Theirs.
The ranch was…
He felt a little light-headed.
“Hey, Keeg? You all right?”
He honestly didn’t know, but he nodded anyway.
Two hours later, Keegan was doing his best to stay focused on the work he had before him, but his attention span was for shit. The only thing he could think about was what they needed to tackle first when they moved in. His goal was to get the ranch up and running, but he knew the house needed some work. Griffin had told them the earliest they’d be able to close on the place was thirty days from now.
Thirty days felt like an eternity.
“I was thinkin’ we’d take Tuck up on his offer to rent the place while we wait for closing,” Kaden said from beside him.
Keegan’s head snapped up. “Are you readin’ my mind?”
Kaden’s brow furrowed. “What? You just said thirty days felt like an eternity.”
Had he?
Well, hell. Now he was voicing his thoughts aloud.
“So we move when? Next weekend?”
A laugh sounded from his brother. “I was kinda thinkin’ we could give him a hand packin’ his stuff. That way his grandkids don’t have to do it all in a weekend. After work. A little each day.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Give us a chance to get eyes on what needs to be fixed.”
“And for me to get a grasp on finances. Figure out how we’ll handle the lot of it,” Kaden noted. “Why don’t we stop by after work? Talk to Tuck. Give you somethin’ to look forward to.”
Keegan grinned. Yeah. And until then, perhaps he could get his head back in the game.
*
After work, Kaden hauled his brother over to Tuck’s place. Turned out, the old man was happy to see them. Then again, he figured Tuck would’ve been happy to see pretty much anyone. It was a good thing he was moving to be closer to his kids. The man was clearly lonely and living out here all alone was a big reason why.
Tuck accepted their offer to help pack, but rather than let them get down to it, Tuck had kept them busy, showing off pictures of his kids and grandkids, his great-granddaughter. The man was proud, no doubt about it.
By the time they were able to get out of there, they’d both been starving, so they stopped in at the diner, ate without a whole lot of conversation. Kaden had considered asking Keegan if they could stop by Bristol’s on the way home, but he held off. Last thing he wanted was to ruin Keegan’s good mood.
Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to attempt to talk to her. Ever since he’d gotten the approval for the loan, there was only one person he’d wanted to share the news with. Of course, they’d called their parents, filled in their siblings, and got word to Curtis, but he didn’t get the opportunity share his good news with Bristol. Why it seemed to all come down to that, he couldn’t explain, but it pained him that she wasn’t going to be part of it.
Kaden knew it wasn’t a good idea to go talk to Bristol without informing his brother, but he had to. He could no longer sit back and let that incident go without a discussion. And he seriously doubted either of them were going to take the lead, so it was up to him to attempt to make amends.
He waited until Keegan went to his room for the night, then slipped out of the house. He figured if his brother heard the truck start up, he could come up with a lie on the fly. Hungry, thirsty, whatever. Then again, he doubted Keegan would notice. The man had been in his own little world since Griffin informed them they got the ranch.
It only took a few minutes to make his way over to Bristol’s. She lived in the same area as their cousin Brendon, a neat and tidy little neighborhood comprised mostly of 1950s ranch-style one-stories. There were a few houses that still had their Halloween decorations up, but for the most part, the lawns were neat and tidy, security lights on on a few, the rest dark.
When he pulled up to her house, nerves took over. What would he do if she slammed the door in his face? Told him she never wanted to see him again? At the moment, they were in limbo. Once he went to that door, he would know exactly where they stood. Did he really want to hear her thoughts on the matter?
He decided he did, forced his body to move. Getting out of the truck was the easy part. Convincing his hand to knock was something else entirely. Kaden stood on her front porch for the better part of a minute before he got up the nerve.
Instead of opening it, Bristol shouted through the door. “What do you want, Kaden?”
Well, at least she was home and she’d made the effort to look out. Although, he was surprised she’d been able to tell them apart in the dark, but hey, if his parents could, why couldn’t she?
