Dirty Little Secret

by Jennifer Ryan

  He tromped down the stairs, realizing he hadn’t told Annabelle about Roxy and the rumors. She had a good head on her shoulders and understood the difference between rumor and reality. Still, this could really tarnish her relationship with Roxy.

  He held back telling Annabelle for that very reason. He didn’t want to hurt Roxy by telling Annabelle and having her look at Roxy differently.

  He entered the dining room and Mary gave him a questioning look, silently asking if he’d told Annabelle. He shook his head no, making her frown.

  If he put it off much longer, he risked Annabelle actually believing the rumors, despite her grown-up attitude about them.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Noah knocked off early to catch Annabelle where the school bus dropped her at the end of the long drive. He needed to finish their talk. After, he planned to hunt down Roxy and invite her to go for a ride, so they could be alone and he could apologize, and grovel if necessary.

  Robby caught him by the barn doors. “Looks like Roxy’s guests just arrived.”

  “Guests?”

  “Mary said Roxy got a call this morning telling her some friends were coming. She asked me to get four stalls ready.”

  Noah looked up at the drive and noted the long horse trailer behind a huge silver truck heading for the house. A sign on the trailer caught his eye. Roses entwined in a vine with gold script over it. Wild Rose Ranch.

  “Fuck me.” Noah’s anger flared.

  She’d told him the truth, but not all of it. She’d left out some very important details. If the rumor about her wasn’t bad enough, having this trailer with that name on it drive through town and onto his ranch would certainly stir things up.

  Every ranch hand on the place had seen that name at one rodeo or another in the West.

  By the end of the day, no one in town or on this ranch would believe Roxy an innocent.

  “I thought I’d seen that girl before,” Robby commented.

  “What?” Noah didn’t understand Robby’s calm demeanor when all hell was about to break loose.

  “She’s a champion barrel racer. She’s won more championships than any other woman on the circuit. I think she holds several records.”

  “Who the hell are you talking about?”

  “Roxy. That’s why John always insisted we watch the barrel racing competitions. He was watching his daughter ride. And win.”

  Noah let loose a string of curses. “Do you think she knows?”

  “That John watched her ride? I’d think so. At the very least she’d know Speckled Horse Ranch attended the rodeos. Seems she avoided John as much as he avoided her. They probably had an unspoken rule about no one knowing about their relationship. Sad really,” Robby remarked.

  When he first saw Roxy, he could have sworn he’d seen her somewhere. Now he put the past together into a picture he didn’t like at all. He remembered seeing her with some other women from the Wild Rose Ranch. Her hair was always braided down her back and she wore a black cowboy hat. They all did.

  Black, the color for outlaws and outsiders. Roxy had probably felt that way her whole life, despite never doing anything to merit the title.

  The shock from finding out she came from that particular ranch wore off quickly when he started thinking it wasn’t that far-fetched after what she’d told him about her mother. It did shine a whole new light on her childhood. Not only had she grown up alone, she’d grown up at one of the most notorious and high-priced brothels in Nevada.

  “No one is going to believe she isn’t a prostitute now.” Robby spoke Noah’s worst fear aloud.

  “I don’t think she cares. She’s fought it her whole life. It wouldn’t matter if she screamed it at the top of her lungs, or put up a billboard in the middle of town. People will look at her, know about her mother, and assume the worst. The thing is, I finally understand how frustrating it must be for her to be one thing and have everyone think you’re something else. The minute I saw the name on that trailer, I forgot all about how many times I saw those girls win and only remembered that all of them, except Roxy, were hookers. I’m guilty of doing what everyone else does to her,” he admitted.

  “The difference is, you know the kind of woman she is,” Robby reminded him. “Go say hello to your guests.”

  “She’s still not speaking to me.”

  “She can’t when you’re avoiding her as much as she’s avoiding you.” Robby watched him, but Noah still hesitated, giving himself a minute to think about what he needed to say. “Annabelle will be home any minute. One look at that trailer and she’ll have questions.”

