Jacob wanted to shake her, but he controlled himself. “Okay, come on, and we’ll show you the island.” Jacob could not believe this turn of events. What were they going to do when she left? She would have no one to protect her. Jacob watched her walking gingerly along the water’s edge as she stepped from rock to rock. He followed behind, wanting desperately to make her see the danger she was in.
She stopped to catch a frog. “Jacob, help me; this is the biggest frog I’ve ever seen!” Both Jacob and Michael got into the game of catching the frog. He had to be the size of a grapefruit, and boy, could he jump. They ran along the shore, trying to grab him, and finally, he jumped to the middle of the river, and Libby jumped right in after him and went under the water.
“I have him. Look!” She was laughing and spitting water as she came up out of the river. The frog had stopped struggling. “Hey, big Froggie.”
Michael came over to take it from her. “He’ll make delicious frog legs, look at the size of those legs.”
Jacob scanned both sides of the river, making sure the alligator had stayed in the lake.
Libby pulled back. “You don’t intend to kill him?” As she said it, she pulled her arms back with the frog now closely nestled to her chest. “I think we’ll just let poor Froggie go now.” As she said it, she lowered her hands into the water and released the frog. All they could see was his legs following straight out behind him as he dove deep.
“Libby, you haven’t lived until you’ve tasted frog legs.” Michael shook his head.
“Well, Michael, sorry, but I can’t imagine eating something that I now know. I named him, for Pete’s sake.” Libby laughed as Jacob took her hand to pull her out of the river. He was shaking his head as he looked at her. “You know, Jacob, that superior look reminds me of Chad.” She pulled hard on his arms, and Jacob fell straight into the river on top of Libby.
They both went under. The current took them downriver about ten feet before they came up out of the water. Libby was laughing hard, and Jacob finally relented and burst out laughing. It felt good to release all that pent-up worry and stress.
Michael ran downriver and stood out in the water to catch them as they floated by. They were still laughing and reached out and pulled Michael in as well. The cool river felt good as the current took them along the northern border of the ranch property. The trees overhead provided much-needed shade.
“Hey, get out at the next bend. There’s a cool rope swing and a wider part of the river where we can swim.” They swam to the right side and grabbed a branch that lay in the water. Jacob got out first and pulled Libby while Michael pushed her from behind. There was a ladder hanging down the slope that was attached to the trunk of a tree. They used it to climb ten feet up a steep slope. From there, they could reach the end of an old rope swing.
The river had cut a deep path through this part of the ranch. The climb to the top was straight up, so whoever had made the ladder knew what he was doing. There was no way to get out of the river until you reached the cypress cove, and no one wanted to swim there since alligators had a habit of hanging out under the roots and vines in the shady cove.
All three of them sat down, exhausted, against the trunk of the tree.
“I feel like I’m back at the ranch in Missouri with you two.” Libby smiled, pushing her wet hair back behind her ears.
Jacob pulled a long blade of grass from the ground beside him and chewed on it. “It does take me back. I feel like a kid.”
Libby leaned her head against the tree. “I wish we could go back and be kids without all these adult decisions to make.”
“Libby, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You have money and can hire people. Don’t you have any managers of the estate?” Jacob sat up straight, looking over at Libby.
Michael leaned over as well. “And you don’t have to get married until you’re sure.”
“Let’s not talk about Chad again. He was there for me when I needed a friend.” Libby stood up and pulled on the rope swing.
“That doesn’t mean you have to marry him for it.” Jacob also stood. He grabbed the rope and swung out over the river and back again, putting his arm around Libby and taking her with him on the next swing. She clung tightly to him as they swung out over the river. Jacob never wanted to let her go. “We’re not going to make it back. We have to drop.” He let go of the rope, and they both fell into the river with Libby screaming.
Michael swung out over the water, and just as his swing arced at the highest point, he let go and dropped down in between Jacob and Libby, sending a wave of water over their heads. He came up laughing as he was splashed vigorously in return.
