“That’s why I walk.”
“Is that Bran’s ranch truck?”
“Yeah. He insisted I drive it since it’s four-wheel drive. It’s been handy to have two vehicles.”
“How are things going with Bran?”
He kissed me today and blew my mind. “Good. It’s slowed down. I’m not out there in the dead of night, thank God.”
“There’s nothin’ else goin’ on … ?”
“Besides our business relationship? No. I can’t thank you enough for getting the ball rolling. Although, Bran was surprised to see me. Why didn’t you tell him I was interested in the job before I showed up?”
Celia squinted at her. “Because he would’ve said no. I didn’t give him a chance, and see how well it’s worked out? For both of you.” She smiled cockily. “I’ll call you tomorrow, but let’s plan on meeting at Buckeye Joe’s around seven.”
Harper slid out of the cab and stopped in front of the empty, dark house. Bernice was right. She did need to get out and have a life.
Abe Lawson had whipped up a batch of his famous Wyoming jambalaya and invited their pals to the Lawson place. In addition to his girlfriend, Nancy, Hank and Lainie, Max Godfrey and his date, Nikki—who looked all of fourteen—Abe had included Eli Whirling Cloud, Kyle Gilchrist, and Ike Palmer in the bachelor contingent.
Just as they sat down to eat, Celia showed up, surprising her family. Evidently she hadn’t let anyone know she’d planned on coming home.
Bran hugged her, noticing her stiff posture and her “don’t fuck with me” expression—which was mainly aimed at her family. After Nancy cleared the plates and brought out more beer, talk turned to rodeo, as it so often did when Kyle was around.
“You’ve really gone up in the standings since the ninety-onepoint ride in Tulsa,” Max said to Kyle.
Kyle shrugged and sipped his brew. “Thanks. But this early in the season only a few points separate the top twenty riders.”
“But if you can get an early lead and stay on top of it, you’re way better off than the person sitting fiftieth,” Celia pointed out.
“Where are you in the standings right now?” Kyle asked Celia coolly.
“As of last weekend she’s ninth in this circuit and twenty-second overall,” Lainie said.
Bran saw Celia send her sister-in-law a soft smile before she returned to picking the label off her beer bottle.
“Do you guys ever run into each other on the road?” Max asked.
Kyle and Celia didn’t even look at each other.
Lainie jumped in. “When I first started in the CRA, I wondered how they decided which geographic areas needed their own circuits and how some circuits have, like, fifteen states. Despite that, I seemed to always run into the same people.”
“I’d say who you see is about money, since that and points are what everything boils down to.” Kyle shrugged. “But I’m probably wrong.”
“Like that’d be a first,” Celia grumbled.
“You know, come to think of it, I did see Celia a few weeks back,” Kyle offered.
“Where?” she demanded.
“Pueblo. But I doubt you saw me, since you were otherwise … occupied.”
“What were you doin’, Celia?” Abe asked.
She smiled at Kyle—all teeth. “Just blowing off some steam.”
Kyle choked on his beer.
What the hell? Bran looked at Eli, who shrugged. Everyone waited for the fireworks to ignite. Kyle had teased Celia mercilessly from the time they were kids, and it’d only gotten worse in the last five years.
“Play nice, you two,” Abe warned, “or take it outside.”
“Which is where you might be sleeping, since we had no idea you were coming home,” Nancy joked lamely. “I’m afraid your old room is piled with stuff for the rescue mission in Rawlins. I’m sure your bed is under the mess someplace—it’ll take some doing to clean up, but I’ll help.”
“Not necessary. I’ll sleep in my horse trailer.”
Hank got in Celia’s face, forcing her to look at him. “You aren’t sleepin’ in the goddamn horse trailer. You’ll freeze to death. You can sleep on the couch.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll stay with Eli, since I’ll be over there all day tomorrow anyway.”
Eli shook his head. “Sorry. No room. Kyle is crashing at my place.”
“Fucking awesome.” Celia drained her beer and stood. “Supper was great, Abe. Thanks. See you guys later.”
“Where are you goin’?” Hank demanded.