  Nothing could have gotten him moving faster. He hesitated halfway up to the drive when Roxy ran and threw herself into a man’s arms. He lifted her off her feet and spun her around, making Roxy laugh and smile like he’d never seen her do. Ever. His gut went tight and his eyes narrowed on the tall man holding on to his woman. Within a few more strides, he recognized the man, someone he hadn’t seen in years.

  “Joe.” Noah stepped forward to greet their old ranch hand, who’d left years ago.

  Joe released Roxy and came forward, his hand out to shake. “Noah. You’ve grown. Not such a gangly kid anymore,” the older man commented. Joe had at least ten years on him, but they’d been friends when Joe worked for John. Apparently, he’d been working for John all along, just on another ranch.

  “Good to see you, man. I see you’ve been taking care of Roxy for John.”

  “Always,” he answered with a wink to Roxy.

  Roxy didn’t say a word, but skirted the two men and went to the passenger door of the truck. Sonya stepped out and engulfed her in a hug.

  “You came.” Roxy held tight to her sister, needing Sonya when she felt so alone in this new place.

  “I came to check out your new place.” The look in Sonya’s eyes told her she came to check out Noah, too. “Joe told me he was bringing your babies, so I hitched a ride.”

  “You know, I didn’t believe the vile rumors, but it’s true. You’re a hooker.” Annabelle waved her hand to the Wild Rose insignia.

  Sonya’s sweet face turned red with anger. She glared over Roxy’s shoulder at the young girl behind them.

  Roxy’s heart hurt, hearing those words come out of Annabelle’s mouth.

  Roxy turned to face Annabelle and her accusations head-on, but Sonya spoke first.

  “Honey, you don’t know what you’re talking about. She may own the place, but she’s no whore.”

  Roxy heard Noah swear from somewhere off to her side. Sonya turned to her with an apologetic frown when she realized what she’d said, thinking to make things better, but making them worse.

  “Annabelle, I’d like to introduce one of my sisters. This is Sonya. Like you and Noah, we’re not blood, but we grew up together.” Roxy pointed to her friend. “Joe works at the ranch with me, taking care of the horses. Before that, he worked for your father.”

  A fact that she hadn’t really put together until Noah and Joe shook hands, exchanging a few words of remembrance about John.

  Annabelle’s fury wasn’t quite spent, the distraction of introductions didn’t deter her for long. “Don’t you have anything to say? Aren’t you even going to deny it? You can’t, can you?” Anger and hurt made her words tremble.

  “Annabelle Marie, that’s enough,” Noah scolded.

  “I’ve got this, Noah.” Roxy didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. She didn’t want to see the same indictment Annabelle made in his eyes.

  “First of all, young lady, you demanded an answer to a question you never asked. Remember what I told you the night we met and I promised I’d be your guardian? I told you when you did well, I’d back you up. Screw up, and I’ll be all over you. Well, honey, this is a major fuckup in my book. You’ll hand over your cell phone until the end of the month. You want to take a rumor and accuse people without substantiating the story, you’ll pay for it by not having the means to gossip with your friends.”

  Annabelle sucked in a brea
th and turned to Noah for support.

  He came forward to stand beside Roxy, surprising her by his show of solidarity.

  “You heard her.” He held out his hand for the phone.

  Annabelle huffed out a breath, dug through her purse, and slapped the phone into Noah’s hand.

  “You want to be treated like an adult,” Roxy went on, “I expect you to act like one. You want to know something about me, ask a question. This ‘hooker’”—she made air quotes to prove her point—“spent the last week redecorating your room, spending time with you, helping you with your homework, was nothing but a friend to you, and this is how you return the kindness. You’re better than this, Annabelle. I expect better of you, the one person I’ve spent more time with than anyone.”

  “She said you own the Wild Rose Ranch.”

  “Is that a question?” Roxy raised an eyebrow, waiting.

  Annabelle huffed again in frustration, but asked, “Do you own it?”

  “Yes. Unbeknownst to me, John bought into the business years ago and he left it to me when he died.”

