by Dawn Brower
Emma leaned over and rested her hand on Wes’s arm and said, “I would hardly call what he was doing prancing. He actually looked very uncomfortable.”
Wes snorted at Emma’s description. “It had a lot to do with that harpy that he came with. Vitoria Miene.”
Dallas raised his eyebrow and asked, “Who is she?”
Emma sighed and told him, “She is Ginnifer’s best friend and apparently Colt’s new agent. I hadn’t met her before today. From the little I understand, she brought him here for Ginnifer to interview. Of course she would want his side of the story published somewhere. It helps when you have a best friend with the right connections.”
“Ah well, that makes a bit of sense. He wasn’t here too long was he? I saw him leaving, but I had no idea he was here until I saw him practically run to get into the driver’s seat of his car and race down the driveway. The way he peeled out of here, you would think a bunch of hellhounds were chasing him,” Dallas said.
With those words, a bark of laugher escaped Wes’s mouth. A smile formed on his face for the first time since Dallas had walked into the room. Emma’s own lips turned up into a half smile as Wes said, “Well, that would be my doing. I saw him pull up almost immediately. I told him he only had an hour to get it all done, or I was going to break every bone in his body. It wouldn’t do for the new star quarterback to be incapacitated just as the season begins. Emma grudgingly gave them permission to finish the interview, and I kept watch to make sure they kept their word. Ms. Zeiss didn’t even use forty-five minutes before she walked him back to his car.”
Dallas nodded his head at his two siblings. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you guys out. I got wrapped up in the back pasture. One of the horses threw a shoe, and I had to fix it before the mare hurt herself. While I was out there, I noticed some of the fencing needed to be fixed. Before I knew it, I’d been out there for hours. I have some paperwork to do in the office, so I made myself come back in. That’s when I saw him drive off.”
Emma smiled and tried to reassure him, “Dallas, there isn’t anything you could have done. We handled it. No harm, no foul, right? Well, I’ve work to do before lunch in an hour. I’ll leave you guys here to finish talking. I know you’ll want to discuss how to prevent this from happening again.” With that she got up and slowly walked out of the kitchen.
After she had left the room, Dallas turned to Wes and asked, “Is she really okay?”
“Yeah it was more of a surprise than anything. She really didn’t expect to see him here,” Wes said.
Dallas sighed in frustration. He ran his hands over his mouth, trying to find the right words to express what he was thinking. It really pissed him off that Colt had come to Novak Springs, and he needed to get to the bottom as to why the guy thought it was okay to show up on the ranch, even if it was a brief interview. The prick should’ve known that he wasn’t welcome on the ranch. It had to be something with that other woman. He looked over at Wes and asked, “What do you make of this agent of his?”
“A real piece of work. You know the type—chews men up and spits them out when she’s done with them. What do they call them? A man-eater. Real charming while she’s trying to get what she wants out of you, see ya later when she’s done,” Wes summed up Vitoria for Dallas.
Dallas raised an eyebrow at his description of Vitoria Miene. From the little Dallas knew of her, Vitoria seemed to be the opposite of her best friend, Ginnifer. How had the two polar opposites become friends? It would be interesting to find out more about the woman. He needed to make sure she didn’t feel free to invite Colt back to the ranch. What surprised him the most in Wes’s description was how bitter he sounded when he described Vitoria. He sounded almost pissed off that she was on the ranch. It made Dallas wonder if perhaps he knew her from somewhere else. He shrugged the idea as nonsense and said to Wes, “Well, I will take care of it and make sure he never comes back here again. Don’t worry about dealing with the matter, I’m aware it pissed you off. Go find something to relieve the stress.”
“I’m fine, bro. I needed to cool off a bit. If you need help with anything, I’m willing to pitch in.”
Dallas shook his head at him attempting to dissuade him. “No I’m serious. Go find something or someone else to do. You need to let this go before you see Emma again. You were stressing her out when she was already too pale to begin with. Go to town and take the night off. Come back here and be the carefree Wes we know and love. There can only be one asshole on this ranch at a time. Otherwise we might scare away the help or, God forbid, Emma’s guests.”
