by Liza Kendall
And so by the time he got to the parking area and the vet was driving away, Rhett Braddock had armored up enough to make it to Scarlett without losing it.
Jules was right on his heels, though. “Rhett, wait!”
“Leave me alone, Jules. I can’t take anymore. I just can’t.”
Jules caught up to him, grabbed his hand.
Rhett shook her off. He didn’t want to see her face, didn’t want her to see his, didn’t want to share his grief with someone who thought so little of his love. He pulled the deed to the property out of his back pocket and threw it to the gravel. Beast looked perplexed and went over to sniff it.
“What is that?” She stared down, trying to make out the letters.
“You win,” he said. “You can stop pretending. Frost is gone. The stables are yours. And I’m gone.”
“What are you talking about? I know Frost is gone,” she said, “but—”
“No. It’s all gone. Any faith I had in you? Gone. You and me? Gone.”
Jules went white with shock and swayed in front of him.
He thought she might faint. So he reached out and braced her. But it was her turn to pull away. She picked up the deed and ripped it to shreds, letting them fall where they may. “We’re not gone, Rhett Braddock. We’re right here.”
God, he wanted to believe her. Jules, you’re killin’ me.
“Keep your friends close,” he said. “And your enemies closer.”
She turned a shade whiter. “Wh-what?”
“You were pretending to care about me to get control of the stables. That’s what Bridget told you to do, isn’t it?”
“Bridget?” A look of sudden understanding lit up Jules’s face. “That’s what’s turned you so cold? This is so messed up. I can see why you—okay. Yes, Bridget told me things would go easier if you and I were friends. And, yes, I took that advice.”
He nodded. “So I’ll FedEx you another copy of the deed. I don’t want anything that reminds me of you—especially not your family property.” He turned on his heel to get into Scarlett.
“You don’t understand,” Jules said. “And you’d better want your child—who will, I’m sorry to say, remind you of me.”
He froze. She’d gotten his attention. He turned back around and glowered down at her.
She raised her chin.
“I do want my child. I’ll have my lawyers get in touch.”
She dug frantically into her pocket; held out the ring. “What about this?”
“Keep it.”
“No—you don’t get what I’m trying to say! What about your big proposal, asking my dad, going down on one knee? Didn’t that mean anything to you?”
He shook his head and laughed softly. “A damn sight more than it meant to you. You can add ‘Humiliating Rhett Braddock in Public’ to your list of wins. Congratulations.”
“Oh!” Her jaw worked; her rooster-tail hair quivered. She stamped her foot. “You are so stupid.” She marched forward and smacked the ring into his chest.
“Ow!”
This time Beast woofed at Jules. The dog clearly didn’t like the tension.
“Would you please shut up and listen to me?” Jules said to Rhett.
He stared at her.
“Yes, okay, Bridget did tell me to . . . cultivate . . . you. So I did. I’m sorry. But then you started doing all these nice things, and I started to like you again. I was okay being friends with you. But being friends with you wasn’t enough.”
Rhett scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Go on.”
“I . . . wanted . . . more.”
“More,” he repeated.
“It wasn’t even something I could control or wanted to control. I started to fall in love with you all over again. The way it was before Dallas. Even more than that, really . . . and then I got mad at myself and you for it. I felt really messed up. But I couldn’t help myself.”
“What are you saying?”
“I can’t take your ring,” she blurted.
And all the hope that had started to rise and spiral in him crashed.
“Fine.” He shoved it into his pocket and turned again, feeling blindly for Scarlett’s door handle.
“Stop!” she yelled. “What I mean is, the ring isn’t me. But, Rhett, I’ve been in love with you. So in love with you that marrying you with anything less than that in your heart would devastate me.”
“What?” he whispered. He turned again to face her. “You said no twice.”
“Because I thought you were asking for the wrong reasons. And the history with my aunt Sue—”
“I thought you didn’t care.”
“I don’t want to marry you for anything less than love. Do you understand that?”
He stared at the scraps of paper that littered the gravel and were supposed to represent everything that mattered to her; she’d ripped the deed apart as if it meant nothing. He met her gaze, really looked into her eyes and, by God, if she wasn’t telling the truth.
“You’re in love with me?” Rhett repeated.
“So in love with you, Rhett. Are you in love with me?”
“What do you think?” Rhett moved so fast he sent gravel flying into the air. And then Jules was in his arms again and his mouth was on hers.
Beast wagged her tail frantically before shaking her head again and spraying them with congratulatory slobber.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Jules asked on a breath.
“What I’m saying,” Rhett said, his mouth restless against her lips, “is that I love the way you won’t change for anyone; you’re Jules, take it or leave it. And I couldn’t be happier about that because the woman you are is exactly the woman I want. You’re smart and beautiful and a little bit crazy. Just the way I like it. You dig in and go to the ends of the earth for the things and the people you care about. And I’m just wondering if I could be one of those people for the rest of our lives.”
Jules kissed him back, this time snaking her empty hands up the muscled contours of Rhett’s back.
“I am never letting go of you again,” he whispered when they came up for air.
“Mmm . . . you might want to rethink that.”
“Uh-uh.”
