“Brad?” Chloe repeated the man’s name, and even Liam could hear the distaste in her voice. Ellen, of course, didn’t.
“Yes. Brad.” Ellen frowned slightly. “Honestly, Chloe, you didn’t used to be so slow. It’s being out in the sun too much, isn’t it? Your skin is just going all brown and that can’t be good. Are you wearing sunscreen at all?”
“I’m fine, Ellen,” Chloe said tightly. “But you’re right. The sun’s so hot, you might get burned. You don’t want that.”
“True, can’t risk it. I’ve got the engagement party Saturday night and—”
Liam was watching Chloe and saw so many different expressions flash across her features and dance in her eyes, it was hard to keep them straight. But the upshot was, she wasn’t happy about her sister’s engagement.
“Saturday?”
“Didn’t I tell you?” She laughed and said, “I know it’s short notice, but it’s just so wonderful I didn’t want to wait. It’s just so thrilling, you know? The party, oh, then my shower! You’ll have to give it because otherwise Tina will want to and she’s just terrible at that sort of thing. Then we have the wedding, the honeymoon... Anyway, the party’s at our house. Saturday. Come at eight, okay? You will come, right?”
“Sure,” Chloe said when she could slide a word into her sister’s stream of consciousness. “I’ll be there.”
Liam gave silent thanks he wouldn’t be.
“Oh, good! And it’s black tie of course. I just love the way Brad looks in a tux! Okay then. Better run, have to get a new dress for the party and it’s got to be spectacular!” She waved and hurried off to her car, wobbling every step in those heels. Then she was back in her car and careening out of the yard as quickly as she’d come into it.
Silence, blessed silence, descended on them as Liam watched Chloe watching her sister leave. She looked as if she were in shock, and he could completely understand.
“Your sister, huh?” Liam finally said.
“Don’t even start,” Chloe muttered, and stalked back to the stable.
Eight
They didn’t really talk about Ellen’s brief but memorable visit. Chloe made it clear the topic was off-limits, and Liam let it go. Maybe her sister visiting had reminded her that she didn’t actually belong on a ranch. And if that were the case, then Liam wanted to give her the space and time to let those thoughts settle in.
God knew, Ellen’s visit had sent Liam’s personal radar screaming. He’d become so used to being with Chloe, to having her in his arms every night and spending every day with her, that he’d allowed himself to forget that this situation was necessarily temporary. Ellen’s selfish rant had driven home the truth to him, and he wouldn’t be forgetting it again.
By the next morning, Liam was set to drive into Houston. Money and hard donations of clothes, food and water, and paper goods were still pouring in for flood relief. Naturally, Sterling Perry had inserted himself into the middle of it all, because nothing said good publicity like helping out in an emergency. But what that meant was that Liam was in charge of distributing the supplies Sterling had had delivered to the ranch.
But he was looking forward to making the delivery. It would get him off the ranch and away from Chloe for a while—and he needed that space. Even more though, between the flood relief, Chloe and the ranch work here, he still hadn’t had a chance to go by his own place to check on it in person. So that was going to be his first stop today. Daily reports from his foreman were good, but Liam wasn’t going to relax until he saw the situation for himself.
Checking the load in the back of his truck, he didn’t even notice when Chloe and the days-old foal came strolling up. She stopped beside Liam, one hand on the foal’s head as the tiny horse leaned into her.
He couldn’t have said why the picture they made irritated him. But maybe it was just that she was so much at home on the ranch. She smiled, and he realized that smile was going to haunt him for years. Already, she invaded his dreams, and his thoughts when he should have been concentrating on work. That was worrying. Which was why he needed this break from her so badly.
Liam looked down at the animal before lifting his gaze to hers. “You do realize he’s not a poodle, right?”
Affronted, Chloe stroked her hand down the foal’s head. “Of course he’s not a poodle. He’s a big, brave, beautiful horse, isn’t he?” At the end, her voice went into baby speak as she cooed to the horse who snuggled even closer to her side.
“For God’s sake,” Liam muttered, shaking his head. “He’s not a pet.”
“He’s a sweetie and he likes me,” Chloe told him, and when he didn’t say anything, she asked, “This really bothers you, doesn’t it?”
Liam looked at her. Her hair was long and loose, in spite of the heat. She wore figure hugging jeans, and a red T-shirt with a scooped neckline that showed off just the hint of her breasts. And she looked so good, he wanted to strip her right there and lay her out across the hood of the truck just to admire the view.
Well, damn.
He squashed the bubble of frustration in the pit of his stomach, took a deep breath and let it out again. “Not really, no. But you won’t be here much longer, so you shouldn’t get attached.”
Chloe winced as a sharp pang stabbed at her heart then settled into the center of her chest where it throbbed in time with her pulse. Ridiculous and she knew it. But somehow, being here, working the ranch, living with Liam, a part of her had begun to pretend that it wasn’t temporary. That this was her life now.
She’d been keeping up with her event planning business, but her heart really wasn’t in it anymore. It was hard to care about monogrammed napkins and silver lace tablecloths when she could be outside working with the horses, talking to the cowboys, riding out with the other hands to inspect the fence line. Life here was real. Immediate. She’d been there for the birth of Shadow, and she’d never experienced anything like that before. It had been...life altering.