“I don’t really want to go out. I’m not really in the mood. I’d rather find something around the ranch to occupy my time.”
“You need to go out and do something. The ranch is the last place you need to be right now,” Dallas explained. “Something is seriously bothering you. I don’t know how much of it has to do with this Tori person. If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. I’ve closed myself off before. But I can’t have you ruining Emma’s program with your bad mood.”
“You know me too well. I do have some stuff on my mind. I can’t talk about it right now.”
“You know where to find me when you’re ready. I may be an ass at times, but you’re my family. I’ll always be here if you need me.”
“I know that. It’s not something I like to admit to. If anyone would understand, it’d be you. When I’m ready, I’ll find you. It may be a while.”
“Good. Go and have fun, but be warned. Once you get back, I’ll have a list of chores for you to do tomorrow. I have a few fences that are going to need mending. I’m sure it will help you keep your mind from rolling over your problems.”
“Okay that sounds like a plan.” Wes laughed and stood up. He slapped Dallas on the back and said, “Fine, I’ll drive into town and see what kind of trouble I can find.”
“It shouldn’t take much. Everyone knows you’re the real trouble as soon as you walk in the door.”
“Ha ha. I’m outta here. Talk to you later, bro.” Wes waved at Dallas and walked out of the kitchen.
Dallas was alone in the kitchen with his own thoughts. It was never going to be easy being the oldest sibling. At least he got them both calmed down. Now he needed to find something to relieve his own stress levels. He thought of Ginnifer and knew what he needed to make himself feel better. When he was around her, he felt lighter somehow, like he could be more of the person he used to be before all life had landed heavy responsibilities on his shoulders. He knew he was way too serious at times. It came with being prematurely the head of his family. It was time to start looking out for himself. His timetable was about to be pushed up where the sexy writer was concerned. What he needed to figure out was how to push her in the direction he was looking for her to go. He smiled when an idea occurred to him. In a few short days he was going to head a scavenger hunt, and he was going to make sure Ms. Zeiss was on the team he was leading. When he saw Emma again, he was going to insist that she be put on the same team as him so he could keep an eye on her. For good measure he decided that Vitoria needed to be on the same team as Wes. For some reason, she stirred something in him, and if anyone was going to keep a good eye on the publicist, it would be his brother.
Chapter Eleven
Time wasn’t on her side. That was what Ginnifer was thinking as she woke up from a four-hour nap. She had only meant to sleep for a couple hours and then get up to write her article on Colt Lewis. When she had lain down on the bed, it had been barely noon. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was already four o’clock in the afternoon. A quick perusal of the cabin showed that Tori was nowhere in sight. Her overly large suitcase was open on her bed, clothes spread everywhere, indicating Hurricane Tori had decimated the tidiness of the cabin. A smile formed on her lips recognizing that at least some things never changed. Ginnifer got up and walked to the window and looked outside. The sun was still shining brightly in the sky. It was possible to get something out of the day, but with a
sigh, she resigned herself to knocking out her article on Colt first. There was no way she would be able to enjoy the day with that hanging over her head.
Strolling over to her bag, she pulled out her small tablet and folded out its keyboard. Opening up her word processing application, she began to type her article. She detailed Colt’s struggles and his denial at Missy Claybourn’s claim that he was her baby’s father. Ginnifer weaved a tale of tragedy-filled heartbreak and betrayal. Once she had it written, she double checked her grammar and spelling. Feeling satisfied it was one of her best pieces of work, she sent it off to her editor for approval. Stretching her arms above her head, Ginnifer caught a glance at the clock from the corner of her eye. Damn it, had it really taken her two hours to get that article done? Dinner was in fifteen minutes, and she would have to practically run to get there in time. With a rush, she grabbed her shoes and slid them on her feet. She ran out the door, practically knocking Tori down in her haste to get there in time.
