Mason (Remington Ranch Book 1) (Contemporary Western Romance)

by S. J. McCoy

  Guy put a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, I didn't mean to shock you. I thought you knew. He's an asshole. Always has been. I'd hate to see you get involved with him again after you had such a lucky escape. He makes me out to be the bad guy, but it's always been him, Gina. I'm the one trying to buy your dad's ranch to help you out. What's he doing for you? Nothing.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Why don't you get out of here with me and I'll tell you everything I know. We could get some dinner and...” He ran his gaze over her, letting it linger on her breasts, making her skin crawl.

  “No.” She turned and walked away. She couldn't bring herself to say another word to him.

  She didn't want to find Shane anymore. She just wanted a moment to herself. She kept walking until she came to the barn. She made her way to Annie's stall and buried her face in the mare's neck. As she breathed in the warm reassuring scent of horse, she felt the trembling start to subside.

  Guy Preston was a bastard. An evil, meddling bastard. That was all. She wasn't going to let him come between her and Mason this time. She knew what she had to do. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again. She needed to find Mason and talk to him. Ask him whether it was true. She didn't believe it was, but the nasty little voice in her head kept doing the math and telling her that it could be. She wanted to stay here for a little while, get over the shock. She ran her fingers through Annie's mane. “It isn't true, old girl, is it?” She hated the break in her voice. It shouldn't be there, she should sound—and feel—strong, convinced that this was just another of Guy's attempts to hurt Mason. She wished she didn't feel the gnawing doubt. But it was there. She knew from experience that it wouldn't go away until she talked to Mason about it, and this time she wasn't going to wait ten years before she did. She patted Annie one last time and made her way back out of the barn.

  ~ ~ ~

  Mason knew something was wrong as soon as he saw Gina's face. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. He started making his way over to where she was standing out by the barn. She was scanning the crowd, but she hadn't spotted him yet.

  He tried to be as polite as he could in brushing people off on his way to her. He didn't want to talk about the weather or the party or even his horses. He just needed to get to Gina and ask her what the hell was wrong. He saw April sitting alone at one of the tables. She looked terrible, but he didn't have time to check on her at the moment... She looked up and saw him and called him over. Gina was still searching the crowd, he was pretty sure she was looking for him. April raised a hand to wave him over and he noticed the bruises on her arm. Damn. He had a pretty good idea how she'd gotten those. He had to make sure she was all right.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked when he got to her.

  She nodded but looked as though everything was far from okay.

  “What is it?”

  “I'm sorry, Mason.”

  “What for, April. What is it?”

  “He's really got it in for you this time. I can't stop him. I'm sorry, but I have to put my son first.”

  The pulse in Mason's temple started to pound. “What are you talking about? What's he doing?”

  As she looked up at him, he thought he could make out bruises under her makeup. What was that bastard doing to her? Mason had tried to get her to leave Guy many times over the years. She said she'd made her bed so she had to lie in it, that she believed marriage was forever and it would get better. He was pretty sure that Guy had some hold on her that she wasn't talking about. If he was hitting her, there was no way Mason would be able to stand back and do nothing. “I can't tell you, Mason. I just wanted you to know how sorry I am. You know I wouldn't do it if I had any other choice.”

  “April, what are you talking about? You wouldn't do what? And why don't you have a choice? You're worrying me. I think it's time we get you away from him.”

  She stood up suddenly. “I have to go. He's looking for me.”

  Mason followed her gaze to where Guy was standing. How he hated that asshole. “Let me help you, April. You don't need to go with him.”

  Her eyes were wide with fear. “I do, Mason. I just had to tell you how sorry I am.” She turned and fled before he could ask her again what it was she was sorry for.

  He turned to see Gina staring at him. What was it with the women around here today? She looked as though the world was about to end, too! Oh shit, she had just seen him talking to April, but they were over that, right? Gina knew that all April had ever been to him was a decoy—didn't she? He crammed his hat further down on his head and made his way to her.