In the last couple of weeks, all of the dreams she’d had as a kid had come true. She was living the way she’d always wanted to now, and she didn’t want to lose it. Lose any of it.
And that included the cowboy who was, at the moment, refusing to look at her. They hadn’t really talked since Ellen dropped by the day before, and just remembering her sister’s entrance made Chloe groan inwardly. Liam’s expression had told her that he’d taken one look at her sister and lumped the two of them together. He saw Chloe as he did her silly, superficial sister—and that hurt.
“Don’t get attached,” she repeated thoughtfully. “Is that how you do it?”
That got his attention. He snapped his gaze to hers. “Do what?”
“Go from hot to cold so quickly.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Wow. That’s the first time you’ve lied to me,” Chloe said.
He just looked at her.
“We haven’t talked since Ellen was here.”
“You made it pretty clear you didn’t want to,” he pointed out.
“That’s fair,” she admitted, remembering how embarrassed she’d been by, well, everything Ellen had said. “But I’m not like my sister. But then, you should know that already.”
“Didn’t say you were,” he reminded her.
The sun was shining out of a brassy, clear blue sky. Dappled shade from a nearby tree waved across them, but didn’t stay long enough to lower the temperature. Even the air was still, as if the Universe was holding its breath, waiting to see how this conversation was going to go.
“Yeah, you didn’t have to say it.” Chloe swiped her hair off her neck and wished for a clip. “The fact that you’re not talking to me—is that your way of not getting attached?”
He straightened up, tugged his hat brim down until his lake-blue eyes were partially hidden from her. To protect himself? Or her?
&
nbsp; “There is no attachment, Chloe,” he said, keeping his voice low. “There won’t be, either. We agreed to that when this whole thing started up.”
Her heart took another hit, but she fought past it to say, “We did. But sometimes things change.” They had for her, anyway. This man had crept into her heart, her soul, her mind. It felt as if he were a part of her now, and ripping him out just might kill her.
“And sometimes they don’t.” His voice was still low, but clipped as if letting her know he wasn’t going to discuss this much longer.
“And sometimes they do and we just pretend they don’t,” Chloe said.
He narrowed his eyes on her, and she met his steady gaze without flinching. Humming tension stretched out between them, as if it were an actual, electrical cord arcing back and forth. Seconds passed, and the only sounds were from the cowboys in the corral and snuffling from the tiny horse.
Finally, Liam simply said, “I’ve got to get going.”
Moment shattered, Chloe stopped him by asking, “Where are you taking this load?”
“To the shelter in Houston,” he said shortly, and knotted the rope holding the white tarp down over the donated supplies.
She smiled to herself. Perfect. If she went with him, they’d have some time. Time to talk. To figure out what they were doing and where they were going—if anywhere.
“I’ll ride with you,” she said, and his head snapped up.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. You’ve got work here, remember? Learning ranching, following Mike around?”
“Oh, I know.” Chloe stroked one hand across the top of Shadow’s head and smiled as she shrugged. “But Mike’s taking the day to go with his wife to visit her family, so he said I could take the day too.”
He didn’t look happy about that, Chloe thought, but that was all right. It meant he wasn’t as unaffected by her as he was trying to pretend.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” He checked the ties on the tarp.
“Why not?”
He scowled at her. “Because I’m stopping by my place on the way,” he said. “I need to see it for myself. Make sure everything’s all right after the storm.”
“What a great idea!” She grinned and added, “I’d love to see your ranch. After all, if I pass your test, that’s where the camp will be.”
Shaking his head, Liam muttered, “I’m not getting rid of you today, am I?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” she said, still smiling.
Frowning, he thought about it for a second or two, and Chloe was glad she couldn’t read his mind.
“Fine,” he said. “If you’re coming...” He whistled, a sharp, clear sound and caught Tim Logan’s attention. The cowboy ran over and Liam said, “Take Shadow back to his mother, will you, Tim?”
“Sure thing, boss.”
“I’ll see you later, Shadow,” Chloe said, and bent to kiss the tiny horse’s forehead.
“Oh for—” Liam bit back the rest of that sentence, but she didn’t need to be told how it would have ended.
She climbed into the passenger seat of his truck, and caught him watching her as she buckled her seat belt. “Are we going or not?”
“Yeah.” He slammed the passenger door, and Chloe hid a smile as he stomped around the front of the truck and got in behind the wheel. He fired up the engine, shot her a telling glance and ground out, “Looks like we’re both going.”
* * *
Liam’s ranch was beautiful.
Chloe loved it at first sight.
Texas live oaks dotted the yard and were almost a part of the house itself. Liam hadn’t torn them out to build. Instead, his house had been constructed around them. The home itself, unlike Sterling Perry’s massive, glittering white mansion, was a sprawling, two story building with a wide porch that snaked along the outside of the structure. The walls were wood logs and river stones, and the roof was cedar shakes that gave it a mountain cabin look.