“Might . . . want . . . to . . .”
“Nope.”
She smiled against his lips. “Not even to meet little Frosty?”
Rhett stilled and then slowly pulled away. “Who?”
Jules pulled back, looked up, and rested her palm against Rhett’s cheek. “Thing is, Mr. Braddock, I may not be the owner of these stables, but I have been and will continue to be the manager. And as such, I have the right to make certain purchases I deem important.”
“What are you talking about, Jules?” Rhett asked softly.
Jules took Rhett’s hand in hers and pulled him into the barn as Beast trotted happily after them. They walked down the wide center aisle, all the way to the last stall, where Don Qui, in his colorful harness, was playing nanny to a newcomer; welcoming him to the fold.
Rhett stared in disbelief as a young colt nosed up to him. A colt with a dappled gray coat, one blue eye and one brown eye. The spitting image of Frost, no doubt a member of the same bloodline.
His breath caught.
Rhett couldn’t remember a time when someone had done something so perfect for him. “Little Frosty, huh?” He entered the stall and let the colt explore and snuffle him before placing a kiss on the baby’s forehead and turning back to Jules.
“Circle of life, you know?” Jules said.
Rhett gently placed his hand against her stomach.
Circle of life.
Jules smiled. “I would be so happy if you’d stick around to see the little ones grow up,” she said.
Rhett took her in his arms once more. “Is that you final
ly saying yes?”
“Yes,” Jules said. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Chapter 34
The big house at Silverlake Ranch was teeming with people, courtesy of Lila’s plans for a family-style grand finale to the Fool Fest mayhem. It was wonderful to be a part of the community again, but it also felt good to Rhett to step outside with only Declan, to walk up the grassy slope at the far end of the Braddock homestead. From there they could see the water sparkling in the lake in the sunlight.
Deck touched the leaves of a small sapling, appraising it with a rancher’s eye.
It was still strange standing next to his older brother: a slightly rangier and older carbon copy of himself. Same jawline. Same cheekbones. Same build. Dark eyes, though.
Strange, but good not to have fancy technology and miles of disappointment separating them anymore.
“I wanted to say . . .” Declan began, and then stopped. He sighed and looked down at the bluebonnets peppering the grass at his boots. “You and me, Rhett . . . we were so close once. Messing around with engines and chasing each other down in the fields. I remember fishing next to you in Pop’s boat for hours, no need to say a word. I remember you and me sitting on the corral fence, sussing out which horses would be the best rodeo mounts. And then I remember when . . . you stopped calling.” His voice hitched slightly. “You stopped asking about the fishing and the horses and the land.”
His gaze moved out to safer ground, locking somewhere on the horizon. “If I ever made it seem like I wanted you to stay away, Rhett, I’m sorry. Banishing you from Silverlake was not at all what I was trying to do.”
“You told the others I didn’t want to come home,” Rhett said evenly, careful to keep the old hurt out of his voice.
But Deck was no fool. He heard it anyway. “It was wrong,” his brother said. “I even convinced myself after a time that you wanted to be where you were. I mean, it’s obvious why you stopped calling, but in my head I rationalized it. I took it to mean that you didn’t care. That you’d settled into a different life—one that didn’t include us. One that was more highbrow.”
Rhett swore softly.
Deck shook his head. “Wish I could take back some of what I did.” His gaze swung back to his brother. “But not all of it. I thought that school was where you were supposed to be. I know I was a hard-ass. But Mama and Pops would be so proud of what you’ve accomplished. I’m proud of you, too. I want you to know that.”
The words hung between them for a long moment before Rhett could absorb them. Then he drank them in, like a thirsty plant after a drought. Declan is proud of me. Huh. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable with how much that meant to him.
Declan was proud of him.
“I want you to know something else,” Deck said.
The grass at their feet swayed in the chilly breeze. Deck looked back at the busy ranch house lit up with fairy lights. Someone shouted and a peal of laughter followed. The corner of Deck’s mouth turned up slightly.
“What do you want me to know?” Rhett prompted, when Deck didn’t continue.
“It was so hard for me to keep you there.” Declan turned back and managed a bittersweet smile. “I wanted to put you on the first plane home when I heard what you were going through. Or come up and kick some preppy butt. But I also knew you could handle it. That it would form your character.”
Rhett swore again.
“Sometimes I prayed to Mama and Pop for guidance. I’d tell them what you said on the phone to me. But I never got a sign from them. God never told me what to do, either—that’s for sure. Which formed my character, Rhett. It was on me, barely a man myself, to raise you all. And fighting your battles, or helping you run from them—no. It didn’t feel like something they’d want. What they wanted was for you to take advantage of your opportunities and make the most of them. And for their sake, as well as your own, I wanted to get at least one of you out the door right.”
Rhett had to swallow hard again. Keep the emotion from rising to his eyes, where it would betray him.
Deck, as usual, saw it anyway. “All the things you’ve been through in life . . . I’m sorry if it’s not the life that you imagined when we were kids. But it’s still been a good life, right?”
