After the Sunset

by Mary Calmes

  I smiled at him. “If you would just talk to Regina Kincaid instead of walking by her every time you see her, then your life might actually get around to starting, Everett.”

  He looked like I’d slapped him. “Her brother and her father hate me.”

  “They don’t hate you. They think you only wanna get laid, and that’s not the man they’re looking for to be the husband of the angel of their family.”

  He cleared his throat. “Her father said, and I quote, that he didn’t want a white man in his family.”

  I grunted. “I was there when he said it, and his exact quote was that he didn’t want a white man that didn’t attend church regular in his family. That’s what he said.”

  Everett’s eyes were on me.

  “You’re not a bad man. In fact you’re a very good one, but you have ways that need to be changed if you want a woman like that. She teaches school, she goes to church, and she is stunning. I have never seen such big brown eyes and a beautiful smile and her skin is just—”

  He made a noise so I’d stop.

  “But you’re a dog, and she’s better than that, like way better.”

  “She’s out of my league.”

  “Not if you really wanted her,” I told him. “But you would have to want her more than the life you have now, and only you can say if you do or not.”

  He nodded.

  “So, are we ready to go?”

  “No,” he sighed, and I could tell his brain was spinning before his eyes were suddenly back on mine with a look I had never seen before.

  “God, what?”

  “On the best ranches I’ve ever been on, the men were more like family. Most times those ranches don’t last. They get bought up by large cattle companies, or they go under for some other reason, but the Red Diamond is a big ranch that acts like a small one, and I understand after this weekend that the reason it stays that way is ’cause of you.”

  I squinted at him.

  He took off his hat, fiddled with it in his hands.

  “I don’t mean to sound ignorant, and I ain’t sayin’ you’re a woman, but with us, with the men, your regard is softer than Rand Holloway’s, and I suspect that’s why you balance him out.”

  It was the nicest thing he’d ever said to me. “I appreciate that, but it was how it was before I came along. You gotta know the ranch is Rand and vice versa.”

  “No, sir.” He shook his head. “Before you came, it was a fine place to work, but we weren’t no family.”

  The feeling hit me, surged over and through me, my jaw clenched, and my eyes burned as I shivered to keep from falling apart. His words meant more than he could have known because it meant that maybe, just maybe, I was as good for Rand Holloway as he was for me.

  “Things have changed since you came.”

  For everyone it seemed, not just me.

  “Rand seems settled now that you’re on the ranch, and I might want to know things about that.”

  He looked uncomfortable, his hat doing circles now in his restless hands. I would give him his out. “You mean you wanna try being settled, right, not sleeping with a man?”

  I braced for it, and he smacked my arm really hard.

  “Shit, Everett!”

  “Well I can’t hit your head or I might kill ya, and I can’t kick ya in the leg neither. Man, you are an annoying piece of crap!”

  Like I had never been told that before. “Do me a favor and go get Glenn Holloway for me, willya? There’s no way I can make that walk back. I’m ready to pass out now.”

  “Well, then, go to bed.”

  “Rand said I couldn’t, something about the concuss—”

  “Oh shit, that’s right,” he said, turning to leave. “I’ll go fetch Glenn and be back to watch ya. Just stay here.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” I teased him. “Hey, who fed Bella today?”

  “I did.”

  “Thank you for remembering.”

  “Remember?” He looked at me oddly. “Who can forget? Your dog’s just as annoying as you are.”

  I smiled at him as he started walking away and noticed how he turned and called Bella to him to take the walk.

  She looked up at me.

  “Go get him, Bell, get him,” I said playfully.

  Her head tilted to the side like I was an idiot as she sat down beside me.

  “It ain’t no use, Stef.” I heard him laugh. “That dog loves you best.”

  As I ran my hand over her muzzle and she bumped my fingers, her tail beating hard in the dirt, I had to smile. She certainly did.

  I went inside and got my parka and my beanie because it was colder outside than the two nights before. I was sitting on the bottom step of the trailer, throwing a tennis ball for my dog when she stopped suddenly, froze, her dirty, fuzzy, green quarry between her paws.

  “Stef?”

  I waved at Glenn. “Sorry to call you out here, but I’m done walking for one night.”

  He hesitated, stopping where he was, eyeing my dog.

  “She won’t hurt you.”

  “She’s fuckin’ huge, Stef.”

  I called her to me, and she moved fast, stopping in front of me so that I could touch one of her silky ears.

  Glenn walked slowly, carefully, his eyes never leaving her.

  “You rode a bull today,” I reminded him. “Cowboy up.”

  “Yeah, well the bull won’t go for my jugular.”

  “She’s harmless.”

  “Says you.”

  “Throw the ball for her.”

  He picked it up, showed it to her, and threw it.

  “I think she squinted at me,” he told me when she didn’t move a muscle.

  I started laughing, and she moved and shoved her nose in my eye before she nuzzled my hair and smelled me.

  Glenn chuckled. “She thinks you’re her pup.”

  “Possibly.” I smiled, petting my dog. “Get the ball, Bell, go get it.”

  She eyed Glenn instead.

