by Amy Star
Her stomach dropped, and she felt an instant, overwhelming nausea at the malice in the question. Without even hearing the words spoken, she knew that whatever Bethany was referencing was meant to be horrible. Without knowing what she meant and why, Clara knew that Bethany was talking about her, that she was the airhead Bethany had so crassly referred to.
Clara searched her memory, trying to figure out where she’d heard that name recently, and then it hit her. Bethany was the woman who had first contacted her about the house. She’d seemed genuinely nice, but it was obvious that Clara had misread the woman’s demeanor over the phone.
“Or she was only nice because she thought I would sell the cabin,” she muttered, still staring at the phone in disbelief. “The airhead? Get rid of me?”
She was shaking, squeezing the phone so hard that her hand hurt as all the pieces fell together one by one. One of the horses snorted, but Clara’s empathy went both ways, and the horses could read her emotions like a book. They knew that she was hurting, angry, confused, and everything else, and neither of them would move until she got a grip on herself.
The urge to throw the phone in the lake was strong, but Clara put it in her pocket instead. Initially, she’d been irritated with the cell towers that had been added along the highway between here and Little Hope, even though the company had made a valiant effort to disguise them as real trees so that they didn’t detract from the natural beauty of the landscape.
The signal was sporadic at best, making voice calls difficult, but texts and emails came in throughout the day. If that wasn’t the case, Clara would have never seen the text, and she wouldn’t know that Mason was conspiring to run her off. Apparently, his change of heart had been a change in tactics, and despite the fact that Clara had felt that his feelings were genuine, he’d pulled one over on her. It was as obvious as could be that he was seducing her with the intent of breaking her heart. What else would a heartbroken woman do when she could just pack up her things and leave?
She was kicking herself for sleeping with him. Twice, she thought angrily then shook her head in disgust as she hopped onto Rain’s back. The mare started walking right away, headed toward home with her head lowered, her normally spirited gait a gentle plod. Sunshine walked beside them down the path, looking forlornly at Clara now and then.
“It’s alright,” she said to the pair. “I was fooled by him, too.”
Sunshine snorted, giving her the side-eye and making her laugh. Her heart hurt, but she wasn’t about to wallow in self-pity. She was going to fight back, and if Mason Jones thought that breaking her heart was going to make her give up this land and this life, he had another thing coming.
“Don’t worry, you two. We’re going to fight back. If Mason thinks he’s going to access my land freely after this, he’s in for a hell of a surprise.”
The sentiment made her feel better for a moment, but she knew that she could never be that petty. There would be more people than Mason needing access to the lake and the resources it provided. They would need the road, as well. As much as his betrayal hurt her, she would be the bigger person and allow access to both. Not for Mason, but for the people that would come after him.
Sunshine snorted again, clearly disapproving of her generosity.
“That’s just not me,” she insisted, unlatching the tall gate to her back pasture and walking through it.
She let Sunshine get through then closed the gate behind them. As she always did, she scanned the high, sturdy fence around her as she rode through each pasture and closed each gate, making sure that the nearly eight-foot fence was still in good condition. To her relief, it was just like it had been since she moved in, running strong all the way to the north side of the barn.
She dismounted at the gate, deciding to let the horses graze in the closest pasture while she worked off some aggression doing barn chores. Rain lowered her head so Clara could take off the bridle, then the two horses walked off together, biting at the thick grass with gusto, as if they hadn’t just spent the better part of an hour grazing freely around the lake.
She watched them for a moment, grateful for the calm that washed over her. Like the other pastures, the closest pasture to the barn had water access and several acres of grass for the horses to enjoy. There was a shelter, in case it rained or got a little cold. Except for the coldest parts of winter, the horses could stay in the pastures overnight and enjoy life outside the barn for weeks at a time, coming in only to get their daily ration of grain. She could even open the gates between the pastures, giving them access to nearly one hundred acres of grazing land.
This place is perfect, and I’m not going anywhere, she thought angrily. With or without Mason, this place was her home now, and she was content with her life here. In time, her hurt would fade, and what he’d done wouldn’t feel the way it did now. She didn’t think they would ever be good friends again but recovering from her heartache and being the bigger person was the sweetest revenge she could think of. Bethany and Mason were free to play their games; nothing they did would force her to sell her place or leave—absolutely nothing.
She let out a heavy sigh and closed the gate behind her, making sure it latched tightly before opening the barn door. She decided to leave the barn door open so the air could flow through, opening the other three doors as well. Then she grabbed the wheelbarrow and a shovel and went to work stripping the two stalls of pine shavings and everything else. The two empty stalls were already swept down to the concrete that was nearly six inches lower than the aisle.
She’d purchased thick rubber mats at the feed store, giving the horses even more cushion than the soft shavings did on their own. The two empty stalls also had mats, just in case Clara needed to replace the ones she’d purchased for Sunshine and Rain. If the rest of her life was any indication, they would need replacing at the worst possible moment, and she liked to be prepared.
