The Bluff (Calamity Montana)

“PICK ONE.”

Savannah’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

“You’re sixteen. Time for a car, baby girl.” And I was fucking sick of her on that bike.

Her hands came to her cheeks as a smile spread across her beautiful face. Then she squealed and took off, racing through the lot.

The cars at the dealership sparkled beneath the morning May sunshine. Savannah darted between the glossy red, navy, black and silver vehicles. Her legs couldn’t move fast enough, and her fingertips skimmed trunks and hoods as she rushed from one row to the next.

She’d protested when I’d offered her a car earlier this year. But I’d had a feeling that once we were here, where she could see and touch the cars, she’d be more willing to give up that damn dirt bike and accept the gift. Turns out, I’d been right.

“Think she’s excited?” Everly giggled.

My heart swelled as I watched my daughter.

This was my first. Savannah’s first car. This moment didn’t belong to April or Julian. It was mine.

I put an arm around Ev’s shoulders, pulling her into my side to drop a kiss to her hair, dragging in a long breath of lemon and lavender. “Thank you.”

“You can stop thanking me.”

“No, I can’t.” I’d never be able to express how grateful I was for her help in getting Savannah.

And for the energy she’d brought into my life.

Life with Everly had taken me by surprise. She had taken me by surprise. Ev had the grit to gut out the hard moments. She had a smile that made the good ones shine like the sun. Along the way, it had stopped being about sex. Or only sex. She’d become a constant. A companion. Maybe even a friend.

I loved listening to her sing in the shower. She didn’t know I listened, but I’d hang in the bedroom while she belted out a song. Ev had some pipes, that was for sure. But if she didn’t want to sing professionally, I wouldn’t push. I’d simply keep that voice of hers for myself.

Then there were the times when I’d find her in my clothes. She’d steal a flannel shirt of mine instead of pulling on her own sweater when the evenings were cool. She’d stolen a pair of my wool socks to wear at night around the house.

When this ended in a couple years, it was going to be brutal watching her walk away. Or maybe I’d be the one to walk when it was time to ditch Calamity.

Savannah was busy snapping photos of cars, probably to text to her friends and ask their opinions. So we stood by, smiling at the joy on my daughter’s face.

It had been a month since Savannah’s first two-week stay at our place. That first visit had been rough. Savannah hadn’t made it easy on Everly. She’d been standoffish and short, but I’d expected some attitude. My daughter wasn’t going to let anyone into her life without testing their resolve first.

I might not have been there to raise her, but Savannah was a chip off her old man’s block.

This past week marked her second stay with me. It had been better, mostly because Savannah had been busy with homework as the school year neared its close. She’d spent most evenings at the island with books and papers scattered over the surface.

But today was Saturday, and rather than see Everly run away to the gallery and avoid us all day, I’d decided to take them car shopping.

Both of them.

“Okay, your turn.” I nudged Everly away from my side.

“My turn for what?”

“A car. Pick one.”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “I can’t, um . . . that’s okay.”

I knew she couldn’t afford one. Everly was still paying Kerrigan rent for the studio above Calamity’s upcoming fitness studio and she wouldn’t let me pay her for working at the gallery.

But she was getting a car today.

“Either you pick, or I pick.”

“You can’t buy me a car, Hux.”

I stepped up to a black Jeep, peeking in the window. “How about this one?”

“Hux.” Ev planted her hands on her hips.

“I like the black.” It matched my truck.

“No.”

“Sick of you stealing my truck, baby.” I walked to a black Tahoe, this one larger than the Jeep. It would be good to have her in something a little bigger. Same with Savannah.

“I can’t afford a car, Hux.” She sighed. “Not until I get a real job.”

“You have a real job.”

Everly had been working her ass off at the gallery. She’d spent hours going over my books, shoring up mistakes and making lists of questions. It had allowed me to spend more time in the studio, doing what I loved. There were only a couple days a week where I even went to the gallery these days.

Katie might not be her best friend, but it was good for them both to be there so neither worked alone.

Tourist season was getting into full swing and we’d just opened seven days a week. I’d have to spend more time in the gallery covering the showroom, but Everly could help keep us from getting buried. Despite Katie’s protests, she’d see this was a good thing.

