“Just making sure.”
“I don’t blame you, pass out at the Hard Root you’re liable to end up not sure why you have a funny taste in your mouth, but that’s not really my thing. Although, I did kinda bring you dinner, so I guess I had the right to screw with your unconscious body.”
“Those are the rules of a civilized society.”
“Here’s those jeans,” Clay said tossing them at her. “I’m not going to tell you where I got those boots though.”
“Cross dressing phase?”
“I am a red blooded male.” He winked again.
A dammed sexy wink and Savannah bit her lip.
“Come on, I’m already late and I’m sure my brother is ready to kick my ass.”
“If you have to work, I could ride another day.”
“I have a feeling you need it today, besides, he can’t get mad at me if I have a good reason to be late this morning. And he’s a bit of a romantic deep down.”
“So, taking your lady for a morning ride is a forgivable offense?” she asked while leaning against the doorjamb.
“Um, I guess,” he said.
Suddenly, a cold chill ran down her spine. Had she said something?
“Now, unless you’re trying to see the merchandise before purchase, can I have some privacy?”
Oh, know she knew what it was. She glanced at his towel and wondered if she should stay. Might be worth a gander. The white towel was a nice contrast to the chocolate of his skin. It wouldn’t take but a second for him to drop it and even from this angle, she could see a slight rise increasing in one area.
“I have a face you know,” he teased.
Her head jolted up to see him smiling with one dimple on his right cheek.
“But if you really want to see…” He started to untuck the towel.
Immediately, she turned, ran to the other bedroom and slammed the door.
“Damn! You heard the rumors, I swear it really is a manageable size if you stretch first.”
Savannah’s heart was pounding as she kept her back pressed against the door with a wide smile plastered across her lips.
* * * *
Taking things slow had Clay turned on in a way he wasn’t prepared for. Half mast, he could deal with, full blown throbbing, that wasn’t the type of erection he could just move past. Fuck, if he didn’t wish she would open the door and snap his towel off.
He would scoot her skirt up and turn it into a belt as he pushed aside what he assumed was a strip of lace before finding himself deep inside her. Pushing the idea aside didn’t help, not when he could hear her getting dressed—well, undressed—just on the other side of the door. Dead puppies, estate taxes, the designated hitter rule… Something had to take away his erection, or he would never fit into his jeans. A crackle from the kitchen gave him hope as his brother’s voice over the radio called looking for him.
“Clayton, you want responsibility? You have to show up to work!” he barked over the radio they still used because using his cell would result in a second mortgage needed to cover the roaming charges and he would still lose signal.
“I’ve got a guest I’m bringing up to ride this morning. Don’t worry, I’ll work late and let you have some family time.”
Okay, the second part was because he knew Tina would be listening and she would be on Walt’s ass that he’d better be on time for dinner tonight. If nothing else, Clay would have some freedom at the end of the day.
“A guest huh?” Walt replied.
Clay could hear his smile through the radio.
“Fine, but you best be done by nine.”
After settling his soldier down, Clay finally got dressed and found Savannah outside looking at the stream. “You heard about that huh?” he asked.
“About what?” she asked as she turned and the sunlight caught in her hair, reflecting like a dark pond.
“Oh, well that’s the same stream from your land. The one Julio tossed Mel in, after he attacked her.”
“I didn’t know we shared water rights. I just thought it was beautiful.” She glanced back at the water which wasn’t much more than a trickle since it hadn’t rained since the attack, almost a month ago. “Seems a bit low.”
“All depends on the rain and temperatures in the mountains over on your property.”
“How close is my ranch?” she asked, then corrected herself. “I mean the Winston place.”
“See that fence line over there?” he asked as he stepped in close and placed his hand on the small of her back. “You’re the other side.”
She turned her gaze up at him then back to see the barbed wire fence that skirted the property. “I haven’t gone any further than the barn.”
“Well, if it wasn’t for that fence, we could take the horses out on the property.”
“Fences are good sometimes,” she replied as she stepped away from him and moved toward his truck.
Melody’s jeans fit her perfectly and the boots left by a woman he couldn’t place did more for her than they ever could for another female. But it was his high school football shirt that had his sense of ownership in overdrive. Why did seeing her in his clothes make him want to claim her? Damn it—need to claim her. Yet, here she was calling for fences.
They drove to the main house and he picked two horses out to take them on a ride. “You want me to come with?” he asked before saddling up his own gelding, Buck.
“I think you’ll need to.” She smiled.
He stepped closer to her. His hand rested on her hip and their height difference was there again, like last night. She was so demure and tiny. Barely coming to his chest. “That’s not what I asked,” he said with a low growl to his voice as he used his other hand to turn her chin up, no avoiding eye contact this time. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“Yes,” she breathed out.
Then he leaned down, no longer able to control his need for her. Their lips met and melded together as he tasted her for the first time. Their breathing becoming one as his hand cradled her face. Just her lips, he told himself. Nothing more. Don’t push, she can’t be taken, she needs to give. It’s who she is and who you want her to be. One who gives herself to you for you, not for what you are. Pulling back, he sucked in her lips enough to find her flavor. He wanted to savor the moment because they had things to do that didn’t include a roll in the hay. “Then, I’ll saddle my man up,” he said as he pulled away from her. The action harder than he expected, because her hand that had been resting on his chest extended until he walked away and she could no longer touch him.