  “What is it, G?” he asked when he reached her.

  She took a deep breath and met his gaze. “I hate asking you this, but I have to. We promised each other we wouldn't keep any more secrets, that we'd be completely honest with each other, right?”

  Mason nodded. “Whatever it is, just ask.” He had nothing to hide.

  “Is April's son yours?”

  He stared at her for a moment, the words didn't make sense. “Is April's son...what!?” As he spoke the words himself, he understood their meaning. “Jesus, Gina! Why in the hell would you think that? I told you. I never wanted back with her. I never got back with her. What the...”

  She put a hand up. “Don't be mad at me. I had to ask. Guy told me the boy was yours. I knew it had to be a lie, but once the doubt takes hold there's nothing you can do. I had to ask you, Mason.”

  He took a deep breath to calm himself then drew her to him and wrapped her in his arms. “Sorry, babe. I get it, you did have to ask. We promised no more secrets. That is not a secret I am keeping, nor would I ever keep. You know me. If I had a kid, I'd be taking care of him myself. I'm glad you asked me.” He held her a little closer. “If anything, we can thank Guy for making us stronger. You came straight to me. That means a lot.” He tipped her chin so she was looking up at him. What he saw in her eyes killed him, because what he saw was doubt. His heart raced. “You don't believe me?”

  She shook her head rapidly and tightened her arms around him. “It's not that. I do believe you. I'm just still in shock from hearing him say it. And...and I just saw you with her. What's going on between the two of you, Mase?”

  “Nothing. There's nothing between me and her, not like that. I told you, I do feel responsible for her. Not responsible for her kid or anything, but as I said, she has a horrible life, and I feel as though it's my fault. I put him on her. You know?”

  Gina nodded, but she didn't look convinced. “Do you still care for her?”

  Mason gritted his teeth and let out an exasperated sigh. “Not in that way…no. I never did. We dated in high school, before you and I ever got together. She was a friend, Gina. I think he's hurting her, so yes, I do care. But then I'd care for anyone in that situation, especially since I feel like I was the one who put her there. I think you would, too?”

  She met his gaze and he saw all the compassion in her eyes that made her who she was. “He's hurting her? Why doesn't she leave him? We have to help her, Mase.”

  “I don't know how. I've offered to help her get away from him over the years. I knew she was miserable, but I never thought he'd hit her. He has some hold over her. Honestly, I think he threatens her about the boy, but I don't know that.”

  “What did she say just now? Is she all right?”

  Mason shrugged. “She kept telling me she's sorry. She wouldn't tell me what for. Just that Guy's really got it in for me this time.”

  Gina nodded. “Well, if we hadn't already cleared things up between us, I hate to admit it, but I probably would have believed him.”

  Mason nodded. Much as he hated to hear it, he could see why Gina would think that way. He dropped a kiss onto her upturned nose. “It's a good thing we already talked everything out then, isn't it?”

  She nodded. “He can't come between us anymore, Mase. I love you. I'm not going to let anything destroy what we have this time. Especially not him.”

  “I love you, too, babe. You did the most important thing, and
you trusted me enough to come to me and ask. You trusted me to tell you the truth.”

  She nodded.

  “Babe, I want to put the past behind us. Please let me help you with keeping the ranch. I'll buy it if you need me to or I'll help you keep up with the cost of running it if you prefer. Just please say that we're back in it together?” He held her gaze. “You said we can make it up to each other every day for the rest of our lives. I want us back on track, and to me the rest of our lives mean we share them, as man and wife. Do you agree?” He'd been thinking for days about how and when he would ask her to marry him. He didn't want to ask her like this, now, motivated by Guy's meddling, but at the same time he needed to know that it was still what she wanted.

  She nodded, but her eyes were troubled. “I told you I need to take care of this by myself. I need you to understand that. I love that you want to help, but I have to do it by myself.”