Rhett looked into Declan’s haunted eyes. “It’s still been a good life.” He instinctively looked back at the house for Jules. She was standing on the porch with Billy Holt and didn’t see him, but just seeing her there, comfortable and happy on his family property, touched his soul. “And now, thanks to Jules, it’s going to be great.”
Deck smiled.
Rhett punched him in the shoulder. “So thanks, you a-hole, for selling off my rodeo horse and inciting me to make an epic up yours statement. This is all your fault!” He grinned. Then he added softly, “Thank you. Love you, big brother.”
Deck started to punch him back. Then he changed his mind and wrapped him in a bear hug. “Same,” he said, his voice gruff. It took a while before he pulled away.
“Declan, are you going to cry? Because we’ve got a football game to play.”
“Be back in a minute. I gotta see a man about a horse,” Deck muttered, and walked away.
“Be sure to look it in the mouth, you hear?” Rhett chuckled as his oldest brother flipped him the bird.
* * *
Jules stood on the screened porch next to her dad; her with an iced tea, him with a beer, in defiance of her mother. Mom was inside, deftly correcting a culinary disaster of Lila’s but convincing her that it had been delicious to begin with. This operation took tact, skill, and kindness . . . and Jules’s respect for Mom grew even as she hid her smile.
She had to love Lila for even trying to cook—it was not something Jules ever intended to do. When she’d informed Rhett, he’d grinned and tugged at her rooster feathers. “No problem, darlin’. We can hire that done.” We can also go to Walmart or the prepared foods section at Griggs’ Grocers, she’d retorted.
“How you doin’, Dad?”
“I feel great, baby do—” He stopped short at her expression. “It really bothers you when I call you that.”
Jules nodded.
“Okay, sweetheart, understood.” He turned back to the action. “What are those clowns plotting out there?”
Declan had marked off a football field–sized rectangle in the grass and he was huddled at one end with the rest of the Braddocks while the opposing team, Silverlake’s very own Pissed-Off Fire and Having-Trouble-Forgiving Rescue swarmed around on the other end.
It seemed the squad members were patching things up slowly, but Grady said he wanted another chance to take down Rhett and Jake before he had to go about the business of being friends again. It wouldn’t feel done until he’d drawn Braddock blood at least one more time, Grady had said, scowling around a mouthful of steak and potatoes at last night’s family dinner.
“Well, that’s a sight you don’t see every day,” said a familiar voice, and Jules looked up to see Aunt Sue at her elbow, her bottle of Baileys peeking out of her purse. Mia and her dad, Silverlake High’s baseball coach, walked up behind her.
“Hey, y’all! Glad you could make it.” Jules hugged each of them in turn.
Mia still looked exhausted, and Coach looked his usual beefy self, though it appeared that he’d started dyeing his thinning hair. It was a peculiar shade of auburn.
Jules raised an eyebrow at Mia, who shook her head and shrugged.
“Come on in—drinks in the kitchen.”
Coach pointed at the Braddock crew: Declan, Rhett, Jake, and Lila huddled up, their arms around one another as they discussed a strategy to avoid getting their heads smashed in by a squad of angry firefighters. “Only one missing Braddock here: Ace,” Coach said wistfully. “Wish he’d come home to Silverlake every once in a while. Miss that boy.”
Mia’s lips tightened almost imperceptibly, and she went into the
house.
“Wish I could play,” Dad said, gazing toward the field.
“Not me,” Coach said, chuckling. “I’m glad to sit on the porch.”
As if on cue, Rhett suddenly looked up to the porch and called out. “Hey, Billy. We’re gonna’ need a referee here. It could get ugly.”
Jules’s dad grinned and made his way down from the porch. Declan broke out of the huddle and set up a folding chair for him before jogging back to his family huddle.
Her dad settled in, stuck a couple fingers in his mouth, and blew a loud, shrill whistle. “No biting, grabbing testicles, no kicking a man or woman down! Oh, and try to get the ball over the other team’s line. Y’all ready?”
Both teams hooted and hollered. Jules, with a wide smile, looked at Aunt Sue.
Aunt Sue winked at her. “I’m going to need me some iced coffee,” she said.
Jules shook her head. “Spiked coffee, more like.”
“Why, I have no idea what you’re talking about, Julianna Holt.”
Snort.
Dad called up the captains.
Declan and Grady came forward, managed a round of rock, paper, scissors without punching each other, and then jogged away. Based on the high-decibel swearing from Grady, Declan had emerged victorious.
Declan faked a pass out to Rhett and spiraled the ball to Lila, who took off like a shot. She made it twenty yards before the firefighters realized she had the ball and then Mick elbowed his own teammate Rafael aside and plastered her to the ground in a tackle.
Everybody on the porch sucked in a breath and the game paused as Mick stared down at Lila beneath him.
“Keep your hands to yourself, Mick!” Grady shouted. “Or they’ll accuse us of cheating!”
“Well, that’s no fun,” Mick called back.
Suddenly Lila just pushed Mick off her, popped up, and shouted at everybody to get back in formation. And like that, it was on.
“I’m glad you came,” Jules said to Sue as Declan threw another graceful spiral out to Jake, who collided with Grady as they both leaped for it. They came away with nothing but a handful of each other’s shirts.
