Read Burning Barriers (Barriers Series Book 3) for Free Online Page B

was single again and preparing to start my freshman year of college and living it up. SJ and I were busy unpacking everything while random chicks filtered in and out of our dorm room. Most of them were holding red plastic cups filled with some potent concoction and throwing themselves at us because they were already heavily intoxicated. I thought things were headed in all the right directions. I had already nailed one chick after being there just one week, and two dorm parties had already taken place that offered a few other possible hookups in the future.
    Then, my cell phone rang, and all college plans stopped. My world crashed before my very eyes as my mother’s tearful voice on the other end of the phone line said it all. ‘Your dad had a heart attack. They did everything they could… but it was too late. Jake… your dad didn’t make it, honey.’
    A week later, amidst the chaos of moving back to Breckenridge to handle family affairs, I ended up taking over some of my father’s responsibilities at the ranch and helping Mom out the best I could. With no siblings to help me, SJ stepped up and filled in as my adopted brother from that day on.
    When I saw Lucy’s family walk into the funeral parlor during my Dad’s wake, I thought for sure the one person who could bring any kind of peace or light back into my life would trail in behind them. I never saw her, and my world crashed even further.
    As Mr. Wyatt stood in front of me offering his condolences, I expected him to say Lucy was back home and would be walking through the door any minute. She never did, and it was SJ who was there for me after I drowned myself every night for a month with a bottle of just about anything from Dad’s liquor cabinet as I attempted to put my life back together in all the wrong ways. So many times I had the freakin’ phone in my hand ready to call her to apologize and beg her to come back. I nearly did one night when I was so rip-roaring drunk and pissed off at the world that it was for the best that SJ took the phone from me until I managed to get my shit together.
    Earlier that week, Ellen had run into me in town, saying how disappointed her parents were in the way I treated Lucy. Ultimately, they believed she’d most likely have returned home by that point, if not for me. Weeks turned to months and months turned to years, and well, you can see why standing here in front of Mr. Wyatt is a bit trying.
    “Mr. Wyatt, it’s good to see you, sir,” I say as he moves out of the way and gestures for me to come inside. Fortunately, Lucy’s mom never held a grudge against me. I see her make her way from the back patio area into the house carrying a blanket and a wine glass.
    “Jake, honey, it’s good to see you again. Come on in. Lucy should be down soon. She had some minor issues with her first outfit, but Ellen is helping her with that now.”
    My shoes squeak against the polished hardwood floors as I walk further into the small living and dining area. Scented candles flicker on the dining room table, filling the room with a soothing warm vanilla aroma. I can feel her parents’ eyes burning into me, and it’s almost as though I’m picking up Lucy again for our very first date.
    A slap to my shoulder from behind makes me jump inside. I watch as Mr. Wyatt makes his way around me until he’s standing next to his wife. “So, Jake, are you still working down at the Breckenridge Fire Department part-time ?” I can tell he emphasized the ‘part-time’ just to stick it to me.
    “Yes, sir, but that’s my own decision, not the department’s. I still help at Ten Peaks Ranch with the horses and teach the kids when I’m not working. If there was a way for my mom to handle all of it without me, I’d certainly be working at the fire station full-time,” I explain, even though he most likely knows that after my dad died I couldn’t let Mom sell the ranch. It was Dad’s world and his only legacy that would need to continue. If that