Looking back, he saw she was making a connection with Trixie. He wasn’t about to tell her Trixie was Vanessa’s horse. She was young, but very gentle and patient. And with Nessa only being three, Trixie needed someone to take her out to stretch her legs.
Savannah ran her hand down the nose of the black beauty as her other was under the horses jaw. Trixie didn’t disappoint as her ice blue eyes with the longest lashes he’d ever seen on a horse outside of cartoons, stayed calm. Soon, they were riding without a word between them. Clay took her along the property line for their two ranches.
“There’s not much difference,” she noted. “Except all the cattle on mine are being slaughtered today.”
“Such a waste,” Clay said as they trotted along. “My sister in law Tina has been in a tizzy since she heard what Federated did.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You’re not going to spin it in your mind to a shadow conspiracy are you?”
“I don’t know Dusty, you think it’ll be important enough for me to pay attention?” She smiled and wrapped the reigns around her hand another time.
“Who knows, Atlanta, you just might.”
“Don’t bore me, just give me the facts.”
“I fear what you think that’s from.”
“How about I keep the mystery alive?”
“Good idea.” Clay pulled on the reigns and Buck turned right. He knew it was getting close to time
to turn back. “Well, from what we’ve gleamed from Melody’s muddled memory, Federated fracked while looking for a natural gas pocket. They didn’t find anything, but the chemicals they used in the drilling process leached onto the Winston’s property. Instead of claiming responsibility and trying to clean up, they sent Julio to have Connie move his fence onto their land.”
“Is that why he was looking at buying more cattle?”
“You knew about that?”
“Aunt Teddy is in hyper clean up mode. It’s like she wants to get rid of anything and everything as if that could make it all go away.”
“And Uncle Patty is just the opposite,” Clay said. “What about Kelly and Bobbie?”
“They’re caught up at work or something. I get the feeling they’re trying to avoid the whole situation.”
“Just like my brother JT, instead of staying on the ranch and working it, he sold us his share and set up his own place in Minnesota.”
“Damn, I thought I was a runner.”
“He’s not running, he just isn’t one for fighting and every decision is a fight when you have a big family and a lot of money tied up in land.”
“I’m learning that,” Savannah said as she gazed out at the expanse in front of her. “So, this gas company contaminated land and then tried to make it look like it wasn’t their property?”
“Pretty much,” Clay replied as he slowed the horses because he wasn’t ready to go home yet. “Now, we’re in a lawsuit together. The town and both our ranches.”
“The whole town?” she asked as if the idea was foreign.
“There’s a giant aquifer under our ranches, it feeds the town. Some say Tender Root will be a ghost town in ten years. If Federated doesn’t clean up the water, they might just be right. Drinking bottled water is an inconvenience, but not a big deal. But showering, cooking and watering livestock, well that’s just a bit much. Some have already left and others are seriously thinking about it.”
“What about you? Will the Long Ranch stay?”
“My great, great grandfather came here after he’d been freed. Our ranch was little more than fifty acres and a dozen head of cattle. Now, we’ve got over forty thousand acres. Each generation built on the last. Even with the change from this generation, we all still believe in this place. You work hard, you reap the rewards.” Clay then shook off the heavy comment and jabbed his heels into Buck sending him into a nice gallop. Not an all out sprint, just a bit of a run.
Savannah didn’t miss a beat and Trixie didn’t know what happened, but seemed happy to oblige.
Their ride was coming to an end and as much as Clay wanted to extend it the whole day, he needed to help Walt feed and water the cattle and he still needed to take Savannah back to the Hard Root.
* * * *
Savannah wasn’t sure what to make of Clay dropping her off at her car. In fact, she couldn’t understand him at all. For her, men were simple creatures that wanted sex and avoided commitment unless that meant regular sex, but no strings. Clayton Long—she even remembered his whole name, on the other hand—seemed to want her. Making her smile all the time, causing his eyes to light up and dance, which set off butterflies in her stomach.
Then again, she wasn’t exactly spreading her legs and saying come get me big boy either. Nope. She wasn’t going to stay in this half a horse town with its hand full of fast food joints, one Discount Mart and bar to per capita ratio that seemed a bit unsustainable.
“I thought I was the only one stupid enough to basically live here,” Carolyn said as she slammed her car door shut. Flipping her key ring around her finger as she walked while she eyed Savannah from head to toe and gave a nod. “At least, you’re dressed better today.”
“Oh, I just—these aren’t my clothes.”
“You’re standin’ a bit funny, but I didn’t think you looked like you were doing the walk of shame.”
“Clay took me riding this morning.”
“Did he now?” Carolyn smiled wide. “He is a charmer, if I was twenty years younger I’d let him ride me.”
“No,” Savannah said with a blush of heat to her cheeks. “A real ride on Trixie, one of his horses.”
“Well, that’s a waste of time in my books.”
