by Addison Fox
“How does the herd look?” Hoyt opted for casual, curious to see if his brothers would toss his earlier bad mood back at him. Other than the raised eyebrow routine from Ace, neither brother mentioned it.
“The calves are coming along well. That one we’ve been keeping an eye on is getting stronger and stronger, so I think the little guy’ll make it.” Ace scratched at a small spot above his ear. “Doc Torres said he’s heartier than we might have thought.”
Hoyt’s gaze drifted to Tate’s, even as both men kept their faces impassive. Their silent exchange might confirm the earlier storm had passed, but it opened a new line of questions over Ace’s assessment. In fact, if Hoyt weren’t careful, he’d start a new storm if he poked this situation too hard.
He and Tate both knew it took a lot of worry for the herd for Ace to spend time with his ex. The fact that veterinarian Dr. Veronica Torres had been back in the Pass for over a year and Ace had seen her fewer than three times, usually passing off visits with the large-animal vet to Hoyt or Tate, hadn’t been lost on any of them.
“When was Doc Torres here?” Hoyt asked.
“Earlier.” Ace shrugged, before pointing toward the calf in question. “Little guy over there. He’s finding his way, even if he’s not quite ready to leave his mother’s side.”
Tate’s usual good humor could smooth out pretty much any situation, but even Tate steered clear of any further questions about the very delectable Veronica Torres. Ace had always claimed his relationship with Veronica was water under the bridge, but Hoyt had never fully believed it. Although they’d never discussed it, he suspected Tate and Arden felt the same. Ace’s steady ability to find an excuse to be gone when Veronica came out to the ranch only proved it.
But that was a discussion for another day.
Today, Hoyt bore the brunt of Tate’s attention.
“How’s Reese holding up?”
“Fine,” Hoyt said. “Better than fine, actually. School starts on Monday and she’s anxious to get back.”
While the dog days of August hadn’t done anything to keep moods light and breezy, the end of summer came around like clockwork every year. He was used to it and normally, other than an extra shower each day, it didn’t faze him.
It was Reese who had changed things. Reese and all the things that remained unsaid between the two of them. And the danger he feared would strike before he could find a way to say those things he needed to say.
All of which was ridiculous. It wasn’t like he was some love-struck teenager who needed to declare himself to the woman of his dreams.
“There haven’t been any further incidents. That has to be a good sign,” Tate said, conviction not quite lining his tone.
“No, there haven’t. Nor has there been any explanation for the ones that have happened.”
Realistically, he should be grateful for that fact. Reese was healthy and happy, excited for the new school year to begin. Their visit the past week to the doctor had confirmed the baby was doing well and developing on schedule—evidenced by the small hand he saw waving back at him on the ultrasound—and her classroom was set up and ready for her students. She was happy—thriving, even.
But even knowing that and experiencing the awestruck joy at seeing his child on the screen, Hoyt couldn’t quite conceal his fear that danger still lurked. The Midnight Pass PD had officially ruled the shots into her home the work of a prankster, but Belle had ensured the department maintained a close eye on Reese’s neighborhood. But even they had their limits. The police department was only so large, and without a real case or clues to follow, there wasn’t much they could do.
He understood that. Rationally and logically, the police couldn’t sit around and wait for something to happen. They’d taken the gunshots seriously, scouring Reese’s property and setting up a watch for over a week at her house and at her mother’s to see if anyone even remotely suspicious came by. All that effort failed to produce even a single individual who garnered heightened suspicion.
Which Reese had seemingly taken to mean the problem had vanished. Hell, yesterday he’d arrived over there for dinner to find the woman weeding her front shrubbery. With headphones in her ears, no less. He’d pleaded with her to see reason, only to get a lecture—a damn lecture!—to lighten up and relax a bit.
Although his family had borne the brunt of his ire lately, he hadn’t been able to keep his thoughts to himself and managed to pick a pretty solid fight with Reese as well. All of which was somewhat swinging in his favor until he’d made the boneheaded move of suggesting she take a leave of absence from teaching for a while.
Tate’s voice broke into Hoyt’s thoughts once more, nary a hint of humor tinging his words. “Are you going to let us in on whatever it is going on in that stubborn head of yours or do we have to send you back to the house?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not, but let’s put that aside for a minute,” Ace added, a solid show of force with Tate. “When are you going to confide in us and talk about what the hell’s going on instead of throwing up this wall of bs?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“You sure about that, little brother?” Ace didn’t let up. “Because you’ve moved past grumpy, frustrating and surly and headed straight for Asshat Ville.”
“And while you may be a surly jerk, you rarely wear the asshat,” Tate said, those usual edges of good humor tinging his words.
“The woman is maddening. She was outside last night when I got there. Weeding!”
Ace and Tate shot each other a side-eye and if Hoyt didn’t already feel bad about the morning’s blow up, he’d have laid into both of them. As it was, he was still about ready to swing Stink around and head back for the stables.
Until Ace spoke up. “Is it at all possible you have feelings for this woman?”
