by Jessa James
“Ohhh, so your mom is one of those,” he said. “Jesus. My parents could not be more different than that.”
“No?”
“My dad is a hardass military type. My brothers and I call him The Colonel, and he earned the name.”
“Let me guess. Your mother is the sainted type? To put up with The Colonel, I assume she is.”
“Well… you’re sort of right. My mom died when I was twelve, and she kicked The Colonel out of her bed long before that. But she was the sainted type, that’s true.”
Her brow furrowed.
“I’m sorry.”
He wasn’t sure if she meant she was sorry that his mother had died, or sorry that she’d brought it up.
“It’s in the past,” he said with a shrug.
“My dad died when I was little, but I barely knew him,” she said, unemotional.
Colt looked at her, while she fiddled with a loose thread on her jeans. She was really walled off, disconnected from her emotions.
She glanced up at him.
“If your dad was such a militant hardass, why did you go into the SEALs?”
Her question impressed him. She’d remembered what they’d talked about, at least.
“My brothers were in the Navy,” he said, nodding to Sawyer. “I figured it was as good a way as any to get out of this town for a while.”
“You have more brothers?”
“One. Sawyer’s the oldest, Walker’s the middle..”
“And you’re the baby. Makes sense,” she said, amused.
“Hey, I might be the youngest, but I’m twenty-nine. And I’ve been all over the world. I even speak a little Farsi.”
“And yet…” she said. “You’re back where you started.”
He made a face.
“Yeah. When I got hurt, I couldn’t work for the Navy anymore. My father requested that I come home and watch over the ranch. I figured, why not?”
He felt a sudden sprinkle of rain. He looked up.
“Damn, rain clouds.”
“I should get home anyway.”
She climbed to her feet, petting Elvira. The dog looked antsy, as though Rose could do something about the darkening sky, or the low rumble of thunder.
“Here,” he said, standing up and grabbing their blanket. Everyone else was standing and organizing, or grabbing leftovers off the food tables. “Come on, I’ll walk you guys home.”
“Oh—” she started to protest, but he was hearing none of it.
“Seriously, I have to walk that way to get to my truck,” he said.
Her brow knitted, but she just nodded as the first few raindrops fell on them. They half-walked, half-ran the few blocks to her house, rain beginning to fall in earnest.
They made it to her front stoop, underneath the overhang, both soaking wet. Her t-shirt clung to every curve, tantalizing him. She pushed back the hair on her forehead, looking like a fantasy come to life.
She unlocked her front door, then froze.
“I…” she started, turning to him.
“You don’t have to invite me in,” he said, amused.
“You’re really… a girl would be lucky to…” she tried, going red. Then, quieter: “I’m just not ready. Okay?”
Her admission took him by surprise.
“Um… okay,” he said, wiping rain from his brow.
“I’m just— I have to go,” she said.
The way she stayed put, the fact that she held Elvira so close… She meant that she needed him to go.
“All right,” he said. He shrugged, then turned and walked out in the rain, back towards Sawyer and Remy’s house.
His brain was full of questions. He glanced back, just once, and saw her standing there on her front stoop, watching him. Her shoulders were slumped, like she was disappointed in herself.
Colt shook himself, jogging the rest of the way to his truck. Once he was inside, he had to wonder.
Who had hurt Rose so badly that she couldn’t even open the door in Colt’s proximity?
Shaking his head, he threw the truck in gear and peeled off toward the ranch.
7
On Tuesday afternoon, Rose looked up from the garden she was plotting to find Shelby at her gate. The dogs barked, excited by the presence of someone who wasn’t Rose.
“Hey there,” Shelby said, holding up a plastic grocery bag. “Brought you some muscadine grapes.”
Rose waved her in. She could see that the large, sweet grapes were dark purple in color, the perfect shade. Shelby let herself in the gate, careful not to let the dogs out in the process, and sat the grapes down on the ground.