“What the hell, Ginny, you tryin’ to kill me here?” Tori asked.
“Of course not. I lost track of time and didn’t realize it was dinner time. Are you going to eat?”
Tori wrinkled her nose up in distaste. “I’m hoping that Wes is nowhere to be found during dinner, but I need to eat, so yeah I’m going. I need to grab my phone. I forgot it in the cabin. I need to see if Colt called me and check up on him. If you wait a sec, I’ll walk back with you.”
Nodding her head at Tori, she agreed that she would wait outside for her to retrieve her phone and asked, “Do you have your key? I forgot mine inside the cabin.”
“Yeah it’s in my pocket. Do you want me to nab yours while I’m inside?”
She thought about it and told Tori, “It might be a good idea in case we come back separately. It’s on the table by my tablet.”
Tori laughed as she headed inside the cabin to retrieve her phone and Ginnifer’s key. Once she came out of the cabin, they started their journey to the dining hall. While they were walking, Ginnifer told her, “I did finish the article on Colt and sent it to my editor.”
Tori stopped dead in her tracks. Turning toward Ginnifer, she stated, “I had hoped you’d let me read it before you sent it off to get published. Why didn’t you run it by me first?”
“Because my job is to write articles as I see them. It shouldn’t matter whether the publicist likes what is written or not. Besides I didn’t write anything that would harm Colt. Why don’t you trust me to do what is right?”
“Probably because sometimes we have a different idea of what is right and what’s not.”
Ginnifer had to agree with that. “True enough. That’s probably because your version is skewed.”
Tori’s face started to turn scarlet as she attempted to control her temper. It was a wasted endeavor because she had anger issues. A burst of fury sprouted from deep within Tori as she shrieked at Ginnifer, “Well excuse me, Miss Perfect. Have you ever stopped to take a long look at yourself in the mirror?”
Ginnifer was baffled at that. What could she possibly mean? So she raised her eyebrow at her questioning, “I’m at a loss here, Tori. I don’t have a freaking clue what you’re talking about.”
Sarcasm was weaved through her words as Tori articulated them. “Well we’re being honest here, right?”
Ginnifer’s heart skipped a beat. Hadn’t they always been honest with each other? She looked into Tori’s eyes, sadness reflected out from under the anger. They needed to stop fighting, but Ginnifer had no idea how to stop it. It had already gone past the point of no return. So she looked her best friend in the eye and said, “I thought we were always honest with each other.”
Tori tilted her head and with a lot of bitterness uttered, “Only as much as you allow me, Ginny.”
“When have I ever held you back, Tori?”
“Always. Tori don’t do that, or I can’t believe what you did. The list goes on. You’re a straight-laced prude. If I flirt too much, I get an evil eye from you. God forbid if I take a guy home with me. When did you get like this? Do you hate yourself, or is it just me?”
A look of pure shock took over Ginnifer’s face. She couldn’t believe Tori thought she hated her. What did she do to make her ever think that? It was a horrible thing for her to believe. Surprise washed over her face. Ginnifer attempted to reassure her, “Of course I don’t hate you. Why would you think that?”
Tori had tears forming in her eyes and turned away from Ginnifer. “I need to call Colt, so I can’t deal with this right now. I’m going to have to take your word that the article is good for him.” Tori stormed in the opposite direction of Ginnifer to gain some distance between them. She had an easier time of it than she had earlier trying to escape Wes. A pair of sneakers now graced her feet, having traded her stilettos in for something sensible for once. “Tori, wait. We should talk about this.”
Tori stopped and turned around, looking at her with sadness permeating her expression. “No, I think we talked it all out.” With that she continued her trek toward the cabin, leaving Ginnifer stunned. How had this happened to their friendship? How evil am I to make my best friend feel this way? Maybe they needed a little space for now. She would try talking to Tori later after they both had time to calm down.
In the meantime she would go and eat dinner. Ginnifer continued to walk to the dining hall and met Emma on her way over.
