Dust Storm (The Griffith Brothers, #1)

by Maggie C. Gates

I stepped out and surveyed the land as the February sun peeked over the horizon. This was my kingdom.

My kingdom could go to hell.

Before I could get another word out, Gracie beamed at Cassandra. “Bye, Miss Cass. Have a day as pretty as you are!”

“I didn’t love him.” Cassandra sniffed back tears, but they just kept streaming down her face, streaking her makeup. “I just wanted to be loved.”

“It’ll clear, you know,” Christian said out of nowhere. “What will?” He slowed up and looked over at me. “The dust storm.”

“All the shit that gets stirred up and clouds your mind. Eventually it’ll settle. You’ll be able to breathe easier.” He looked ahead. “Doesn’t make it better in the moment. Dust storms happen. It’s okay to close your eyes and stumble through.”

“I want to be the person that people go to when there’s a problem. I want to be the one who gets the calls in the middle of the night to fix something that’s going wrong. I want to be the one that holds everything together. I want to be irreplaceable.”

“Just… Give me a minute to see what’s going on before you rip this old woman to shreds.” Her lips curled up in a wicked smirk. “I am feeling a little peckish. A little aged meat might tide me over until dinner.”

“I swear, if Bree tells me that one fucking comment was made about her after today, I’ll burn the place down.”

“It takes a strong cowboy to put up with a bull, and a strong woman to put up with a cowboy.”

“There are three things I know for certain,” he said as he stood and sifted his fingers through my hair. “The sun is gonna rise tomorrow. My girls love you. And you were meant to be ours.”