The Cowboy and the Girl Next Door: (A Clean, Enemies to Lovers Romance) Wyle Away Ranch Book 1

by Janette Rallison

“Don’t you want to help?” Audrey asked, already grabbing a plastic rolling pin.

  Landon took hold of Kate’s hand. “You can surprise us with what the village looks like.”

  “Okay.” The little girl began flattening a blob. “No peeking.”

  “No peeking.” Landon agreed. He pulled Kate toward the couch, then as though still considering Audrey’s words, his head swung back her direction. “Remember, we don’t eat the Playdoh.”

  “No peeking!” Audrey called back.

  Kate sat on the couch. “She’s totally going to eat Playdoh. You know that, right?”

  Landon joined her, sitting close. “Yeah, but what can I do? No peeking rules are sacred.”

  “Fine, but if she looks like she’s about to throw up, I’m letting you handle it.”

  “All right.” A smile grew on Landon’s lips. “I don’t think the situation turned out all that badly last time.” He raised Kate’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.

  The feel of his lips sent shivers through her. Having doubts about him was impossible when he did utterly romantic things like that. But maybe that was the problem. She needed to stop thinking like a woman in love and look at her situation analytically.

  He smiled at her again, blue eyes lit up like they were bits of the sky, sunshine included. Kate didn’t really want to look at their relationship analytically. She wanted to melt into Landon. But first, she needed a little reassurance that his feelings were real, that he wasn’t playing her as a means to get Coyote Glen.

  Time to perform her first test: search for signs of disappointment when he found out he couldn’t choose her next foreman.

  She kept hold of his hand and casually watched his face. “My father says he can hire a new foreman for me. He still has contact with people in the business.”

  Landon cocked his head. “Your father hasn’t done any ranching since he left Arizona. Who does he know in the business down here?” Landon’s expression didn’t show disappointment, just doubt.

  She shrugged. “I’ll let you know after he hires someone.”

  Landon opened his mouth to speak, argue with her maybe, and then stopped himself. “Fine. I won’t worry about finding anyone for you.”

  “I do appreciate the offer, though.” The exchange didn’t leave her feeling as reassured as it should have. He hadn’t tried to talk her into hiring someone he knew, but now she was left with the impression that he thought she was liable to hire an idiot. Landon seemed more than happy to see that happen.

  He shifted on the couch. “What did your parents say when you told them about Dewayne?” His tone was wry, almost wary. He seemed to know it wouldn’t be good. Was wariness a normal reaction?

  She was second guessing everything now. “Dewayne told them that you bribed him to keep the ranch in the red. Of course, I gave them your version of the story, but they don’t know you like I do. They’re not sure who to believe.” Not the truth. They clearly believed Dewayne.

  “But you believe me.” A bit of a question lined that statement and a bit of accusation too. He’d picked up on her doubt and didn’t like it.

  “I told them Dewayne was a liar. He also claims that when he refused your offer, you punched him. I assured my parents you weren’t the sort to hit people.”

  “Mmm.” Landon let go of Kate’s hand and raked his hand through his hair. “I hope you didn’t assure them about that too much.”

  So it was the truth. “Why did you hit him?”

  Landon’s gaze slid to the kitchen where Audrey was making Playdoh tents. He didn’t speak for a moment. Either he didn’t want to tell Kate what had happened or he was coming up with a story. And there she was again, second guessing him.

  Landon lowered his voice. “He insulted you.”

  Oh. Landon had been defending her honor. “Did he say I sucked at ranching or something?” Dewayne probably had a litany of complaints against her: she was inexperienced, disorganized, and had no head for business. The man had seen her struggle enough times.

  “He called you a slut.”

  A gasp escaped her lips. “What? Why would he say that?”

  “He was making guesses about why I was really in the barn with you last night. And then he brought up the cattle drive and I snapped. I guess I’m a mite touchy about that seeing as it was my fault you got in trouble for it.”

  “How did Dewayne know about the cattle drive?”

