“It’s only for a few days Jack, I’ll be okay. We have to learn how to be separated.”
“Well, I still don’t like it. What if you need me?”
Chloe laughed, loving the fact that he thought he could help her from half way across the world. “I have your brothers here if I get in trouble. I promise not to do anything crazy until you get back.”
“Well, okay. I’ll call you as soon as I can.” Jack said, then added, “I love you, Chloe.”
Chloe’s heart melted, it was the first time he’d said it and she’d been waiting so long to hear it. “I love you too, Jack.”
It was even harder to hang up after that, but finally they disconnected the call, both feeling an intense longing for the other. The next day, Chloe was able to lose herself in her work, but when night came and she was alone, her longing for Jack and Josh came roaring back. Tomorrow she promised herself, she’d go have dinner with someone, which would help distract her from his silly emotions. Marissa was the perfect choice; there was always a group of people at Honey Hills and surely that would provide enough entertainment to keep her mind off her missing boys.
When she arrived at Marissa’s the next evening, there were indeed a bunch of cars and trucks in the yard and she began to look forward to dinner. She recognized most of the vehicles but there was one that made her blood run cold. There parked between two huge trucks was a sports car that looked remarkably like Brandon’s, but that was impossible, Brandon had to be hundreds of miles away.
She hadn’t heard anything from him since she’d move up to the canyon, but she’d heard rumors that he wasn’t doing all that well. Evidently, he’d been hopping mad when he found out that she’d sat for her boards early, and there was a rumor that he was shopping for someone who could arrange it for him to pass without taking the test. Deciding that it couldn’t possibly be Brandon, she climbed the porch and went in the front door.
Marissa was there to meet her, a strained look on her face. When she walked into the kitchen, she could understand why. Brandon was sitting at the kitchen table, looking decidedly out of place surrounded by the men of the canyon. When he saw her, he jumped to his feet and crossed the room, a big smile on his face, and hugged her. She was so shocked she didn’t stop him, but when he tried to kiss her on the cheek she pulled back.
“What are you doing here?” She demanded, not the least bit happy to see him.
“I wanted to apologize to you. I think you deserve it.” He said, trying to keep his voice low.
“I don’t want you to apologize, I want you to leave.” She said.
“We have things to talk about, I didn’t mean what I said.” Brandon wasn’t going to give up. “We can talk about it here in front of everyone if you want, but I doubt you want your sex life discussed in front of these people.”
Chloe considered his words, then knowing that he’d do something to embarrass her, she nodded her head. “I’ll meet you on the porch, I just need to talk to Marissa for a second.”
“Don’t keep me waiting.” Brandon said, with a decidedly false smile.
When Marissa and Chloe got into the other room, Chloe sank into a chair and put her head in her hands. “What’s wrong?” Marissa asked.
“Do you know who that is?” Chloe asked, looking up at Marissa with tears in her eyes.
“I have a feeling it’s someone you don’t want to see. He showed up here an hour or so ago, said that he knew you and that you were expecting him. If I’d known that he wasn’t someone you wanted to see, I would have warned you.” Marissa sounded so sorry Chloe felt guilty.
“You had no way of knowing that I wouldn’t want to see him. I’ll just have to get rid of him.” Chloe said, taking a deep breath.
“Who is he?” Marissa didn’t want to pry, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her.
Chloe knew that Marissa deserved an explanation she briefly filled her in on her relationship with Brandon and how he’d broken her heart. When she’d finished Marissa rolled her eyes and said, “This guy’s up to no good. We need to get rid of him and fast.”
“That’s exactly what I’m planning to do, but if he’s not gone in ten minutes will you come save me?” Chloe asked, wanting to know that she wouldn’t be completely on her own.
Heart pounding, she went out to the porch where Brandon was waiting for her, a smug look on his face. “Looks like you’ve done okay for yourself here, wouldn’t it be a shame if something messed that up.” He said, propping his feet up on the railing and leaning back in his chair.
“What are you doing here? You need to leave; you’re not wanted here.” Chloe said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I just thought I’d come and check on you, I thought maybe you were lonely but it looks like you have lots of company and they’re all just the kind of man you like. Personally, I don’t really care for the smell of horse manure but that’s just me.”
“Brandon, you need to leave.” Chloe said again.
“Oh, I’ll leave soon enough, but first I just want to make sure that you remember what you left behind.” He said, and got up from the chair and crossed the porch.
Before she could stop him, he’d pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She immediately pushed him away but as luck would have it, Owen and Flynn pulled into the yard just then. When Brandon saw them, he sniggered at her and ambled off the porch, taking the steps slowly. Chloe wanted to die right on the spot, but Marissa came rushing out of the house just then and pulled her inside.
“I’m sorry Chloe, I wasn’t expecting him to do that.”
“Me either.” Chloe said, her heart sinking. “It wouldn’t have been so bad but I know that Owen and Flynn saw that.”
“You’ll just have to explain it to them.” Marissa said, with a sigh.
But Owen and Flynn weren’t going to give her a chance to explain. “Looks like our brother managed to snag himself another liar.” Flynn said.