She’d decided to use the second empty stall to store the extra feed she was stockpiling for winter. Luckily, Mason had already helped her load more than three hundred bales of hay into the extra loft space above the empty stalls and the storage rooms, which was in addition to eighty bales of hay that was above each stall. Until the days started getting colder, she would turn the horses out in the pasture as much as possible to stretch that hay until the end of summer. She’d calculated it several times, and she knew she had enough to keep them munching on hay twenty-four-seven without using half of what she had.
“You’ve got this,” she said, sweeping the mat viciously, flinging what was left of the shavings out into the aisle so she could clean it up. “You don’t need help.”
“Don’t need help for what?”
Clara froze, spinning and coming face to face with Mason. The urge to slap him upside the head with the broom overwhelmed her, but she tamped it down, containing her rage, but just barely.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
His smile slipped, and she could feel his confusion.
He’ll figure it out soon enough, she thought, digging through her pocket and shoving the phone into his hand.
“This dropped out of your pocket at some point. It was in the grass by the lake.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the phone and putting it in his back pocket without bothering to look at it. “Is something wrong?”
“I thought you’d be coming back later?”
“I finished earlier than I expected. I was going to see if you wanted to go into town for dinner since it is still early.”
“No.”
He looked stunned, but he didn’t say anything about her curt reply.
“Do you want help filling the stalls with fresh shavings?”
“No. I’m going to let them air out for a few days while the weather is nice and the horses can stay out.”
Why did you even tell him that? Clara chastised herself. It’s none of his business.
“Alright. What can I do to help, then?”
“You can go home.”
He opened his mouth to say something then thought better of it. She couldn’t get a read on his emotions with hers swirling around in the air, mixing with his and throwing her off, but he seemed confused and a little hurt by her words.
Good, she thought. Serves him right.
“I’m going to go,” he said quietly. “If you change your mind, you know where I’ll be. If you need me, just come over, and I’ll be happy to help you in any way I can.” He reached out and touched her cheek tenderly. “Even if it’s just to talk.”
“Please leave,” she said quietly, rigidly.
“Okay,” he said.
She held herself together until she saw him round the bend, but once he was gone, the tears started streaming down her face, unbidden.
She hadn’t expected seeing him to hurt so badly, but she knew that it would take time to recover. As embarrassed as she was by being fooled, she was deeply in love with him, and it was going to take time to get over that.
CHAPTER 13
Mason could feel her eyes on him as he walked away, but he didn’t dare turn around. Something was bothering Clara, and he had no idea what it could be. She’d been fine at the lake, and he was sure she wasn’t mad about him leaving her to take the horses home. He’d asked more than once, and he knew Clara wouldn’t say she was okay with something when she wasn’t. No, something had happened. Her demeanor had taken a complete turn, and the cold reception she’d given him had felt personal.
“You did something,” he muttered to himself, his steps heavier than when he’d been on his way to see her.
He’d been so excited to surprise her, and since the weather was so nice, he’d decided to walk the path that led to her house. Now, he wished he’d brought the four-wheeler. A little recklessly fast driving to the house and around the property would have helped him clear his mind. Now, he was left alone with his thoughts, wondering why he’d bothered to get through his work so fast, making the final changes to the community plans to adjust for the land that was actually owned by Clara.
Once he’d accepted his feelings for her, he’d let go of the plans that required him to own her land and found a way to give the future community access to the colony without using her property. The lake was another issue altogether, but he’d gotten to know Clara in the past few weeks, and he knew that she would never block access to the lake as long as everyone treated the space kindly.
To ensure that, he’d come up with a path that would access the lake from the north side of his property, placing a boundary that would keep the south side of the lake private. The boundary would be subtle, but it would also give the wild animals a safe space to visit the lake without having to worry about being disturbed.
They didn’t seem to mind Clara at all, but they’d scattered the few times he’d visited the lake by himself, and he knew that having part of the lake reserved for them would be the best bet. He knew Clara would think so, too.
So, he’d been working on his plans, eager to show her all he’d done, hoping that she would be happy. But her obvious upset had thrown him, and her terse words had stung him.
What was going on, he wondered, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the time.
He’d been so intent on everything he was working on that he hadn’t even noticed his cell phone was missing until she handed it to him in the barn. He was thinking of getting rid of it completely, but he knew he never would. There were some creature comforts that felt like second nature and having instant access to his emails and texts was something he wasn’t willing to give up.
He stopped, swiping at the dropdown menu where the message icon let him know he’d received a text. When he read the words on the screen, he knew exactly what was up with Clara.
“You fool,” he said, cursing himself for leaving his phone set to preview text messages on the lock screen.
It had never occurred to him to change it because he’d never even thought of a situation like the one he had just found himself in.
“Damn it,” he said.
