by MISSY HARPER
“That bastard’s talkin bad about my daughter-in-law! I’m gonna take him outside and teach him some manners!” Papa J announced. “Then when my boy gets back he’s gonna teach that Kyle boy a thing or two!” James said looking back at Ethan. Pain flashed across Ethan face when he realized his father didn’t recognize him again. Ethan did, however, find a measure of comfort in the fact that his father remembered he’d married Rylee.
“There’s not gonna be any fighting today, Papa J.” Rylee told the struggling man in Ethan’s arms. James Hawkins looked up at the sound of Rylee’s voice.
“Hey, Sweetheart. I didn’t know you were here.” He cooed in the voice he used when he was speaking to his wife. Then his eyes hardened. “This fella’s talkin bad about our sweet daughter-in-law. I’m gonna take him outside and help him learn a thing or two. I won’t be long.” He told her with a wink as Ethan stepped back and let the orderlies take hold of his father.
“What seems to be the problem here?” Bart asked as he walked down the hall, heading in their direction. Rylee closed her eyes and slumped her shoulders. From the growl that was coming from Ethan’s direction, and the knowing, shit eating grin that was likely to be on Bart’s face, it was obvious this was gonna get ugly.
“Hello, Beautiful.” Bart said when he came to a stop. That was all it took.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay the hell away from her?” Ethan growled as he pushed past his father and the orderlies to stand beside Rylee with a possessive arm around her waist.
“I got your message, Hawkins, but what I didn’t get was a message from the pretty lady.” Bart winked down at Rylee. “We still on for the weekend?”
“That’s it! I warned you, Kyle! Outside!” Ethan yelled and shoved Bart toward the door he’d just entered. “She’s not going anywhere with you!”
“You know, I think we finally agree on something, Ethan. Last man standing goes home with the lady.” Bart challenged.
“I already told you she’s mine, and she’ll be goin home with me! You on the other hand will be goin to the damn hospital!” Ethan yelled. “Did you tell your grandfather you were gonna marry Rylee this weekend?” Ethan demanded as he stalked toward the other man.
“Ethan, stop this! You’re making it worse!” Rylee fussed at him, trying to make him understand that going from two men fighting to four men fighting was really not the best way to defuse the situation.
“No, Runt. It’s one thing for him to mess with me, it’s bad enough for him to be botherin you with flowers and shit, but when he uses you and me to hurt my father? He’s crossed a line, baby.” Ethan looked back at Bart.
“We’re gonna settle this right now, once and for all! I asked you a question, Bart.” Ethan’s voice was steely cold, and Rylee was truly frightened for the first time. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone.
Bart glared his version of a smile at Ethan, and for the first time, Rylee finally saw the true man behind the mask he’d been wearing. He looked every bit as evil as Ethan and Rory had claimed him to be.
“What I told my dad was that I was takin Rylee to a weeding this weekend, and there was no reason why we shouldn’t just go ahead and get married while we were there. You heard her, Ethan, she ain’t givin it up without a ring on her finger.”
“Oh, shit…” The words were out of her mouth before she even realized she’d thought them.
“Did you know about this?” Ethan asked, never taking his eyes off of the man he now wanted dead.
“No. We were supposed to go to a wedding, but I knew nothing about his other plans. I even sent him a text saying I couldn’t go this weekend.” Rylee answered, punching numbers on her cell phone as she spoke. She didn’t even bother to ask Ethan to stop this time. Bart’s last comment had already sealed his fate.
“I suggest you head for the door, Kyle.” Rylee heard Ethan warn as Oliver answered his phone. Thank God!
Rylee did her best to stall the fight as long as she could. Oliver and Rory were just down the street and would be there soon. She was afraid that if Ethan got his hands on Bart, Bart may never see the light of day again.
“Ethan, please, just let this go. Your dad is fine, he won’t even remember any of this in the morning! Please, Ethan! You’re gonna get arrested!” Rylee yelled as the two men stalked toward the door at the end of the hall.