“Your timing was bad Chloe; you should have waited until tonight to get it on with your little boyfriend. What were you planning to do, get what you could from Jack then dump him? I thought you were different.” Owen looked a little bit upset at the turn of events. “I really liked you.”
“Wait, let me explain.” Chloe said, trying to find the words to make them understand that the kiss hadn’t been her idea.
“You can explain to Jack; he’s going to be here in a few minutes. He wanted to surprise you.” Flynn said, then pointed to Jack’s truck pulling into the yard.
Chapter 13
Jack was so happy to see Chloe that he didn’t notice the commotion on the porch at first, but then he noticed that everyone was shouting at each other except Chloe who was standing staring at him. She looked like she was ready to cry, but not with happiness. He crossed the yard in only a few steps and demanded, “What’s going on?”
“Your girlfriend invited her other boyfriend over for dinner, sorry you missed him.” Owen said, giving Chloe a look that showed every bit of the contempt he was feeling.
“That’s not true. It was Brandon and he came up here uninvited.” Chloe tried to explain.
“Funny he looked pretty welcome when you were kissing him.” Flynn said, an evil grin on his face.
Jack stared at Chloe, she’d told him about Brandon, assured him that it was over between them. Now he was hearing that the guy had shown up here, not only that, Chloe had him kissing her right in front of his brothers. If she’d wanted to hurt him she’d found the best way ever, suddenly he was sure that she’d planned the whole thing just to get even with him for the way he’d acted.
Turning on his heels, he headed straight back to the truck sorry that he’d decided to surprise Chloe. It didn’t occur to him that she couldn’t have planned anything since she hadn’t known that he was coming home early. He was having too much trouble getting his mind around the fact that she’d kissed the man who had supposedly broken her heart.
Chloe chased Jack across the yard having a hard time ca
tching up to him, especially when he was mad. “Wait Jack, that’s not what happened.” She called after him, but he got in his truck and sped out of the yard.
She watched him go, her heart breaking, wondering how things had gone wrong so fast. Marissa came out to where Chloe was standing and put her arm around her and led her back into the house, when they passed by Owen and Flynn she gave them a dirty look but didn’t say anything. Once they were in the house away from prying eyes Chloe burst into tears, sobbing out all her frustration.
“He’s never going to believe me.” She said, through her tears.
“Hush for a second and listen to me.” Marissa said, handing Chloe a tissue. “Give him time to calm down then talk to him. He’s just upset. I’ll handle Owen and Flynn, after I get done with them they’re going to be sorry they stuck their nose into something that was none of their business.”
It took a little while for Chloe to calm down, but when she left Marissa’s things didn’t look quite so bad. When she got back to her cabin Jack was home, but as much as she wanted to talk to him right then, she knew that Marissa was right, time would go a long way toward calming Jack down. When she looked at it from his perspective it was no wonder that he got so upset. If it had been her, she might have reacted the same way.
It wasn’t long before she heard Jack pull away from the cabins, where he was headed she had no idea, but she really hoped it wasn’t anywhere near his brothers. They’d already done a lot of damage, damage she was going to have to repair. All she needed was them feeding the fire. Determined to talk to him when he got home, she sat down on the porch knowing that she wouldn’t miss him that way. But as the hours passed, she found herself getting more and more sleepy, especially once the sun had gone down.
Jack pulled up to his cabin hoping that he wouldn’t see Chloe; he was hurt and confused, almost unable to believe what his brothers had told him. He’d gone in search of them but hadn’t been able to find them. He needed some clarity before he saw Chloe, a part of him unable to believe that she was still involved with Brandon. Until then he wasn’t going to talk to her, he just couldn’t trust himself not to fall under her spell again.
When he saw Chloe asleep on the porch his heart told him to go to her, but the stubborn hurt child inside of him overruled that idea and led him directly into the cabin. He took a shower and got into bed determined not to think about Chloe, but although he did sleep, his dreams were full of her. He tossed and turned until the light of dawn was just showing on the horizon then he finally got out of bed knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to get any decent rest.
Throwing on some clothes, he went to the door hoping that Chloe wasn’t still asleep on her porch, guilt for the way he’d treated her beginning to take over the anger and hurt he’d felt. But when he opened the door, Owen was standing on the front porch.
“What are you doing here this time of morning?” Jack asked, concerned to see his brother standing on his porch.
“The sheep in the upper pasture are missing.” Owen said, the panic clear in his voice.
“What?” Jack asked, his mind still on Chloe.
“I just talked to Paul and they can’t find the sheep, it looks like a bear came through last night and they bolted.” Owen explained, waiting for Jack to explode.
Jack did explode, taking all his anger and frustration out on Owen and Paul. Owen just stood on the porch and let Jack yell, happy to see his old brother back. As awful as it was, Owen didn’t like Jack’s new happiness; Chloe had changed his brother and the one thing Owen didn’t like was change. It had taken everything in him to make the move to America, he hadn’t wanted to come and now he knew that he was right. Everything that could go wrong had, and it would only get worse before it got better, it was going to be a long two years.