“You don’t like horses?”
“Love them. Used to barrel ride when I was young and sexy like you,” she said giving Savannah’s arm a slap. “Now, I’m just old and irresistible, it’s the cross I bear, but I meant I’m sure Clay could have had you walkin’ funny for a much more satisfying reason.”
“I can’t read him,” she confessed. “Not sure what he wants.”
“You’d be the first. He’s a straight shooter with the girls for the most part. If he wants more, he’ll tell you.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“He’ll back away slowly. He’s a heartbreaker, but not on purpose.”
“I need to go home and shower.”
“Don’t worry, the lunch crowd isn’t worth wasting your time on. What are you thinking? A few more nights, then callin’ it and moving back to Dallas?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“Damn girl, we could have been twins,” Carolyn remarked as she crossed the rest of the way to the front door before calling out, “See you tonight.”
What did that lawyer tell her when she came out here? These were good people? On the drive back to the ranch, she took in the landscape and the rich red coloring of the earth. Could she live here? She wondered then shook it clear of her mind. What if Clay was right and in ten years, Tender Root would only have a gas station, the Hard Root and the Long Ranch to its name? No school, no families, no church or community. A ghost town. As much as she enjoyed the quiet ride with Clay, it was more about the company, not the solace. She could be quiet with Clay. Her mind could silence itself and live in the moment with him.
“What the fuck Savannah?” she barked at herself. “One damn peck and you’re ready to settle down and pop out little land barons hell bent on being assholes when they grow up!”
When she was getting within a mile of the ranch, a traffic jam occurred. She’d barely noticed that semis loaded with cattle had been passing her on the way out to the ranch. Slaughter day. How many did they need? At least a dozen were lined up and she swore ten or more had passed her. Not wanting to wait in line, she went around the trucks and pulled up by the side of the house.
As she entered the barn, she noticed Maggie wasn’t in her stall. They couldn’t be killing her too?
Running out the back of the barn, she saw Uncle Patty in the distance riding Maggie as he herded the cattle toward the pen a few at a time. Men she’d not seen before today were leading them in and Aunt Teddy was at the other end with a clipboard and a man watching her every notation.
“This is crazy,” Savannah yelled over the mooing of cows and stomp of feet.
Teddy glanced up with a bit of a grimace. “You know the numbers, but actually seeing them in person is different.”
As Savannah got closer, she noticed the man behind Teddy had an embroidered emblem above his left pocket that read Federated Gas. Part of Savannah felt as if Teddy was in bed with the enemy. According to Clay, Julio had worked for Federated. He killed her father because he figured out what they’d done. Why would Teddy even entertain someone from there? “Aunt Teddy can we talk?” Savannah asked.
“Come over here, I can barely hear you,” she called back.
Savannah then tried to figure out the best way to get there.
“What’s up Hon?”
“Alone?” Savannah asked staring at the man who’d turned his attention from Teddy’s notation to her.
Teddy turned back to the man. “This is my niece Savannah Georgio, the owner of all of this glory.”
“Then maybe she should be the one noting,” he suggested.
Savannah took in his clean-shaven appearance and silver hair sticking out of the side of a tan cowboy hat. Probably five ten and two fifty, he didn’t appear
fat, just solid.
“I don’t mind helping family.” Teddy crossed her arms and the flow of cattle stopped. “And protecting them. Now Savannah, what were you wanting to talk about? You’ve been in town all day I assume.” Teddy turned back to the cattle and nodded as she noted the number tagged in the animal’s ear before sending it on to be loaded on a half full semi.
“Yes.”
“I’m sure you know about Federated Gas now.”
“I’ve got a good idea.”
“Bert is coming by later to have a talk with my buddy Larry here. Although, they have no record of Julio working in the United States, he was found in their Mexican employment records from a few years ago. They have agreed to cooperate with the authorities on the matter.”
“And you trust them?”
“Not in the least.” She turned her head and looked Savannah dead in the eye. “That’s why I’m taking inventory of the diseased cattle we now have to slaughter, since they are no longer safe for human consumption. It’s all part of the lawsuit. Although my buddy, Larry here assures me he’d be more than willing to do this for me.”
Savannah saw the set up with cattle stepping on the scale, then walking down the shoot and off to the semi. No wonder Teddy had been making sure they’d been fed and cared for as if they weren’t sick. The higher the weight, the more Federated would have to pay.
It was then Dean walked up and nodded at Savannah. “How you liking Tender Root?” he asked. “Not a bad spot.”
“When it doesn’t glow in the dark,” Savannah snipped while staring hard at Larry.
Larry then sucked his lips in and went back to making sure Teddy wasn’t padding the scale.
“Are you here to have me sign papers?”
“Among other things.” Dean placed his hand on Teddy’s shoulder and she patted it. “Savannah, want to come inside, so we can go over everything?”
“Yeah, can I grab a quick shower first? I worked until three last night.”
“Where you working?” Teddy asked.
“Carolyn hired me at the Hard Root.” Savannah expected a scolding, instead Teddy nodded in understanding. “I’ve got to work tonight too.”
The Last to Know Page 8