Fall in Love

by Anthology

  Max hadn’t returned his calls. Each hour that passed was like a slow, torturous draw of his fingernails from his nail beds.

  “Dude, you gotta stop moping,” Dane said as he patted Treat on the back.

  “Moping? Pfft. I’m fine. Just worried about Dad,” he lied. They’d had to wrestle their father back into submission more than a few times. The man was an ox and would probably outlive them all.

  “Right. Like I can’t smell woman troubles a mile away.”

  Treat shook his head, but he knew Dane could see right through his veil of denial. Hell, everyone probably could. You don’t find a woman like Max very often; she was smart, competent, loving, and sexier than she could ever know. There was something else that he couldn’t put his finger on, but he was pretty sure that it had to do with the fact that Max loved him—and yes, he was sure that beneath that feisty, stubborn exterior and her fears about relationships, she loved him—for him. Not for his money, or for what he stood for, or any of the other ridiculous reasons that beautiful women had clung to him over the years.

  He carried apple cider out to the table, stopping when he caught sight of his father and Rex walking down by the barn. Rex had a pinched look on his face, and his father suddenly stopped walking and put his hand on Rex’s shoulder. Treat could practically feel that secure weight on his own flesh. He knew the look his father was giving Rex, and he would bet the discussion had something to do with him.

  He’d better go face it head-on.

  Savannah touched his arm before he could take two steps. “Leave them,” she said.

  “I’m sure it’s about what I said last night.”

  “No, it’s not. Let them be.”

  Treat narrowed his eyes at his sister. “What don’t I know?”

  Savannah took the apple cider from his hands and set it on the table, ignoring his question.

  “Savannah?” He stared her down. He’d be damned if his little sister would tell him what to do.

  “Leave it alone, Treat,” Hugh said as he approached from behind. He set plates and silverware on the table, then turned to Treat. “Rex seems tough, but he’s not as tough as you might think. He’s having a hard time with Dad’s health issues.”

  Treat shot another glance at Rex, who was looking everywhere except at his father, while his father's stare never wavered.

  “Why wouldn’t he tell me? We worked in the field for hours, side by side, and all he did was snap at me.”

  Hugh shook his head.

  “Would you tell you?” Josh asked. He brought the burgers to the table and motioned for everyone to sit down. “Think about it, Treat. He’s here every day, slaving to help keep the family business alive, and suddenly you sweep in and expect him to just accept it. Meanwhile, the one person he loves the most lands in the hospital. It’s a lot to deal with.”

  I failed him again? “So, what? I should have asked his permission to come back to my own father’s ranch and help out? I thought it was what he wanted all these years.”

  His three siblings exchanged a look that said perhaps that’s exactly what he should have done.

  “All right. I get it. I’ll talk to him.” He started for the barn.

  “Treat!” Savannah hollered. She came to his side and touched his arm. “He’s hurting. Please don’t push him. You know Rex. When he’s ready, he’ll open up to you. He always does.”

  When it came to his siblings, hurting them was the last thing he ever wanted to do. His father and Rex started toward them, and Treat turned away. Was he doing more harm than good by being there? What the hell was going on in his life? One day he was on a strong, straight path, and the next, the very foundation he built his world on was filling with fissures.

  A few minutes later, Rex and Hal joined them at the table. Rex snagged a burger and bun, eyeing the rest of the food, and set to work building a massive dinner plate.

  “Dad, you have a follow-up with Ben next week. I’ll take you,” Treat offered.

  “I’ve got it covered,” Rex said gruffly.

  “Rex’ll take me. Tell me what’s happening with that pretty little gal I met,” his father said, clearly trying to steer clear of the whole Rex situation.

  Treat bit back the hurt he felt by his father’s refusal and tried not to let the kick to his gut show on his face. He had to remember that healing himself was not the only priority here. He’d stirred the hornet’s nest with Rex, and now it was his turn to wait it out—just like Rex had for the past fifteen years.