“Awww, thanks,” Rose said.
“No problem. We have beaucoup that grow on the farm. My mom was begging me to give some away, and I thought of you.”
“Ohhh, thanks. I actually really like muscadine juice.”
“Well, there you go. That’s two problems solved.” She stuck a Superman pose. “Where to next, Lois?”
“Are you on your way somewhere?”
“On the way back from a piano lesson. Just thought I would stop and say hello, be friendly. See what you’re up to.”
Rose frowned at the yard.
“I was just sort of imagining where my garden will go.”
“Well, not here if any of the men in town have their way,” Shelby said, looking amused. “I think every dude that’s got a look at you is cleaning out his lair, in hopes that you’ll come visit. Half of them are already making up wedding plans in their heads, I bet.”
Rose arched her brows. “They barely even know me.”
“Yeah, but you’re new in town. Plus you’re like… super hot. Trust me, we can sense our own kind,” she said, nose crinkling.
“I’m not interested in anyone. Not in dating anyone, anyway.”
Shelby looked over at her, and Rose could feel a flush creeping down her neck. Shelby sat down on the ground next to Rose, and the dogs crowded around her, demanding to be petted.
“No?” Shelby said. “You got someone back in Baton Rouge?”
Rose bit her lip. She could lie, as she had any number of times when anyone other than her mother asked her about dating. But she had promised herself that she’d start over in Catahoula Creek, and lying wasn’t exactly the best way to begin.
She took a breath, then let it out slowly.
“I was… assaulted,” she said, forcing herself to look at Shelby as she spoke. “It was almost eleven months ago, but… I don’t know. I’m not over it, I guess.”
Rose turned her attention to petting Maniac, who immediately rolled over and showed his stomach. She rubbed his stomach and glanced at Shelby.
Shelby’s mouth was frozen in an O. It took her a few seconds to find the words.
“I am so sorry, Rose.”
“No, it’s—”
“No, I made a big deal out of it, the dating thing I mean. Jesus, I— I’m just really sorry.”
Rose looked at the blonde, who looked completely deflated.
“It’s all right. I’m just trying… I’m trying honesty, to see if it makes me any happier than… not.”
A few seconds passed as Shelby collected her thoughts.
“So you came to Catahoula Creek to… to get away from Baton Rouge?” Shelby guessed.
“Mmm, that’s not where it… happened,” Rose said, feeling stilted as she talked about what had happened. “It happened in Sarepta, actually. I was staying there for my fall break, right after my mother moved to Florida. Watching the house for her while the sale went through.”
Shelby looked shocked. “Did you know the person that assaulted you?”
Rose paused, then nodded. “We went to high school together.”
“Did you report them to the police?”
Rose chuckled, a sarcastic sound.
“Yep. I shouldn’t have bothered, though. The sheriff just asked me how much I had to drink, what I was wearing, who I was hanging out with. Told me flat out that night that I was a shitty witness,
that I wasn’t credible.”
Shelby’s mouth opened and closed a few times.
“Why?”
“Because the man I accused owns half the town. The sheriff was protecting him, that much was clear from the get-go. And then I ran off to Baton Rouge, went back to school, acted as if things were normal… by the time I decided to take my case to the DA, they were sympathetic, but they said that the defense would tear me up. Contact every ex-boyfriend or date I’d ever had, try to find someone to say… that I liked… that I liked it rough…”
Rose realized she was crying, felt like a fool. Shelby just gave her an awkward pat on the back, unsure what to do.
“I’m sorry,” Rose said, trying to regain her composure. “I’m still kind of… you know.”
“Don’t apologize,” Shelby said. “And just so you know? Those guys are assholes, grade-A scum. Everyone that protected the guy who assaulted you, they suck.”
Shelby’s words struck Rose as funny, and she started laughing though the tears.
“Good,” Shelby said. “You should laugh at them.”
Which made Rose laugh harder, until she couldn’t breathe.