“To talk.”
“There’s nothin’ to talk about.”
“You know there is, Bristol.”
“I’m not in the mood right now.”
Christ. He hadn’t anticipated it going this way. At the very least he’d expected to see her. For whatever reason, he needed to see with his own two eyes that she was all right. After she’d slipped away from the auction, he hadn’t seen her. For the first time in a very, very long time, she hadn’t gone to Curtis and Lorrie’s for dinner yesterday. Now she was relegating him to a conversation through the door.
“Please open the door.”
“No.”
“Bristol…” He took a step closer so he could speak without shouting. “Let me in so we can talk.”
“Go away. I have nothin’ more to say to you or your brother.”
Kaden leaned his forehead against the door and closed his eyes. “Please. You have to let me apologize.”
“What? You’re sorry we slept together? Well, so am I. No apology necessary. It cancels itself out, Kaden.”
His stomach twisted in a knot. He damn sure wasn’t sorry they’d slept together. Hell, if he had his way, she would’ve been in his bed every night since then and every night going forward. He’d played this game for so long, Kaden was tired of waiting. He was ready to get on with his life now and he wanted Bristol to be part of it.
“Would it make a difference if I told you I love you?”
There was no response. Not right away. And that hurt. Like a fucking arrow in the chest.
“I’m not giving in on this, Kaden, so you might as well leave.” This time her voice wavered, like perhaps she was crying.
Goddamn, but she was stubborn.
“I’m sorry,” he finally told her. “I’m sorry for what Keegan said. I’m sorry that he can be an ass. But I’m not sorry for what happened. All three of us wanted it. Hell, I still want it.”
“Yeah, well, Keegan made it clear that he doesn’t.”
“No, Keegan made it clear that he’s scared, Bristol. That’s what he does when he gets scared.”
A mirthless laugh resounded inside. “Scared? Of what? Does he think I expected a marriage proposal after one night?”
No, the opposite. That you don’t expect it.
Kaden didn’t say that because he wouldn’t do that to Keegan. His brother’s insecurities were rational even if they were misdirected.
“Just go, please.” Her voice was softer. “I need some space from the two of you.”
Space.
They’d given her space for a long damn time now. If they gave her more now, he knew without a doubt Bristol would find a way to completely eradicate them from her life. But what other choice did he have? He couldn’t make her want him.
“All right,” he heard himself saying. “I’ll go. If you ever need anything…”
She didn’t respond, so he decided to leave it at that.
Unfortunately, like Keegan, he’d been burned, too. And a man could only grovel so much.
Chapter Eleven
One month later
Friday, December 4, 2020
The month of November flew by for Keegan.
Then again, he’d been so damn busy, most of the time he hadn’t known what day it was. He’d looked to Kaden to direct him where to go and when to be there. To the shop, church, Cu
rtis and Lorrie’s for Sunday dinner. They’d had Thanksgiving there, too, along with Eve, Quinn, and Wesley, who’d all managed to be in town for the holiday. The rest of the time he’d spent working on the house, fixing what needed to be fixed.
Thankfully, Cassius had decided to stay on and work, and maintaining the few remaining cattle Tuck had left behind and giving them the lay of the land. Although Cassius was little more than a kid himself at twenty-five, he was a damn hard worker like Tuck had said. And yes, he was ornery and short tempered but oddly enough, Keegan realized he liked the guy.
After they’d gotten Tuck packed up and loaded into the U-Haul his granddaughter Erin had rented for the long trip to Wyoming, they hadn’t wasted any time. They spent their days at Walker Demo, the evenings and sometimes late into the night at the ranch. The goal had been to get the house livable so they could move in, work on it in their spare time. It took another week and a half after Tuck left for that to happen, but they’d bought some new appliances, fixed the leak in the bathroom plumbing, and hauled one of the beds from their place over temporarily. With running water, a refrigerator, a bed to sleep in, and the closing paperwork to make it theirs signed on the dotted line, they’d started on the real work: renovating the entire house from top to bottom.