  “Not much to tell, Dad. She’s afraid I’m giving up my life for her and I’ll resent her for it.” He stabbed at the salad Savannah had dished onto his plate with a sisterly pat on his back.

  “Since when have you sat back and waited for things to happen?” his father asked. “Where’s that boy I raised who went out and showed those highfalutin, suit-wearing executives how to do things?”

  Isn’t everyone asking me to sit back and wait for Rex? And isn’t that just what I’m doing for Max? Isn’t that what Max wants? His father must have read his mind.

  “Son, I’ve seen you pull out your cell phone more times than I can count. Do you love her?”

  All eyes were on him. Treat put down his fork and looked at his family, and in their eyes, he saw so much support that it took the tension out of his gut and formed a cradle around his heart.

  “Yeah, I do.” He nodded, hoping they didn’t notice the way his voice cracked.

  “Then I don’t see why you’re sitting around here waiting for something to happen. Take that lame ass of yours and make it happen,” Rex said. He followed that up with a big bite of his burger.

  Treat’s heartbeat sped up. What was he waiting for? He was giving her time. Time for what? To decide they weren’t right for each other?

  “It doesn’t work that way with Max,” he said. “She’s…complicated. She’s got stuff to deal with, and I don’t want to push her in ways she might not want to be pushed.” Bullshit. I want to. I’m just afraid she’ll run—again.

  “What are you afraid of, Treat?” Rex’s eyes darkened, narrowed. It was a challenge, not a question, and he wasn’t talking about Max.

  “Nothing scares me, little brother. I’m here. I’m baring my soul and fighting the demons that have strangled me for years, which is more than I can say for you.” What the hell am I doing? I should walk away, not argue with Rex.

  His brother rose to his feet. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m here every damned day, taking care of the family business while you’re out doing whatever you please. At least I didn’t abandon Dad.”

  There was a collective gasp from his siblings. Treat felt his father’s eyes on him.

  “I never abandoned Dad. I built a life and a business,” Treat retorted.

  “Right. A life? You travel endlessly. You live a life of leisure while I hold down the real job.”

  “What’s this about, Rex?” Treat rose to his feet, meeting his brother’s stare. “No one made you stay. No one made you give up whatever else you wanted to do. Your whole life you wanted to be a rancher. I didn’t.”

  Treat walked around the table, confronting his brother. Rex’s breath was hot on his face, his nostrils flared, and his biceps jumped up and down to the pace of his fisting hands.

  “I came home every single time you called, without fail,” Treat said in a calm and even tone.

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “What are you talking about? Every time you called, I came. Every goddamned time.” Treat had the urge to grab his brother’s enormous shoulders and shake the shit out of him. Make him spit out whatever he was holding back.

  Rex’s index finger poked his chest so hard he took a step back. “You left. You abandoned the family, Treat. You abandoned me and left me to figure out how to hold things together.”

  “I went to college! What the fuck did you want me to do?” Abandoned?

  “I was fifteen! What the hell was I supposed to do? Dane was a mess. How was I supposed to watch
over the other three kids and take care of the ranch—and Dad? Fifteen, Treat. Fif-teen!”

  His face grew red, and his eyes flashed with a rage that had Treat grabbing his brother’s shoulders and staring down at him. “I never abandoned you. I went to school, Rex. College. It was what I was supposed to do. It was Dad’s plan for me. I was doing what he wanted me to do, not abandoning him.” The truth of his own words gave him pause. It was Dad’s plan for me. It’s true. It was Dad’s plan for me. How could I have repressed that?

  Rex twisted out of his grip. His body shook so hard Treat thought he might attack him at any moment. He readied himself for the blow that was sure to come as Rex took one fist in his palm and rubbed it hard.

  Treat shot a glance around the table. His siblings were watching without so much as a flash of stress. They must have known what was eating at Rex. His father slowly rose to his feet but made no move to come any closer.

