by Dawn McClure
“I’ll take him,” Abby said, earning a grin from Shane and a frown from Matt.
“Might want to check out his ass. That might be broken too,” Matt quipped. Misty gave him a knuckle bump. Love my brother.
“Could be worse,” Misty said. “Glad you're okay.”
Shane tipped his straw hat her way. She stole one more glance at David before she turned to go back to Brandon. David was still staring at her. She figured she wasn't the only one that had experienced the pivotal moment that passed between them in the past hour, but if he thought those feelings changed anything, then he was pathetically wrong.
There'd been a time she thought David could rope the moon. Maybe a small part of her still did.
But the careful, sane part of her allowed her feet to take her back to Brandon. He might not be able to rope the moon, but he'd never fail to keep trying.
This feeling wasn't normal. He felt like a caged animal.
David would have had the window down, arm resting on the edge, half hanging out the window because the air conditioner in Matt's crappy car wasn't working, but he couldn't. Brandon said the wind was whipping Misty's hair around, and because David was going to rib her about it, he'd turned in the seat to do that very thing. But she wasn't awake. She was cuddled into Brandon's side, his arm around her sunburned shoulders, her head drooping a little over his chest at an odd angle, and her blonde hair cascading all over the wrong man's chest.
Irrational anger slapped his ass, and he'd ground his teeth as he turned around to face the windshield once again. He put up the window. They still had a good half hour to get back to Garner. Maybe Misty had been right, and hadn't just used his excessive drinking as an excuse to get him alone at the rodeo, because he sure wanted a beer now. Maybe four. Hell, by the end of the weekend he might need an intervention.
It was nearing midnight. The day had been a colossal nightmare—except that innocent kiss she'd surprised him with. He normally wouldn't even think about stealing another man's girl, but damn it, she wasn't another man's girl—she was his. Always had been.
No, what he was feeling wasn't normal. He wanted to roar at Matt to pull the car over. He wanted to beat Brandon to a bloody pulp. He wanted to snatch Misty out of Brandon’s grasp and beg her forgiveness. But he couldn’t do any of that. He’d left. He’d made this bed and now he had to lay in it.
Matt glanced at him. “We're giving the cattle shots on Tuesday around eight or nine. We were going to do it on Monday, but Misty's going to be in Rapid for that second interview. You want to lend a hand? I figure we'll have no problem getting it done in a few hours between the three of us.”
And be around Misty all day? Hell yes. Hell no. He knew what Matt was doing. He was playing matchmaker again. “Yeah, I'll help out.” Just to be the biggest asshole on the planet, he called out, “Hey Brandon, want to help?”
“Not my cup of tea.”
Cup of tea. He'd give him a damn cup of tea. “That doesn't bother you? Misty having bigger balls than you?”
Matt cast him a sideways glance. David didn't give a shit. Seeing Misty draped over Brandon snapped his nuts like a rubber band. It stung something fierce.
“I know this bothers you,” Brandon drawled from the backseat. “Get over it.”
Seething. Rubber band snap. He just didn't know why he was getting this upset. Actually, seeing Misty practically laying on top of Brandon had obviously done a number on him. Seeing them kiss hadn't made him this angry. But this seemed more intimate. And hello, he'd managed to keep the thought of them being intimate blocked from his mind as though it wasn't really happening. As though they'd never shared a bed.
He cleared his throat and ran a hand over his mouth. Thought back on all the times he and Misty had shared moments. Where were you then, Brandon, you fucking—
“Chill,” Matt warned, his attention on the dark road in front of them.
Yeah, no more foursomes, that was for sure.
He wondered how Brandon felt knowing he and Misty would be around each other most of the day on Tuesday. Was David really sinking so low as to go after another man's...yes. Yes, he was.
Because Misty Ann Evans belonged to him, and it was damn time everyone knew it.
Especially her.
Chapter 6
“Rapid City is a great place to settle down. I think you’ll enjoy living here if you decide to take our offer. You have to admit, there’s much more room for growth in a city this size than where you’re originally from. Not that small towns are bad. I grew up in one myself, just north of Mina.” Mr. Grier, the superintendent of the high school, held out his hand. “Have a safe drive home. I look forward to hearing from you.”
Misty smiled and shook his hand, then turned to the other school board members and followed suit. Everyone was kind. Everyone was smiling. Everyone seemed optimistic.
She was numbly compliant, just going through the motions.
Misty walked out of the interview room ahead of the school board. She was torn as to what she should do. As she walked down the shiny vinyl floor of the high school, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor sounded like a death march. The path for her life that she'd envisioned for the past year was now obstacle-free.
So what the hell was her deal?
On one hand, she was ecstatic. This was what she and Brandon had talked about for months. Not to mention this was the answer to what they’d prayed for. There would be no “what ifs” or “when” to their conversations anymore. She would be moving to Rapid if she chose to accept the offer the school board members made her. Case closed.
On the other hand, an odd sense of loss settled over her, squeezing out any happiness that this new chapter in her life might bring. There had been so many board members staring at her and asking her questions this past hour that just taking her next breath had become difficult. Taking a deep breath now, she found the ladies’ room and took a few moments to collect herself before heading back to Garner with Brandon.
