by Raeann Blake
“Not just yet. But I think we’re getting closer. Hailey, please come out there with us. I can’t lie there without you. I just want to feel you close to me,” he said quietly as he crossed to her then stopped beside her, gazing down into her face but not touching her.
“Clay…”
“Please, Hailey,” he whispered as he lifted his hand and let his fingers trail down her cheek. “I’ll be good. I won’t do anything, I swear. Just sleep with me. Just lie close to me. Hailey…” He stopped for just a second, trying so hard not to say the words. But they came out anyway.
“I need you with me.”
The breath that went in and out slowly was ragged as she leaned her head slightly to press her cheek harder against his hand. She held his eyes for several seconds then nodded slightly.
“I can’t seem to lie down. That’s why I’m in here. I couldn’t go in there and lie down,” she admitted. She let out a relieved sigh when he pulled her close and locked his arms around her.
“Let’s turn out your light and get a blanket. Then come lie down with me. Okay?”
When she nodded and whispered an okay back to him, he finally felt that band that had been tightening around his chest all night suddenly snap and he was free to breathe again. He walked with her back to the office, holding onto her hand. He still didn’t let go as they went through her room and got a blanket. Once they were out the door, he pulled her tight against his side and walked back to his sleeping bag beside the smoldering embers of the campfire. He only let her go long enough to unzip it and lay it out flat then shook the blanket out to lay across the top of it. As soon as that was done, he held her hand as she pushed off her boots then sat down. When she was under the blanket, he quickly removed his and slid in beside her. He pulled her to him and folded her into his arms with a soft sigh before he pressed his lips against her hair.
“Now. Now it’s okay,” he whispered.
They both drifted to sleep with their bodies molded together, arms around each other. And none of them heard the soft footsteps from the darkness of the trees at the back of the yard.
* * *
“Well, I’ll be goddamned. I know Bozeman’s not that big, but why does it seem like every time I come into town I run into him,” Hailey muttered under her breath.
“Just keep walkin’, Hailey,” Davey said quietly.
Hailey pulled her chin up and didn’t even look at Yates when he stopped right in their path. Instead of stopping she started around him.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Lambert. I understand you had a little problem in getting some of the items you ordered last week. Had to go to two places, right? It seems a little silly for you to have to do that when you can get everything you need from me,” Yates said as they walked by.
“Maybe to you. That fifty percent decrease in price makes it worth it.”
When she still didn’t stop, he coldly said, “You don’t think he’s gonna keep you out there just because he’s screwing you, do you?”
Hailey’s steps stopped just as quickly as Davey’s did. “Yates, you’ve got a filthy mouth and filthier mind. You owe Ms. Lambert an apology,” Davey growled.
“The truth doesn’t need apologies. Isn’t that right, Ms. Lambert?”
The absolutely pure and potent rage had flashed through her so quickly that she wondered how it had left her cold inside instead of erupting with it. This was one of the few times in her life that she hoped her true feelings really did show through her expression, but her voice was cold and sharp.
“You are just bound and determined to tick me off even more than you already have. You, sir, are rude, a liar, and a cheat. Those faults are compounded by the fact that you are also completely devoid of any morals, scruples, ethics, and common decency.
“Up until now, I’ve let slide all of my suspicions about you and all of the women who have held my job before me. You’ll find that that will no longer be the case. From this day forward, I will make it my sole purpose in life to find out if there was any single woman out of each and every one of them who was persuaded, encouraged or ordered by you to take that job and try to put him out of business. Do not think that if I find that you did that there will be one person in Montana who doesn’t know about it before I’m done. I would imagine that you have a lot of customers from the ranches around here. I wonder how many of them will start going over their books with a fine-tooth comb once they hear about what you did and how long you overcharged him then refused to make it right. I seriously doubt that there will be a single customer who doesn’t start looking at their own business managers and wondering, maybe start to do a little digging of their own.”
The words had come out so rapid-fire that he hadn’t even had a chance to say anything until she was done. The longer she talked the redder his face got.
“I’ll sue you for slander if you start spreading lies like that,” Yates barked.
“And there’s your problem. Slander implies misrepresentation. Since I have proof, you’d never win that case. But you go ahead and file it. And we’ll file a countersuit for the money that you owe him. Then it’ll be a matter of public record, out there for the whole world to see. Suppliers start to get a little antsy when investigators start showing up to go over their books to see if any of that money that you overcharged him got kicked back to any of them. You might find they’re not quite so anxious to do business with you after that happens,” Hailey shot right back.
“Is there a problem here?”