I trusted Katie implicitly and knew that when she saw things were changing for the better, she’d be fine. Besides, if there was anyone who could make you love them, it was Everly.

Not that I loved her.

This thing with Ev was so different. Complicated. Maybe there were feelings there, but love? No. Couldn’t be. That was a line I wasn’t going to cross. Affection, yeah. I could give her affection. I could give her friendship. But that’s where it had to end.

Or I’d never recover leaving her behind.

“Consider this payment for your work at the gallery,” I said.

Everly shook her head. “I’m not worth that much.”

I scowled, striding over to where she hovered behind the black SUV, and put my hands on her shoulders. “You’re worth this and more. Let me buy you a car. Please.”

“That was sweet,” she said. “You’re not supposed to be sweet.”

“Not sorry.”

She dropped her forehead, letting it collide with my chest. “A car is too much.”

“No matter what you say, we’re driving off the lot with one today.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. Argue all you want, either you pick the one you want, or I’ll pick it for you.”

She poked me in the ribs, making me laugh. “Why are you so stubborn?”

“Takes one to know one.” Not giving a shit whether it was a boundary we should or shouldn’t cross, I wrapped her in my arms, knowing exactly how she felt against my body. Then I dropped a kiss to her lips, soaking in her softness. “Would you please pick one? Please?”

“Fine,” she muttered. “You win.”

“Good.” I kissed her again.

“Ew.” Savannah’s groan split us apart. “Can you cut down on the PDA? It’s bad enough at home.”

Everly and I didn’t kiss at home. Not like this. Did we? Yeah, we touched a lot. But it wasn’t like this. That was foreplay. Wasn’t it?

Just this morning, she’d settled into my side while we’d been drinking coffee. Savannah hadn’t woken up yet and Ev had stood on her tiptoes to nibble on my ear. I’d thought about carrying her upstairs, but then Savannah had walked in on us and the erotic shower I’d had in mind had been postponed.

Foreplay. Not PDA. Foreplay.

A distinction I wasn’t going to explain to my child.

“Did you pick a car?” I asked, shifting Everly under my arm again.

“Maybe I could get that red one.” She pointed to the deep red sporty Mazda at the end of a row. “Then I can leave it in your garage.”

“That’s fine.” As long as it had all-wheel drive for the winters. “But why would you leave it in the garage?”

“Because I have my bike.”

“Uh, the bike goes.” Why would she want to drive it around? She wouldn’t need it if she had a decent car.

Savannah clenched her teeth. “Then I don’t want a car.”

“That bike isn’t safe.”

“But I like it.”

“Why?”

Savannah crossed her arms over her chest and dropped her gaze to the asphalt, shutting me out.

Everly looked up and motioned with her chin that she was going to leave, but I held her in place. She shouldn’t have to disappear during these conversations. She was Savannah’s stepmother, even if it was new and short-lived. And I wanted Savannah to see a good woman. To have a decent female role model in her life because April was not that person.

Everly could be.

“Talk to me,” I pleaded with Savannah. “Tell me about the bike. Help me understand.”

“It’s mine.” Her arms dropped to her sides, her hands balling into fists. “Julian hates that bike. So does Mom. But they can’t take it away from me. I hide it whenever they try until whatever made them mad blows over. You can get me a car, but I’ll never take it to their house. Never.”

“Because they’ll take it away.”

Savannah turned her face, giving us her profile. “They take everything away. I’m not letting them take my bike.”

Everly stiffened, shaking her head. She didn’t have to say anything because we were both thinking the same. Assholes.

“I don’t want you on that bike. I’m worried someone will hit you. That you’ll get hurt. A car is safer.”

“We’ll put the car in your dad’s name,” Everly said. “Julian and April can’t take it because it’s his. Or we could put it in mine. They’d have no claim to it.”

Savannah huffed. “What do you know?”

Everly flinched and held up her hands in surrender. “Just trying to help.”

Before I could stop her, Ev was out of my hold, walking away toward the other corner of the lot.

This was the only dealership in Calamity. It wasn’t the sprawling acres of concrete you’d see in bigger towns, but there were enough cars that she’d be completely out of earshot and out of sight.