“Sorry, Runt. I warned him what would happen if he didn’t leave you alone, and I believe you were standing right there when I did it.” Ethan replied as he kept walking.
“Funny thing, Hawkins. I still haven’t heard the lady tell me to leave her alone. For all I know we’re still on for this weekend.” Bart taunted Ethan, turning around to face him as he reached the door.
“She sent a text!” Ethan growled.
“Didn’t get it.” Bart sneered in Ethan’s face.
Ethan was on the man like white on rice. They burst through the door and fell into the parking lot with Ethan on top of Bart. Fists were flying and landing hard on each man. There were grunts and groans following each punch, and blood was coming from Bart’s nose and mouth as Ethan’s fists continued to make contact with his face. Rylee screamed for them to stop, fearing Ethan was going to actually kill the man! She moved forward to try to stop the fight, but was pushed aside by a huge, powerful arm.
She saw a flash of long blonde hair and extra wide shoulders, then her brother was pulling Ethan off of the man on the ground. Rory was there beside him and simply shoved his foot into Bart’s chest. “Stay down, Bart!”, were the only words that Rory said, but his attention was completely focused on the man beneath his foot.
Oliver struggled with Ethan for a few seconds before he convinced him he’d already made his point, well and good. Ethan used his arm to wipe the blood trickling from his nose, then turned angry eyes back at Bart, still sitting on the ground. Rory had stepped away to speak with the police officers that had arrived. Ethan looked down at Bart and the man made the mistake of spitting blood in Ethan’s direction, then looking up at Rylee.
“Looks like you’re gonna have to make a choice here, Sweetness. It ain’t exactly a fair fight when two of your brothers show up and their both on his side.” Bart accused as he looked at Rylee hard, as if this was all her fault. Again, Rylee saw the man Ethan had warned her Bart really was under all his fake kindness.
Ethan erupted and Oliver was barely able to contain him. He grabbed Ethan under each arm and dragged him backward away from Bart Kyle. “That choice has been made, you bastard! You stay the hell away from my wife!” Ethan yelled as Oliver dragged him toward his truck and shoved him inside the passenger door.
“That’s enough Ethan! Get in the damn truck before we have to bail you out of jail!” Oliver growled at him.
“Rylee?” Bart asked, pushing himself up off the ground and looking at her with a question in his eyes. Rylee saw the look in his eyes, and it sent a chill down her spine. She knew, without a doubt, that even though she and Ethan were through, she didn’t want anything to do with Bart Kyle.
“You thought that you could marry me just so you could sleep with me?” She asked, dumbfounded, as she turned and headed for the door the two men had burst through a few minutes before.
“Looks like I wasn’t the only one with that idea.” Bart quipped.
“Screw you, Bart!” Rylee yelled, whirling around to face him. “I see who you really are, now. Ethan was right about you! Go to hell, Kyle!”
“Bitch…” Rylee heard the word and turned back to show him exactly how much of a bitch she could be, but he was already on the ground… out cold. Rory stood above him breathing hard and glaring at the man.
“Guess he won’t make that mistake again.” Rylee muttered. Rory smiled down at her and offered her a little wink.
“Nope, I wouldn’t think so… and I know how you hate it when I steal your thunder, but a brother’s got to do what a brother’s got to do, Ry.” He smiled down at her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, knowing that sh
e really wanted to rip into him for stealing her chance to put her fist in Bart Kyle’s face. “Let’s go get Papa J settled.” He said, steering her toward the door when she made a move toward the truck where Ethan was still wiping at his bloody nose. “Oliver’s got him… and there ain’t no use for you to go off half cocked on the man when he’s already bleeding.”
Chapter 26
Holy Crap! I Kissed A Dude!
Rylee stepped out of the barn the next morning and saw Oliver sitting atop the fence on the opposite side of the corral. She knew he had work to do and also recognized he was loafing off in a place she was sure to find him. That could mean only one thing, Oliver wanted a minute of her time… as her brother.
Rylee walked across the corral and climbed the fence. She straddled the top and sat facing her brother as she’d done a thousand times before.