  He knelt down and she moved slowly, checking him out. After she allowed him to pet her, she was suddenly off like a shot to get the ball.

  “Damn, that is one careful dog.”

  “Hey, listen, it turns out I can’t go home with you guys tomorrow, but if you could wait until Rand shows up tomorrow, I—”

  “Rand’s gonna be here tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, and if you could, Glenn, I’d love it if you actually came home with us. I’d like you to talk to Rand about your restaurant idea.”

  His mouth was open, but no words came out. When Bella dropped the disgusting slobber- and dirt-covered tennis ball at his feet, he picked it up without thinking and threw it for her.

  “Did you hear me?”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “Rand hates me.”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “No?”

  “You should come back out to the Red. Ask your father if he will too.”

  “My father?” He was stunned.

  “Please.”

  “God, Stef, are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “You want us to wait for Rand?”

  “If you can.”

  “I can. I don’t know if my father will.”

  Oh, he will, I thought. “Just ask him, okay?”

  He cleared his throat. “Sure.”

  “I need to sleep,” I told him, realizing that I didn’t even think I could crawl to bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He was really looking at me. “You know, you’re kind of pale. Do you need help inside?”

  “No.”

  “Stef, you should let—”

  “I’m good,” I lied. “You go enjoy what’s left of your night.”

  He nodded. “Okay then, we’ll look for Rand in the morning.”

  “Great.”

  “They’re gonna serve breakfast tomorrow before everyone goes. You should come up there and sit with us if you can.”

  �
�If I can even move in the morning, I’ll be there.”

  His brows furrowed. “You sure you don’t need me to stay?”

  “No, and besides, you gotta get back to Rachel.” I smiled at him. “You know, it feels like it’s three in the morning, but it’s probably like ten.”

  “Ten thirty,” he corrected me.

  “See?” I shrugged. “Getting thrown off a horse really screws up your sense of time.”

  “It’s going to the hospital that does it.”

  I shrugged and we laughed like we were war buddies before he left me tossing the ball for my dog. It was all the movement I could manage.

  Chapter 9

  IN MY sunglasses and cowboy hat, I was sure that I must have looked hung over instead of in the pain that I was in. But I arrived, more sore that morning than I had been the previous day, but decidedly more clear-headed. I was going to try and stick to Tylenol and nothing stronger if I could manage it. Everything else made me loopy and way too chatty.

  I was surprised to see Carly Landry there at one of the tables sitting with her brother. I took a seat while Everett went to get me a plate.

  “Stefan.”

  I looked up and she was there, hovering over me.

  “It’s good to see you this morning.”

  I waited for whatever it was she wanted.

  “May I sit?”

  “Sure.”

  “Glenn was looking for you earlier.”

  Which was good, and I was going to say something to that effect when I turned to her, only to find that she was not looking at me at all. She was completely absorbed with something else. Her lips were parted, her eyes were wide, and her hands fisted on the table. I scanned the crowd, trying to find what had her so transfixed.

  Rand.

  I was stunned. There, cutting his way through people was Rand Holloway. He just walked in a straight line, and everyone moved out of his way. He was wearing his gray Stetson, flannel shirt, jeans, and boots, and somehow, on him, it was breathtaking. From Carly’s reaction, I was not the only one who thought so.

  Rand’s stride was all his own. There was fluidity to it, a rise and fall, and he walked with a confidence that no one else I knew had, an absolute knowledge of his place in the world. The effortless display of his strength, power, and masculinity brought my heart up into my throat.

  “Rand is here,” Carly announced unnecessarily, and as she rose and waved, he noticed her, and when he saw her, he saw me.

  I smiled as his eyes narrowed as he reached me.

  “Rand,” Carly said breathlessly, “I’m so glad to—”

  “Stef.” His voice cracked as his hands went to my face and he bent toward me.

  “Don’t,” I cautioned him, turning fast, kissing his palm before I leaned back. “How are you?”

  The muscles in his jaw corded, but he swallowed everything down. I saw the effort it took, and watched as he picked up the chair beside me and turned it before he sat down. He was facing me, his knees on both sides of mine, and his hands went to my thighs, holding them. I took a deep breath as a surge of feeling tore through me. I was hurt and I had held myself together because I had to. But he was there and I could lean on him, and I had never, ever, been so happy to see him. His warm hand found its way back to my cheek.

  “You shouldn’t touch me.”

  “I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks, Stef. I love you and that’s all there is.”

  Looking at him, into the electric blue eyes I loved, I felt better. “Thank you for coming.”

  “I came as fast as I could,” he told me, his voice low and deep, very husky, very sexy.

  I nodded as he leaned back and lifted my broken leg up into his lap.

  “You’re supposed to keep this elevated,” he told me as Everett joined us.

  “Hey, boss,” he greeted Rand warily.

  “That looks good,” Rand told him, eyeing the eggs and biscuits and gravy that Everett had brought for me. “Bring me one, Ev, and tell Chris and Pierce that Stef and I need coffee and orange juice.”

  Everett didn’t move, just stared at Rand, waiting.

  “Did I stutter?”