Fuck.

“Don’t do that,” I snapped.

“What?” Savannah feigned innocence.

“Don’t treat her like that.” If she only knew half of what Everly had done for her.

“You’re so pussy-whipped.”

I blinked. What the fuck did she say? “Excuse me?”

“You’ve known her for like, a hot minute. And then you married her. Who does that? She’s using you, Dad. And you’re totally blind because you guys are screwing every five minutes.”

I rocked back on my heels, her words slicing deep. “Everly isn’t using me.”

No, it was the other way around.

“Please.” Savannah rolled her eyes. “You’re not exactly hurting for cash. She got the enormous ring. You’re here to buy her a car. It’s sooo obvious.”

“Glad to see you have so much confidence in me that I’d let someone use me like that.”

“You don’t exactly have a good track record with wives.”

Christ, I was getting my ass chewed out by a sixteen-year-old. How had we gone from smiling and car shopping to a fight? I didn’t want to argue with Savannah. I didn’t want to risk chasing her away when I’d just gotten her. For the first time in her life, she was mine.

And I wasn’t going to lose her over something she didn’t understand.

“Let’s just drop it.” I raked a hand over my jaw, wishing I could go back in time ten minutes. Then I unglued my feet and walked to Savannah. “I know you’re just looking out for me, but Everly’s a good person.”

“Whatever.”

Fuck, I hate that word. “Come on. Let’s check out this car.”

Savannah spun on her sneaker and strode toward the Mazda. I followed, casting a glance over my shoulder to see Everly by a row of trucks. Her eyes were aimed at the mountains in the distance. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She looked miserable and I almost went to her, but we’d finally been spotted by a salesman and he was marching her way.

Everly heard his voice and turned. Then, like I’d seen a hundred times, she put on a smile and carried on.

Because that was how she dealt with everything.

She faked it.

She let the world see one version and hid the truth deep inside. And damn if she wasn’t convincing. Maybe too convincing.

Had I fallen for it too? Was Savannah right?

Everly might have grumbled about the car, but she’d agreed. She’d done the same with the ring. And the job. All of them were my idea but she’d gone along with them. And I knew she was hurting for money.

Was this one of her reasons for marrying me? Son of a bitch. Because I had plenty of reasons in the bank? She knew my balances. She had full access at the gallery and to my personal accounts.

We hadn’t signed a prenup and Ev could walk away from this marriage with a huge payday.

My kid was insightful, even if she was a teenager. Maybe Savannah had seen something I’d been missing.

No. Everly wasn’t like that, was she?

Except as my daughter had pointed out, my judgment was shit when it came to my wives.

My stomach plummeted, the happy mood from earlier long gone, even as we looked over Savannah’s car. Everly dragged the salesman over to us and I negotiated a cash price for two vehicles—Savannah’s Mazda and Everly’s Tahoe.

I bought the Tahoe to shut Savannah up, to show her that I had faith in Everly, no matter the doubts she’d planted in my head. Everly deserved her own mode of transportation, if nothing else, and the car was in my name.

But damn those doubts. On the drive home, with Savannah and Everly both following, I couldn’t seem to shake them loose.

“Think I’m gonna hit the studio for a while,” I said when we walked in the door. The forest painting, the dark one, was calling my name. I hadn’t even realized it was such a foreboding piece until Everly had asked me if something was wrong last month. Since then, I’d put it aside and gone back to my usual work, but today, I wanted the black.

Everly picked up on my mood and nodded as I walked past her for the back door.

“Dad?” Savannah called, stopping me before I could disappear.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for the car. I really love it.” A smile illuminated her face, one that melted me every time, just like it had when she was a little girl.

I was living for that smile. My frame relaxed. “Glad you like it.”

“Travis is working at the theater today. Can I drive it down there and show him?”

She’d been spending a lot of time with Travis and I hadn’t asked what was happening. I didn’t want to know, especially today.

“Be safe.”

She nodded and hurried out the door.

“Hux?” Ev stopped me when my hand was on the handle.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

It was sincere. Too sincere? The doubts took control. “Why’d you marry me?”