  Rex’s eyes shot darts; his venom-filled voice pierced Treat’s thick skin. “I called you a few weeks after you went to school and said I couldn’t do it. Dane was out of control, Josh basically locked himself in his bedroom for weeks on end, Hugh was pulling away, and Savannah had disappeared for the weekend with her friend. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “What? When?” And then he remembered. It seemed like a hundred years ago. Treat remembered the panicked call. It was a Saturday, and he was out with some girl. He couldn’t even remember her name.

  “You said Savannah went to some keg party and you couldn’t find her. A goddamned party! I left my date and went back to my dorm and called every one of her friends’ parents. I was going frigging crazy looking for her from a million miles away, and you called me a few hours later and said she was back home, that her friend had lied about it all to get her in trouble.”

  Treat took a breath and tried to bring his anger down a notch. “I thought it was fine after that.”

  Rex huffed, his rage bubbling beneath his skin. “Nothing was fine. You should have come home.”

  “How could I have possibly known? I was a kid, too, Rex. I was eighteen. What the fuck would you have had me do? Fly home and quit college? Give up everything Dad said I had to accomplish?”

  They stared at each other, posturing, silently banging chests and measuring feathers.

  “Boys!” Hal’s stern voice broke their match. “You wanna blame someone? Blame me. I wanted Treat to excel. He was too academic and had too much to accomplish in life to run the ranch. He’d have had me buying up more ranches by the time he was fourteen if I’d let him, and maybe if I had listened to him, we’d all be even richer. And, Rex, you were born to ranch and you know it. The day you started walking, you wanted to follow my ass all over this place. You’d sit with me while I ran the finances and rode with me on every ride. You wanted this ranch, and you know you did. But it’s a lot of responsibility, and I don’t blame you for resenting your brothers—all of them—for taking off. But, Rex, I gave you the same choice I gave them. How many times did I say, ‘Go out there and get your own ranch, or find something else that you want to call your own?’”

  Rex looked away.

  “When I’m talking to you, son, you keep your eyes on mine.”

  Rex met his gaze. “I didn’t want my own ranch. This is family. This is where Mom is.” He slid his dark eyes to Treat. “This is where Mom is,” he repeated.

  Treat knew what he was insinuating. “I didn’t abandon you, and I sure as hell didn’t abandon Mom.”

  “No, you didn’t,” his father said as he approached the two men.

  To a stranger, seeing the two angry, muscular, confident men staring each other down would mean fists were gonna fly. To his family, Treat knew what they looked like. Two brothers at odds and finding their way back to each other.

  His father stood between them.

  Treat felt his father’s hand on his back and knew his other hand was on Rex’s.

  Hal lowered his voice and spoke in a serious, even tone. “You wanna blame someone for all of this? Blame me. I’m the one who led you all those years.”

  Rex’s eyes shifted to his father, softened, then dropped to the ground.

  “Rex, I’m sorry,” Treat said. “I just didn’t know. I was a kid trying to keep my own head above water. It’s true; I did abandon everyone because I felt guilty, but you gotta know, if I had known you felt that lost, I’d have come running back. After Savannah came home, I figured it was just more of the same. The same grieving kids that I’d left when I went away to school.”

  Rex didn’t look up for the longest time, and when he finally did, it was his father’s eyes he met, not Treat’s. “Sorry I ruined the afternoon, Dad. I’ve gotta go check on Hope.” He headed for the barn.

  Treat took a step toward him and his father held him back. “Leave him. This is how Rex operates. You remember this pattern, don’t you? He’ll work out his frustration. It’ll take time, but now you know what’s what. It may not be today, and it may not be next week, but at some point, this’ll come out in the wash.”

  It wasn’t the fight that had Treat so upset that every nerve was aflame. It was the truth of his brother’s words wrestling with the truth of his own. Rex had said exactly what Treat had confessed to the other night, and now Treat realized that when he’d left, he’d been living up to his father’s expectations in equal measure to escaping his own guilt.

  Rex would eventually come around. Treat was home now. He might buy a place nearby, and he might have to travel and set up an office, but he wasn’t going to abandon anyone ever again—including Max.

