Sweet-Loving Cowboy--A Kinky Spurs Novel

by Stacey Kennedy

  Silence.

  Nash eventually snorted. “That’s a stupid idea.”

  “No, actually, it’s not,” Chase rebuked.

  Nash began tapping his foot, the clicking of his boot on the cement carrying loudly through the empty space. “Why, because of the shit you’ve got going on with Harper and Brody?”

  “This has nothing to do with either of them.” Chase moved in behind Mac, running his hand over his rump, letting him know he was there. He brushed the other side of his neck and down over his shoulders. “My reputation is on the line here.” He explained what he had come to realize this morning. “I’ve invited major investors and developers from all over the state. I won’t bring them here when my work hasn’t passed the inspection.” He turned to his brothers and looked between them, stating the truth he knew they didn’t want to hear. “I’m not going to get the work done, and I’ve been fooling myself to think I could. One stair alone takes hours of work. Let alone getting the windows realigned, which is a huge job. We need more time to do this right.”

  From Nash’s spot leaning against one of the wooden beams, his arms folded over his chest, he said, “You’re taking this too personally. This is business. Shit happens. We need to sit and form a new plan, and go from there. Perhaps it’s time to dig into our savings to finish this.”

  Chase let the too personal comment slide off his back. For him, nothing was more personal than his business. This was his dream. And for some reason, this inspector was determined to stop it from happening. “I’m not saying we need to delay for long, but the grand opening is six days from now.” He finished brushing down Mac’s hind leg. “If I rush the work, we’re only going to fail the inspection again.” He tossed the brush back into the tack box. “My reputation has already taken a hit. Word has to be getting out about this. Now we’ve got a reporter sticking her nose into our project. We need to be realistic. I need more time.”

  Nash said, “Those sound like excuses. Man up, you’ve got this.”

  Chase’s skin flushed hot. He shut his eyes, pressing a hand against Mac’s neck, inhaling deeply. “This isn’t a negotiation. I’ve made the decision. It’s done.”

  “Come on—” Nash began.

  Chase slowly opened his eyes and glared at Nash. “Did you not fucking hear what I said?”

  Nash didn’t give the smile he usually gave whe challenged. His brows drew together, concern laying heavy on his expression, telling Chase how bad he looked.

  Now adding guilt for being a prick to his brothers to the long list of shit weighing on him, Chase hurried to pick Mac’s hooves then entered the tack room next to the office. He got into his tan-colored chaps with white fringe then grabbed his saddle, pad, and bridle off the hook before returning to Mac. Heavy silence filled the barn as he added the saddle pad onto Mac’s back before sliding the saddle into place.

  When he fastened the girth, Shep offered, “We can fix this, Chase.”

  Chase sidled up to Mac’s head, undoing the crossties and removing his halter. Mac immediately opened his mouth for the bit and Chase slid the bridle over his head. “How exactly shall we fix all this?”

  Shep’s voice softened. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’re thinking it is.”

  “Really?” Chase fastened the cheek strap on the bridle then faced Shep. “How do you plan on fixing the fact that Harper is likely feeling that she’s not only caused a rift between Brody and me, but her heart is torn in two directions? How can we fix that my closest friend thinks I’ve betrayed him? How can we fix that a fucking reporter got wind of the problems on the build? How can we fix the fact that my goddamn first job is failing inspections?”

  Shep frowned, eyebrows drawn tight. “The personal shit will sort itself out. It always does.”

  Nash added, with a soft voice that was very unlike him, “And if you really think it’s necessary to delay the grand opening, then we’ll deal with that.”

  Chase took the reins off of Mac’s head. “I’m sure that with my reputation on the line, I don’t want to fuck this up. I need more time to think this through.” He headed for the barn’s doors, Mac following behind, his hooves clicking on the cement. “Please give me that.”

  “All right,” Shep said.

  Needing to get away from it all, Chase exited the barn and mounted Mac quickly, taking up the reins. His gaze fell to Houdini, who was still chewing on the hay bale. “Keep an eye on him for me.”