Her forehead furrowed. “What?”

“Why’d you marry me? You said reasons. Maybe one was because you felt guilty about the farmhouse. Was another one of those reasons my money?”

The color drained from her face. “Y-you think I married you for money?”

“Well, did you?”

Everly flinched.

Son of a bitch. Before I could take it back, she was gone, racing out the door. The Tahoe tore out of the driveway—because she’d let Savannah take the other space in the garage—and left me alone.

Hell. I hammered a fist onto the counter. “Fucked that up, didn’t I?”

The empty kitchen didn’t respond.

Not that it needed to.

“HEY,” I told Katie as I walked into the gallery.

“Hey.” She smiled, looking past me. Her smile brightened when she saw I was alone. “What are you doing here today?”

“Just thought I’d check in,” I lied.

I was actually searching for my wife. But given that Katie and Everly were still adjusting to one another, I didn’t want to give my friend any ammunition to use against Ev.

I’d given Everly some time to cool off, but when she hadn’t come home after six excruciating hours, I’d decided to go find her myself. First, I’d driven by Lucy and Duke’s place, thinking that’s where she would have gone. No Tahoe. Then I’d checked her apartment. Empty. Finally, I’d come here.

“We had a good day. A really good day.” Katie stayed in her chair but jittered with excitement. “Lots of walk-in traffic, and I sold one painting.”

“Which one?”

“The landscape you did of Ruby Range.”

That was an expensive one. The piece was huge and we’d had an eleven-thousand-dollar price tag on it.

“That is a good day.” I whistled. “Nice work.”

Katie’s chest puffed with pride. “Thanks. I was so excited to tell you.”

I leaned on the side of her desk and glanced around the gallery. She’d done a great job staging it for the early summer rush. Everything hanging was popular. The buffalo busts. The colorful landscapes. Katie might not be the best bookkeeper, much to Everly’s dismay, but she knew how to sell my work.

“I appreciate all you do here. Hope you know that.”

“Of course.” The color rose in her cheeks. “This place is important to me too.”

Because she’d built it with me from the beginning. Katie had been through it all, standing by my side with quiet, stoic support. We bounced ideas off one another. We celebrated the wins.

What did it mean if she was so standoffish with Everly? If both she and Savannah were uneasy about my wife?

What was I missing?

I shoved those questions away because I’d find no answers here.

The doubts had already ruined my Saturday.

“I was thinking about offering Savannah a job here,” I said. “She could sit and man the desk so you could have some time to yourself.”

Katie waved me off. “I don’t need any time to myself. It’s not like there’s anything waiting for me at home.” Katie hadn’t dated anyone in a few years, and her last boyfriend had been a major dick. “And you’re here to help.”

“Not as much lately. I don’t want you feeling stuck. Besides, it might be good for Savannah to have a job.”

“I’m happy to train her. Show her how it works. Maybe she could do some evenings here and there until school is done. Then she could take the slower days.”

“Everly would be happy to cover too.”

At the mention of my wife’s name, Katie’s expression dimmed. “I really don’t need any help.”

Not wanting to argue with another woman in my life, I changed the subject. “What else is happening?”

“Nothing much.” She shrugged. “Guess who called me?”

“Who?”

“Chase.”

I stood straight, my hands fisting at my sides. “What the fuck?”

Katie knew what had happened with Everly and Chase. How he’d been watching us, and how that son of a bitch had given her a bruise on her wrist. When I’d told Katie what had happened, it had been the one time she’d actually softened for Ev. After all, Katie didn’t harbor a lot of love for Chase either.

“You hate him,” I said.

“Yes, I do.”

“Then why talk to him?”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t. But I answered. Call it curiosity. I knew he’d have some story or excuse.”

“What did he say?” I asked through grinding molars.

“That you misread the whole thing, and he wanted me to talk to you.” She worried the corner of her lip between her teeth. “Hux, you know Chase annoys the hell out of me and I think he’s a freeloading prick. But are you sure that it wasn’t Everly who led Chase on?”

Ice raced through my veins.

The look on my face must have been murderous because Katie started shaking her head furiously. “Never mind. I was just relaying the conversation.”

“That motherfucker came after Ev. End of story.”

