Gone Country (Rough Riders #14)(136)

“I’m not really hungry.”


“I am. Let’s go. You can keep me company while I eat.”


“Rory. I’m not dressed, I’m in a shitty mood and I just wanna be left alone.”


“Tough shit and toughen up, little sister.” She jostled the bed frame again. “Move it.”


Sierra tossed her iPod aside. “What is your problem?”


“You are, Little Miss Mopey Face. You’re hunched up in your bed, acting like your pet hamster died and I’m PMS-ing for chocolate and grease. I’ve never ridden in your fancy-ass new ride, and since I know how much you love to drive, I’m telling you to get up and chauffer me around, be-yotch.”


“You are such a pain in the ass.”


“Yeah? What’s your point?”


“Fine. Give me a f*cking minute.”


Rory chattered about bullshit on the way to town. College and bartending and guys that’d been sniffing around. Sierra was occupied with driving so she was only half-listening anyway and didn’t suspect a thing.


At Dairy Queen, Rory went inside to order since Sierra refused to go through the drive-thru. An extra-large fry and two gigantic mocha Moo-lattes later, Rory directed Sierra to drive to Flat Top. If she thought it weird two girls were headed to the local make-out spot, she didn’t mention it.


They sat on the bench overlooking the deep, red-rock rimmed canyon, with prairie on one side and Devil’s Tower on the other. Once they demolished the order of fries—so much for Sierra not being hungry—Rory broached the subject.


“So. I guess you won’t be round much longer, huh?”


Sierra glanced at her sharply and then suspiciously. “Did your mom put you up to this?”


“Put me up to what? Gorging ourselves on junk food? My mom is the prophet of healthy eating, remember?”


“No, did she ask you to take me aside and talk me out of it?”


“Talk you out of what? Holding a knife to your dad’s throat and insisting he do what you want?”


“My dad said something to you,” Sierra accused.


“I’ll admit to shock when I called my mom yesterday and she was sobbing so hard I couldn’t understand her.”


All the blood drained from Sierra’s face. “What? Rielle was crying?”


“No, sobbing. Like her heart was breaking and she couldn’t get enough air. There’s a difference between sobbing and merely crying. I’m sure you know that.”


Sierra squirmed. “Did she tell you why?”


“Some. That your dad was probably leaving her and here for good.”


“He doesn’t have to,” Sierra protested. “He can stay here with Rielle if he wants.”


“But if he does, you’ll punish him by moving to France with your mother,” Rory pointed out.


“He promised me if I didn’t like it here we could go home.”


What a little shit. So self-righteous and involved in her stupid teenage dramas that she couldn’t see the aftershocks of stamping her foot and demanding her way. Rory had been that girl too. But she’d be damned if she’d stand by and watch it happen. Her mother had put aside her own life for years to make sure Rory’s life was happy. It was time to pay it back.


Rory got right in her face. “You are such a f*cking brat, Sierra, I can’t even believe it.”


Sierra reared back, completely floored.


“Your dad has done everything for you, sacrificed any kind of personal life, selflessly put up with his ex-wife because he wouldn’t deny you a relationship with your mother. And now, when he’s finally found happiness, when he’s found a woman he loves and who loves him back, when he’s building relationships with the family he didn’t know he had…you’re gonna pull the f*cking rug out from under him? You’re essentially saying, Daddy, your life is solely devoted to seeing that my needs are being fully met, one hundred percent of the time and I don’t give a shit about anything else but getting my own way.”


“That’s not true!”


“That is so f*cking true it makes me sick. You wouldn’t think twice about ruining his relationship with my mom. You’d do it, devastating two people, and then it’d be out of sight, out of mind as you flit off and get your damn nails done.”


Sierra leapt to her feet. “Where the f*ck do you get off saying that shit to me? You were a total brat to your mom when you found out about her and my dad. You threw a little baby tantrum and stormed off, remember?”


“Yes, I was upset, but not because our parents were together. It was something entirely personal on my part and I had to do a shit ton of soul searching to figure out why I felt that way. And I did. Then I mended the rift in my relationship with my mom. I apologized to her. I asked for her forgiveness. I told her I wanted her to be happy because she deserved it. And I meant it. Oh, and I also apologized to your dad.”


“So I’m just supposed to suck it up and be miserable for the next two f*cking years until I can escape this godforsaken place and go to college?”