by Raeann Blake
“You do seem to have a way about you, Mr. Yates. It seems like every time I walk down the street I find the two of you in an argument. Why is that?”
Hailey jerked her head around to find that same calm, smooth voice and looked up at the same police officer who had shown up the day before.
“Like you said, he does have a way about him. Have a nice day, Officer,” Hailey said evenly then spun on her heel and started for the truck.
“Cardell…” Yates started before Clay cut him off with a cold voice and colder eyes.
“What she said goes for me. Except I’ll add one thing. You’ve got a filthy mouth. Even growin’ up the way I did, even I know you don’t talk to a woman the way you talked to her yesterday or today. I’m growing a little concerned about the way you show up every time she comes into town. Seems she can’t go anywhere without you following her around and stopping her to…chat.”
Laine worked hard to keep the grin off of his face when he saw the police officer’s eyebrows jump just slightly and he shifted a completely bland expression from Clay to Yates.
“Wouldn’t be stalking her, would you, sir?”
“Have a nice day, Officer,” Laine said quickly and grabbed Clay’s arm, pulling him backwards until he turned around and walked back to the truck with him. They both opened the doors just in time to catch the tail end of the tirade.
“…slimy, arrogant bastard. God as my witness, if that man dies I will have a good alibi. Who the fuck does he think he is? Like he thinks…” She finally closed her mouth when she realized both men were grinning as Clay backed the truck out of the parking space.
“And just what the hell are you smiling at?” Hailey snapped.
“Just wondered how long that cop’s gonna spend trying to decide whether or not Yates is stalking you, that’s all.”
“Huh? What’d I miss? You think he’s stalking me?”
“Slow down, Hailey. The cop said it, not us. Something tells me that he might want to curtail his little accidental run-ins with you, though. Didn’t take that boy long to get interested,” Laine said.
“Wait a minute. Do you really think that it’s not accidental?” Hailey asked with her own concern growing now.
Clay shrugged his shoulders and glanced at Laine then finally answered her. “Well…sugar, Bozeman’s not exactly New York City, but it’s not West Yellowstone, either. It’s pretty damn odd that he manages to show up every time you come into town.”
Hailey frowned then shook her head. “But every time I’ve run into him, it’s been in a different place. Not one of them in a place that I would go every time I come into town. Just like today. How could he possibly know that I would be going to the post office and manage to show up at just the right time?”
“I don’t know the answer to that, Hailey. I just know that it bothers me that you can’t seem to get inside the city limits without having to deal with him. Maybe we just need to make sure there’s always somebody with you when you come into town until he gets it through his thick head that he’s not going to get the business back.”
When she frowned at that he lifted one arm and slipped it over her shoulder then pulled her closer to him. He was so glad he came. And even if she had to listen to what the man said again, he was glad it had happened. The look on Yates’ face told him everything he needed to know. Both Laine and Davey had been right. The man was so angry that he was practically frothing at the mouth and he absolutely wanted Hailey gone. There was no way that she was working for him or with him. He met Laine’s eyes just briefly over the top of Hailey’s head and nodded slightly. He knew that he would understand that he got it now. He and Shack had both been right all along. There was an ease that settled through him, a peaceful feeling. The plea that he had uttered without thinking the night before on the porch came back to him. And so did her answer.
Hailey, stay here with me forever.
I will, Clay. I will stay here with you forever.
The smile tugged at his lips and he leaned his head down just enough to press his lips against her hair then tightened his arm around her as he drove back to the ranch.
“I think I’ve made a decision. After watching you with Yates, I think it’s time to turn Laine and Shack over to you,” he said quietly.
Hailey chuckled and smiled up at him brightly when Laine burst out laughing.
“Hey, now. I’ll go for that. I never did get the full list of what it’s worth to her and Isobell. This could be fun,” Laine said easily.
Hailey turned her head to look at him and said, “Well, here’s the thing. It’s not so much what it’s worth to us as it is what it’s worth to you not to have to listen to me every day…all day…and all night.”
Laine shot a narrowed look to Clay when he chuckled then dropped his eyes down to Hailey. “Yeah? Want me to ask you what I asked Clay when he brought it up earlier?”
“Laine,” Clay warned, sobering quickly.
“What? What did you ask him? Don’t think you’re getting away with that. What did you ask him?”
Clay grunted slightly when Laine didn’t even hesitate. “Where would we have found your clothes this morning if we were in the house?”
Hailey didn’t even blink. “What’s wrong with where they were? Are you afraid we’ll embarrass you?”
“Not me, darlin’. You maybe. I don’t care who you are, no way am I gettin’ up and leaving the room when a woman undresses in front of me. And I damn sure ain’t leavin’ if a man’s the one doin’ the undressin’.”