  “No, sir.” His smile came suddenly, and it was bright. “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you,” Rand told him, and touched the brim of his hat.

  Everett let out a deep breath and then left.

  I watched him go, and in the process of turning back to Rand, I found Carly. I had completely forgotten that she was there. She did not look like the same person. There was so much that she was showing me: pain, humiliation, hatred, and longing. Most of all there was that, the longing.

  “Rand.”

  He turned slowly from his examination of my leg and his eyes flicked to hers.

  “It’s nice to see you.”

  He nodded. “And you. You look good.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How are your folks?” he asked, making conversation as his fingers dug into my thigh, massaging the knotted muscles there, cramped from walking oddly yesterday.

  “They’re well.”

  “Good, please give them my best.”

  “I will.”

  His eyes flicked back to my face. “Could you take those off for me?”

  I really didn’t want to.

  “Stef,” his voice rumbled, my name sounding decadent.

  I took the oversized sunglasses off and put them on the top of my head, pushing my hair out of my face.

  He studied me for long minutes, and I saw the muscles clenching in his jaw.

  “Rand,” I said softly, coaxing, trying to soothe the hurt and anger I found in his eyes.

  “I need to have a word with Gil.”

  “No,” Carly and I said together.

  “Have you looked at your eye?” Rand asked me through gritted teeth before he tenderly lifted my leg off his thigh, stood, and gently lowered it onto the chair.

  “But Rand,” Carly began. “Gil was only—”

  “He hit Stef and Stef belongs to me,” he said so calmly that for a second I missed that the man was furious as he started away from the table.

  “Rand!” she called after him.

  He increased his stride to reach her brother. Nothing anyone said, even me, was going to stop him. And I understood. No one was allowed to hurt the people who Rand Holloway loved.

  “Gil!” he barked out.

  I saw the man in question rise up out of the chair he was in. He looked terrified, which prompted my next yell for Everett. I was actually much relieved to see Glenn and Rayland walking toward us with some others.

  “Glenn!”

  He heard me, saw Rand, and bolted toward him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite fast enough. As my boyfriend reached the table, Gil threw a roundhouse punch at him that missed him by a mile. What did that say about my fighting prowess that he had landed a punch on me so easily? And it wasn’t like I didn’t know how to defend myself, but the blow Rand returned was leagues beyond anything I had in my arsenal. It was dead on, full of power, catching Gil squarely in the face. I heard the pop even from where I was, saw the gush of blood, and realized that it had taken only seconds for Rand to break the man’s nose.

  “Goddamnit, Holloway!” Gil yelled as Glenn and Everett grabbed Rand, pulling him back.

  “Fuck you. It should’ve been your jaw, you stupid piece of shit!”

  Gil put his head back as several of his men shoved napkins at him to stem the flow of blood.

  “This is all your fault.”

  I looked over at Carly and saw how angry and hurt she was.

  “Do you think he’s going to thank you for this a year from now, five years from now when he has no children and no friends? He’ll have no one to have over to his home, no other parents to spend weekends with, no friends to go to the movies with or double-date with because he won’t have a wife, he’ll just have you.”

  The venom and hatred in her voice was scathing.

  “That man was made to be a father, mad
e to be a friend, and you’re robbing him of all of it, all he could be, you selfish piece of shit!”

  It was, as usual, about more than me. I was a catalyst lately, and that was okay. Instead of making her own life, she had been banking on a man to give it to her. Unlike most of the women I knew who made their happily ever after themselves and then found someone to share their dream with them, Carly was waiting for the guy on a white horse. I wish she had asked me; I would have told her that if she built her castle, someone would want to live in it with her. But she had to put it up first.

  “You’re taking away the home he could have! You’re taking away everything!”

  “Carly,” I said quietly.

  “I—”

  “Just stop,” I cut her off, “because what you don’t know about Rand Holloway is a lot.”

  She sucked in her breath as she glared at me with wet, red-rimmed eyes.

  “I don’t know what kind of ranch you live on, Carly, but on the Red Diamond, Rand doesn’t have time to see a movie or spend time with friends,” I soothed her. “The man takes Sunday off mostly, and on that day everyone who lives on our ranch makes a trip up to the house, and we all have dinner, all the families, all the wives and kids. Everyone brings something, and in the summer we barbeque, and in the winter it’s more stew and pot roast and things like that. Rand’s friends normally see him on Saturday night after he’s worked all day. He’s been known to meet them to play cards or visit a bar to watch a game.”

  The tears were flowing, but she was listening.

  “Yes, he’s lost some friends because he chose me, but he’s also got some new ones.”

  She took the napkin I passed her.

  “And his family is the same because they all love me, and the ranch is thriving like crazy.” I smiled at her, reaching for her hand. “Rand Holloway doesn’t need a wife. He just needs to love and be loved in return.”

  The trembling she was doing turned fast to shaking. “It’s filthy and you’re sick, and if you think he really loves you, you’re dead wrong. How could he?”

  There would be no breakthrough, no epiphany, and I was so sad for her that I squinted so I wouldn’t cry. I really was a bit more exhausted than I was giving myself credit for being.