  “Are you, or have you ever been, a prostitute?” Annabelle’s voice shook. It wasn’t easy for her to ask. She obviously didn’t want to hear an affirmative answer.

  Roxy liked her more for having the guts to ask the hard questions. “No. Never.” With a sigh, Roxy added, “I’ve told you a little about my mother. What I never said is that she’s an alcoholic, drug addict, and yes, a prostitute. When you look like me and people find out about her, they automatically assume I’m one, too, because I was raised in that life, so I must be part of that world.”

  “Roxy had it rougher than me and Adria and Juliana. She looks the part.”

  Roxy couldn’t argue the point. In jeans and a pink top, Sonya wore her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, her dark lashes outlining hazel eyes, deep red lips accentuating her perfect pale skin. Her figure was lithe with soft curves, nothing like Roxy’s sexy figure. Sonya was the epitome of the fresh-faced, yoga-loving, twenty-somethings you saw in commercials and sitcoms.

  “At least, that’s what some people think.” With that little gem hanging in the air, Sonya locked eyes with Noah, letting him know she’d heard about their talk in the barn.

  Noah sighed and looked away, but not before Roxy caught the shame in his eyes.

  Sonya wasn’t done yet. “Annabelle, Roxy doesn’t have anything to do with the Ranch. She lives a quiet life away from the mansion with her horses and her work. She’s a good and decent person, who’s been saddled with a mother who’s selfish and hateful to the core. Her mother is everything Roxy could never be. It’s just not in her.”

  Roxy reached out and tugged Sonya’s ponytail. “Thank you for that, sister.” She turned to Annabelle. “What Sonya and I are trying to tell you is that you can’t judge someone based on what you think you know. I own the business. A legal business.”

  “She’s not doing anything wrong, and anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know her. She’d never hurt someone, or use them for her own gain,” Sonya continued.

  “Annabelle, you will not announce to anyone that I own the Wild Rose Ranch. You will not discuss me, my mother, or anything I tell you in confidence. You will not confirm or deny rumors, or be drawn into adding to those rumors. Open your mouth and I’ll ground you for a month. Feed information to the masses and you’ll not get your driver’s license until you’re eighteen. Have I made myself clear?” Roxy asked.

  Annabelle’s eyes filled with tears. They slipped past her lashes in rivulets down her cheeks.

  Roxy waited to see if they were because of the threat of not getting her license, because Roxy was being mean, or from genuine remorse for her behavior. Roxy didn’t like being so tough on Annabelle, but she needed to learn that gossip wasn’t always harmless. Sometimes it hurt and had real consequences.

  “I’m sorry, Roxy.” Annabelle’s lips trembled. “You’ve been nothing but nice to me since you got here. Noah tried to talk to me last night about a rumor circulating about you. I told him I’d never believe a rumor, and he never got the chance to explain. Everyone was talking at school. I saw the name on the trailer and I thought . . . I’m sorry. Please don’t leave,” she wailed, and covered her face with her hands.

  Roxy went to her then and took her into her arms and held her close. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetie.” Roxy hugged her harder. “It’s okay. You were shocked and it took a minute for things to become clear again.” She turned her head to look at Noah for the first time in days, letting him know her words were meant for him, too. The truth was, she’d realized she’d overreacted to his response when he found out about her mother. She should have expected the look and the thoughts and known Noah would come to the right conclusion. Apparently, he had. She couldn’t avoid him, or this situation, forever.

  Roxy gave Annabelle a squeeze and let her go, turning to Sonya. “Let’s get my babies out.”

  “Show Annabelle your tricks. She’ll get a kick out of them.”

  Roxy reached out and brushed her hand down Annabelle’s arm. “Want to see Vinny dance?”

  Still trying to rein in her emotions, Annabelle could only nod yes.

  “Okay, let’s see if he wants to play. He might be a little cranky after being cooped up in the trailer, so no promises.” Roxy turned to see Joe, Noah, and Sonya following her to the back of the trailer. Joe opened the gates.

  Noah whistled softly. “I remember him. He was a pain in the ass. Refused to do anything.”