“Of course I have damn feelings for her! She’s having my child. And damn it all, she’s Reese.” Hoyt stopped, chest heaving as something hard and heavy settled just beneath his breastbone.
Feelings?
Woman of his dreams?
And something that went deeper than a night of passion that still haunted his thoughts, even though nearly three months had passed.
Three months where he had barely looked at another woman, let alone thought about one. Where the child who’d resulted from that night grew within its mother’s womb, cradled and nestled against the world. Where his life had changed more than any other time, including after his father’s betrayal.
The past three months had changed him, irrevocably and completely, and he hadn’t understood a bit of it.
Only now he did.
“I’ve got to go.”
Hoyt had barely swung Stink around when Tate’s faux whisper reached him, loud and clear. “It’s about time that stubborn ass figured out which end was up.”
* * *
Reese drove down the long, smooth macadamized entrance to Reynolds Station, heading for the ranch house becoming visible in the distance. The day was hot but she couldn’t blame her restlessness on the late summer temperatures, especially as air blew cool and fresh from her dashboard. Nor could she blame it on her pregnancy, which seemed to have turned a corner over the past few days. She hadn’t had a single bout of morning sickness and some of the afternoon exhaustion that had been a constant battle the past few months seemed to have evaporated, too.
She was restless because of Hoyt Reynolds, Midnight Pass’s hottest cowboy and the current object of her affection, vexation and, in those quiet moments when she was very, very honest with herself, every ounce of attraction she possessed.
Oh, how she wanted the man.
Even yesterday, when he’d made her so mad she could have chewed her lesson planner, she’d wanted him. Tall and rangy, he’d stood in her kitchen, lecturing her on safety and being aware of her surroundings, and all she could thin
k about was dragging the hem of his faded blue T-shirt up over those flat and well-ridged abs and having her way with him.
On the kitchen floor. Or up against the washing machine. Or sprawled across the middle of her bed, putting all that space to good use.
That’s what she’d wanted.
Instead, she’d borne up under his endless lecturing of safety and self-care and awareness of her surroundings to the point she wanted to scream. Or chew on that lesson planner that even now sat open and unfilled on her table.
Her kitchen window had long been fixed, Hoyt and his brothers seeing to the job themselves. He’d also insisted on a new alarm system that had been a bit of an adjustment, as she now had to dutifully punch in a code every time she came and went.
A big part of her wanted to believe that these changes were for her benefit. And then she’d go and contradict herself, recognizing that they were simply for the baby. Which, of course, she wanted. Nothing was more important than the safety of her child. Hoyt wanted that too, and she could hardly fault him for both his concern and his desire to protect his unborn child.
But was it so wrong to think that he wanted all these changes for her, too?
Reese shook it off as she drove farther down the driveway. All of this horrible maudlin sad-sack-itis that she couldn’t seem to shake had grown tedious. She was sick to death of her own company and was counting down the days to school starting, just to have a few hours each day to get out of her own head. Which was when a new thought had taken root, sprouted, grown limbs and leaves pretty much all at once.
What she really wanted was to have sex with him.
All the pregnancy books said the hormones were normal and that having a healthy sex drive while pregnant was even a perk of the situation. She and Hoyt were still both single, unattached adults. And damn it, she wanted him. What was so wrong about that?
What’s so wrong about it is that you want more than sex.
Reese pulled her car in next to Arden’s and ignored that sly little voice that had kept her steady company since her wild night of abandon with Hoyt.
“And you know what,” she whispered back to it, a sort of fierce desperation pinging off her car windshield as she spoke into the air, “it doesn’t matter what my heart wants. My body wants him and I’m going to enjoy it. Every single second of it.”
What she hadn’t quite counted on, Reese realized as she stepped out of the car and stared up at the Reynolds ranch house, was how she was going to play all of this in front of his family. A point that only became way sharper when Arden stepped out the front door and waved at her, a big smile on her face.
Reese met her halfway, pulling her friend into a tight hug. “Hope you don’t mind I just dropped by.”
Arden pulled back, gave her a dark stare. “I’ve given you a bit of breathing room and worked really hard to get over our little tiff in your living room. Don’t make me go back to being mad and pissy.”
Reese smiled and wrapped an arm around Arden’s waist. “Okay. You win. Thanks for the warm welcome.”
Arden squeezed back. “That’s more like it.”
“Look. About the other week. I owe you an apology. A rather large one.”
“Oh, come on.” Arden waved a hand in the air. “Don’t be silly. It was a moment in time and it’s over.”
Reese waited while Arden opened the door and followed her into the house. “I do owe you an apology and I should’ve come over before now. But every time I tried to find the words, they seemed hollow and empty and, well, stupid. Thank you for caring about me? Thank you for wanting to make sure I was okay?”
Arden laid a hand over her arm as they walked into the kitchen. “You’re here. That’s all that matters.”
It was so simple and easy and quintessential Arden.
And it went a long way toward easing the knots in her stomach.