“Harper’s.” Her duster flapped and she was out the door before anyone could say a word.
Bran knew Celia wasn’t going to Harper’s. Stubborn girl would sleep in her horse trailer just to spite her brothers.
Girl? Celia’s the same age as Harper, and you’d never call Harper a girl.
True. Harper was all woman.
“If you’ll excuse me.” Nancy stormed off and Abe followed.
Hank and Lainie exchanged a look. No doubt they were counting down the days until they had their own place and could steer clear of the drama.
Kyle passed out another round. “Okay, Hank, give it to me straight. Did Renner Jackson really buy the three hundred acres of shit land bordering the Kleins’ old property on the north?”
“Yep. It’s a done deal.”
“When did this go down?”
“Before Christmas.”
“Fuck.” Kyle drained the beer and reached for the bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the buffet. “Who’s in the mood for a throwdown with Jack tonight?”
“Count me in.” Lainie opened the china hutch and grabbed eight shot glasses.
Eli and Nikki passed. Kyle poured the whiskey and lifted his shot glass. “To never getting what you want, no matter how goddamn hard you try.”
Lainie put her hand on Kyle’s arm. “That, my friend, is a shitty toast, and I’m not drinking to it. How about this one instead: to friends who stick by you no matter how goddamn hard you try to push them away.”
Kyle laughed and smooched Lainie on the forehead. “Such a little optimist. Fine. Let’s drink to the optimistic bullshit Lainie said.”
Glasses clinked. Bran knocked his whiskey back, shuddering at the taste, chasing the burn with a swallow of beer. Before they veered onto another topic, he focused on Kyle. “Why’re you so pissed about Renner Jackson buying that land?”
“Because I wanted it.” Kyle poured and consumed another shot. “But like everything in my life, I’m a day late and a million dollars short.”
“Kyle. You don’t want that land, trust me. It’s bad luck land.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Kyle snapped.
Hank relayed the bad luck stories that’d befallen the landowners. Including the Lawsons’ parents, who’d died of carbon monoxide poisoning a few years after purchasing the tract of land. “I wasn’t surprised Renner bought it, bein’s his grandparents lived there, but I don’t get why in the hell he considers himself lucky to have it.”
“And how do you know so much about him, anyway?”
“He’s been around off and on for the last year or so. To be honest, I think he’s a great guy and he’ll be an asset as a neighbor.”
“I agree. Although I would’ve preferred you as our neighbor,” Lainie said.
Kyle rolled his eyes. “What’s he gonna do with it? Ain’t raising cattle. It’s shit land for growing grass.”
“He’s a stock contractor,” Ike said. “Maybe he’ll have pens. Or use it as a feedlot.”
“Do you know him?” Kyle asked.
“I’ve dealt with him. Helluva head for business. And like Hank said, he appears to be a nice guy.” Ike’s eyes narrowed. “Have you tangled with his stock?”
“Not recently that I can recall. I’m sure Renner is a nice guy. It just sucks. By the time I have the money to buy land around here, there ain’t gonna be land to buy. I might check into land prices in South Dakota.”
Silence.
&
nbsp; “Is that Breck Christianson’s idea?” Hank asked.
Kyle nodded. “He’s been suggesting it for the last year. I’ve been too … set on livin’ in Wyoming to take him seriously. Maybe it’s time I did.” He poured another shot. “So, Bran. What’s this rumor that Harper Masterson is your hired hand?”
“Not a rumor. She’s filling in until Les is back on his feet.”
“I’ll bet you’re filling her too.” Kyle winked. “Well done, my friend. She’s hot as fire.”
“You’re a fuckin’ pervert. Harper works for me. That’s it.”
“Seriously? You ain’t tapping that?” Ike said with complete skepticism.
“Nope. And for havin’ little ranch experience, she’s turned out to be a damn good worker.”
Nikki fluttered her fingers. “Harper is my manicurist. I’ll be sad when she moves.”
Hank broke out the cards. “Who’s feelin’ lucky tonight?”