He read the words again, and his heart sank thinking of how Clara must have felt. Bethany was expecting a huge commission when Clara’s sale was final, plus a bonus for the sale completing his collection of every acre of private property on the mountain and surrounding areas. He fully intended to give her the final bonus, but she had failed to send him a property owner ready to sell, and he wasn’t about to pay her a commission for work she didn’t get done.
Yes, meeting Clara had changed his life dramatically, and he was thrilled, but Bethany had failed to secure a sale, and he only planned on paying her for the work she did finding Clara and the bonus for the mountain. According to their contract, which was ironclad, he didn’t have to pay her the bonus because he hadn’t bought all the land. But he felt like it was the right thing to do, and Bethany was a good friend.
He didn’t know how to tell her, and if he was honest with himself, he would probably pay her the commission on Clara’s house just to ensure she kept her mouth shut about Bear Mountain. It would be worth it to maintain his privacy. But he’d planned to drive to Seattle that week to meet with her personally, and he hadn’t told her that he was no longer seducing Clara to run her off the mountain.
He was a man in love. And now, his love knew exactly what kind of asshole he could be when there was money and power involved. He’d messed up badly.
“You have to fix this,” he growled at himself, turning around though he was within sight of his house.
He discarded every explanation he came up with, trying to find a way to explain what he’d meant to do without sounding like a complete heel. But nothing sounded good because the truth was he’d been in the wrong no matter what his motivation was. To make her understand why he’d almost done the unthinkable, he would have to reveal his secret to her.
“You can’t do that,” he said, irritated because he knew that he had to tell her.
She would find out eventually, and she would feel even more betrayed if he kept his real self from her. Ready or not, he was going to have to come clean and tell Clara everything about himself, including the curse that kept his kind from mating with humans and the fact that they could never have children, if she even wanted any.
How could you love a woman this much and not even know if she wants kids? Mason asked himself angrily. The answer was clear. He’d been selfish. Sure, he’d wined her and dined her, treating her like the queen she was and asking her about her plans for the horses and the cabin. But his questions had been self-serving. He was feeling out the situation and wondering how they would move forward and move in together when they both owned homes a mile apart. He didn’t think she was ready to give up the tiny cabin, and he certainly wasn’t ready to move into her place. It was a situation that was a long way off, but falling in love had forced him to think ahead, and his questions all centered around the things that had mattered most to him.
The answer to all his questions was that he’d been thinking with the wrong head. He was thinking about the future, but he’d been thinking about the long winter and weeks spent enjoying the solitude, trapped in his home with a home gym, a movie room, and five more rooms to keep them occupied while they rode out the harsh winter. If he’d taken a moment to think long-term, he might know about her hopes and dreams. He might already know that his inability to mate with a human meant that he could never fulfill her dreams.
The realization crushed him. Clara leaving had seemed like the best thing for him when he’d planned to break her heart to get at her property. But now that he loved her, he might still have to let her go. He wasn’t about to get in the way of her happiness, even if that meant hiding his own feelings and letting her walk away, knowing that, if she did, he would never again be the same.
He had to find the words to tell her, and he was running out of time. Already walking fast, he quickened his steps, the short distance between their homes feeling so much further. The sooner he got there, the sooner he could tell her his secr
et, and hopefully she would believe him when he tried to explain why he had wanted her gone at first. Not now, but before he’d fallen for her.
Rounding the final bend before her cabin, he stopped in his tracks, the wind rushing out of him in a single moment. He could see Clara standing defiantly in the yard near the horse barn, shouting at the top of her lungs.
He stared at the scene in front of him in disbelief, frozen for a split second by shock at what he was seeing. It turned out he wouldn’t have to tell Clara a thing, because she already knew his secret. And because of him, she was in trouble, and he wasn’t sure he could get to her in time.
CHAPTER 14
Clara finished tidying up the barn. Satisfied that there wasn’t much else she could do before the sun went down, she filled a bucket with their grain for the night, going through the gate and closing it behind her.
The flat, wide rubber buckets she’d been using to feed them grain in the pasture were where she’d left them, licked clean from the day before. Whistling through her teeth, she poured grain in each bucket just in time to step out of the way of the galloping horses that appeared from the far end of the pasture. She dropped a peppermint in each bucket, then let herself out and made sure the gate was locked securely.
She closed up the barn, exhausted from working so hard. Her plan had worked; she was too tired to think. She had a feeling she would struggle to get through her shower before bed, and there was no way she was going to be able to make dinner.
Her feet were still dragging when movement near the tree line caught her eye. She was halfway to the cabin, yawning and still angry despite her exhaustion, so when she saw him, she shook her head and flipped him off.
“It’s not going to work,” she said, still walking toward her cabin.
The horses blew out an alarmed breath in unison, the sharp sound startling her. She turned and looked at the pair of them, feet braced and ready to flee.
“It’s alright, you two,” she said to them, then she turned back to Mason, who was already closer. “You’re scaring them. Isn’t it enough that you’re planning to break my heart so I’ll leave? Do you have to do this? I’m not going anywhere.”