  Landon shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”

  Dewayne had been working at Coyote Glen at the time, but her grandfather wouldn’t have discussed that sort of thing with him. One of the ranch hands must have overheard what happened and talked about it.

  Landon ran his hand against the arm rest. “So now your parents not only think that I want to cheat you out of the ranch, but I’m the violent sort too. It’s a good thing Dewayne is already gone or I might prove them right.” His eyes went to Kate’s. “I’m guessing they were less than thrilled to hear we’re dating.”

  She didn’t answer.

  “They dislike me that much, huh?”

  She bit her lip.

  “Did you even tell them?”

  She didn’t want to admit what their response had been. No point in getting into that yet. “Do you have any proof I can give them that things happened the way you said they did?”

  Landon’s eyebrows lifted with a measure of incredulity. “What sort of proof would that be? I didn’t record the conversation. I couldn’t have known beforehand what Dewayne was going to say, and I certainly never thought it would lead to your parents taking his side. Because they have, and now you’re not sure they’re wrong.”

  His anger seemed unfair. She believed him, but anyone in her situation would need to be cautious. He should understand that. She teetered between apologizing and defending herself. Before she could respond either way, Audrey flounced around the side of the couch. She handed Landon a container of Playdoh to open. “Uncle Landon, you aren’t very good at sweet talk.”

  “What?” Landon forced a patient tone and popped the lid off the container.

  “You’re not using your nice voice.” Audrey tilted her head, making her pigtails go lopsided. “Remember how you told Daddy and Uncle Preston that you could sweet-talk Miss Benton just fine without their help?”

  Kate felt as though her breath had lodged somewhere inside her body. She only managed to make a choking noise.

  Landon’s attention whipped to Kate. “That isn’t what it sounds like.”

  She still couldn’t breathe. “You told your brothers you would sweet-talk me?”

  “No.” Landon held his hands up, uncharacteristically flustered. “Those words are out of context.”

  “Really?” Kate blinked at him. “I’m trying to think how that statement would ever come up in normal conversation.” She turned to Audrey, who still stood by the couch examining her Playdoh. “What else did Uncle Landon say about sweet-talking me?”

  Landon sent his niece a stern look. “Nothing. And it’s time for Audrey to get ready for bed. Go put on your pajamas.”

  Audrey’s mouth dropped open in protest. “Why do I have to? I didn’t say anything I wasn’t ‘posed to. I didn’t tell her about you influencing her to get her ranch. That’s what you told me not to say.”

  Landon muttered something. Kate wasn’t sure what because Audrey’s words were still ringing in her ears. Funny, until now she’d always thought the term ringing ears was just an expression. But no, for several seconds a loud tone dimmed everything else. She stood up, emotion making her movements jerky.

  Landon grabbed her arm. She yanked it away from him. “Don’t. Just don’t.”

  She stormed toward the front door, hating that she felt like she was stomping. She ought to be able to make a graceful exit, one that was cool and aloof. Instead each stomp revealed how upset she was.

  Landon followed her but didn’t try to grab her arm again. “Kate, will you listen to me?”

  He’d dropped her nickname but not the c
harade. “I’ve heard all I need to, thanks.” Did he really think she was going to believe that Audrey’s second statement had been taken out of context? Perhaps the worst part of finding out the truth was realizing that Landon had not only planned on influencing her to get Coyote Glen but also openly discussed it with his brothers. They’d offered to give him tips. She must have seemed so easy to fool, so completely gullible. Her face burned with humiliation. She felt sick.

  Kate reached the front door and flung it open. Landon stepped in front of her. He was a broad-shouldered wall in flannel blocking her path. “I told my brothers I wasn’t going to influence you to get the ranch. Audrey got that wrong. She’s six.”

  Kate glared at him. His blue eyes and perfect features seemed like a trap now. A beautiful trap that she’d willingly fallen into. “Get out of my way.”

  “Nothing I say now will make you believe me, will it?”

