by Raeann Blake
“The deputy who was interviewing him went out and left him alone for a while then went back in there with a wide smile. Told him the girl had told them everything and he was in some kind of hot water. Said about the best thing he could do now was tell them everything he knew.”
Mitch stopped and smiled a little then went on. “They said that boy couldn’t talk fast enough. He called the girl a stupid bimbo who couldn’t even give a good blowjob so why should he expect her to know when to shut her mouth. Oh…sorry,” Mitch mumbled as he glanced at Hailey then down to the ground.
“Don’t worry about it. Go ahead. I can’t wait to hear the end of this,” Hailey said quietly.
Mitch nodded then looked at her then back up to Clay. “He said the girl called him and his brother and talked them into calling Abraham Yates and asking him what it would be worth to get Hailey off that ranch. Yates offered him twenty thousand dollars to get her out of there by whatever means they thought would be to their best advantage. She called him and told him anything and everything she heard at the ranch as well as when Hailey would leave. One of those boys would sit out on the highway and then follow her. Then he’d call Yates and tell him where she was.
“And he said it was the girl’s idea for one of them to get on the ranch and try to grab Hailey if they got the chance. And they evidently took some kind of pictures downtown last week and gave them to Yates. He said they were of Hailey talking to the Yates boy and some cop. I’m guessing that was me when I stopped to talk to her and Ms. Garcia at that coffee shop last Saturday. He claimed he didn’t know what Yates did with the pictures.
“Then he told them what really happened last night. Judging by the state of your hands and the band-aid around one of Hailey’s knuckles I’d say at least that part was the truth.”
“What’s going to happen now?” Clay asked quietly.
Mitch shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I can’t say for sure. I imagine that depends in part on you. You could file charges against them for attempted kidnapping. Trespassing for sure. You could maybe even make assault and stalking stick. They’re still holding them right now. But they don’t have any real proof. That boy’s the only one talking and neither of the other two are backing him up. It’s a sure bet that Yates is not going to admit anything. What does Yates have against you?” he asked as he looked back down at Hailey.
“It’s a long story, but the short version is that he was cheating Clay out of a lot of money and has been for about six months in an effort to make him lose the ranch. I caught him. I don’t have any hard proof but I think he’s sent more than one woman out there to do my job to try to undermine him and take him down.”
“Why? Why does he want you to lose the ranch?” Mitch asked as he looked back to Clay again.
“That’s an even longer story. But part of it is that he fought us for that ranch when my old man died. He took my sister to court to try to take it away from her so she couldn’t give it to me. He lost,” Clay said evenly.
Mitch pursed his lips for a few seconds then nodded. “Let me say this one thing. His store is inside the city limits. Let’s say if I happen to see any of you with him at any point in time, I’ll just assume if I don’t hear gunshots that everything is just fine. You might be reluctant to file charges against him and those three, but he won’t be, so you should be careful.”
Clay nodded slightly without letting his gaze waver. “Thanks. And thanks for telling us this. Nobody will know where it came from.”
“Okay. See you around,” Mitch said then turned and walked away.
Hailey glanced around at the three dark faces and laid a hand on Clay’s chest. “Let’s go get our rings, okay?”
Clay looked down at her then to the other two men before he nodded as he slipped his arms around her and kissed her gently.
“You bet, darlin’. Let’s go, guys,” he said quietly.
Hailey tried to keep them talking as they drove to the jewelry store. She was angry. She was livid. But the looks on the faces of the three men she was with worried her. Instead of letting them know that she pasted a bright smile on her face and tugged Clay’s hand as they started inside. Clay had finally just glanced down at her and smiled slightly when he looked back up then let his eyes drift shut as he shook his head.
Hailey turned to look at the woman behind the counter then back to Clay.
“What?” she asked quietly.
“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” Laine said lowly.
“Guys…what?”
Clay blew out a long breath and said, “That’s Pepper.”
Hailey immediately swiveled her head to look back at the woman again then blew out just the shortest laugh.
“Oh, hell no. We’re going right here,” she said as she pulled Clay’s hand and started forward.
“Good morning. How can I help you?” Pepper said evenly as her eyes flashed at Clay then leveled again back on Hailey.
“Well for starters, you can get another sales clerk…” She stopped and dropped her voice to a whisper and said, “…bitch.”
“Excuse me?”
Hailey lifted her voice back up as she met her eyes evenly. “I don’t believe I stuttered. Oh, I know. It’s the accent, right? I can write it down if you’d like. Wait. I know. Why don’t you get on one of those chat rooms that you like so well and we’ll chat that way. I’ll even be really careful about what I say because I don’t know if you realize it but those things leave a log of every letter you type on the computer. Did you know that?” she asked innocently. The satisfaction flowed through her when she saw the skin pale sharply as her eyes flitted up to Clay then immediately spun and walked through a door without saying another word. It was only a matter of seconds before an older gentleman appeared with a wide smile. Hailey doubted that he saw Pepper come out behind him with a bland look on her face as she moved over to help another customer.