  With tense eyes, Shep nodded.

  Chase turned Mac to face the west, clicked his tongue, and squeezed his legs. Mac shot forward, galloping up the hill, and with the breeze brushing across his face, Chase ran away from reality.

  * * *

  Time seemed to no longer exist as Harper sat on a jagged rock with her arms hugging her legs, her chin resting on her knees. The clouds at some point while she had been sitting there for the better part of the morning had broken apart, dissipating to a blue sky. Now the green mountains with snowy-white peaks and deep green evergreen trees reflected off the blue water for as far as the eye could see. Everything hurt. Her muscles ached, her head throbbed, and her heart felt shattered into pieces. She knew Chase would take the blame for all this, but she needed to think it all through before making him feel better. Right now, she had to come first. Because she wouldn’t make Jack wait anymore. His kindness had been stretched, and she wouldn’t wear it thin.

  A hawk jumped from a tree, then soared through the air until he landed on another branch just off to the left of her. Nearly in that same second, as he soared in the sky again, she startled when a tender voice said, “I knew I’d find you here.”

  She turned her head, discovering Brody approaching, wearing his hiking boots and camouflage shorts with a black tank top. She supposed his arrival should not have been that much of a surprise. She had left before sunrise, making the half an hour trip there, needing some space away to think. This spot always did the trick. Dad had brought them there as kids to fish the waters for trout. Even after the accident, she came there, always feeling drawn to this place, as if Dad were there watching over her.

  Brody sat next to her, his legs knees bent and arms hugging them. He studied the view, then her. “You’re sad.”

  She rested her chin on her knee again. “I’m sad.”

  “Have I done that?”

  She glanced sideways, her cheek pressed to her knee. Brody could be so tough and protective, but when it came down to it, he loved her fiercely. “No, you haven’t made me sad.” Tears welled in her eyes, and she did nothing to stop them. “It’s just everything, I guess.”

  Brody stared horrified at her tears and cringed. “You’re going to have to be specific, Harper. I don’t understand what ‘everything’ means.”

  With a long sigh, she glanced back out at the water, mentally seeing the canoe on the water. Brody on one side of the boat, her in the middle, and Dad on the other end. There had been so much laughter during those trips, so much love. “I know you think my decision not to go to Vegas was a quick one, but it wasn’t, and it’s not for the reason you think.” While she sat there all morning, she had gone back into her mind, looking at every moment, every step that brought her to now. “Do you want to know when the doubts first came?”

  “That first night you stayed at Chase’s,” Brody grumbled.

  She rolled her eyes. “I already said it wasn’t what you’d think. The doubts actually first came when Chase took me to his tree house.”

  A small smile curved Brody’s mouth. “He took you there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can’t believe that place is still standing.” Brody picked up a pebble next to him, throwing it into the water. “All right, so why did your doubts start there?”

  She sighed. “Honestly, it hadn’t even been something I realized at the time. When he took me there, he shared why he loved building log homes, and how his dream started there for him.” She hesitated, knowing she had to get it right. For her. For Chase. For Brody. “When I fir
st decided to be a chef, I remember I chose that career path because I loved being in the kitchen with Mom. Cooking food makes me happy because it makes other people happy.” She glanced back up at the hawk that returned to the tree branch. “When Mom was alive, and we talked about Vegas all the time, I think I began to love Vegas because she did. Then after they died, I kept thinking there had to be something really special there if she loved it so much. Maybe I wanted to find that special thing myself.”

  “Harper. Simple. Talk.” Brody frowned. “How is all of what you just said connected to a tree house?”

  “Because Chase’s dream began with that tree house. Yes, he loves to build structures out of logs, but what makes that special to him is the fun you two had there. The memories. The happy times.”

  Obviously still confused, Brody glanced away, grabbing another pebble, throwing it harder into the water.