“Okay, guys,” Michael said. “I think it’s time I got back to my chores.” They started to swim toward the ranch side of the bend in the river. The bank was steep.
Jacob swam over and grabbed a thick, knotted rope that was hanging down into the water from a large tree branch close to shore. He put out his arm to grab Michael and Libby. “Here, take my hand, this is the last place we have any hope of getting out of this river before we get to the cove.” Jacob held the rope taut while Michael pulled himself up using his arm strength. He turned and looked back at Libby questioningly.
“I can do this, Michael.” Libby grabbed the first knot and used the steep riverbank as leverage with her feet, but it was muddy and slippery, and her feet kept sliding back down. So, Jacob started to climb behind her.
“Libby, just let your hip rest on my shoulder, and I can push you up as you reach higher to each knot in the rope until Michael can grab your hand.”
“This is ridiculous. Let me try it by myself.” Libby tried to push Jacob’s hand away from the first knot, but he ignored her and started to climb.
“The problem with you, Libby, is you refuse to take help when it’s staring you in the face.” Jacob pulled himself higher, lifting Libby as he went. “Now grab the next knot and pull, I need your help on this.”
“Okay, fine, but I think you’re making it a lot harder than it needs to be.”
Michael reached down, grabbed Libby’s hand, and pulled her up as she swung her leg over the branch. Finally, she and Michael scooted along the branch until they reached the shore, while Jacob climbed up the rope and followed them.
“I am a total muddy mess. How are we going to ride our horses back with all this mud?” Libby started trying to brush the mud from her jeans the minute she jumped down to the high grass.
The horses nickered and walked over, taking a break from their grazing under the huge wild pecan trees. “Hello, girl, I’m afraid you’re going to get dirty.”
“Wait, there’s a pond over here, and we can wash most of this mud off before we get on the horses.” Michael took the reins of his horse and Libby’s and led the way toward the pond.
“Michael is the one whose job it is to clean the mud out from the carved leather saddles and tack.” Jacob laughed.
“Oh, sorry, Michael. Yes, let’s try to get this mud off.” Libby followed along behind the horses.
Jacob walked up beside her and took her hand. “Libby, it’s so good to be with you. I feel like it was only yesterday when we were a threesome back in Missouri.”
“Jacob, did you ever contact your grandfather? I was thinking about that the other day.”
Jacob shook his head. “Dad made it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with us, and we don’t even know where he lives. I should at least let him know his son died.”
“Do you want me to do some research to try and find him?”
“Carson said he was going to look into it for us. I think they have access to some research possibilities.” He almost said Carson was going to check out Chad, too, but knew Libby would be livid. He had to smile as he looked at the mud all over Miss Olivia Perkins. She looked good in anything, including mud.
They continued walking toward the back pasture and the tank. “What are you smiling about, Jacob?”
“I remember when we fir
st met and—”
“You were thinking about our first kiss,” Libby interrupted.
Jacob’s face reddened. “No use thinking about that if you’re planning to marry Chad boy.” Jacob quickened his pace and strode up next to Michael with his horse. They stopped and opened the gate.
“Okay, here we are, Libby. Last one in is a rotten apple.” Michael ran over and dove into the pond. He came up and started rubbing his clothing down to get the mud off.
Jacob walked over and into the water. “Hey, Libby, come over here to this side, it’s not as muddy.”
Libby got in the water, which came up to her knees, next to Jacob and started splashing water on the front of her jeans. Jacob splashed on the back of her and was trying to brush the mud off when he heard Chad.
“Just what do you think you’re doing? Take your hands off her.” Chad walked over to the water’s edge, his fists clenched a moment before he let his hands fall back to his side.
“Chad, if you calm down, you’d see what we’re doing. There’s mud all over my jeans. We can’t ride until we get it all off.” Libby looked over at Jacob. He just raised his hands, palms up, and turned away to clean his jeans off. Libby looked over to Chad for help.
“Well, you don’t expect me to wade out there and deal with all this mud, do you? These are my good jeans. I was hoping you wanted to drive into Houston to do some shopping this afternoon.”