  He stared at her. He could understand the pride side of it. What he didn't understand was how she felt about marrying him. He waited for more, but no more came.

  “Do you understand?”

  He nodded. He didn't want to, but her lack of an answer made it pretty clear.

  “Thank you. We'll figure it out.”

  Together, but not married? Was that what she meant? He had to be as strong as she'd just been and ask. “What do you mean? What are we going to figure out?”

  She stared at him for a moment. “I mean about the ranch. I need to do that myself, what we need to figure out is how that fits in with us being us.”

  “And how does it fit in with us being married?” He had to know. In his mind, a married couple shared finances, just as they shared everything else.

  She searched his face. “We're not married though, are we?”

  “Do you want to be?” He didn't want to ask her here and now. He wanted to ask her at the right moment, in the right way. But he did want--no, he needed--to know that it was what she wanted.

  She nodded.

  That was enough. For now. He'd hoped for a little more enthusiasm, but then she'd probably hoped for a proposal, too. “Okay. Do you want to get back to Mom’s party then?”

  She blew out a big sigh. “Yeah.”

  He took her hand and led her back into the crowd of people. It was late afternoon, but the party was still going strong. He knew more folks would show up into the evening and most would hang out until it got dark. His mom loved to have her firework display. She was fortunate that her birthday fell in mud season. This time of year, there was so much rain that there were no concerns about wildfires. The Fourth of July saw them head up into town to watch fireworks since most of the valley was under no-burn restrictions by then.

  ~ ~ ~

  Gina spotted Shane sitting on the fence with Chance. She'd been going to find him and make sure he was okay when she'd been waylaid by Guy. She tugged on Mason's hand. “Can we go check on Shane?”

  Mason nodded. “He's not right lately, and I think that new friend of yours has a lot to do with it.”

  “It looks that way, doesn't it? I wasn't sure whether it was just an ego thing. You know what he's like. He wants what he wants and he expects to be able to make it happen with a snap of his fingers.”

  Mason smiled. “Especially when it comes to women. I don't know. This seems different. It's not like him to get snappy. Especially at Carter. Those two are close.”

  Gina nodded. “Well, he looks okay now.” He did, too. He and Chance were perched on top of the five bar looking out at the crowd. They each had a beer in hand and were chatting and laughing as though neither had a care in the world.

  Chance saw them coming first and waved his bottle at them. “How's it going, guys?”

  “It's going,” said Mason. “Guy was out here trying to mess things up for us again.” His smile, as he hugged Gina to his side, made her so happy. It also filled her with relief that she'd gone straight to ask him about what Guy had said. He was right, she should be grateful to Guy for presenting them with a test that had only made them stronger.

  Shane rolled his eyes. “I hate that asshole.”

  Chance nodded his agreement, then smiled at Gina. “He's not going to come between the two of you this time though, is he?”

  She shook her head. “No matter how hard he tries.” She smiled up at Mason. “I'm back for good and we're back together. Nothing is going to get in the way of that.”

  “Have you figured out what you're going to do with the ranch then?”

  She squeezed Mason's hand. “We're not going to sell. Cassidy and I are going into business together. Hopefully, we'll be making good money soon and it won't be an issue anymore.”

  “And I'm ready to help, in the meantime.” There was an edge to Mason's voice that she didn't like. She knew he was ready to help. Why wouldn't he see that she couldn't let him?

  Shane picked up on the uneasiness between them and changed the subject. “I thought you and Cassidy wanted to talk to me about what marketing we could do through the dude ranch?”

  Gina nodded. “We did. She got a little overwhelmed though. You know what it's like when you're the subject of an inquisition by the local ladies. It's exhausting. She headed home. We'll have to get together and talk about it during the week.”

  Shane brightened a little at that.

  Chance grinned at him. “I thought you'd have given up on her by now.”

  “I would if I had any sense, but it seems I don't when it comes to her. I'm starting to understand how moths feel.”

