as summer thick, even

his truck, the Vance ranchland stretchi

his engagement party t

es, big everything. T

ne buzz

she asked, her voic

. You sure about this s

omething just for us before the chaos tom

ed brother. Elea

, never had. But Izzy,

ump house, a relic from his grand

, no Liam

kets and the

ed out, steppin

etaching from the deeper da

ybe four

nstinctively going to his belt, where no gun

swer, just mov

shed over him. Th

e truck, but one was alread

t?" Ethan asked,

ght him in the gut,

work on oil rigs giving him s

in shot through his

mplete, abso

ound swallowed b

ing crunches at his

useless legs scraping

use door, the metallic clang as i

in his ears and the scorchin

e Texas sun already beginning to

. His moth

it, a cold certainty settling