  “Probably not.” She was holding on tightly to her rage. Once it was gone she would be left with tears, and she didn’t want to cry in front of him.

  His jaw clenched and everything about him seemed rigid—as though he had a right to be mad. Well, it was probably upsetting to see your mark walk away. She pushed past him and fumed down the porch, only turning back when she reached her truck. “I did tell my parents we were dating. They had a lot to say about that.” She opened the driver’s side door. “I hate it when my parents are right.”

  She got in, slammed the door shut, and drove to the gate without glancing back at him. Once she was off his property, the sobbing started and didn’t let up until long after she’d reached Coyote Glen.

  The first thing Kate did when she got home was change the gate code so Landon couldn’t drive onto her property any time he liked. Then she made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and ate so many she wasn’t sure if her stomach hurt from crying or from sugar overload.

  She’d fallen in love with Landon, and he’d been using her all along. She was like one of those pitiful women that scam artists preyed on, the kind that ended up on talk shows after having their bank accounts emptied. He’d acted like he’d cared and she’d overlooked everything else. What would a studio audience make of her? How much would they shake their heads at her stupidity?

  The next day, Kate dragged herself from bed at the crack of dawn, even though she’d hardly slept. The animals needed to be fed, and due to Dewayne’s departure, she had no help. She was actually glad for the solitude today since it meant she could cry without worrying that someone would hear her.

  Turned out, she should have worried about that anyway. Midday, while she was mucking out the stables, Jaxon sauntered up to her. He wore work clothes, his cowboy hat, and a tentative expression.

  She hadn’t been crying, at least not in the last twenty minutes, but his eyes still widened when he saw her face. “You look terrible.”

  “That’s a dangerous thing to say to someone who’s holding a pitchfork.”

  “Do you want some help?” He held out his hand for the pitchfork.

  She didn’t relinquish it. She was done getting help from the Wyle brothers. “I can manage on my own, thanks. What brings you here?”

  “I came to vouch for Landon…and to ask you to answer the next time he calls.”

  It wasn’t until then that she remembered Jaxon shouldn’t have been able to stroll onto her property. “Wait, how did you get here?”

  He gestured behind him, and she saw his horse grazing on a patch of weeds by the side of the barn. Which still didn’t explain how he’d gotten by the gate. “I changed the code,” she said.

  He shrugged like she shouldn’t have bothered. “I know your ranch like it was my own. You don’t think I know where it’s easy to jump the fence? I’ve been doing it since I was ten.”

  The fences would be one more thing to put on her to-fix list. She sighed and made waving motions with her hand. “All right. Say whatever you came to say.”

  “Landon told me what happened last night. I don’t remember the conversation my daughter overheard word for word, so I can’t give you an exact explanation for why she said those things, but I can promise you Landon has never been playing you. You ought to know him better than that.”

  Right. Kate was not about to be taken in by the sincerity in Jaxon’s blue eyes. She’d already been taken in enough times by his brother’s. She planted a hand on her hip. “You’ve had the entire morning to come up with a convincing explanation, and all you’ve got is, I ought to know Landon better than that? You’re slipping.” She went into an empty stall, lifted some manure from the straw, and dropped it into a wheelbarrow outside the barn.

  Jaxon stood near the stall door, arms crossed and so serious that he almost didn’t look like himself. “You want more detail? Okay. Here’s what I remember. Preston was worried about Landon dating you—not without reason, mind you, because ever since you came, Landon seems more concerned about pleasing you than seeing to our own ranch. I’m an optimist, though, so I told Preston that Landon dating you wouldn’t be a bad thing. I started joking with Landon about sweet-talking you and using his influence. I know, it’s hard to believe that I would joke around about things like that. Landon told Audrey not to repeat any of it because he was afraid she would say the wrong thing to you, which turns out to have been downright eerily correct.” Jaxon held his hands up. “That’s it. That’s what happened.”

