by Jean Oram
She watched him for a long moment, her expression somber. “Maybe it takes someone who’s been burned straight to their soul to recognize it in someone else.”
This time when the flare of connection threatened to rise within him, he gave up trying to tamp it down.
“We’re talking about someone who takes your love for granted and abuses your trust?” he confirmed.
Carly inhaled slowly, as though bracing herself against familiar hurts, and without thinking Ryan pulled her into a hug. He sighed, holding her close. How sad was it he found relief in discovering someone else was holding on to the same shards of pain that he was?
When Carly hugged him back, he wasn’t certain if the reassuring embrace was for her or for himself. All he knew was that it felt good having someone finally understand.
Carly sat at the large, bustling table beside Ryan clutching her sides, which hurt from laughing so hard. The Wylders and their significant others were welcoming, boisterous, honest and fun. Even Carmichael, seated at the end of the table to her left, was letting out a few chuckles, his weathered face crinkled in mirth.
Laura and Levi had been telling the story of how a few weeks ago her little dog, Target, had sent a stampede straight through the middle of his birthday barbecue. Laura was obviously embarrassed, but she told the tale with such gusto that Carly couldn’t help but admire the woman. Especially since she seemed to be recounting it for the sole purpose of making Carly feel better about delaying the meal by a few minutes because of her chickens, followed by Ryan’s horse issue.
There was a knock on the front door, then footsteps sounded in the entryway. Moments later Jackie Moorhouse hurried into the room, a pan in her hands, her hair swept up in a loose bun. “Hey, sorry I’m late! I hope I didn’t miss dessert, because I brought something!”
“There’s no such thing as late around here,” Maria assured her, getting up to give her a hug, then take the pan, while Myles offered Jackie the vacant chair between himself and Ryan.
“Is that your broken custard pie?” Myles asked as he seated her.
“Sure is. Where’s Uncle Grumpy Pants?”
“Henry is having issues with his kidney stones,” Maria said.
“That’s too bad,” Jackie said, seeming to truly mean it.
“Dr. Aldridge is taking good care of him.”
Ryan winced. “Today?”
“Do you miss everything?” Brant asked.
Ryan leaned back, shrugging. “I haven’t missed how you pretend to be someone’s boyfriend to help get their ex off their back.”
He smirked when Brant scowled. “I haven’t done that in years.”
Myles cleared his throat and lifted his brows as though disagreeing.
“I’ll take Henry a plate of food after supper, as I’m sure he’ll be home by then,” Maria said.
“Careful, cranky old dogs tend to bite the hand that feeds them,” Levi muttered.
“Hey, Ryan.” Jackie gave his forearm a friendly squeeze.
He shifted his chair closer to Carly, and Jackie smirked. “What did I miss?” she asked, heaping her plate with food as everyone passed dishes her way.
“They were telling me the story of Levi’s birthday party,” Carly said.
Jackie rolled her head back with a groan. “That was so awful. I can’t believe you won’t let it go, Levi.” She gave him a chastising look across the table. “It could have happened to anyone.”
“I told the story,” Laura said.
“It was pretty funny,” Carly admitted.
Jackie pointed a serving spoon at Ryan, then Carly. “So? Are you two an item yet?”
Carly had been taking a sip of her punch and spit it back into her glass as she began coughing. She didn’t think anyone knew the two of them had been enjoying kissing on the side. She loved how Ryan saw her as independent, strong and determined enough to deal with his own strong-willed personality. She was growing and changing, just like she’d hoped she would by moving out here, but a relationship wasn’t what either of them was looking for. And if the family figured out what they were doing, they would likely expect something to come of it.
April shook her head. “Come on, Jackie. Let up already.”
“Just asking,” she protested. “I took Carly to the football game, you know. I should take you, Brant.”
Across the table the man stiffened.
“It’s time you said yes to one of those numerous women bringing their pets in for random, unneeded checkups.”
“What does it take to get a dog around here, anyway?” April asked with a wink, while passing the hot buttered biscuits Jackie’s way. She was wearing a green Western blouse that made the amber flecks in her eyes sparkle.
“I want a dog!” Kurt said.
“I know, sweetie.”
Ignoring the questioning glance April gave Brant, Carly asked, “What’s significant about taking me to the game? Garfield implied it would change my life.”
Meaningful looks darted around the table, but Laura spoke first. “The local lore is that when Jackie takes a girlfriend to the football game, she soon hooks up with someone in a serious way.” Levi leaned closer, placing a light kiss on her cheek, causing her to light up. Carly turned away and caught Karen gazing at Myles.
Was Jackie responsible for the two smiling couples?
Ryan rolled his eyes and said in a dry tone, “Carly and I were already an item, so don’t worry about it. We’re exempt.”
“Really?” Jackie squealed, clasping her hands together.
“No,” Carly said firmly. “We are not an item.”
All eyes turned their way. That the two of them were sitting shoulder to shoulder likely didn’t aid their argument.
“We’re just helping each other,” Ryan said patiently. “We’re not looking for romance or love or anything like that, Jackie.”
“You’re working together?” Maria asked, her interest piqued.