“Hello. My name is Richard. How can I help you this morning?”
“Clay Cardell. This is Hailey Lambert. We’re looking for wedding rings,” Clay said as he extended one hand and pulled Hailey close to his side with the other one. He had almost laughed out loud at the way Hailey had cut Pepper down without saying one mean word. Well…at least nothing after she’d called her a bitch.
Hailey didn’t miss that Pepper’s head jerked back around to them with the glare evident on her face before she turned back to her customer.
“Wonderful. Congratulations to you both. Come right this way. We have some beautiful sets right over here. A trio set?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. All of these are beautiful, but some of them are particularly stunning,” Richard said as he began to lay trays on top of the case. They began to scan them until Clay heard Hailey’s breath catch and he looked at her then followed her gaze.
“Can we see this set?” Clay asked as he pointed to it.
“An excellent choice. The diamonds in this line are absolutely flawless and in this particular set, the sapphires are true Montana Sapphires,” he said as he pulled the set out and handed it to Clay. Clay examined it then turned to Hailey.
Hailey was holding her breath. It was a stunning arrangement. She’d never worn a ring in her life but she could see that on her hand. It had a large solitaire stone on the engagement ring, flanked by round diamonds and sapphires in a channel setting, one that matched the stones in both of the wedding rings.
“Yes?” Clay asked softly.
Hailey finally lifted her eyes to him and nodded slightly. “Yes,” she whispered.
The smile immediately went across his face. The look in her eyes was priceless. He wouldn’t take all the money in the world for this one moment.
“I believe we’re taking this set,” Clay said quietly as he dropped his head just enough to brush against her lips then turned and handed the rings back to the man.
“We have several of these in stock. Let’s get you measured and see if we already have some that will fit or if we need to re-size
these,” he said as he motioned for them both to follow him.
Clay glanced back at Laine and Shack. Laine’s smile was wide. Shack’s was as well, but his eyes were watery again. Clay knew it was happiness for him that put those tears there, but he had to wonder just a little if it was bittersweet for him. As far as he knew Shack had never been out with any woman. He’d always wondered why and had even asked him once. He’d just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a sparsely worded, somewhat cryptic reply that he would never explain.
You really only get one shot, son.
After he had measured both of their fingers and disappeared into the back, it was only a matter of minutes before he returned with a wide smile.
“You are in luck. Mr. Cardell, would you like to do the honor now?” Richard asked then waited until Clay smiled and nodded. He smiled back and opened the case to allow Clay to take the engagement ring out and then turn to Hailey.
He held her eyes just long enough to know the tears were already building when he lifted her trembling hand and placed the ring against the tip of her finger. He had expected his hands to be shaking, but they were steady. If he hadn’t already known it, that alone would have told him how right this was. He slipped the ring down slowly then lifted his eyes to hers.
“I love you,” he whispered.
Hailey breathed in a shallow, uneven breath and whispered back, “And I love you.”
Clay smiled down at her then kissed her gently before he turned and motioned to Laine and Shack. “Come here. Hold on to her while I pay the man.”
Hailey smiled and wiped her face as the men came to her and each one slipped an arm around her. Shack’s was around her shoulder and Laine’s around her waist as they both inspected the ring.
“Wow. That’s beautiful,” Laine said softly then kissed her on the cheek.
“It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Clay glanced back at them then turned back to the counter but spoke to Laine. “So, buddy…did you find something you wanted to buy for that pretty little girl?”
When he didn’t answer him Clay turned back around to find Laine’s eyes on the tray of rings on top of the counter. He glanced at Shack in time to see his eyebrows raised in surprise but when he looked back at Laine he found his gaze had shifted to the case where several diamond necklaces were displayed.
“Yeah. Actually, I did. I’ll take care of that as soon as you’re through there.”
Richard glanced up then around to find Pepper. “I can get Pepper to help you while I’m taking care of this.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Laine said evenly as he met his gaze without flinching. “I’ll wait.”
“Oh. Okay. It’ll just be a few minutes,” he said easily without letting the smile slip even a fraction.
Clay held onto Hailey and had a hand on Shack’s shoulder as Laine bought a beautiful necklace with a serpentine arrangement of diamonds that graduated from large to small. He didn’t hear what Laine said to him just as they turned to go, but he did see the man’s eyes dart to Pepper then right back to Laine again.