She washed her hands, dried them, and stood in the empty bathroom staring at herself in the mirror. Brandon always thought things through from an intellectual standpoint and never allowed his heart to have full rein when he made a decision. He had a knack, as most men did, for compartmentalizing, and she'd tried to learn the skill throughout her time with him. Her compartmentalizing skills had been put to the test over the weekend after the rodeo. She wasn't sure she'd ever been so conflicted. Here it was Monday morning, and she had to make one of the biggest decisions of her life. But she couldn’t allow thoughts of David returning to invade this decision of hers. She had to compartmentalize, but she wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
If she took the job in Rapid, she would truly be leaving everyone and everything behind. No more trips home on the weekends if she wanted. Holidays, yes, but she wouldn't be going home to Garner for spring break or when her family needed a little extra help on the ranch like she'd done while in college. No more summers in Garner—not if she wanted to make a life here. Hell, even Brandon wouldn't be joining her in Rapid for another three years.
But when he did, they'd get married. Start a family. She didn't worry about him in Vermillion. He just wasn't the type to have a woman on the side, so it was only time she had to battle.
But the devil on her shoulder wasn't budging, and sometimes that voice was louder than the commonsense path she and Brandon had talked about.
She could work on her family's ranch until a job opened up in a closer town. A town that wasn't four hours away, like Faulkton or Ipswich. What would it be like to have kids with Brandon here in Rapid once they were married and settled down? The kids would only see their grandparents and uncle on holidays. That was something she'd never envisioned for her future, mainly because she'd spent most of her life daydreaming about being married to David. Being neighbors with her family. An impossible dream that she should have outgrown long before she had.
She stood tall and ran her fingers over her hair. She was going
to march out and tell Brandon the good news. Make a mature decision based on a lifetime and not a child's dream that had long since been crushed.
When she walked out of the high school, Brandon was waiting for her by his car. He leaned against it with a smile on his face as though he already knew the outcome of the interview.
“Well?” he said as she walked up.
She bit her lip and took him in as she stood before him. Light blue eyes, an easy smile, and a kind heart. Any girl would be happy to be with him. Why wasn't she happier? “They offered me the job.”
He closed the distance and wrapped her in a bear hug. Her feet never left the ground. She let out a deep breath and held on to him like he contained all the answers to the questions swirling in her mind. As though he could take away all the fears that were plaguing her.
“Remember this moment, because this is where it starts,” he said in her ear. “Before you know it, we'll be buying a house and starting a family.” He pulled back and put his palms on her cheeks, his facial expression turning serious. “I know three years is a long time, but I know we'll be fine. I swear on everything holy, I'll never hurt you the way he did.”
All the peripheral sounds she'd heard moments before—the birds, the traffic, the lonely siren in the distance—had been sucked away by an invisible force. She'd always thought the saying that someone's blood running cold was dumb until that moment when it happened to her. He might as well have literally punched her in the stomach and violently taken her breath, because that’s exactly what his words had done to her.
Brandon obviously didn’t notice her reaction because he kept talking. She could see his lips moving and could hear his voice, but couldn't make out the words he was saying. Maybe the change in her had only occurred on the inside. Hard to tell. Abby's words came back to her again, the very same words that had been plaguing her all weekend. There sure was a thin line between love and hate, but just how thin was that line when it came to her and David?
Yes, Misty had learned to compartmentalize from Brandon. But he'd just busted one of her compartments open and acknowledged the one glaring fact from her past that she'd tried to keep in that box. She had loved David. For as long as she could remember she had loved him more than anything or anyone else, and he'd crushed her by leaving her. Had absolutely torn her world apart. Hearing it from Brandon somehow made it feel more real, more present, than it had in the past few years.
If she took this job, she wouldn't just be saying goodbye to her friends, family, and the town she'd grown up in. She'd be saying goodbye to any chance of being with David ever again. Because when he left, she'd been forced to walk another path. When she left, he'd be forced to do the same. He'd get over her and start dating, because she'd be giving him no other choice. She'd have to be okay with that. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that anytime she did go home she'd run into him and whatever woman he'd chosen.
Her chest constricted to the point of pain once again. David marrying someone else and having children made her sick to her stomach. If she said yes to this job, that scenario would be a given. It would be a consequence of her decision, and she’d have to face that for the rest of her life.
“Are you happy?” Brandon asked.
She wasn't sure what he'd been talking about when she’d zoned out, but she slowly nodded to answer his question. She didn't trust her voice, so she said nothing. No, she wasn’t happy, but she couldn’t articulate to him why, so she lied.
Brandon smiled and kissed her, oblivious to her inner turmoil. “Good. Let's go get something to eat before we hit the road. It's going to be a long drive.”
She rounded the car and opened the door. Before she got in, she glanced back at the school where she'd be teaching at in the fall. She'd be on her own for the first time in her life. Away from her twin. Away from the ranch. Garner would be a tiny, dusty speck in the rearview mirror, and so would the man who'd finally come home.
Maybe then the line between love and hate would fade into something that didn't hurt so much.