  “Until Roxy got a hold of him,” Joe commented, and backed Vinny out of the trailer.

  Vinny saw her and stomped and neighed, happy to see her.

  “Hello, my man.” Roxy rubbed her hands up and down his big head, reaching up to scratch behind his ears. She took Vinny’s lead rope and walked down the drive a ways so she could do some tricks while Joe unloaded the other three horses.

  “Ready?” she asked Vinny and Annabelle. Vinny responded by nodding his big head up and down.

  “Get the spider,” Roxy coaxed.

  Vinny stomped his front hoof down on the imaginary spider and dragged his hoof back, squashing the nonexistent bug.

  “Give me a kiss.” Vinny responded by nuzzling her offered cheek, tickling her, and making her laugh.

  “Big scary monster,” she said, and raised her arms and made a face to scare Vinny.

  He reared and kicked his front hooves in the air to ward off the monster.

  Annabelle smiled for the first time since she arrived home.

  Vinny landed back on all fours and neighed, shaking his big head at her.

  “I’m not playing anymore if you’re going to whine,” she teased Vinny, and walked away, swaying her hips in an exaggerated manner. Vinny walked behind her, his head moving back and forth as he watched her ass sway. She stopped and he shoved his nose into her bottom and pushed, sending her stumbling forward a few steps.

  Noah laughed along with Annabelle. He loved her playfulness with the horse. Noah saw her in a whole new light, and he realized how much he still didn’t know about her.

  “Dance,” Sonya called out.

  Roxy turned and dipped into a deep curtsy. Vinny leaned his big body back, front legs outstretched, and lowered his head into a bow.

  “She’s amazing,” Annabelle commented, hiccuping from her recent tears.

  “I should have warned you last night,” he whispered.

  “She had every right to be mad at me. I’m just glad she wants to stay.”

  “Me, too. Talk to her like that again, and I’ll ground you for a month,” he advised.

  “I’m sorry, Noah.”

  “I know you are. So does she. I have my own making up to do with her.”

  “Hey, Joe, how about a leg up?” Roxy called.

  Noah handed the lead rope of the mare he’d taken out of the trailer to Joe and stepped forward to help Roxy up onto Vinny’s back. He stood close and cupped his hands. Without a word, she gave him her foot and he boosted her up.<
br />
  “Stand back,” she advised.

  He stepped away, wanting to say so much and still not knowing how to even start.

  Roxy coaxed Vinny into a series of complicated steps and trots, making it appear that the horse was dancing. It took a lot of time and training to teach a horse to make those complicated moves. Roxy made it look easy. And she did it riding bareback.

  Joe stood beside him, watching Roxy dance across the drive, cheered on by Sonya and Annabelle.

  “Took her forever to get that horse to cooperate. Now he’ll do anything she says.”

  “Who taught her how to train horses?”

  “I taught her the barrel racing and roping. Jumping and dressage, she learned from visiting a few trainers and reading up on the subject. She’s not real keen on dressage. She’s only taught Vinny and another horse she sold to a young girl just starting out. Now, the jumpers. She’s one of the best with them. She’s got a keen eye for knowing if a horse will take to the jumps.”

  “She’s already found one here. Houdini. He’s my escape artist,” Noah said, grinning about the animal for the first time. “She took one look at him jumping his corral and a pasture fence and asked me if she could train him. In a matter of days, she’s got him jumping like a pro.”

  “That’s my Roxy,” Joe stated, matter-of-fact.

  “No. That’s my Roxy,” Noah responded, noting the slight smile on Joe’s face.

  “So, it’s like that, is it?”

  “It’s like that. Well, it will be if I can get her talking to me again.”

  “She’s got a soft heart, she hides and protects well. The two people who should have loved and protected her let her down. John loved all you kids. He left her where she was because he knew she could take it. It’s past time she had to take it anymore. I thought her coming here would mean a quiet, happy life. Guess that’s not going to be the case based on your sister’s reaction.”

  “Rumors are circulating.”

  “She can’t hide from her past, but she shouldn’t have to suffer for what her mother does.”