It was a painstakingly slow process.
Wouldn’t have been, of course, if they’d hired someone to do the work, but Keegan wasn’t willing to relinquish that to anyone. He wanted to make a mark on the first house they owned, and their blood, sweat, and tears was one hell of a way to show their dedication.
So now, on another glorious Friday afternoon, after putting in a long day, Keegan stared out the passenger window as Kaden drove from the jobsite back to town, heading to their house.
As the scenery passed him by, Keegan’s brain ran through the day, mentally checking to make sure there wasn’t something he needed to take care of. He’d woken up in time for breakfast at the diner for the first time that week. Usually his nights were too long, and it was all he could do to drag his tired ass right to the shop. This morning he’d been invigorated, although he couldn’t quite pinpoint why. He figured it was his desire to stop moping about, allowing his thoughts to continuously drift where they didn’t belong. Not that he was succeeding at the latter but he was damn sure trying.
Once they’d gotten to the shop, he’d worked on some engines and got the news that Autumn would be bringing on a couple of people to help drum up new business. After they’d gossiped about that with Ethan for a good hour, they’d pushed out some equipment. Their final task of the day had been personally delivering a piece to one of the jobsites.
“D’you hear?” Kaden said. “That building on Main Street finally sold.”
No, he hadn’t heard. Then again, he hadn’t been paying attention to much of anything going on in town. “What’s it gonna be?”
“A spa.”
The words traveled through his headspace, then took root. He glanced over at Kaden. “A spa? Like…?” He couldn’t think of what they did at a spa.
“Manicures, pedicures, massages,” Kaden supplied.
“Oh, right.” He laughed. “Who the fuck would rather go to a spa over an arcade?”
“Women, Keeg. Women would prefer a spa to an arcade.”
“If you say so.” He wasn’t buying it, but it really wasn’t his problem, either. He had his ranch, so he had no hard feelings that someone else had purchased that building.
“You up for a night out?” Kaden prompted when he turned down the dirt drive that split their front pasture.
“Where?”
“Moonshiners.”
It wasn’t like him to have to think on it, but that was exactly what he did.
“Keeg? I know you’re—”
“Yeah, I’m up for it,” he decided just so his brother couldn’t start up with him again.
Keegan had no desire whatsoever to get into this with him. Every time Kaden had attempted to talk for the past month, it was always about Bristol. Everything in his brother’s orbit seemed to revolve around the woman although they’d had no interaction with her during that time. Keegan blamed Kaden for the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, either. Kaden’s fault because he was always trying to fucking talk about her, about the shit that had gone down between them.
And damn it all to hell, Bristol was invading his brain day and night, no matter how hard he tried to exorcise her from his mind. For the past few weeks, Keegan had done little more than think about that night they’d spent in his bed, the three of them. Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to get those images out of his head. Twice he’d actually talked Kaden into hooking up with another woman only to back off at the last minute. He tried to tell himself it was because Kaden’s heart wasn’t in it, but he knew better. His wasn’t, either.
It had taken some time, but he’d finally recognized the emotion.
Regret.
He fucking hated himself for letting Bristol slip away, but now that a month had gone by and they hadn’t said so much as three words to her in that time, Keegan accepted there was no salvaging it.
So Keegan had taken to shutting down Kaden’s attempt to psychoanalyze the situation, and he fully intended to continue doing so. Eventually one day he would forget all about Bristol Newton and his life would get back to normal again. In the meantime, he would continue focusing on what was important: moving on with his life.
“It’s high time we got back in the game,” he said now. “Friday night … bound to be some feisty cowgirls lookin’ for a good time.”
His brother sighed. “Not interested.”
“Well, why the hell not?” There was no heat in his tone. It would’ve required effort.
“You don’t think about what might’ve been?” Kaden asked.
