Ridin' Solo (Sisters From Hell Book 1), Marika Ray [librera reader txt] 📗

from the very beginning, she had every reason to doubt everything about me.

“Who. The. Fuck. Is. Dolby?” she enunciated, each word like a shot right through my heart.

I cringed. “That’s me. I’m Wyatt Dolby.”

Her jaw remained harder than granite, but her eyes misted over again and the sight of the tears ripped me apart far more than shouted words ever could.

“Who even are you?” she whispered.

I grabbed her face and held her gently in my two hands, trying to keep her gaze locked with mine as the sheriff pushed the paparazzi off the property.

“You know who I am. I told you I had a rough past, and you said it didn’t matter to you. Yes, I know that guy Jesse who was shooting at us. Yes, I know that guy Ben from a month ago. But that was all in my past. It has nothing to do with us today. I promise you.” She had to believe me. There was no way for me to continue with this new life I’d made for myself if she couldn’t look beyond my sketchy past.

Oakley remained silent for agonizingly long seconds, but staring at me as if she was weighing my character and finding me lacking. Then her hands came up to grip my wrists. For a split second, I hoped she really looked beyond my past. But then she was ripping my hands away from her face, angry words spilling from her lips as a single tear tracked down her cheek.

“It’s not really your past when it shows up here today and shoots me, now is it? I don’t even know the basics of who you are.” She laughed, and the sound made my skin crawl. “Hell, I don’t even know your name!”

I shook my head, silently begging her not to do this. “Oakley. I can explain everything.”

Oakley pushed off the gurney and stood on her good leg, only a slight grimace showing how painful the move was. She looked up at me and you’d never know she was a foot shorter. Disgust and anger made her at least ten feet tall.

“You have some rough friends, Wyatt Dolby,” she said quietly. “Stay away from me.”

Then she hopped up into the ambulance, and no longer looked at me. “Ready, Ace!”

Chief Waldo came stalking over, clipping me in the shoulder as he passed before climbing into the ambulance with her. I stood there, my hands useless at my sides, watching Ace close up the back of the ambulance and drive away. Sheriff Locke eventually came over and advised me to go back to the station with him to give my formal statement of what had transpired today.

“Sorry your identity came out. I know that’s not how you wanted things to go.” Sheriff clapped me on the back and walked to his car, expecting me to follow. He’d been the only one to know about my past and the efforts I’d made to leave it all behind.

How the hell had my day started on such a high note, with the woman I loved willing to risk it all to date me, and then ended with my entire life and future plans blown to bits?

I’d let my partner down.

I’d let myself down.

And there was no one to blame but myself.

25

Oakley

“Dad, I got it.” Exasperated, I grabbed my keys from his hand and got the front door open, wanting inside before I glimpsed Wyatt next door. I was sick of everyone fussing over me. My leg was stitched up and wrapped in white gauze that I’d have to replace every twelve hours until the stitches came out. The ER doc had put me in a boot to keep me immobile long enough for the muscle damage to heal, which meant I could walk, albeit a little wobbly.

“Jesus, woman. You’re worse than me. For cripe’s sake, just let me help you.” Dad shut the door and bustled around me, annoying me more than he helped. “Your mother said she’s on the way with food.”

I groaned. She probably made more food than an army could eat. Even a hint of stress sent her to the kitchen. I could only imagine the news of her eldest daughter being shot had sent her into a culinary frenzy.

“I appreciate it, but I just want to be alone,” I mumbled, hobbling to my bedroom to get out of my ruined uniform. Those pants weren’t cheap and now I’d have to buy a brand-new pair, along with new boots that didn’t have blood soaked through them.

Dad continued to chat my ear off through the bedroom door. “Listen, Oakley. I hope you know I’m proud of you.” He cleared his throat. “You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, especially me. I know I give you crap about joining the sheriff’s department instead of mine, but it’s just that. Teasing. I don’t mean it. I couldn’t be any more proud of you, kiddo.”

My throat closed and my eyes welled up. Great. You get shot once and suddenly Dad has to say all these things in case you die. It was my calf, for God’s sake. I whipped my pajama top over my head and struggled to get a pair of shorts on when I only had one good leg and two eyes that couldn’t see past the tears.

Today had been a trying day, which was putting it mildly. I was hanging by a thread here, and that was only because the ER doc insisted on giving me a narcotic before she dug around to make sure there weren’t any bullet fragments left in my leg and then sewed up my wound. Without the pain meds, I’d already be curled in the fetal position crying for my mama.

“I know I’ve set some pretty big expectations on you girls and you’ve taken that to heart, Lee.” Dad’s voice had gone rough. “I want you to know, you don’t have to be perfect. You’re human, you’ll mess up. That’s how it works.