For the next hour they played low-stakes blackjack and poker. Bran missed hanging out with his friends, trash talking, losing his ass to Ike the cardsharp. He hated to think their group would scatter even more if Kyle moved to South Dakota permanently.
Abe came around the corner and leaned against the doorjamb. “Hey, can you guys keep it down? Nancy has a headache.”
“So send her home,” Hank suggested.
“It’s eleven o’clock and time for the party to be over anyway,” Abe said.
“We’re in the middle of a poker game, Abe.”
“I don’t care. Wrap it up.”
“Come on, man,” Max said. “Why you actin’ so old and grumpy? Sit down and play a few hands. Relax. Have a beer.”
Bran caught Eli’s eye and knew they were on the same page. This situation could get real ugly, real fast. Abe and Hank and Lainie needed to work this out without an audience, regardless if it happened tonight.
Eli threw his cards in the center of the table. “Actually, I’m out. I’m heading home anyway. Gotta be up early.” He lightly punched Kyle in the shoulder. “Come on, kola, you’re with me.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kyle swayed to his feet.
“I’ll be taking off too,” Bran said.
“Well, hell, ain’t no reason for us to stick around,” Max said to Nikki. “Come on, angel, let’s go.”
“You guys all okay to drive?” Lainie asked.
“Nikki’s the DD for me.”
“Bran? How about you?”
“I’m fine.”
Hank stood. “Tell you what. Let’s meet at Buckeye Joe’s tomorrow night. We can get as loud as we want and ain’t no one gonna chase us off.”
Abe glared at him and walked away.
Bran couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
The next morning Celia Lawson was leaning against the old outhouse, enjoying a smoke, when she heard footsteps crunching in the snow. She didn’t move, nor did she stomp out her cigarette like a guilty teen. She knew Eli hadn’t come looking for her. He didn’t give a shit what she did when she wasn’t on her horse. That left one other possibility.
She inhaled a lungful of smoke and blew it out before she said, “Mornin’, Kyle.”
“Mornin’, Celia.”
“How’s your head?” Start out snarky, keep it snarky—that was her motto when it came to dealing with Kyle Gilchrist.
“You assume I got shit-faced last night?”
She shrugged. “Ain’t my business even if you did. Just makin’ conversation.”
“My head’s just fine, thank you for asking.”
“You’re welcome.” Now go away.
“How long you been smoking?”
“Since I joined the circuit. Keeps me awake on the long stretches of road.”
“It’s a disgusting habit.”
“Says the man who chews tobacco,” she said with saccharine sweetness.
“You’re in a mood.”
A bad mood when I have to deal with you.
She smoked, gazing across the snow-covered hills stretching as far as the eye could see. The landscape was completely different here, at Eli’s place, than on Lawson land, although only thirty miles separated the ranches.
So why did she feel so far away?
She’d come home because she was homesick. After her arrival, she felt more homesick. The place she’d driven all night to get to … didn’t feel like her home anymore.
It’d left her unsettled. Which pretty much described her life in the last year and a half.
“You have just this week off?” Kyle asked.
Why was he being so goddamn nice to her? Usually the asshole went out of his way to embarrass her. Like last night. Bringing up Pueblo.
Speaking of … Celia wasn’t about to let him off the hook for that. “So you walked into Breck’s horse trailer when I was givin’ him a blow job, huh?”
Kyle’s mouth tightened. “It wasn’t the first time I’d seen someone on their knees in front of Breck. I doubt it’ll be the last.”
“Got a high opinion of your sometime traveling partner?”
“Breck’s a great guy. Great competitor. But the man is a fuckin’ slut. I was surprised to see you’d gotten sucked in by him.”
She laughed, inhaling one last drag of her cigarette before tossing the butt to the snow and snuffing it with her boot heel. “I was the one doin’ the sucking, Kyle.”
“Jesus, Celia.”
“What? You can be crude but I can’t? Typical macho chauvinistic behavior for you.”
“That you’re tryin’ to be like me warms the cockles of my heart, dumpling,” he said with a silken drawl. “I didn’t think Breck was your type.”