“What’s up?” She asked when he glanced over at her then turned back to stare at the mountains in the distance. The wind was blowing, but not brutally. From a distance they made quite a picture. Both had icy blue eyes, strong, straight backs and long blonde hair gently blowing in the breeze.
“How bout you tell me, little sister.” Oliver said into the wind. Rylee knew he’d most likely heard Ethan refer to her as his wife. She’d intended to speak with him about it when he came home the night before, but he hadn’t come home at all last night.
Rylee sighed and looked away from her brother, taking a moment to gather herself together before she confessed all to her brother.
“He was tellin the truth at the breakfast table in Vegas, wasn’t he?” Oliver asked before she could speak. Rylee shook her head up and down and then looked over to find her brother staring at her.
“There wasn’t as much sex as he indicated.” Rylee whispered, blinking up at him. She knew her brother’s weren’t going to be very excited about her marriage, and even less happy about the honeymoon.
“No sense lying about it now.” Oliver huffed. “Did he treat you right, Ry? That’s all I want to know… about that, anyway.”
“Yes, he did, Ollie.” She admitted to her brother.
“Why all the secrecy? Why are you still livin at home instead of over at Ethan’s? His sister and that idiot moved out weeks ago.” Oliver questioned.
“It’s complicated… or at least it was.” She said, sounding defeated and looking down at the ground. “We didn’t want anyone to know at first because of the way we ended up married. We were both pretty drunk, and you know how Ethan is, Ollie. Marriage isn’t exactly his thing.” Rylee looked up at her brother.
“So what uncomplicated it?” Oliver asked his little sister.
“We aren’t going to stay married.” Rylee admitted, looking back down at the ground.
“Why the hell not?” Oliver demanded, totally shocked. He gifted his little sister with a lot of latitude, but Oliver was a dominate force. When it came to situations where she wasn’t his boss, he offered her a lot less wiggle room.
“Because I can’t be married to a man that doesn’t love me.” Rylee answered with very little enthusiasm. It sounded as if she’d resigned herself to the fact.
“Doesn’t love you?” Oliver said, raising his eye brows. “You know I ain’t one to get in other’s business, but… were you there last night? The man was about to kill another man because the guy claimed he was plannin to marry you.” Oliver reached over and lifted her chin. “A man don’t react that way unless there’s something behind it, Ry.”
“I’m so confused, Ollie.” Rylee admitted as her big tiger-striped eyes filled with tears. It wasn’t very often that he saw tears in his little sister’s eyes, so it hit him low in his gut. “He acts like he loves me, but he’s never said it, Ollie. Not even when we make love.”
Oliver tensed, taking a deep breath before letting it out with a hard push. “Well,” He said wrapping his arm around her and bringing her forehead down to rest on his shoulder. “Despite the fact I want to kill the bastard for makin love to my little sister, wife or not, I guess I should tell ya most cowboy’s have a real hard time with words, Rylee. Actions work better for us. We usually just make a big hot mess of things when we try to use words.” He rubbed her back with his big, powerful hand. “That’s likely how country music came about.” She giggled through her tears.
“You wanta know why I really left you and Ethan that night in Vegas?” Oliver asked with a lighter tone than before. Rylee lifted her head and looked up at her brother.
“I thought it was because you didn’t want to be involved with the whole bull riding thing.”
“Na, it was because I was tired of that boy pussy footin around.” Oliver smiled and shook his head. “He’s been so damn protective and possessive of you since he came home… I never dreamed he’d actually let you on that damn bull. I figured he’d yank you off it at the last minute and drag you out like the caveman he is.” He shook his head and chuckled when she smiled.
“What I knew, Ry, was that he had feelings for you… feelings that he was working real hard at keeping bottled up because of… well, mostly because of Tanner, but also because he thought you deserved better than him. We saw the way he looked at you, and Tanner assumed it would end up just like all the others that caught Ethan’s eye.” Oliver turned serious. “I saw something different, something that had been there even when we were kids. I think he’s ready to be the man you deserve… because he loves you, Rylee, and I think he always has.”