  The pebble didn’t skip this time; it simply sank, causing a ripple in the water. She drew in a long breath and pressed on, needing him to hear her and to understand. “Chase’s passion isn’t selfish. It’s not financially motivated. It’s not in search of something. It’s his passion because it makes him feel good.” When Brody looked back at her with a tender stare, she added, “I realize now that I didn’t want to go Vegas for me. I wanted to go to Vegas to be closer to Mom. It’s like all this time I was creating a dream for myself to somehow get back all the things I was missing when they left us. And I know you’ve been doing the same thing.”

  Brody snorted. “Not likely, Harper.”

  She let his comment roll right off her. “I know that, because you married Faith when you knew I was leaving. At first, I wondered why it surprised me that you proposed after all these years, and it’s because I think for the first time, you realized you were going to be alone, and that was scary.”

  “I wasn’t scared.” Brody scoffed, tossing another pebble into the water. “She’d waited long enough.”

  “You were scared,” Harper repeated, not giving him a way out. They needed the truth between them. “And that’s okay, you don’t have to agree with me.”

  “Good.” His mouth twitched. “Because I won’t.”

  Harper smiled softly, as Brody tossed another rock into the water. She couldn’t get any of this wrong. Not only for her relationship with Brody, but for his relationship with Chase. “My decision not to go to Vegas isn’t about you.” Only when he looked at her did she continue. “It’s not about Chase. It’s about me. All this time, I’ve wanted to feel what I used to feel when I was in the kitchen cooking with Mom. I wanted to feel that excitement that she felt about Vegas. And what I’ve come to see is that what I wanted all along was what was stolen away when they died.”

  Brody paused. Then, “A family?”

  She nodded, not surprised he understood. “That feeling I had with Mom in the kitchen.” Tears blurred her vision. “Everyone here in River Rock, Brody . . . they’re my kitchen.”

  Brody’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed dejectedly. “I hear you, Harper, I do. But I also don’t want you making a huge mistake. Vegas was your dream for as long as I can remember.”

  “You’re right, it was, but dreams change. People change, and that’s okay.” She reached out, placing her hand on Brody’s forearm resting on his knees. “I know you want to hate someone for this, so you’re blaming Chase, but don’t punish him for something that is my choice.”

  “But if he hadn’t—”

  She gave him a hard look, and said firmly, “Please hear what I’m saying. This is my choice, no one else’s. Yes, I could go to Vegas in search of what Mom felt there, and maybe I’d see what she did. I could open a restaurant and make a name for myself. I could even become famous and get my chance back that I lost when I had to leave the TV show. But what is any of it without the people who love me?” Her voice cracked, and she managed to choke out, “Mom loved Vegas, but she loved us more. Now I see what she saw, and why she never moved us away. Happiness isn’t what you do, it’s who you’re with when you do it.” She wiped the tears off her cheek before addressing him again. “I don’t have it all figured out. Maybe I won’t ever. But all I know is my happiness cannot be found by leaving the people who love me.”

  Brody’s eyes searched hers for a long while, then his head tipped back, looking skyward. “No, I imagine it can’t.” When he finally looked at her again, he gathered her in his arms and hugged her tight. “When, and how, did you get so grown up, so damn smart and strong?”

  She leaned into his hug and the comforting warmth of it. “Because I have a really amazing brother who gave up a lot to raise me and loves me like crazy even though he has a really hard time saying it.” Tears spilled from her eyes, her voice scratchy through her tight throat. “And because he protected me from every dangerous thing out there, I had to get smarter than him so I could have a little fun in life.”

  Brody chuckled, rested his chin on her head. “I suppose that’s true.” A long while passed as they stared out at the lake that held so many happy memories, then Brody said gently, “We’ve done okay, huh?”

  “Yeah, we’ve done okay.”

  Chapter 14

  Later that afternoon, with Nash sitting in the passenger seat next to him, Chase drove through the weathered wooden log gate with the wrought iron sign IRISH CREEK RANCH hanging from the top log. To the right of the driveway, the herd of cattle were off in the distance grazing the fields by the mountains. The horses were in the field on the left next to the huge wood-stained barn with the black roof.