“He’s not. I don’t have a type. Breck and I hook up when we cross paths. No big deal. It ain’t love. I’m not expecting a ring and a vow of devotion.”
“Or a vow of chastity.”
“For either of us.”
“So you’re not … falling for him?”
Celia rolled her eyes. “Not hardly. He’s amazing in bed, and sometimes I just want to be with a guy who has no sexual boundaries.”
Kyle pinned her with a look. “Then you know that Breck is sometimes with guys?”
“I figured. But it’s not like we’ve talked about it. Wouldn’t be a good thing for Breck if word got around the circuit.” She cocked her head. “How’d you find out he swings both ways?”
The muscle in Kyle’s jaw jumped as he gritted his teeth. Bingo. She’d sent a question mark right to the heart of Kyle’s sexuality. He deserved it for all the comments he’d made over the years about her less than feminine attributes and tomboy actions.
“I don’t know from personal experience, smart-ass. I showed up at our motel room an hour early and found him fucking some dude. Breck freaked out, because he thought I’d freak out. I couldn’t care less who he does as long as he ain’t putting the moves on me.”
“Spoken like a true homophobe.”
“Wrong. I don’t like people pushing their religion on me neither.”
“Ditto.” Celia fired up another smoke. “Why’d you follow me out here?”
“To be a complete and total dick to you, naturally. See if I can get you to punch me in the face or knee me in the ’nads.”
Seeing Kyle’s megawatt grin, Celia forced herself not to smile back.
“The reason I followed you out in the frigid fuckin’ cold is to ask you what the hell is goin’ on with your family?”
Her focus snapped back to him. “Why?”
“Because we were havin’ a good time playing cards and shootin’ the shit last night. Abe came out of his room and told us to pipe down because Nancy had a headache. Then Hank said Nancy should go home. Seemed Abe and Hank were about to come to blows. So that, coupled with the way you took off … Are Hank and Abe havin’ problems?”
Celia tipped her head back and puffed out three smoke rings. “Yes. Most of the problems are her fault. Nasty Nancy. Jesus. I hate her. Why do you think I left? It’ll be a long goddamn time before
I come back here.” She pointed at him with her cigarette. “You’d better not tattle to Hank or I will punch you in the face and knee you in the ’nads.”
“Still the same tough girl,” he muttered.
“When are you gonna get it through your thick goddamn head that I haven’t been a girl for a long time?”
“I noticed, Celia. Believe me, I noticed.” He shifted his stance. “You’re friends with Harper. What’s goin’ on with her and Bran?”
She wasn’t surprised he’d changed the subject. He always did when she reminded him of her age. “She’s working for him.”
“That’s what he says too.”
“You don’t believe him?”
Kyle shook his head. “I’ve seen the way he’s looked at her over the years.”
“You’ve all looked at Harper like that over the years,” she pointed out.
“Not like Bran has. Not by a long shot.”
“You noticed it too, huh?”
“Yeah. Wonder why he’s never asked her out. They both live here. Seems kind of stupid that he hasn’t ever made a move.”
“My guess is because he thought she’d turn him down. Bran is cautious. I love him like a brother, but he’s got a chip on his shoulder about not bein’ much more than the boring hometown guy.”
“Really? Why?”
“Remember, you’re a rodeo star. Hank was a bullfighter. Devin’s a famous singer. Bran’s … just a rancher.”
“He’s a successful goddamn rancher. Doesn’t he know I’d give anything to have what he has? Why do you think I’m busting my ass out there on the circuit?”
Ever since Kyle had joined the CRA, he’d competed in as many rodeos as possible, trying to earn as much cash as possible. Rumor had it he’d given up his playboy ways and was totally focused on his career. She’d admire his tenacity … if he wasn’t such a douche bag.
Keep telling yourself that.
“Well, Harper’s never been impressed by the sort of men other women are.” She inhaled. Let out the smoke slowly. “If anything, she secretly craves the kind of stability Bran could offer her.”
“Do you think anything will happen between them?”
Celia grinned. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”
It took a second, but Kyle returned her grin. “You little sneak. You set them up.”
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