Libby glanced at Michael as she walked out of the water. Michael was making a sour face, mocking Chad. Jacob laughed and turned away, and Libby smiled but also gave them a severe look. “I would like to have some time to talk with you today. A ride into town is a good idea.” Jacob walked over and put his hands out to give her a lift up onto her horse. Chad gave him a hard stare.
“Thanks, guys, this was such a fun day.” Libby looked down at Chad. “I guess you don’t want to ride back with me.” She giggled.
“No thanks, I’ll walk back.”
Libby rode off but turned back once to look at them, and then she smiled as she shook her head.
Jacob and Michael looked at each other and raised their shoulders. Jacob reached up, grabbed some of his horse’s mane, and threw his leg up and over, pulling himself upright. Michael did the same, and they both tipped their hat to Chad as they walked by. Chad was scowling at them and trying to walk fast. Once past him, they both ran their horses to catch up with Libby.
Chapter 6
Olivia rode up to the stable where Carson was brushing down the palomino stallion. She stopped and watched him as he carefully pushed the brush with long strokes and followed with his other hand. She smiled. These horses knew they were loved. It was relaxing to watch him, and she didn’t want to disturb his work, so she sat quietly.
Her horse nickered after she had been there a few minutes, and Carson looked up. “Hi there, Miss Libby, did those men behave themselves out there? It looks to me like you did some time in the river.” Carson laughed as he walked over and helped Libby down. She swung her right leg back over to the left side of the horse while standing in her left stirrup. Carson then lifted her to the ground, taking her by the waist.
“Thank you, and thank you so much for letting them come and ride with me. We had a wonderful time; I even swung on the rope swing. Being together gave us some time to talk and remember old times.” She turned around as Michael and Jacob rode up.
Carson smiled. “It looks like you all had a grand time.” Carson raised his voice so that Jacob and Michael could hear him. “You’ll be happy to know I saved your chores for you. Go on up and get lunch and cleaned up, then we have some horses to de-mud and others to train. I want to work on breaking the wild mustangs we have in the back pasture.”
“That’s great.” Michael looked over to Jacob, smiling bigger than he had for weeks. “We’ll get right to it.” Both Michael and Jacob slid off their respective horses and smiled as they walked past Libby. Jacob winked at her, holding back a smile as he passed.
Michael stopped in front of her. “I hope we can do it again before you go, Libby.”
“Michael, we’ll for sure spend some time together every day that I’m here now that I know how much fun you both still are.” She looked down at her clothing and brushed some mud off her blouse. “I may have to get some ranch work clothes, however.” Libby laughed and walked over toward the shade of the live oak tree between the stable and the ranch house. It was getting hot, and the shade was wonderful.
Her stomach growled as she hurried onto the porch and into the nice air-conditioned lobby. The breeze of cool air blew her hair back behind her shoulders and felt marvelous. Libby walked by the front desk and took a cookie and a bottle of water on her way to the elevator. Just as the elevator doors were closing, she saw Chad rush over.
“I’ll hurry, Chad. See you in a minute.” She saw him nod, and the door closed. Libby didn’t want to think about it, but she found herself remembering those childhood kisses with Jacob. Why did she agree to go with Chad? And shopping of all things? Men were horrible to shop with as far as her experience had shown. She knew why she agreed to go, and it was because she wanted to show those men that she was her own woman and could make her own decisions. She was sick and tired of Chad trying to take over her life, and she wasn’t going to let those two do it either. She knew they were worried about Chad, but she knew more about Chad than they did.
Olivia peeled off her wet, muddy clothes and called down to the front desk. “Hi, can I have some clothing sent out to the cleaners today?” She smiled. “Oh great, I’ll put them in the bag and leave it in the bathroom.”
The shower was divine. Lavender soap filled the dispensers, and the shampoo was rich and smooth. She knew her hair would soak up all those wonderful-smelling oils. There was a speaker in the shower, so she turned it on to hear spa music playing.