“Oh good, Ginnifer, I’m glad I ran into you. I have some things I’d like to talk to you about.”
“If it’s about Colt, I’m sorry it disturbed you. He won’t be coming back.”
“No. I mean, yes it disturbed me, but you didn’t know about our previous relationship. I can’t hold that against you. It’s a different matter I need to talk to you about.”
“What do you need to discuss?”
“I had a small mishap come to my attention in one of the other cabins. The pipes in the bathroom broke and flooded the room. I am going to have to relocate the guests.”
“Oh that’s terrible.”
“I hope you don’t mind. I need to move two of them into the cabin with you and Vitoria. I know I promised you your own cabin…”
Maybe having two other people in the room would be a good thing. Normally the idea would have irritated Ginnifer, but having a buffer between her and Tori probably would be a blessing in disguise.
“No, that should be okay.”
“Oh thank you. I hate that this has happened. Everything else has gone so well.”
“These things happen. It’s part of starting and owning a business. Don’t let it worry you too much.”
“I know. I have so much I want to prove to my brothers. I probably shouldn’t be telling you all of this, but I think maybe you understand on some level. With everything that happened with Colt, I needed this program. It gave me something to focus on when everything else was falling apart.”
Ginnifer understood. She didn’t want to, but she did. Her interview with Colt had told her a lot about their relationship. Maybe she could help her with more than allowing two people to move into her cabin.
“Maybe you should try focusing on more than this business.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I know Colt hurt you, but maybe you should consider letting that go.”
“I can’t. It hurts too much.”
“Are you sure you can’t forgive him?”
“Yes. I tried. The betrayal was more than I could handle.” Emma hugged herself as she said the words.
“I’m not going to pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do. I think maybe you are wrong, and you might regret it if you don’t find out. It’s your life and your decision. We all have to do what we think is best for us. At the end of the day there isn’t much else we can do,” Ginnifer said.
“I know. Maybe one day I will talk to him. I doubt it, though. Like I said, it hurt too much.”
“I respect how you feel. Maybe one day you can look at in a different light
.”
“Maybe. Maybe in time I can forgive him. I don’t think I can ever be with him again. Right now the wounds are way too fresh and real.”
“I suppose I can relate on a small level. Sometimes it’s hard to look past the pain.” Ginnifer couldn’t help relating to her pain.
They continued to talk as they walked to the dining hall. Ginnifer wished she could take away her pain. It had to hurt an awful lot to have your heart ripped out of your chest. It was clear to her that both Emma and Colt still loved each other. She hoped they could find their way back to each other someday. They clearly cared what happened to each of them. They said time healed all wounds. Maybe it would be kind to the both of them and allow them to find each other again.
“Thank you for listening to me,” Emma smiled. “The subject of Colt isn’t a favorite topic of mine, but you made it easy for me to tell you how I feel. That’s a gift. You listen really well.”
“I don’t mind. If I can help even a little, I can walk away happy. When can we expect our new cabin mates?”
“Soon. Probably tomorrow. I’m not exactly sure. I will let you know when I know more. I do know it will be two women. Probably Melody and Shelly if I remember correctly from my notes.”
“I will let Tori know when I see her later.”
“She isn’t coming to dinner?”
“No. She had some calls to make. A situation to check on.”
“Oh you mean Colt. I may no longer be in a relationship with him, but I don’t hate him. I can’t make myself quite feel that for him. A small part of me will always love him. Sometimes two people just are not right for each other. I wish him happiness, and I truly do hope that Vitoria can help him. Deep down I know he’s a good man. He made some mistakes. Someone doesn’t change that much in such a short time.”
“You’re a very mature young woman, Emma Novak. If I didn’t respect you before, I do now in spades. For what it’s worth, I believe you are right. Deep down he didn’t change. In fact, I believe he was actually taken advantage of. It’s an unfortunate aspect of being thrown into a world you know next to nothing about.”