But it was so much more than a cabin. It was warm, welcoming and was laid out in a jigsaw pattern, she thought as she looked at it, to snake around the oaks that shaded the roof against the hot Texas sun.
“I love this,” she whispered. Turning to look at him as he shut off the engine, she said, “It’s beautiful. I love that you left the trees.”
He shrugged, but his expression said plainly that he was pleased with the compliment. “Those trees have been here longer than I have.”
“Most people would have ripped them out,” she said, turning to look at the house again. She could see two stone patios, created by the house circling one or more trees. Those patios held wooden tables, and chairs with bright cushions, and in the shade of the oaks, they looked like tiny oases.
Liam got out of the truck and Chloe did the same. While he strode across the ranch yard toward a much shorter man hurrying up to him, she looked around. There wasn’t much evidence of storm damage here. It looked like a few of the trees had lost some branches, and the ground beneath her boots was still soft and sodden from all the rain. But otherwise, everything about this place was perfect.
It wasn’t just the house that was impressive, though. The whole ranch was laid out carefully, with a big corral, a stable and a huge barn. There were outbuildings, bunkhouses probably for the single cowboys and two smaller houses, one of which was no doubt for his foreman. The corral fence was painted a gleaming white, while the barn and the huge stable were painted brick red with white trim.
While Liam talked to the man she assumed was his foreman, Chloe turned in a slow circle taking it all in. The land itself was gorgeous, trees, meadows and in the distance, the silvery shine of water in a stock pond. It was quiet, but for the wind in the trees, the horses in the corral and what sounded like a chorus of birds.
If everything went as well as she hoped it would, her girls’ camp would be here. She took a deep breath and looked to the far side of the house. That, she told herself, was where she would put her cowgirl camp. If nothing else, she had to have convinced Liam by now that she could do the work. That she had been made for this kind of life.
“You’ve got a planning gleam in your eyes.”
“What?” She jumped, and glanced over to see Liam had walked up beside her and she hadn’t noticed. “You know, I’m starting to think you walk that quietly on purpose because you enjoy seeing me jolt.”
He shrugged. “Maybe that’s just a bonus.”
Well, at least he wasn’t irritated anymore. She pointed to where oaks, gathered together on gnarled trunks, formed a circle, as if just waiting for a group of girls to hold a campfire.
“I’d want to put the camp there. Close to the house but far enough away to ensure your privacy, too.”
“Decent of you,” he muttered.
Well, that sounded like regret. She looked at him. “You did say you’d give me the land for the camp if I proved myself.”
“I did.” He pulled his hat off and stabbed his fingers through his hair. “But that hasn’t happened yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”
The dismissiveness in his tone surprised her. Disappointed her. “Huh. The last two weeks mean nothing, do they? I haven’t proven myself to you. You still expect me to fail, don’t you?”
He took a breath, met her eyes and said, “Not expect so much as... Okay, yeah. I do.”
Slowly, carefully, she plucked windblown hair from her eyes, giving herself an extra moment or two to accept what he’d said. But it didn’t matter. She couldn’t accept it. Never would.
“Why?”
“You’re not built for this life, Chloe, plain and simple.”
“What am I built for then?” she demanded, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Shopping? Nightclubs? High tea with the dowager Queens of Houston?”
He threw both hands up. “How the hell do I know what you were made for?”
�
�You should know,” she accused, stepping into his space, fighting past the pain and instead reaching for righteous fury. “You more than anyone. You know what this means to me. You know how hard I’ve worked to prove myself.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said tightly. “But I have to look at more than that.”
“Really?” Her throat felt dangerously tight. She didn’t want emotions crowding this argument, so she fought past the hurt, the disappointment and clung to the fury. “What else is there, Liam? What hidden tests have I been failing?”
The minute she said it, she knew. “This is about my sister, isn’t it?”
He looked as though he might deny it, but then he nodded. “Partly, yeah. Hell, Chloe, you come from the same life that made her. And she could no more survive at ranching than I could trying to breathe underwater.”
Insult now mingled with her rage. “That works out well for Ellen, since she has no desire to live or work on a ranch. The difference is, I do. I walked away from that life, remember?”
He snorted and shook his head. “You may have, but that life hasn’t left you. The whole damn city of Houston is looking to rebuild, but your rich daddy swooped in and made sure your office was fixed first.”
“Seriously?” Eyes wide, she stared at him, stupefied. “It’s my fault that my father overpaid a construction crew to get work done in a hurry?”
“No, it’s not. But I notice you didn’t tell him not to do it.”
“You’re right.” Nodding sharply, she said, “I should have insisted on going to the back of the line. Heck, I shouldn’t have let them repair the building at all. I should have worked in a hovel to make sure I passed your ‘poor but proud’ test.”
“Here now,” he countered.
“Oh no, my turn.” She whirled around, took two or three long strides away from him, then came right back again. Shaking her index finger at him, she said, “You know what’s wrong with you, Liam? It’s amazing I never caught it before today. Oh, I noticed stubborn. Cranky. But this one slipped past me. The truth is, you’re a snob.”
His eyebrows arched high on his forehead. “Excuse me?”
Wild Ride Rancher Page 11