“See?” Rose said, wiping at her tears. “See why I can’t dump this on a guy?”
“Pssh, please. Any guy worth his salt would gladly deal with a few tears if it meant he got to hold your popcorn at the movies.”
“Uh-huh,” Rose said, although Shelby’s humor was having the desired effect, calming her down. “What do you think? Wait until the third date to unleash this on the poor sod?”
Shelby cackled. “First date, lay it all on the table. See what happens.”
“Yeah, I’ll work on that,” Rose said, rolling her eyes.
Shelby was quiet for a minute, pursing her lips.
“So you’re in Catahoula Creek for awhile now. What are you going to focus on?”
“Uhhh… well, the first thing is conquering the vet clinic. I have Colt to help me, although I’m sort of… skeptical.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know. It seems like he’s going to up and leave halfway through,” she said.
Shelby brows rose. “I went to school with Colt, all twelve years. He’s not really the give up type.”
“No?”
“Nah. Besides, when I was talking about all the men in town, the ones that think you’re hot? I mainly meant him.”
Rose blushed to the roots of her hair.
“I told you why I’m not interested.”
“I know. Anyway, Colt is kind of…” Shelby trailed off.
“Kind of what?”
“It’s not really fair for me to say, but he’s kind of… He sleeps with a lot of girls, you know?”
“You’re saying that he’s a dog?” Rose said, confused.
“He’s a good guy, but… yeah. He doesn’t let anyone tie him down.”
Rose pulled a face. “Guys are dumb.”
“They can be,” Shelby said. “I dunno. I think the girl that ties Colt down will have to be really special.” She rolled her eyes. “And by that I mean really gorgeous and basically unavailable.”
“You have a lot of thoughts about Colt Roman,” Rose noted.
Shelby grinned.
“What kind of town gossip would I be if I didn’t?”
Rose looked at her, then shook her head.
“Listen, I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone that I was assaulted.”
Shelby looked horrified. “Of course not.”
“Okay. I just figured I couldn’t be mad if I didn’t say it, so…”
“Look, there’s tons of town gossip without adding yours to the pile,” Shelby said. “Mostly who’s hopping beds, and who’s gonna sell their farm.”
“Yeah?” Rose asked. “Sarepta got together as a town and decided to sell to a developer. You heard about that?”
“Sort of. I know that my dad’s really worried about some real estate developer. Says they would come in and pave everything over, build a huge hardware store and a Walmart.”
“Your dad’s not that far off. The developers came in, bought most of the main drag of Sarepta. Bulldozed it all, put up a shiny new grocery store, hardware store, gas station, two restaurants…” she said, ticking them off on her fingers as she went. “It was crazy. Sarepta used to have like five hundred people, now it has like five thousand.”
“Whoa. That’s bananas. The developer owns all the businesses, I’m guessing?”
“Or they sold them to whoever was willing to pay their prices… which were a lot higher than what they paid. Like the pharmacist, for example? He sold out, and when he saw the new buildings, he thought maybe he’d buy back in. Except the buy-in price was like… twenty times what he’d been paid. No more small-town charm, it was all Walgreens and Winn-Dixie and Home Depot.”
“Jeez. So the people that were small business owners couldn’t afford to own businesses anymore? I assume if they did find somewhere else to put down roots, they would still have to compete with the chain stores.”
“Yep. It was a decision that they made, but… it sucked. And don’t even get me started on the land they built on. They needed enough space to put in prefab houses, so they bought old man Johnson’s farm for a song. A lot of the places we used to hang out as kids were torn down. I came home from college and it was just… totally different.”
“Man, the idea of that happening here freaks me out,” Shelby sighed.
“Me too,” Rose said.
She bit her lip. It was on the tip of her tongue to say that the Chalke family ran the development company, and that Jared still had a cushy spot as his dad’s main man.
Shelby’s phone rang, interrupting her train of thought.
“Sorry,” Shelby said. “It’s Remy. Do you mind?”