  He couldn’t eat. Rex was right. He’d been dicking around far too much where Max was concerned. He couldn’t deal with Rex until Rex was ready, but he could damn well deal with his feelings for Max.

  Treat stood from the table and threw down his napkin. “I’ve gotta go take care of something.” Without another word from his family, he headed into the house.

  A few minutes later, he was in the car, pulling down the driveway when Rex rode up on Hope and stopped in his path. Treat slammed on the brakes and jumped from the car. “What the hell are you doing? Trying to get Hope killed?” Treat yelled.

  Rex settled Hope from her startled shuffle. “I know all that shit you said back there. I’m not an idiot.”

  “No. You’re not,” Treat said.

  They stared each other down again.

  “Just like you’ve been carrying that shit around with you all these years, so have I.”

  Treat nodded. Honesty was a bitch, and he wasn’t about to get in Rex’s way with some stupid comment.

  “I know you didn’t abandon me. Or Mom or Dad. I get that, and the truth is, I wouldn’t have wanted you to give up what you were destined to do.”

  “Okay?”

  Rex held on to Hope’s reins. His bulging muscles contradicted the gentle apology he was handing Treat. Treat had the overwhelming urge to hug his younger brother, but he was afraid to even move. Rex had a shell that was thick as a brick, and Treat knew just how much this breakthrough meant to their relationship, which might not be anywhere near normal for years to come, but this was a start.

  Rex nodded. “I’m glad you’re home, but I’m still running the ranch.”

  “Okay.”

  “You’re far from in shape for this kind of grueling work. It’ll take you months to get back up to speed—physically anyway.”

  “Agreed.” Every muscle in Treat’s aching body could attest to that, though it was his pride that was taking a beating at the hand of his kid brother.

  “All right then.”

  “All right.”

  “Where are you going?” Rex backed the horse from the driveway.

  “I gotta take care of some business. I’ll be back to help with the evening chores.”

  Rex nodded. “Take your time, bro. Believe it or not, I’m glad you’re back.”

  Treat ran one hand down the side of Hope’s face, and swore he saw his mother’s beautiful reflection
in the horse’s eyes, a smile of approval on her lips as she looked back at him.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  MAX SURVEYED HERSELF in the mirror one last time. Her hair was shiny and full. The skinny leather pants she wore might not be perfect for showing up at a ranch, but they were close. Aren’t chaps leather? Although the knee-high, leather stiletto boots were definitely not appropriate. Perfect. She wanted Treat to stand up and take notice. She’d asked him to do one thing—one thing—and he didn’t do it, and she’d be damned if she’d let that go. Even if she was the one who’d walked away.

  She turned to the side to inspect her silhouette. Kaylie was right about the push-up bra. Who knew her boobs could look so perky? Or that a bra could make her torso look longer, slimmer? Wow, she could actually pull off hot.

  Max tried her best to remain upright on the heels, and as she reached for the doorknob, her confidence began to fade. I look ridiculous. He loves how I look no matter what I wear. What am I doing? What was her goal? Treat. Treat was her goal, and she’d leave nothing to chance this time.

  She opened the bedroom door and a bright flash sent her reeling backward as Kaylie snapped a picture. “What the hell?” She’d been so wrapped up in getting ready that she’d forgotten Kaylie was waiting for her.

  “I couldn’t help it!” Kaylie squealed. “I wanted to come in so badly, but I knew you would never let me dress you after letting me pick out all your clothes.” Kaylie’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, Max, you are sinful! Look at you. Not that you need to look like this, but wow. No man could ever turn you away looking like that.”

  She had to smile at Kaylie’s supportive, overly enthusiastic comment. “Can I please just carry you on my shoulder? I’m so nervous. What if he’s decided that I’m not worth it. I mean, I did just break up with him in not the nicest of ways.”

  “Max, one question. Take a deep breath, because this is really, really important.”

  Max did as she was asked and blew her breath out slowly. “Okay, what?”

  “Are you one hundred percent sure that you want a guy who didn’t come begging you to come back to him?”