The Rio Lago Ranch was much more fun with Jacob and Michael here. Olivia felt like she had found an enriching part of her past. She felt stronger, more in control, and, yes, happier. Everything about the ranch seemed better knowing they were here. She would miss all the pampering she was enjoying here and would not hesitate to refer her friends to the ranch. All of these thoughts were passing through her mind as she prepared to spend the afternoon with Chad.
Once out of the shower, Olivia pulled her blond hair back and up into a French twist and then clipped it in place. The question of why she was so happy she decided to push to the back of her mind. She hoped to have a serious talk with Chad, however, and today would be the perfect time to do it.
Olivia chose her lacy lavender blouse and tan skinny jeans with her brown sandals to wear shopping. Her feet looked great after her day spent in the spa, and showing them off in these sandals was perfect. Well, it was perfect now that she’d gotten the mud out from between her toes. She had to laugh; one look in the mirror as she put on her makeup showed a woman with bright, shiny eyes and a flushed and happy face.
Olivia bounced down the stairs to the lobby to find Chad sitting by the fireplace reading a magazine. He looked up with a sour expression but then condescendingly smiled as Olivia walked up to him. She was starting to regret their plans to go shopping. A person really shouldn’t smile unless they actually feel like it; the results are very unpleasant. “I thought shopping was a great idea, but if you don’t want to go, that’s fine with me; we can eat lunch here and maybe go canoeing.”
“No, I’ll be happy to get out of this place. It’s one of the worst vacations I’ve had.” Chad stood up and walked with Olivia to the front door.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Chad. I’m having a great time. In fact, I would enjoy coming back regularly to visit.” Olivia sighed inside. If Chad was going to be in a mood, it would spoil any fun she might have planned for the afternoon. She realized he was unhappy because she rode horses with Jacob and Michael all morning, and she could understand that. But if he had run into friends from years ago, Olivia felt she could be happy about his opportunity to talk about old times with them.
“I was beaten to a pulp. Do I look like I’m having a great vacation? I hate horses and their smell. I find this whole western motif quite boring. Everywhere I look, pictures of horses and cows stare down from the walls at me, and if I go outside, I get to smell them as well.” He stomped out to the car and opened the door for Olivia.
“Well, Chad, your unfortunate bruises are getting a little better. Perhaps a trip to the city will do you good.” Olivia did feel bad that Michael beat Chad, especially since it was a misunderstanding on their part, she was sure. So in a way, it was her fault he looked like he did.
Olivia turned to Chad, put her hands on his chest, and reached up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for this fun idea, Chad. I’m excited to go out with you. We haven’t had enough time to talk the last few days.” Chad seemed pacified and smiled down at Olivia, giving her a little hug.
They drove out the long driveway along the white board fencing. Olivia enjoyed looking out to the horse pasture and admiring the beautiful animals Carson had there. She had seldom seen so many highbred horses in one place. Why Chad didn’t like horses was beyond her. They were beautiful animals. Ranger was an amazing horse that would do anything for Olivia. She loved him, and she knew he loved her as well. Chad was missing a potentially enriching part of his life without horses.
It had been so long since she was home, and Olivia was anxious to go back to her Missouri home. She’d had Ranger shipped home from the school stables when she graduated. She couldn’t wait to take her regular ride with him to the back end of the property. She could almost feel the wind in her hair as she raced along the meadow. Now that was a good memory of her home.
Chad was not excited about living at her ancestral home on the Mississippi River, but she didn’t want to sell it, either. More and more, Olivia was feeling like she had been too hasty accepting Chad’s proposal. They’d been engaged now for three weeks, and already he was trying to take over her life. She was shocked when he asked her to marry him. But he had been such a support to her when she returned to school after losing her parents that she couldn’t think of a reason why not. She had also been afraid that if she said no, he would leave her. But now, after seeing how he was acting, she needed to have a talk with him about slowing down their courtship and saving a possible engagement for later.
Lost Billionaire Heir: Billionaire Cowboy Sweet Romance (Texas Ranch Romance Book 8) Page 6