Read Batteries Not Required for Free Online

what,” he snapped, while I was still getting over the fact that he was a lawyer. “Things didn’t end right between us, and I’m not letting this go till we talk it out!”
    I was a beat or two behind. Last I’d heard, Tristan was planning to major in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. Instead, he’d gone on to law school.
    Sheesh. A lot can happen in ten years.
    I’d been into survival. He’d been making something of his life.
    The contrast hurt, big-time. I sat there in the passenger seat like a lump, staring at the sign.
    Tristan shut off the engine, thrust out a sigh, and turned to face me squarely. His blue eyes were narrow, and shooting little golden sparks.
    â€œImpressed?” he asked bitterly.
    I flinched. “What?”
    â€œIsn’t that why you left Parable? Because you thought I’d turn out to be a saddle bum, following the rodeo?”
    â€œI thought,” I said evenly, “that you would work on the ranch. Family tradition, and all that.”
    He sighed again, rubbed his chin with one hand. He’d showered and changed clothes between the Bronco and the diner, but he hadn’t shaved. An attractive stubble was beginning to gleam on the lower part of his face.
    â€œI keep getting this wrong,” he muttered, sounding almost despondent. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me, or to himself.
    I wanted to cry, for a variety of reasons, both simple and complicated, but I smiled instead. “It’s okay, Tristan,” I heard myself say. My voice came out sounding gentle, and a little raw. “We never did get along. Let’s just agree to disagree, as they say, and get on with our lives.”
    â€œAs I recall, we got along just fine,” he said. I could tell he didn’t want to smile back, but he did. “Until one of us said something, anyway.”
    I laughed, but my sinuses were clogged with tears I wouldn’t shed until I was alone in Room 7, with a lake view. “Right.”
    â€œHow’s Josie?”
    The question took me off guard. “Fine,” I said.
    â€œShe was a kick.”
    â€œStill is,” I said lightly. “She’s into bikers these days.”
    Tristan brushed my cheek with the backs of his fingers, and I had the usual cattle-prod reaction, though I think I hid it pretty well. “Got to be better than Bob,” he said.
    I felt a flash of guilt. “Listen, about Bob—”
    Tristan raised an eyebrow, waiting.
    I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t bring myself to admit that Bob was a vibrator. It was too pathetic. “Forget it,” I said.
    â€œLike hell,” Tristan replied.
    A stray thought broadsided me, out of nowhere. Tristan was a lawyer, and most likely the only one in Parable, given the size of the place. Which probably meant he was involved in the negotiations for the Bucking Bronco.
    â€œWho’s buying the tavern?” I asked.
    It was his turn to look blank, though he recovered quickly. “A bunch of investors from California. Real estate types. They’re putting in a restaurant and a marina, and building a golf course across the lake.”
    â€œDamn,” I muttered.
    â€œWhat do you care?” he asked.
    â€œYou’re representing them, and my mother knew it.”
    â€œWell, yeah,” Tristan said, in a puzzled, so-what tone of voice.
    â€œShe knew I would have done anything to avoid seeing you.”
    â€œGee, thanks.”
    â€œWell, it’s true. You broke my heart!”
    â€œThat’s not the way I remember it,” Tristan said.
    I unfastened my seat belt, got out of the SUV, and started for the Lakeside Motel. By now, my phone would be charged. I intended to dial my mother’s number and hit redial until she answered, if it took all night.
    I had a few things to say to her. We were about to have a Dr. Phil moment, Mom and I.
    Tristan caught up in a few strides. “Where are you