  Chase parked his truck behind the blue Chevy, and he noted the ten or so cowboys walking the grounds. Some with horses, others with wheelbarrows and buckets, doing precisely what Blackshaw Cattle cowboys were doing back at the ranch this afternoon.

  Only mere seconds passed for those cowboys to notice Chase and Nash. He’d anticipated their arrival might cause some tension. Especially considering his truck read BLACKSHAW CONSTRUCTION on the side. It had been a long time since any Blackshaw man had come to the Harrisons’ ranch.

  Nash unbuckled his seat belt and grinned at Chase. “Looks like we’ve got some enemies here.”

  “Don’t be stupid,” Chase told him firmly. “We need answers. Let’s get them and go. I don’t want trouble.”

  Nash opened the door. “And that’s why you’re boring.”

  Chase shook his head, grabbed the keys from the ignition, and followed Nash out. A surly man walked toward them, his eyes barely visible beneath his black cowboy hat, his jawline strong. “What can I do for you?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Is Harrison around?” Chase asked.

  The guy flicked his chin toward the house. “Ya, he’s there.”

  Chase glanced sideways, only now spotting Clint Harrison sitting on his porch chair, smoking a cigar. With a nod of thanks at the cowboy, he turned, and Nash stepped into stride with him.

  On his approach, Chase took in the extravagant house. The large bungalow had an exterior of wooden beams mixed with limestone and dark-red brick. Their parents had never changed the farmhouse, even after they gained their wealth. Clint obviously hadn’t lived by that motto. The house screamed wealth and extravagance.

  His focus shifted to the man in the chair. Early fifties, with sharp dark eyes, a white beard, and a round belly, Clint was a slight bit shorter than Chase. With his worn brown cowboy hat and dark scuffed boots, he looked the part of a Colorado rancher.

  When they reached him, Clint squinted and gave a hard smile. “I never thought I’d see the day a Blackshaw would step foot onto my land.”

  Nash cleared his throat, obviously swallowing back whatever comeback lay on the tip of his tongue.

  Chase let the first jab of many he assumed they would hear roll off his back. “We’ll make this quick,” he told Clint. On his ride with Mac, his mind had kept circling back to the inspector and to Shep’s concern that he might be connected to Clint. No matter how Chase looked at it, the failing inspections did not add up. Yes, so
me inspectors were pickier than others, but this inspector seemed determined to delay the grand opening. Chase was done waiting around, hoping the answers came to him. “You’ve heard about Blackshaw Cattle’s guest ranch?”

  “Yeah, I might have heard a thing or two about it,” Clint said, cigar smoke billowing around him.

  Nash stiffened.

  Chase pushed on, placing one foot on the first porch step, crossing his arms. “Then I’m sure you’re also aware that we’ve been having issues with the inspector.”

  Clint smirked. “Heard something about that too.”

  The cedar hints in the smoke tickled Chase’s nostrils. “Good. Then let’s be clear. Are you behind this shit with the inspector?”

  Clint gave direct eye contact, studying Chase intently while he took another puff on his cigar, the vibrant colors burning the paper. “Boys, I’ll tell you exactly what I told my daughter when she came to me and asked me that exact same question.”

  Nash’s eyes turned hard, cold, and flinty. “What does Megan have to do with this?”

  Clint thrust out his chest, tapping the ash off his cigar into the ashtray. “She came to see me last week after Shep’s girl told her about the failed inspection.” He leaned back in his seat, crossing an ankle over his knee. Looking like the cocky bastard he was, he continued in a bored voice, “Listen well, boys, I don’t need to play dirty. I’ve already gained most of Blackshaw Cattle’s largest customers. Why would I even bother with this small venture?”

  Nash said through gritted teeth, “To ensure we fail so we’ll need you to swoop in with your big offer to purchase Blackshaw land.”

  Clint gave a dismissive wave, sending ashes scattering around him. “The land would have only expanded my ranch, but I don’t need your land to swallow up Blackshaw Cattle, as you’ve already seen.”