Hailey turned to find the low, calm voice at her elbow only to be confronted with the uniformed chest of a Bozeman police officer. She smiled her best smile as she looked up at him and shook her head.
“Not at all, sir. No problems at all. We were just on our way. You have a good day now,” she said easily then turned and grabbed Davey’s arm, shoving him backwards as they started for the truck without looking back at Yates again. She waited until they were in the truck before she looked back and found the officer still standing there watching her with just the slightest grin on his face as Yates stormed off in the opposite direction.
Davey laughed quietly then reached over and picked up her hand as he started the truck. He kissed the back of it then finally met her eyes.
“You are my new hero. I’m so glad Charlie sent me. I wouldn’t have missed that for the world.”
He backed out and had just shifted gears when she exploded. He calmly propped an elbow against the door and his face against his hand so that it would hide the grin on his face as she let out more cuss words than he’d ever heard a woman say and he wasn’t sure he’d heard some of them from any man. He cut his eyes over to the officer that was still watching them and saw the small grin he’d had earlier spread into a larger one as he watched them go by. He had no doubt that he knew exactly what was going on just by the look on Hailey’s face and the way she lifted her foot and viciously kicked the dash just as they passed him.
She had managed to calm some on the drive back. She left Davey in charge of making sure all of the boxes from the back of the truck got carried into the stables, but he didn’t miss the way she scowled at anybody and everybody who dared to speak to her as she started for the house. He finally chuckled quietly and then found Charlie. He told him everything that happened. Charlie immediately found Laine and told him. Laine told Shack and then went to find Clay.
When Isobell asked what was wrong with Hailey he just shook his head.
“I’ll have to tell you later, but it has to do with Yates. Where is she?”
“She came in and went straight to her office then shut the door.”
“Okay. Where’s Clay?”
“He’s out back, I think.”
Laine nodded and started that way. He glanced at Hailey’s still closed door but kept walking. As soon as he went through the door, his steps hesitated slightly. Clay was sitting out by the remains of the campfire from the night before just staring at it. He absolutely didn’t want to tell him this. He knew that he’d imm
ediately come down from that high as soon as Kathy and Gage had left with the boys. This was bound to just make it worse. He walked slowly to him then sank down on the ground right beside him and nudged his shoulder with his.
“Hey, buddy. What’s goin’ on?”
Clay shrugged slightly and said, “It’s too quiet, I guess. Is Hailey back yet?”
“Yeah, Clay. She’s here, but…”
When he trailed off Clay turned to him warily then glanced at the house and started to rise. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Clay, sit down and I’ll tell you.” He waited for him to sit back down and then told him everything that Charlie had told him. He watched cautiously as Clay’s jaw hardened the second he said that they had run into Yates. By the time he was finished, the only thing moving was the eyes that grew colder by the second.
“You tell me how the hell he knew I was sleeping with her. Who else knew besides her?”
“Hell, Clay. You slept out here in the open with her last night. Anybody could have walked back here and seen you. No damn way did it come from Hailey. From what Davey told Charlie if that cop hadn’t shown up when he did there’s no tellin’ what would have happened. He said Yates was positively livid and his face was not just red…it was purple he was so pissed off.
“Clay, she’s locked up in her office in there. You should go in there. But before you do…you keep one thing in mind. If you utter one word about her working with or for Yates, if you imply it in any way…she’ll be gone before dark. Do you understand?” Laine asked quietly.
Clay flexed his jaw several times and shifted his gaze to the house then back to him and nodded slightly.
“Good. Now go in there and tell her everything’s gonna be okay whether you think it will or not. Say it anyway. Let her rant, let her rave, let her cry, whatever she needs to do. Then hold her and tell it’s gonna be okay.”
Clay nodded and rose then started to the house with Laine right behind him. Before he got there he stopped and frowned then set his jaw back into that firm line again as he turned his head to look directly at Laine.
“I’ll be goddamned. Where have we heard that before?” he hissed.
“Heard what, Clay?”
“He might screw you but he won’t keep you,” Clay spat out then waited for it to sink in.
“Lynn,” Laine said evenly then saw Clay’s head nod just slightly. “We can’t prove it, Clay. I can’t fire her without cause.”
“I know. But I want Hailey to know that we know where it came from. And I want Lynn to know that we all know it. Don’t you say one word to anybody about it. I wanna do this myself. I want it to come from me and it’s not gonna be in private. It’s gonna be in front of every hand within hearing distance. Do you have a problem with that?”
Laine shook his head and said, “I don’t have any problem with it at all. Go on now. Go hold her.”