“Come on, get out of the way,” David yelled at the cattle that were crowding the feed wagon. He hit the horn repeatedly until the cattle in front of the tractor finally caught on. He maneuvered the tractor up nice and close to the feed bunks and hit the lever to release the silage. He moved forward while still hitting the horn to keep the cattle out of the way.
When cows smelled silage they made a break for it. The sight reminded him of ants piling out of a disturbed ant hill. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't missed this, even while getting agitated at the livestock. Soon the cattle would be put out to pasture, and he wouldn’t have to do this every morning.
There wasn't anything quite like working on a ranch, which was why he was so surprised Misty was willing to give it all up. She'd always had a nerdy streak to her, and he'd often found her nose buried in a book. If she stuck around here, she could have the best of both worlds, but if she left Garner, she’d be giving up a large piece of what she loved so much.
Sure, he'd known plenty of kids that left the farm and never looked back. He'd come close to being one of them. Maybe Matt was right, and she'd come back sooner or later. David worried if that happened, it would most likely be much later in her life. Then where would they be?
Nowhere, just like they were now. Problem was, he was a fighter. He'd been raised that way. He'd fought for the love of his dad for years until one day he'd finally realized he'd never get it. But where was he now? Back home trying to gain a relationship with a man who wanted very little, if nothing, to do with him. He just wasn’t prone to giving up easily when it came to the people he loved and wanted in his life.
Was he going to go and knock his head against the wall with Misty, just like he'd done with his dad all these years? Other than that moment they'd shared at the rodeo, she'd made it perfectly clear that she was with the man she wanted.
And the two were in Rapid today. He checked his watch. Almost two in the afternoon. They were probably on their way home. He wondered if she would get the job on the spot or if they'd told her they'd get back to her. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. He just didn’t want to think about it.
After he was finished feeding cattle, he parked the feed wagon in the barn. His dad was waiting for him as usual. They hadn't exactly hit what he'd call a truce, even though David was busting his ass and hoping his dad would finally see that he wasn't a waste of oxygen. Instead, they worked around each other, passing by here and there to see what had been done and what needed to get done.
He looked at his dad, standing there in his denim overalls with a red kerchief hanging out of his back pocket. He still hadn’t turned to acknowledge his son. “Hey. I fixed the baler. Damn thing sprung a leak.”
His dad grunted. His attention was on one of the many saddles that were hanging on the wall. David frowned. Big Mike hadn't been on a horse in years. One of his dad's major problems was thinking he could do something beyond his ability. Like running a ranch this size on his own. He hoped Big Mike didn’t have it in his mind to get on a cutting horse.
Big Mike turned and looked over his shoulder at him. “You leave enough silage on the ground?”
David hadn't spilled much at all, but he knew better than to argue. He'd learned long ago that he could never win an argument with Big Mike. “Sorry. I'll do better next time.” As though he hadn't been feeding cattle his whole life.
Then again, his mind had been elsewhere.
“I don't have much else for you to do today.”
The hell he didn't, but David shrugged it off. It was early afternoon, and there was always something to do at the Buchanan ranch. Before the bonfire, he'd replaced the tires on his truck, gave it a tune-up, took it out on the road, and filled the tank with fresh gas. He supposed he could climb up on to the roof of the guesthouse and check the shingles. He hadn't brought up the possibility of replacing them with his dad yet.
Big Mike turned suddenly and nailed him with a glare. The skin underneath his
chin shook with his sudden movement. “You lookin' to take over this ranch someday?”
Loaded question if David ever heard one. If he said yes, his father would tell him to dig his head out of his ass, or worse. If he said no, then he'd call him a lousy son. He decided on a more diplomatic approach. “Guess that's up to you. We haven’t really discussed it.” For years, he wanted to add. When he'd been younger, before his teens, his dad had always talked about his son taking over when the time came.
Something had changed in his dad when David hit thirteen or fourteen years old. He wished he could pinpoint what it was that he'd started doing wrong, but he'd never been able to.
His father put his hands on his hips and stared at the feed wagon. “By the time I was your age, I was doing more on the ranch than my father. Up before dawn and didn't hit the rack before dark.” He looked at David. “The kids in your generation don't seem to know the definition of hard work. They take off to college and get a damn degree they don't need. When are you going to step up?”
David held his hands out. “What the hell do you think I'm doing? I was up before dawn this morning. I've been busting my ass since I got back.”
“Where were you during calving season?” Big Mike yelled. His face started turning red. “Where were you at three in the morning when I climbed out of a warm bed to help with birthings?”
“I was deployed to Afghanistan.”
“And now you're pining over Misty with your head in the clouds. She's with Brandon Reynolds—that stuck-up little shit of Harry's. Like father, like son. I wouldn’t trust either of those men with something as simple as a pile of manure. And she’s dating one of them. So you have to make a choice. Do you want this ranch or you want her? Make a decision.” He shook his head with his lip curled back from his teeth. “Hell, the decision’s already been made for you, hasn't it? I heard they're planning to move to Rapid when he's done with school. What are you gonna do then? Fall apart like you did in high school? If you want me to turn over this ranch to you when the time comes, you better damn well prove this ranch means more to you than anyone. And I mean anyone.”