“So you like to watch?” Hailey asked innocently.
Hailey managed not to laugh when Laine’s eyebrows went up in surprise and his mouth opened then shut with nothing coming out before a wide smile spread across his face.
“Is that an invitation?” he finally managed.
Hailey immediately frowned and muttered, “Damn. That didn’t go quite the way I planned it.”
Laine and Clay both burst out laughing and Clay hugged her tighter against him.
* * *
“That raise we gave Isobell, it was ten percent, right?” Clay asked. When she nodded in agreement, he added, “Okay. If we can get Shack and Laine to move in here, let’s bump it up another fifteen percent. Can we afford that?”
“I believe so. I’ll run the numbers to make sure, but I think you’re fine,” she said then stopped and looked up when Laine and Charlie appeared in the doorway.
“Clay, I uh…I need to talk to you and Laine. There’s something I need to tell you. Hailey, would you mind?” Charlie said quietly.
“Of course not. I think I’ll walk outside and get some fresh air,” she said quietly. The look on Charlie’s face said it wasn’t good. She went through the door and heard it close quietly just as she went through the front one. She started down the steps and across the yard to the stables but stopped when she saw Lynn working with one of the horses in the corral. There wasn’t a single other person around. The other hands had evidently isolated her since they found out about Yates. She sighed quietly and walked to the corral then stopped to watch her work. Neither of them spoke until Lynn backed the horse up and let the calf she had separated from the others run back to join them.
“What do you want?” Lynn snapped.
“You’re good at that. I’ve seen a lot of very experienced hands who don’t sit a horse as well as you do,” Hailey said quietly. The narrowed, suspicious gaze she got in return didn’t surprise her but she didn’t say anything else.
“Thanks,” Lynn finally muttered.
When she turned the horse for the gate, Hailey moved over to it and opened it for her. After she rode through it, she dismounted and started to the stables but then stopped and turned back to her.
“I didn’t talk to that Yates guy. I don’t know him. I’ve never even met him. I am loyal to this ranch and to Clay. I would never do or say anything to undermine him in any way, not even to get you off this ranch,” Lynn said evenly.
Hailey watched her for s
everal seconds and then nodded slightly. “I can’t tell you why, but I believe that.”
“You…you do?” Lynn asked in surprise.
“Yes. And that makes me think somebody set you up. Somebody who was close enough to hear what you said and repeated it to Yates, knowing that we’d think it was you,” Hailey said quietly as she leaned back against the corral. She could easily read the slight confusion then barely controlled anger that followed it.
“Why would they do that? I’m not hurting anybody. The only reason they would have to do that is to try to get me fired. And the only person that I know wanted that before this started was you.”
Hailey shook her head. “I don’t want you to get fired, Lynn. You might not have had a tough time finding a place like this, but I can guarantee you that they’re few and far between. You were born to do this. I have no desire to take it away from you. I just want us to be able to co-exist here. That’s all. As for why, I haven’t figured that out yet. You haven’t had any problems with anybody since you’ve been here?”
Lynn hesitated for several minutes and Hailey knew she was debating whether or not what she said was true. Finally she scowled slightly and said, “Nobody but you and Pepper.”
“Pepper? I know none of you liked her, but you actually had problems with her?”
Lynn looked down at the ground for a few seconds then shifted her eyes to the corral like she was studying the calves there. “When she was here, she was seeing one of the hands even while she was trying to get Clay into bed. He’d sneak out of the bunkhouse at night and up to the house. She’d let him in and he’d stay up there for a couple of hours. I caught her outside one day and told her I didn’t care if she screwed every hand on the place as long as she left Clay alone. Told her if she didn’t, I was gonna tell Clay what she was doing.”
“What did she say? Did she stop seeing him?”
“She told me to quit dreaming. Told me I wasn’t his type and he’d never see me that way. The next night was when he fired her.”
“Oh. So…wait a minute. Do you think he might still be seeing her? Who was it?”
Lynn turned to look at her steadily then turned away without saying anything.
“Lynn, wait. This man…was he close enough to hear what you said that day?”
When she only nodded, Hailey said, “Lynn, we need to know who this is. We need to know if he’s still seeing her and talking to her about things on this ranch. The people that were closest to us were Clay, Laine, Charlie, and…no. Charlie? It was Charlie?” she trailed off with a whisper as she looked back at the house.
“What’s going on, guys?”
Laine shrugged his shoulders and pointed at Charlie. “He said he needed me to come up here with him, that he needed to talk to both of us.”
Clay waited silently as he saw Charlie drag in a deep breath then lift his eyes to meet Laine’s then shifted them to his in a steady gaze.
“Lynn didn’t talk to Yates. It was Pepper,” he said quietly.