Clay looked back to the house and nodded as he started walking again. “Thanks, Laine,” he whispered as they went through the door. He crossed to Hailey’s office and Laine started to the kitchen. He heard Clay knock softly then open the door without waiting for an answer just as he went through the kitchen door to talk to Isobell.
“I don’t want to talk right now, Clay,” Hailey said hoarsely. She had tried to dry her face as soon as she heard the knock but he opened the door before she could and knew he had seen it. Her eyes were probably swollen anyway. She glanced up at him then right back down to the desk again. She knew that word would get to him quickly and there wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that he would think the whole thing was staged for Davey’s benefit.
Clay didn’t even stop. He walked straight around the desk and put a hand on each arm, pulling her out of the chair and into his arms.
“Come here. I’m so sorry that he said what he did. I should have gone with you. I should have known that he’s probably sitting down there just waiting on you to cross the city limits just so he can say something else to hurt you and try to make you feel bad. It’ll be okay, Hailey. I swear to God, it’ll be okay,” he whispered to her then tightened his arms around her when she burst out crying.
“Hailey, it just kills me for you to cry. But I know you’re upset, so go ahead. Go ahead,” he whispered to her as he pressed his lips against her hair and held on as she cried against his chest.
The combination of surprise and relief had shot through her so quickly that the first sob was out before she could stop it. And once she started she couldn’t seem to stop. She’d been so sure that he would be angry and suspicious. To have him in her office, holding her and whispering to her, was the last thing she would have expected to happen. And that place inside of her that just kept inching open and letting him fill the empty spot, crept open a little more. That made her cry even harder. She had not shed many tears in her life before she came there. Lately it seemed like it was the only thing she could do. But what tears she had cried had always been in private except the one time when she broke her arm. In fairness, she knew her father was concerned and he cared that she was hurt. But it didn’t come across in that gruff voice that told her to stop acting like a baby. There was no one to hold her and comfort her the way Clay was doing now. And she had certainly never had someone whisper to her that everything would be okay. She knew it was still another mistake, but she couldn’t help letting his warmth and his strength flow into her and build up her hopes.
When the sobs finally subsided, Clay turned them and leaned back against the desk but kept her between his legs as he moved his hands up to cup her face then gently dry her tears with his thumbs.
“Now, I want you to listen to me. There are two things I want you to do. One is ride to Mystery Creek with me. Just to get on a horse and get away from here. Will you do that?”
Hailey nodded silently as she held his eyes and waited. “Okay. The other thing is that I have something to tell you. And you’re gonna get pissed off and you’re gonna get upset again. I want to tell you now because I want you to do that right here. When we go in those stables, I want you calm and cool. Can you try to do that for me?”
Hailey frowned and held her breath for a few seconds, wondering what it was he was going to say. Had she been wrong? Was he able to comfort her but still think she was working with Yates?
“Just say it, Clay,” she said quietly.
“Okay. I want you to think about what he said. And I want you think back to the day we were coming back home from moving the cattle. Compare what he said and what was said to you that day,” he said quietly then let his hands slide down to her waist to hold on to her. He was pretty sure she would be headed for the door when she figured it out and he wanted to keep her from doing that. The frown deepened as she tried to figure out what he meant. Her eyes had dropped down thoughtfully and he was positive that he pinpointed the exact second it started to sink in because they started coming back up slowly until they met his. He sucked in just the slightest breath when he found that the pretty, warm amethyst colored eyes were now sparkling purple ice.
“That bitch. That goddamned bitch,” Hailey said hoarsely and tried to jerk away from him. “Let me go. Goddammit, let me go.”
“No. Hailey, no. Come here. I’ll let you go if you want me to, but you’re not going out that door. Not until you can walk into those stables with me without any hint of being upset in any way.”
“And what the hell makes you think that’s gonna happen? I’m just supposed to forget it? I’m just supposed to let it slide?” Hailey snapped.
When she kept trying to pull back from him, he tightened his hands on her waist then pulled her roughly against him and locked his arms around her.
“Dammit, quit fighting me and listen. I have no intention of letting it slide. But I want us to handle this in a way that lets her know without any doubt that we both know that she’s talking to Yates. I want her to know that every hand around us knows it, too. Walk in there beside me, be close to me. You walk in there with me and show her that she’s not ru
nning you off. I’ll take care of making sure she knows that we all know what she did. Do this for me, Hailey. Let me do this for you…for both of us,” he said quietly.
When none of the tension left her body but he saw her eyes fill with tears again he lifted one hand to pull her head back down to his chest.
“Baby, please don’t. Don’t cry anymore. Please,” he whispered hoarsely.
“It’s getting late. If we’re gonna take that ride, we should go,” Hailey said quietly as she snuggled against his shoulder.