“This is no excuse, and I don’t want to make it seem like one, but I’m getting used to this. Depending on people. It’s a bit new for me.”
Reese didn’t want to make excuses. She was responsible for her own actions and always had been. That had been one of the hardest things about her brother’s addiction. She knew he couldn’t help it and fully understood that his addiction was an illness. But she’d also struggled to understand how he could seemingly dismiss the love of his family and his own personal care.
It was because of that that she had developed her own sense of responsibility. And Arden did deserve a full apology.
“So thank you. I appreciate the care and concern and even more than that, knowing that you have my back.”
Arden pulled her close, her pretty blue eyes welling with tears. “Of course I have your back. We all do.”
Reese held on tight, the ready support and easy acceptance of her apology meaning everything to her. More than that, it reinforced all she’d mulled over in her mind for the past week and a half.
Hoyt didn’t seem to think she was taking the things that had happened seriously enough, but she was. And she did feel that they were more than harmless pranks. But what was she supposed to do about it? Sit and hide in her home like a scared hermit?
She’d be damned if she was going to live that way.
While she had taken a personal stand not to live in fear, that hadn’t stopped her from worrying about it every free moment she had. What was really going on? And who could possibly have a vendetta against her?
Although the drug-lord angle had to be considered, she simply couldn’t bring herself to go down that path. If a criminal wanted her dead because of her father’s actions, wouldn’t they have simply taken action? It had almost become scary how easily that thought drifted through her mind, but with the acknowledgment came power. And with that power came an ability to focus and watch her surroundings through clear eyes.
No one strange had been to her home or even appeared to be lurking outside of it. She’d seen no cars that she didn’t know, nor had security at the school turned up anything untoward. And further, now that her mother knew to watch out and keep track of her environment, Serena hadn’t seen anything, either.
Were they really going to sit around in fear that some drug lord was plotting their demise?
No way.
While she’d firmly taken that scenario off the table, it unfortunately meant something else was on it. Something nameless and faceless and completely unknown to her.
How did you face a threat like that?
How did you question that someone had it out for you when you didn’t even know what you had done?
And how did you live with the knowledge that somebody wanted to do you harm and not try to live your life to the fullest?
That’s why she was here. Why she wanted to make up with Arden and find a way past the emotional landmines Hoyt seemed to unearth every time she looked at him or thought of him or spent even the shortest time in his company.
It was why she wanted to live.
A point that hit home five minutes later when Hoyt and his brothers came through the door. Although Tate and Ace were good-looking men—both of whom drew their fair share of sighs when they walked into a room—for her money, neither held a candle to Hoyt. Long and lean, his strong form and broad shoulders drew her gaze as easily as he tugged at her heart.
He was quiet and stoic, both of which only added to his sense of mystery and unapproachability. Traits she’d have used to describe him before getting to know him over the past few weeks. But underneath it all was someone she’d enjoyed getting to know. He didn’t say much, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention. Nor did it mean he didn’t have an opinion.
What it did mean was that in those moments when she got him to open up, she got a sense she was seeing a side to him that few others ever got to. It was intimate and gratifying and humbling that he’d share with her.
And it had taken her from inf
atuated and interested straight into love.
Heartbreaking, stupid, crazy love.
* * *
“Hey, Reese.” Hoyt had no idea why the greeting came out sounding so hollow, but now that he’d started he knew he needed to see it through. “You feeling okay today?”
“I’m good.”
Only she didn’t look good. She looked a little shell-shocked. “Are you sure?”
“Fine. Really, I’m fine.”
“She looks great,” Arden jumped in. “In fact, I’d say she’s starting to get that pretty, pregnant glow about her.”
Hoyt wasn’t sure about a glow, because Reese looked like she always did to him. Beautiful.
Hell, the woman had glowed since forever.
He still remembered what she looked like when they were younger. Those long coltish legs and slim hips. He could still envision her the summer after he came back from school. He had gone away to college, finishing up his last two years at UT after doing two years at the local community college.
In the time he had been gone, little had changed in the Pass. It was why—maybe, Hoyt thought, it was exactly why—she had nearly bowled him over the day he saw her in town.
He’d been about to head home from the feed store when Arden texted him to pick up a few more things at the market. He was walking in as Reese was walking out, those endless miles of legs peeking out from beneath sexy little jean shorts.
Looking back on it, he didn’t think they’d said more than a hello. But he’d always remembered that moment. There was something a little wild about her, which had struck him at the time, at odds with what he knew of her. Because Reese Grantham had the exact opposite reputation.
She wasn’t wild. Nor was she prone to even raising her voice, let alone wild streaks of willful behavior. Everyone in town knew that Russ and Serena Grantham’s daughter was a good girl. But in that moment, Hoyt had seen something else. It was a little flicker, nothing more.
But as he thought back on it, he had to believe that in that moment, he saw her. Really saw her. That hint of the wild that lurked beneath her skin. That same little hint of wild that had drawn him to her that crazy night at Border Line. That little hint of wild that had had her asking him to stay.