“Ryan’s renting Carly’s stable,” Levi stated.
“And he has some ideas for my farm,” Carly said.
“You two would make a good couple.” Karen rested an elbow on the table so she could lean forward to see Carly.
“You’re both direct in a way that scares people,” Myles said with a wink.
“Ryan’s cute and all,” Carly stated, “but like he said, neither of us is looking for love.”
“You don’t have to be looking,” Brant said, and beside him, April’s cheeks grew pink. “Sometimes it just comes along.”
“Thankfully,” Levi said, giving Laura another kiss, this time on the lips.
Beside Carly, Carmichael had nodded off, his plate long ago scraped clean.
“Speaking of the stampede,” Maria said, bringing the topic back to Laura’s story. “How is Target doing with his lessons on becoming a proper ranch dog?”
“His training is almost done.”
“Have you changed your mind about moving out to the ranch?” Brant asked. He leaned forward to say across Laura, “Levi, this gal needs a ring.”
“They’re on sale right now over in Riverbend,” Jackie said, and Carly winced at her friend’s blunt approach.
“Do you need your house back?” Laura asked Brant.
The brothers eyed April, then glanced away. She was studiously cutting up a piece of turkey for her son, although he seemed to be doing an adequate job of it himself.
Carly gave Ryan a questioning look, but he just shrugged.
“I thought maybe you and Levi were ready to take the next step,” Brant said. He popped a forkful of mashed potatoes in his mouth, chewed and swallowed, then added, “But yes, if you’re ready to move the house could be put to use.”
Laura set her utensils down as the table went silent. “When?”
Brant looked uncomfortable. “We’ll figure something out later.”
“Who did you buy the house for?” Maria asked casually, one eye on him while dishing more green bean casserole onto her plate.
Whe
n he didn’t answer his mom set down the bowl and rested her right arm on the table, watching him closely.
“He bought it for me,” April stated, her voice calm.
Jackie inhaled audibly. “I knew it.”
April glanced pointedly at her son, warning the group not to dig into the topic. But Carly was even more confused now. April was married, but Brant had bought her a house? And Laura was living in it?
Nobody spoke as everyone processed the implications.
“We have a house,” Kurt said, his high voice laced with confusion.
“We do, honey. But this one will be closer to our family.” April looked out over the table, daring anyone to argue with her.
“You’re all related?” Carly asked Ryan.
He gave a slight shake of his head, and April said, “I grew up on the ranch with the Wylder boys. My dad was one of their hired hands. So they’re family to me. These guys are like brothers.”
“Except she used to date Cole,” Jackie blurted. Laura’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as she glanced to Levi for confirmation.
“Who’s Cole?” Carly asked.
There was a beat of silence.
“Our brother,” Ryan said. “Second born.”
“He’s in Colorado last we heard,” Maria said, picking up the platter of honey-baked ham. “Carmichael?” The elderly man awoke with a start. “More ham or cornbread stuffing?” He frowned and shook his head, but she passed the two dishes down to him anyway, and he added a few more bites to his plate.
Jackie whispered across the table to Brant, “Maybe I don’t need to take you to a game. Seems to me you’re doing fine on your own.”
His cheeks reddened. “I’m helping family. Don’t read into it.”
April immediately ducked her head again. Not at all like that wild and lively rodeo queen Carly remembered from her youth. It was clear that life had taken its boots to April’s heart at some point, but that she and Brant Wylder felt deeply for each other. Whether things were romantic between them, Carly wasn’t sure, but it looked as though the road ahead might be a tricky one.
“I’ll find a place to rent,” Laura said.
“You can move in here,” Levi offered.
“I don’t want to oust you,” April protested.
“I already know of a place that’s available, and I can be out in a matter of days. It was always clear that when the time was right, I’d move out. The time is right.” Laura gave her a look as if daring April to argue with her. She turned to Levi and unspoken words passed between them, as though they’d known each other for years rather than a few months. “I’m not sure I’m ready to move in with you, but thank you,” she finally said.
“Too fast?” Levi asked.
“A bit.”
“Good,” Myles said. “As I’ve said before, I don’t think I could handle being under the same roof as you two.” The brothers laughed.
“Like you and Karen are much better,” Jackie joked, elbowing him and receiving a grin in response.
As the brothers continued to joke, Maria asked April, “Are you doing all right?”
She nodded, but her lips were drawn together.
“If you need anything, anything at all…”
April nodded again, her gaze sliding to Brant, who had his shoulders pushed back, a self-assigned protector.
“Please don’t tell anyone about the house,” Brant said, loudly enough to break through the chatter and joking.
The group fell silent, then nodded as one, with Carly following along, unsure why the house was a secret.
“That means you, too, Kurt.”
“Why is creamed corn so gross?” he asked, smacking his fork into the yellow mush.
Myles laughed.
“Everything will be out in the open soon,” April said to the gathering, rubbing Kurt’s back. “There’ll be a clean break before Christmas.”
“When is Santa coming?” Kurt asked, his face lit up.
“Soon,” April murmured.