  So now Jaxon was going with, “I was just joking around about Landon using you.” Well, that was a better explanation than the “You ought to know him better than that” angle. Certainly, the studio audience of that future talk show would be completely understanding if she ran back to Landon now.

  She returned to the stall without commenting. When she came out the second time, Jaxon was shaking his head. “I remember a time when your grandpa jumped to the wrong conclusion on a cattle drive and wouldn’t listen to either of us. In fact, I don’t know if he ever believed me about what happened that night. He had a stubborn skeptical side. Guess you take after him in some ways.”

  That stung. She felt as though Jaxon had slapped her.

  He tipped his hat in parting. “I’ll let you get back to your work.” He turned and marched toward his horse, his scuffed boots kicking through bits of scattered straw.

  She watched him go, wondering if he was right. Was she being stubbornly judgmental like her grandfather had been about the cattle drive? Only her mistrust was worse, because she was in love with Landon. She’d allowed herself to imagine a future together. If she refused to trust him now, she was as good as throwing everything they’d had away.

  How could she know the truth?

  “Jaxon,” she called.

  He paused and turned back around, waiting for her to say more.

  “I’m sorry for being rude to you,” she said. “I’ll call Landon.” Even as she said the words, she wasn’t sure whether she believed Landon or whether she just wanted to believe him. She couldn’t trust her own judgement any more.

  It seemed like there was a fine line between love and stupidity. But at least she would hear him out.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Landon was digging post holes in an attempt to work out his frustration when his phone rang. Kitty’s ringtone. He took off his gloves and pulled out the phone but didn’t answer it. All morning he’d wanted to go to Coyote Glen and convince her she was being ridiculous. Every time those thoughts came to him, he reminded himself that he had no way of proving anything. If she didn’t trust him, he couldn’t do anything but let the whole relationship continue its downward spiral into the dust.

  If things had been different, if the ranch wasn’t an issue, the two of them could have worked out so well. He could almost taste that future, sweet and bright and full of laughter—the taste of happiness.

  So, as he held the phone, he wasn’t sure which eventuality to prepare himself for: brightness or dust. Finally, he answered. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Landon,” her voice was quiet, tentative. “Jaxo
n came over to explain about the things Audrey said.”

  “Did he?” Landon hadn’t known, but it didn’t surprise him. Landon had told his brothers what happened this morning, and Jaxon felt particularly bad.

  “I’m sorry for storming out and yelling that my parents were right about you.” She sounded embarrassed but also cautious. “I should have given you a chance to tell your side of the story.”

  “I don’t blame you for jumping to the wrong conclusion. It wasn’t very far to leap. Audrey is too young to understand nuance or sarcasm. She got the meaning of what I said all wrong.”

  A pause. “I can see how that could happen.”

  “Good.” The weight that had pressed against his chest since last night lifted a little. It didn’t disappear, though. Something was off about Kitty’s voice. It was still guarded.

  After another moment, she said, “I believe you about Dewayne.”

  “I never thought you didn’t.” At least not until now. Before, when he’d accused Kitty of buying in to her parent’s suspicions, he hadn’t really meant it. He’d expected her to deny the claim. But the caution in her voice and the way her assurance was measured meant that yeah, she’d obviously had her doubts. And that thought bothered him. He’d helped her out on her ranch—to his own disadvantage—and never given her a reason to question his honesty.

  “I’m not sure where this leaves us,” she said.

  “That’s the problem, isn’t it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not sure about me anymore, and that didn’t happen just because of the things Audrey said.” He almost laughed at the irony of it, because all of this had started when he’d turned down Dewayne. By refusing to cheat, by refusing to hurt Kitty that way, she was now questioning both his integrity and his feelings for her. “Must have been some phone call you had with your parents.”

  “I… It’s not about what I think, Landon. I have to be careful for my parents’ sake. It’s their ranch.”

  For once, he didn’t let her get away with that statement. “It’s your ranch, Kitty. Your parents never wanted it or cared about it. That’s why Cal left it to you.”