Maybe I’d doubted Everly’s intentions and let Savannah’s words sink too deep. But there was no way I’d misread the incident with Chase. He’d touched my wife. My wife. He’d terrified her.

The way she’d trembled afterward was something I wouldn’t forget. Her entire body shook until she’d finally succumbed to sleep.

Had I misinterpreted that? Fuck no.

“He’s not welcome here, Katie. He shows up, you send him packing.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “Sorry. I know he’s full of shit, but I got to thinking and . . . maybe he had a slight point. You’ve been different lately. Since Everly.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but she was right. Ever since Everly had walked into my life, things had been different.

Of course Katie would notice. She was the closest person in my life, my best friend, and since I’d gotten married, I’d barely spent time with her.

The two of us used to work together to stage the gallery once a month. We’d close down on a Friday night and order pizza. Then over a beer or two, we’d change the layout for the next month.

On the Fourth of July, we’d go up on the roof and watch the town fireworks display together. Christmas dinner was always at her house, just the two of us because after her parents’ divorce, they’d both remarried and moved away from Calamity. Katie had always felt like the outsider with the new family members.

So I’d been her family. And she’d been mine.

Adding Everly to the mix had changed everything. The cold, monotonous life I’d lived before her was gone. She’d brought a lot of color into my life. She’d brought passion.

It wasn’t Katie’s fault that she needed some time to adjust.

Maybe we both did.

“I know things are different,” I said. “But I’m always here.”

“Same to you.” She gave me a sad smile. “Want to go grab some dinner? I was craving a burger from Jane’s.”

“I can’t tonight.” Disappointment crossed her face. Shit. Any other day, I’d go with her. Spend some time with my friend. But I needed to find Ev and apologize. “I have Savannah this weekend. Rain check?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll get out of your hair.” I pushed off her desk. “Let you close up.”

“See you later.” She slid off her chair and went to lock up the front door as I slipped out the back.

The evenings were longer now, the spring air fresh and warm. The sun was sinking toward the horizon for its nightly kiss. The yellow and orange glow shrouded Calamity in its beauty.

I sat in my truck but when the engine turned over, I was unsure where to drive. Where would she go? Home?

I’d called Ev a few times and each had gone to voicemail. She didn’t want me to find her. She wanted some space and time alone.

I could give her that.

So I pulled away from the gallery, taking a familiar route out of town to the highway. The grass was green and lush along the road. I rolled down my window, letting the breeze clear my head. The drive to my property in the foothills didn’t take long. I’d just check it out, kill some time before going home. Because once I got there, I’d be calling and texting Everly, begging her to come home so I could apologize in person.

Turns out, I didn’t need to go home.

As I emerged from the tree-lined dirt road into the meadow, I realized the reason I couldn’t find Everly in town was because she was here.

Something twisted in my chest at the sight of her Tahoe. Something unnerving and comforting at the same time.

Everly hadn’t run to her safe place to get some space.

No, she’d come here.

To mine.

Parking beside her SUV, I got out of my truck and opened her passenger door, sliding inside.

She didn’t break her gaze from the meadow, the grasses darkening in the fading light.

“I’m sorry.”

She didn’t move. She didn’t blink.

“Ev.”

“Do you really think so low of me?”

Christ, I was such a dick. “No.”

She finally tore her gaze away from the windshield and faced me. Her eyes were red-rimmed. Her face splotchy.

I’d made her cry.

“Fuck, Ev.” I reached for her face, framing it with my hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so goddamn sorry.”

Her eyes flooded. “I have never been anything but honest with you.”

Maybe she didn’t confess everything, but even when she held something back, she’d done so explicitly.

I pulled her closer, swiping at the tears on her cheeks with my thumbs. “I’m an asshole.”

“Yes, you are.” She pulled out of my hold. “You’re not getting sex for a week.”

I fought a smile. “What made you come here?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I started driving and I guess . . . I like it here. It’s peaceful. I needed some peace.”

It was the same reason I’d come here too.

But another realization came crashing down as I stared out the window.

The peace wasn’t in this meadow. It wasn’t the grass or the flowers or the trees.

The peace was at Everly’s side.