Oliver hopped down off the fence and turned to face his sister. “I think it’s a mistake if you end this marriage, but I’ll support you in whatever you decide. Now, I got to get back to work. My boss is a real bitch sometimes.” He grinned at her and poked her in the ribs before he turned to head off.
“Yeah, you better get your lazy butt back to work! Think I’m gonna put up with you hangin on my fence all day?” Rylee pretended to fuss as he walked away. “Ollie?”
Oliver stopped and turned to look back at her. He was known as the Van der Brook Giant to those around town. He’d always had a calm demeanor and never seemed to get ruffled by much. He was never overly happy about things, but never all that angry or in a rush to do anything. He was steady, dependable and good as gold.
“Thanks.” Oliver gifted her with a smile few people even knew he was capable of offering, tipped his hat and turned to walked away, whistling a tune as he went about his day… slowly.
Rylee headed into the ranch office and worked on the books there then turned to the problems she needed to work on for the restaurant. She picked up the phone and called Nick, telling him she’d be working from her home office and that he should call her if he needed her.
The work did not come easy for her that day. Oliver’s words kept eating away at her. It seemed that everyone was singing the same tune. Ethan loved her and always had. But, if that was true, why had he never been able to say it out loud to her. Was what Ollie said true? Was Ethan using actions to show her how he felt and avoiding words because he was afraid he would just make a big, hot mess of it?
She threw her pen down on the top of her desk. This was stupid! It was over between them! It was not going to help her broken heart to sit around thinking that just maybe things would work out. She left her office and headed for the one place she knew she wouldn’t encounter problems. A ride on her beloved horse.
Rylee walked into the barn and moved Oscar from his stall. She started saddling the horse and, as usual, telling him all of her problems. That’s when she caught a glimpse of the vacant look in his eye. Rylee began to chuckle, and then she laughed so hard she had to sit down. Everyone was right about her horse. He was as dumb as dirt and didn’t have a clue about anything she was saying, but he damn sure acted like he understood. She loved Oscar more than words could say and wouldn’t trade him for the world.
“How different are you from my stupid husband, Oscar? You act like you’re listening, but you’re not and he acts like he loves me, but he doesn’t say it.”
“I’d say they
’re about equally as ignorant, but that husband of yours is likely a bit tougher to deal with.” Rylee turned, more than a little startled by Earl’s comment. She had no idea Ethan’s ranch foreman was in the barn.
“Earl, I didn’t hear you come in.” Rylee confessed, holding her hand over her chest.
“Didn’t mean to scare ya. I was just droppin off some feed I picked up for Oliver.” Earl offered a warm smile.
“Hopefully he didn’t pay too much for it this time.”
“I reckon he learned his lesson on that one.” Earl said with a chuckle.
“So, I guess you heard?” Rylee continued when he remained silent.
“You referrin to the chewing Oliver got or you now being my bosses new wife?”
“You know what I was talkin about, Earl.” Rylee gave him a hard look that was answered by a knowing smile.
“Reckon I did, not that either one of em surprised me, though.”
“Ethan getting married didn’t surprise you? It shocked the hell out of me, and I was there to witness it!” Rylee ran her hand through her hair in frustration.
“Not when I heard it was you he’d married.” Earl answered and continued to watch her as if he had more to say but was simply waiting for an invitation to tell her.
“What do you mean?” Rylee finally asked.
“Even though I’d never seen you two together, it was no secret you loved the guy, no matter how often ya denied it. But when I finally saw you together…” Earl waved his hand in the air as if it was so obvious it didn’t require mentioning. “Hell, that boy’s been a goner since the night he got home.” Earl chuckled as he removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Chasin men away, damn near obsessing about where ya were, who you were with and what cha were wearin… Rylee, the boy would get out of his bed in the middle of the night to go check your oil and the air in your tires! A man don’t act like that unless there’s a reason.” Earl replaced his hat and crossed his arms over his chest.