  Mason gave him a puzzled look. “What have moths got to do with anything?”

  Shane rolled his eyes. “Dumb little creatures are attracted to the light, aren't they? They must know they're going to crash and burn, but they keep flying back to the light. They just can't stay away. That's how I feel about Cassidy. Every time I get around her, I know nothing good's going to come of it, but I have to fly back in for another try.” He hung his head and swung his legs. “Just a dumb moth! I should learn from experience and go fly somewhere else.”

  Mason and Chance exchanged a grin. Gina laughed. “You're not a quitter, Shane. You never have been, and I don't think you should start now.”

  He lifted his head. “You think there's a chance?” he asked hopefully.

  She nodded. “But you may have to wait a while.”

  “I can do that.” He was grinning again.

  Mason shook his head. “Since when have you known how to be patient?”

  Shane hopped down from the fence and pointed to a group of girls sitting at one of the tables. One of them looked up and waved at him. “I don't,” he said with a grin. “But I do know how to distract myself to make the time pass quicker while I wait.”

  They watched him make his way over to the girls and slide onto the bench to sit in between them. Soon he had an arm around the girl on either side of him and the whole group was laughing.

  Watching Shane's hand slide down one girl's back to rest on her backside, Chance shook his head. “I don't think we need to worry about him and Cassidy too much.”

  “Me neither,” agreed Mason.

  Gina wasn't so sure.

  Chapter Twenty

  The party had been a huge success. Mason was pleased to see his mom so happy. The fireworks had been the perfect end to a wonderful day. He was ready to get some time alone with Gina. It seemed they spent too much of their time dealing with other people's issues. Whether it was Guy or Shane or Gina's business with Cassidy, there was always something preventing them from just being alone together and enjoying each other. They'd dropped Gina's dad back home and now Mason pointed the truck up toward Six Mile.

  Gina smiled over at him. “Where are we going?”

  He put his hand on her knee and smiled. “I thought we could go watch the stars for a while like we used to. The fireworks were pretty, but they've got nothing on the shooting stars. Do you want to?”

  She covered his hand with her own. “I'd love to.”

  They drov
e on in silence for a while, the headlights illuminating the road ahead. Mason had to bring up something that was bothering him. “It's not like we a have a place of our own we could go to anyway.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Even if we just wanted to go home.” He slid his hand a little higher and squeezed her thigh. “To bed. Where would we go? I wouldn't feel right going to your dad's place or to the cabin with Chance and Shane on the other side of the bedroom walls.”

  He waited while she thought it over, wondering what she might say. “What do you want to do about that?”

  He shrugged. “I don't know. Do you have any ideas?”

  “Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it yet, I've been so busy with everything else.”

  Mason nodded. Maybe it just wasn't that important to her. He was starting to feel as though he wasn't such a priority for her as she was for him. “When do you think you might find time to think about it?”

  She sighed. “I don't know. Cassidy and I are leaving in a couple of days for New York. I'm scrambling to get everything ready. Can we talk about it when I come back?”

  Wow, it seemed he really was slipping down the priority list.

  She squeezed his hand and slid it further up her thigh. “I'm kind of glad we have an excuse to come up here. I mean we're a bit old to be sneaking off in your truck, aren't we?”

  “Are we?” Mason didn't think they were. Making love under the stars wasn't solely reserved for kids with nowhere else to go. At least not in his mind. In his mind, it was something special.

  Gina's smile faded. “I guess we're not, no. I think I've gotten a little confused lately about the difference between being responsible and simply enjoying myself. Everything's changed for me in the last couple of weeks, and I'm playing catch up.” Her smile returned as she met his gaze. “Can we make the rest of tonight about enjoying ourselves and each other?” She reached across to put her hand on his thigh.

  Mason wasn't going to argue. Even if he wanted to, his cock was firmly on Gina's side. She wanted to enjoy each other? Hell yeah, he was in. Talk of where they might live could wait—for a while.