“Excuse me? How did Pepper know anything? And how do you know this?” Clay snapped.
“Dammit. Guys, I love my job. And I love this ranch. Please don’t fire me over this. But I couldn’t stand by and watch what everybody’s doing to Lynn when I know it wasn’t her fault. I was seeing Pepper when she was here. Late at night after you went to bed, I’d come up here sometimes and she’d let me in. I’ve seen her a couple of times since you fired her. She asked me a few days ago if Lynn was still mooning over you. They’d had some kind of fight right before you fired her and she asked the question. I told her yes and I told her what Lynn said to Hailey that day. I was just trying to make points with her. I didn’t mean to betray anything. I swear to God I didn’t know she was talking to Yates. It’ll never happen again. I’m sorry. I should have said something right away, but I really don’t wanna lose my job,” Charlie finally finished quietly.
Laine and Clay’s eyes met and Laine watched as Clay’s jaw clenched and unclenched several times before he nodded slightly before he turned back to Charlie.
“You’re not gonna lose your job, Charlie. I do wish you’d told us right away, but you’re not gonna lose your job. You owe Lynn an apology. We all do. And you need to make this right with the hands. They need to know,” Laine said gently.
Charlie let out a ragged breath of relief and nodded immediately. “I know. I’ll apologize to her and then I’ll call a meeting with all of the hands and I’ll tell them all in front of her. Guys, I’m really sorry. I would never betray you in any way and I love Hailey to death. I’d never do anything to hurt her.”
“Hailey’s fine, Charlie. We all are. You’ve been here a long time and one of the few people on this earth that I trust. But I want you to understand something. If you want to keep seeing her, that’s entirely your business and I would never presume to interfere in your personal life. That said, you need to keep in mind what happened and watch what you say to her. I don’t care if she knows I’m sleeping with Hailey. I don’t even care if Yates knows it. What I do care about is whether or not you say something to her that she might be able to use to give Yates ammunition to destroy what we’ve got here. Our financial standing, how many head of cattle, when we’re moving them, where they are. There are a lot of things that don’t need to be disclosed to people outside these fences. Do you understand?” Clay said evenly.
“Yes, sir. I won’t be seeing her anymore, Clay. She took something that I said to her in a private moment and told it to Yates. She won’t get a second chance. The sex wasn’t that damn great anyway,” Charlie said quietly.
Clay’s mouth twitched as he cut a glance to Laine then back to him. “So I didn’t miss much, huh?”
Charlie cleared his throat and shook his head slightly with just the smallest grin. “Honest to God, you didn’t. Better than nothin’, but then again, a knothole in a fence post is probably better than nothin’.”
Clay and Laine both burst out laughing when Charlie blushed slightly and grinned sheepishly. Clay finally ran a hand down his face and nodded.
“Okay. Go get Hailey and Lynn both. Bring them back up here and let’s tell them both at the same time. Then you have your meeting with the hands after that,” Clay said quietly.
“Yes, sir,” Charlie said then immediately rose and went through the door. Clay waited until he heard the front door close before he turned back to Laine.
“I’ll be goddamned. Hailey tried to tell me yesterday that it didn’t make sense for it to be Lynn. She was right. When am I gonna get this bitch out of my life?”
“Maybe you just did, buddy. Hailey will be okay with this, right? She won’t hold this against him, will she?” Laine asked.
“I don’t think so. It took me a little while to figure it out, but she wasn’t crying yesterday because she was hurt. She was crying because she was pissed off and I think probably because she thought I’d wonder if it was all a setup. I guess she saw through me better than I would have guessed,” he said then stopped talking when he heard the front door open.
When they reached the office, Laine stood and motioned to the chair. “Sit down, ladies. Charlie has something he needs to talk to you about.”
Charlie looked at Laine then Clay before he looked back to Hailey and held her eyes evenly for several seconds. Then he looked directly at Lynn.
“I’m sorry. I know you didn’t talk to Yates. And I knew it all along. I should have told them right away, but I didn’t want to lose my job,” he said quietly. Then he went through the whole explanation again. When he finished he waited silently as Lynn looked at Hailey then back to Charlie and shrugged her shoulders slightly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a tough hide,” she said quietly.
“I should have handled this from the first, Lynn. Not a great start at being the top hand. I should have been thinking more about you than myself. I’ll do better. Hailey, I’m so sorry,” he said hoarsely.
Hailey immediately rose and went to him then tiptoed t
o kiss him on the cheek. “I agree with Lynn. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a tough hide, too. But I do have a question. What are you doing with somebody like that, Charlie? You deserve so much better.”
Charlie lifted his eyes to her and nodded. “I know. But you know how guys are. When somebody’s offering, we don’t often pass it up unless we’ve got a reason to. I didn’t really have one before. I do now.”