“What are we doing for Christmas this year?” Brant asked. “Mom? Are you and Dad doing separate family events?”
“We’ll see,” she said, an uncharacteristic tension tightening the lines of her face. From what Carly understood the couple had split up last year and Roy had already remarried.
“Henry was asking if you’re both planning to come to his party,” Brant said casually, and Maria’s brows lowered.
Levi cringed. “Is that a no, Mom?”
“Good luck getting out of the party,” Brant muttered. “He’s already roped me into going.”
“Just so everyone knows…” Jackie paused until she had everyone’s full attention. “I’ll be saving some seats at the state championship game.” A slight smile was growing despite her obvious efforts to hide it.
She received a few chuckles in response, the mood around the table growing lighter.
“Saving one for yourself?” Myles teased.
“I might.”
“Who will the other seats be for?” Levi asked his gaze on Ryan. “I know a brother who’s single.”
Ryan tossed his napkin down beside his almost-cleared plate and glared at him.
Carly shifted in her chair, the fingers of her right hand automatically moving to cover the ring on her left.
“Just get married already and butt out,” Ryan grumbled to his eldest brother.
“How about you get married first?” Levi said, challenging him from the opposite corner of the table. “I heard Old Man Lovely is planning to do another of his quickie New Year’s Eve weddings for anyone looking to elope.”
Ryan’s expression was stony as he forked some sweet potato into his mouth. When his brother continued to wait for a reply, he said, “How about I keep living my independent life so I don’t have to relearn the basics?”
“Which basics would those be?”
“Namely, marriage never works, because women up and leave.”
Maria was shaking her head as though unable to stop. From what Carly had heard, it didn’t sound as though she had been the one to leave her marriage, shooting a hole in Ryan’s theory.
“Who’s ever left you?” Levi asked Ryan with a chuckle. “They can’t even catch you.”
“That’s true,” Jackie said with an authoritative nod.
Levi’s eyes had narrowed as though he was closing in on something. “In fact, after we started asking if you were going to marry Priscilla back in college, you two were suddenly no longer even speaking to each other.”
“We all thought you would pop the question,” Myles said.
The whole family was eyeing Ryan now, and Carly saw his hands flexing under the table.
“Kind of glad you didn’t, though,” Levi commented, when Ryan refused to speak. “Not to be a jerk, but there was something about her I never fully trusted.”
“What?” Ryan’s voice was dangerously low. The table went silent.
Levi shrugged, while Brant and Myles nodded. Maria didn’t appear as though she was enjoying the conversation, but was watching it unfold as though she had a stake in it.
“You kept asking if I was going to marry her.”
“I was trying to be supportive,” Levi explained. “Open the conversation to see where you were at. When it seemed like you weren’t going to pop the question, I let it go.” He shrugged as if to say no harm, no foul.
Ryan pushed away from the table. “You know, it would’ve been nice to know you didn’t trust her.”
“It didn’t seem important,” Brant said gently.
Ryan stood, taking in his brothers with a steely-eyed sweep. “I listen to your opinions way more often than I should, and it’s always been to my detriment. I listened when I was seven about where to cross the river during the flood, and I just about drowned.” He leaned forward. “Everyone was wrong. And I took your probing about marrying Priscilla as approval.” He shook his head and left the room, the air around him crackling like a thunderstorm.
Everyone was speech
less, their jaws unhinged. Even Jackie was quiet.
“He married her, didn’t he?” Carly asked on a held breath, trying to sort out what had just been revealed about this man she found herself drawn to.
Ryan had married Priscilla, and she had been untrustworthy.
Some things burned you to your soul.
“What was all of that?” Maria asked. She was pale, looking almost shell-shocked.
Nobody answered.
“Maybe I’m wrong,” Carly said, as she took in the expressions of stunned disbelief. She had to be wrong. How could she, a newcomer, know Ryan better than his family did?
Yet her gut was telling her she was dead on.
Ryan sat on the front porch swing, trying to sort out his next move. Storming out of the house like that had no doubt blown open his biggest secret. He sighed, trying to decide if it mattered or not. For a long time it had, but right now the humiliation of being such a poor judge of character felt moot, buried under the fresh new anger at his brothers for not speaking up, for not protecting him from what they’d seen in Priscilla.
The screen door opened with a slight creak, drawing Lupe from his post at the top of the steps as Carly came out, sliding her arms into the sleeves of her coat. She gave his head a pat on her way by, and the Australian shepherd wagged his tail, then flopped back onto the porch. Brant’s dog, Dodge, tottered up the steps, slowing as he approached Carly, tongue out and tail wagging. His hopeful look was met with a quick scratch behind the ears.
“Hey,” Ryan said, shifting to make room for her on the swing. For some reason he didn’t mind sharing his misery and humiliation with her. Maybe because she wasn’t perfect either, and therefore reserved judgment.
“You okay?” She smoothed her hands down her jeans after sitting beside him. It was cool enough that he could feel her welcoming warmth radiating against his left side. He hadn’t bothered to grab his hat or coat on the way out, eager to outrun the hard bubble that had been growing in his chest, pressing against his lungs and ribs.
