him for a time, but they’d been eighteen, for God’s sake, in an impossible position for teenagers. What had he really thought she could do for him? So why hold a grudge? Hell, his father had done much worse to him, and Noah had brought him back into his house.

But while he thought he could probably have come in here and not cared that people were talking about him and his father, he didn't want them talking about him and Miranda. Best they go someplace else.

Miranda must have realized it, too, because she leaned over to her sister and murmured something. The irritation on Allison’s face was clear, and she looked at Noah like he’d been the one to break Miranda’s heart, not the other way around.
 

That didn't seem to bother Miranda, though, and she slid off the barstool toward him. His first instinct was to take her hand, but he settled for guiding her through the crowd, his hand hovering near the small of her back. He realized, when they made it to the door, that seeing them leave together would ignite a firestorm of rumors, but it was too late to back out of that now.
 

Flynn had taken a break during their conversation, but even so, once they stepped outside of the Sagebrush, the silence of the evening was disorienting. He inclined his head toward his truck, and as he led her toward it, he wished he’d taken some time to clean it out. He popped open the passenger door and tossed his vet bag into the back seat, dusted off the leather seat and offered her a hand into the truck. She was wearing a slim-fitting skirt, something you didn't see much of in Evansville, so stepping up into the truck was a challenge, and she had to hike the skirt up a little more.

Not that he minded that glimpse of thigh.
 

When she was settled into the seat, she gave him a small smile, kind of like she was wondering what she was doing here. He closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.

“Where should we go?”

“You’re the one who lives here.”

“I’ll pick, then.” And he turned onto the road leading to the reservoir.

She shifted in the seat beside him, and he wondered if she was regretting getting into the truck with him. Maybe he shouldn't take her out to the place where they used to hang out as teens. He thought about driving out to the new fast food place on the highway, but yeah, no. That would be tacky.
 

So he turned onto the road to the reservoir, and she let out a soft laugh.
 

“I haven’t even thought of this place in years.”

“Still not a lot of places to be alone in Evansville, even with the boom,” he said, turning the key and clicking on the radio, low, just like he used to. Just that motion and the scent of her in the truck—how could she still smell the same, seriously? Things had been so much simpler the last time she’d been here with him. They’d both had their dreams, and most of those had included each other. Just one more thing his father had ruined.
 

“Yeah, I guess not a priority with roughnecks.”

“A lot of them are family guys who go home on the weekends.”

“So there hasn't been a lot of trouble?”

“I wouldn't say that, and I’m not the one to ask, since I’m the vet and not the sheriff.”

“Do you like it? Being a vet? As much as you thought you would?”

He realized he hadn't answered her question from earlier. “Like any job there are good days and bad days.”

“Today?”

Lately they had all been good days, even when they were challenging, because going to work meant getting away from the house.
 

“It was good.”

“Look at us, having a conversation like adults,” she said with a shaky laugh as he pulled up to the rise overlooking the reservoir. It wasn't meant to be a parking area, but years of teenagers and anyone else who wanted to be alone doing just that had worn down the grass and packed the earth. “You should hate me.”

Her bluntness startled him. “I should? Why?”
 

“Well, the way I left, when you needed me.”

He blew out a long breath through his nose and pressed his palms into the steering wheel. He hadn't expected her to come out with that, not off the bat. “I was pissed, at first, for a long time. But once I got away, got to college, I realized that most of my anger was because you got to walk away and I didn’t.”

“But I shouldn't have. I should have stayed beside you. I was too weak, too scared.”

“We were kids. We never thought anything like that would happen to us.” Okay, maybe he had more than she had, but he'd kept that from her. He’d stood between her and the worst of his father’s behavior. “I shouldn't have expected you to.”

She shook her head and twisted her body to look at him. “I loved you. I should have wanted to.”

He tried not to flinch at the past tense use of the word. But of course it would be past tense. She’d been living with another man for years, been in his bed. After all, hadn't he written her off years ago?

But seeing her again, man, everything flipped back to that time.

The last time he was happy.
 

He reached across the cab of the truck and stroked his knuckles down her cheek. She stiffened at first, then softened.
 

“In town long?” he asked, needing to know before he made another move, before he let his hope rise.

“I haven’t really decided.” She braced her elbow on the passenger door and leaned her head into it. “I think I want to stay here. For a while, anyway.”

“Big city not all it’s cracked up to be?”

“Not anymore.”

He could have told her that, years ago, but she wouldn't have been happy until she saw for herself. “What does what’s-his-name say?”

“He…doesn’t have a say anymore.”

“I thought he was every woman’s dream of a perfect guy.”

“Where did you hear that?” she asked, her tone a little sharp as she twisted to look at him.

Well, hell. He’d gone and given too much away. He didn't want her to know he’d asked Cassidy McKenna to find out what she’d been up to. He hadn't asked when she’d been gone, had accepted that she was out of his life at that point. But yeah, he’d had a rare moment of weakness, had indulged it. And knew he could never measure up to the man she’d been engaged to.