Hell yes. “No. Why would I? Not like it’s a possibility.” He turned his attention out the window, watched as they neared their house.
“I’m gettin’ tired of the games,” Kaden said softly, pulling the truck to a stop in front of the house.
“No one’s playin’ a fuckin’ game,” Keegan snapped, although he had to look away because he knew Kaden was hurting. Had been since that night. Bristol was the one woman Kaden hadn’t moved on from. He’d known for some time that his brother was thinking she could be the one. For both of them.
And then Keegan had gone and fucked that all up.
“You’re never gonna be ready, are you?” Kaden asked.
Keegan sighed, pushing open the truck door. “I didn’t say that.”
“Then what are you sayin’?” Kaden asked, storming up behind him as Keegan headed into the house.
He honestly didn’t know. He’d long ago shifted away from thoughts of happily ever after. It made a hell of a lot more sense to live in the moment. It was easier that way.
“Keegan, talk to me.”
Spinning around, he faced off with his brother. “She’s not gonna give us the time of day, Kaden. You saw her that night. Completely uninhibited. But the fuckin’ minute it was over, she was havin’ regrets.”
And so was I.
“You were a dick to her,” Kaden snapped.
“Yeah? Why’s that? Because I spoke the truth? You know it as well as I do. No way would she be caught dead with the two of us. Not in public. Is that what you want? To be some woman’s dirty little secret?” Keegan felt his anger rising. “Because I don’t. I’ve played that role too many times. I won’t do it again.”
“You didn’t even give it a fucking chance,” Kaden bit out.
No. No, he hadn’t. “It wouldn’t’ve mattered if I did.”
“You’re wrong.”
No, he most certainly was not. Bristol was a firecracker in the bedroom; she’d proven that in just one short encounter. Quite possibly the best lay he’d ever had. But keepin’ it in the bedroom … not his style.
And even if Bristol did come around, it wouldn’t have been long before Keegan disappointed her. Or worse, offended
her. She was the sort of woman who needed tender loving. And that wasn’t Keegan. He wanted a woman who liked to walk on the wild side, one who’d get down and dirty in the backseat of his truck, let him tease her in the dark corner of a bar, use his fingers to make her come while everyone else was doing their thing. Hell, he’d be surprised if Bristol Newton would let a man kiss her in public, much less finger-fuck her in a dark booth.
He knew for a fact she damn sure wouldn’t let two of them do it, so none of it fucking mattered.
“I’m done worryin’ about Bristol, Kaden. We haven’t heard from her for a fucking month. I’m sure she’s forgotten all about us.”
And if he tried really fucking hard, hopefully Keegan would eventually forget about her, too.
Several hours later, they were sitting at a table at Moonshiners, drinking beer and listening to Travis Tritt croon from the jukebox.
He’d managed to wrangle a couple of their buddies into joining them, and it would’ve been a damn good night if it hadn’t been for the fact she had come here tonight.
Yep. They’d been there for all of an hour when Bristol strolled in with two of her friends. Bianca and Jamie. The three women had secured a booth on the far side of the room, minding their own business, laughing and talking. And while they did that, Keegan had been in the perfect position to see Bristol clearly. The other two women were blocked out by CJ’s big head, but it didn’t matter. Keegan didn’t care to see them anyway.
Not that he cared to see Bristol, either, but for some fucked-up reason, he had an unobstructed view of her talking with her friends, smiling that million-megawatt grin, and turning down every man who attempted to come on to her.
Oh, lookie there. Number five was strolling up, pausing to be polite and…
Keegan watched as Bristol looked up at the man, smiled sweetly, then motioned to her friends while she shook her head. His lip-reading skills weren’t exactly tuned, but Keegan was pretty sure she thanks but no thanks’d him.
Would she turn Keegan down if he asked? Brush him off like lint on those tight-ass jeans she wore?
Kaden & Keegan (The Walkers of Coyote Ridge Book 9) Page 16