Once Jack had poured out the worst of his anger, he took a deep breath to calm himself. He needed a plan and he needed one now; those sheep couldn’t survive up in the mountains on their own. They needed to be guided to the best food at least for now. Knowing he had no other option but to go up there himself, he went back into the cabin and packed a few clothes in his saddle bags and headed for the four-wheeler.
With one final look at Chloe’s cabin, he sped off into the morning, wishing that things had been different. He should have her by his side, but right now there was too much that needed to be settled between them. A small part of him felt guilty that he was just leaving, knowing that they had things that needed to be said, but it was Chloe’s fault they were in this position not his, at least this time.
It shouldn’t take long to round up the sheep, he’d be back in a matter of days and then they’d talk. When he got to the barn, he pushed Chloe from his mind, right now the sheep were more important than his love life, his whole future rested on those sheep. He couldn’t lose them now. It wouldn’t make any difference what Chloe had done if he lost the herd and had to go home with his tail between his legs.
Chloe awoke long after sunrise, she’d slept much longer than she’d intended, partly because instead of the warm California sunshine waking her, the day was overcast and dreary. For a second, she considered staying in bed where it was warm, but then she remembered the night before and her stomach sank. Jack was mad at her, sure that she’d been cheating on him, she had to get out of bed and find him to explain.
Jumping out of bed, she stripped out of the flannel pajamas she’d been wearing, shivering in the cold. She’d fallen asleep on the porch waiting for Jack to come home and when she’d woken in the early morning hours, shivering from the cold, she’d been disappointed to see that she’d missed him. His four-wheeler was parked out in front of his cabin, but there wasn’t a light to be seen, so she’d gone inside and gone to bed.
Hoping that she hadn’t missed Jack, she dressed and hurried over to his cabin. She had no idea what she’d say to him, but she had to set the record straight. Without hesitating, she knocked on the door, then stepped back her heart racing. The door was opened almost immediately, but it wasn’t Jack standing there; it was Owen and by the look on his face she could tell that he wasn’t happy to see her.
“It took you longer to get over here than I thought it would.” Owen said, that annoying sneer on his face.
“I need to see Jack.” She said, trying to control her temper.
“Why? Did you come to tell him some more of your lies?”
Chloe took a deep breath, “I just want to see Jack.”
“Well, I’m afraid you can’t do that.” Owen said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the door frame, blocking her view inside the cabin.
Thinking that Owen was keeping her from Jack, she finally lost her temper. “It’s time for you to mind your own business. You have no idea what’s going on and frankly even if you did you have no right to get involved, this is between Jack and me.” She was practically shouting and had moved several steps closer to Owen.
“That’s where you’re wrong little girl. Who do you think picked Jack up and kept him going after Isobel crushed him, if you think I’m going through that again you better think again. You women are all the same, liars and cheats.” He finished, leaning down and getting right in Chloe’s face.
Owen’s words were like putting a flame to a pile of leaves, Chloe would have sworn there was smoke coming out of her ears, she was so mad. “You’re a real jerk, and stupid to boot. How dare you categorize all women that way. You are just an insecure little boy yourself. Grow up and act like a man, leave Jack and me alone and let us work this out.” Chloe said, jabbing her finger into Owen’s chest. “Get out of my way right now.”
Owen was so shocked by Chloe’s response that he moved out of the way, she rushed into the cabin and went right back to the bedroom when she saw that Jack wasn’t in the living room or kitchen. But he wasn’t in the bedroom either, so she stormed back out to the porch, even madder than before.
“You could have told me he wasn’t here. Is he at the ranch?” She demanded, her eyes da
ring Owen to screw with her again.
Still shocked by the fire in Chloe, he said, “The sheep in the upper pasture have gone missing and he left early this morning to help find them.”
Chloe turned and looked at the mountains looming behind them, they were covered in grey ugly looking clouds, the upper peaks not even visible. “When did he leave?”
Owen began to look a little sheepish, “About dawn, I guess. He didn’t really tell me his plans when he left.”
“Who did he take with him?” Chloe demanded, all her anger suddenly replaced with worry. As skilled as Jack was on a horse, he didn’t know these mountains at all and the coming storm was predicted to be one of the worst of the year.
Flash floods were always a concern and streams that were nothing more than a gently trickle most of the year could turn deadly in seconds. Chloe knew from her trip up to the pasture earlier in the year that there were several stream crossings, not to mention the runoff streams that were dry most of the year but popped up at times like this.
“I don’t know, maybe Flynn went with him.” Owen was beginning to understand that Chloe was concerned for Jack’s safety. “He knows how to handle himself. What’s the big deal?”
“You really are an idiot.” Chloe said, then added. “These mountains can be deadly especially in a storm like this, no one should be up there alone. If anything happens to him I’m going to hold you responsible. I’m going after him, something you should have done.”
“You can’t go up there now, it’s too dangerous.” Owen finally said when Chloe’s words had sunk in. He’d been so bent on breaking them up, he’d lost sight of the danger Jack was putting himself in, storm or no storm he should have made sure he was taking someone with him.
“I have to, I love him and if anything happens I don’t know what I’ll do.” Chloe said, turning and heading back to her cabin.
Be My Everything (Brothers From Money Book 11) Page 13