Rose shook her head. Far be it for her to mind anything Remy needed.
“Hello? Oh. Where?” Shelby said, glancing at Rose. “No, I’m actually at her house. Hold on.” She covered the phone. “Remy found a dog that’s hurt. Limping, she said. She wondered if you could take a look at it.”
“Sure, of course. Can she bring it here?”
Shelby uncovered the phone. “Can you bring it here? Okay. Good. I’ll text you the address.”
She hung up the phone without ceremony, and sent a text. “She’s on her way over.”
“Remy a big animal lover?”
“Oh god, yeah. The Romans have all of these Catahoula curs that run wild, all over the property. She’s been begging Sawyer to let her have one, but Sawyer doesn’t get the whole keeping them in the house thing. It’s like… their one dire issue.”
“I couldn’t even begin to have that conversation with someone I dated. My dogs come first.”
“Yup. Oh, Remy’s here.”
Shelby and Rose got up and went out front, closing Maniac in the backyard. Remy and Sawyer were unlocking the cargo bay of their Range Rover.
“Could you—” Remy said to Sawyer.
“Got it,” Sawyer sighed.
He lifted a small beagle out of the back, white with brown and black spots. He carried it toward Rose. It whined a little, but was otherwise well behaved.
“Hi. Where do you want it?” he said.
“Ummm… how about you guys find a spot in the grass?” Rose said, pointing to her feet.
Sawyer sat the dog down, and Rose knelt by it.
“She’s pretty,” Rose said, eyeing it.
The dog took a step, limping a bit. Rose petted the dog, found her tolerant. Picked up the back paw she was favoring, saw the problem immediately.
“Ah, here we go,” she said, using her fingernails to dig out a small piece of metal from one of its paw pads. The dog struggled a little, but it was over in a flash.
“Oh, good girl,” Remy crooned.
Rose stood, almost smiling at the resigned look on Sawyer’s face. That dog was sleeping inside tonight, and he knew it.
“Let me get antiseptic for her paw from my bag. The
n you can go.”
“Thanks!” chirped Remy.
She opened her car, located the antiseptic, and squeezed a bit from the tube to the dog’s paw. “That should be good. Try not to let her lick the paw too much for a couple days.”
“Thank you,” Sawyer said, picking up the dog again.
“Thanks so much,” Remy said. “What do we owe you?”
“Nothing,” Rose waved her off. “Call it introductory pricing.”
“Hey, can I get a ride back to the house with you guys?” Shelby asked Sawyer.
Sawyer grunted, which she apparently took as a yes.
“See you later, Rose!” she said, waving. “Don’t forget about the muscadines.”
“I won’t. See y’all later.”
* * *
A minute later, the yard was silent again. She went back into the yard, grabbed the grapes, and let Maniac back in the house.
The other dogs greeted them happily. She stuck the grapes in the fridge, uncertain what to do. She went to sit on the couch, mulling over all that she’d learned today.
She’d been right about Colt, that much seemed clear. If Shelby was right, if he was a dog, then Rose ought to steer clear.
Or maybe… maybe he would be a good choice to… experiment?
Her mind offered images of just what experimenting would look like. Rose and Colt naked. Her on top of him, kissing him, riding him. Her throwing back her head, rosy with perspiration, radiant…
“All right,” she said to herself. “Enough of that, really.”
She didn’t know why her brain liked picturing Colt so much. Why keep coming back to him? It made no sense.
She got up and looked in the pantry. She didn’t have a lot in the way of food, but she was rich with wine. A nice burgundy would suit her current mood perfectly.
Grabbing the bottle, she uncorked it, not bothering with a glass.
Here’s to not thinking about men anymore, she thought.
She toasted herself, lips curling.
8
Freshly returned from her third year of veterinary school, Rose was in her hometown partying. Well, if sitting at the one bar in town with your only friend from high school could be called partying, anyway.