“Word to the wise,” Laine said quietly. “Watch your books. And your inventory.”
He held Richard’s gaze long enough to see him look at Pepper then right back and nod slightly. “I’ll do that. Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Cardell, Ms. Lambert. Congratulations to you both. I wish you the best.”
Clay watched Shack intently as they drove. He had insisted on driving so that Clay and Hailey could sit in the back seat of the extended cab truck together. The angry set to his jaw had him a little worried. When he missed the turn to head north to the ranch, that worry grew.
“Old man, where are you going?” he asked quietly.
“Got something I need to take care of,” Shack said lowly. Laine’s head swiveled to look back at Clay then back to Shack again.
They waited silently until Shack turned the wheel sharply and swerved into the parking lot of Yates Wholesale.
“Shack, this is not a good idea,” Laine said quietly.
Shack didn’t even reply. He bailed out of the truck as soon as it was stopped and never looked back.
“Goddammit,” Clay whispered then quickly opened the door and they each started after him.
His steps slowed and then stopped when he found Shack with Yates pushed back against a wall with his forearm across his throat. He glanced at Isaac where he was standing off to the side, casually leaned back against a counter watching.
“You leave that boy alone. You and that bastard did everything you could to break him. And he beat you. He beat you both. I should have killed Clayton long before Clay was even born. I should have killed him a hundred times after that. But I didn’t. I’ll regret that for as long as I live. Don’t think that I’ll make the same mistake with you if you don’t leave him alone,” Shack hissed in the man’s face.
“That little bastard never deserved a damn thing. He was born a bastard and he’ll always be a bastard,” Yates sneered.
“Yates, you were blind back then and you’re blind now. I swear to God I’ll kill you if you mess with him one more time. And there’s a lot more to be known than what you want known. You think I don’t know that you hated Clayton Cardell’s guts. Do you think I didn’t see you slap him on the back when he was facing you and spit on the ground he walked on when his back was turned? Do you really think I don’t know why? You couldn’t stand the bastard. You hated him and everything he had. Don’t think for one minute that I don’t know why you hated him so much. Don’t think for one minute that I don’t know why you have always hated Clay. You leave that boy alone,” Shack said coldly then shoved him once and took a step back.
“You think him marryin’ that girl’s gonna fix everything for him? She’s no different than his mama was. She was downtown with my boy last week. Now she’s marryin’ him? What…he can’t get her to spread her legs for free? His mama didn’t seem to have that problem,” Yates taunted.
Shack immediately spun and shoved him hard against the wall then had his hands around his throat. “Don’t you talk about her. Don’t you talk about her that way. You hated Clayton because Leah wouldn’t look at you. I know how you tormented her. I know how you caught her every time she came into town and tried to get her to see you. I know you convinced yourself that she was going to leave Clayton for you. Just like I know that you and Clayton used to sit around and make fun of her when she wasn’t around. You believed all that stuff he was telling you about not ever touching her anymore. And then she got pregnant. And you hated her, you hated Clayton, and you hated Clay. Because as soon as she was pregnant instead of trying to fend you off with one excuse or another, she started telling you that she couldn’t leave Clayton because of Clay. And you hated her for having sex with Clayton and getting pregnant when she was supposed to belong to you, right? So you decided you’d show her. You married the first girl you could find and got her pregnant just as fast as you could. You wanted to make sure she knew that you were having sex with somebody else like you thought it would matter to her.
“And then he was born. And you hated him even more. He took Leah away. He made it so that she wouldn’t come to you. She was never gonna come to you. She despised you. And she told you that. And that made you hate Clay even more. What I should have done was kill you and that bastard both and taken Leah and kids and gone wherever we had to go. Do you think I don’t know that you’re the one that pointed out to Clayton that Clay’s eyes were blue when his and Leah’s were both brown? Did you think he wouldn’t tell me that you’re the one who so casually mentioned that it was funny that Clay’s hair was blonde when both of theirs were dark? You sorry bastard. You took away the only chance he had to have a normal life. You’re no better than Clayton Cardell. You never were and you never will be. You don’t deserve to…”
Clay finally made himself move and laid a hand on Shack’s shoulder.
“Old man, let him go. You’re gonna kill him. Let him go,” he said quietly
as he pulled back on Shack’s shoulder trying to get him to take his hands from around Yates’ throat.
“Goddammit. Goddammit,” Shack whispered then dropped his hands and turned and walked out of the store.
Clay’s hard gaze landed on Yates then turned to Isaac.
Isaac smiled slightly and jerked his head for the front. “I’ll walk you out. Pepper was on the phone just about the time you walked out of that jewelry store I imagine. Heard there are congratulations in order. Let me offer mine. You’re a lucky man, Clay.”