Un-Hitched: A Camden Ranch Novel

by Jillian Neal

  “Yes, it definitely does.” Hoisting herself out of the Gator, she marched onto the field, ignoring the hulking masses of the grazing cattle. Cupping her hands to her mouth, she summoned courage. “Grant Camden, you get your ass off of that horse. We have to go!”

  Declan, at least, doubled over laughing.

  “Shit,” spat from Grant’s mouth as soon as he saw her. Her hollering across the prairie was about the cutest thing he’d ever seen, but that didn’t make taking her back to her asshole of a father and anywhere in the general vicinity of her ex any easier.

  If Josh wanted to arrest him, he could just come get him off of his horse, and Grant wished him a helluva lot of luck with that.

  “Grant, please,” she sounded frantic.

  “Damn it all to hell and back.” He couldn’t turn her down, no matter what she asked of him. He’d gone and fallen in love with her. Clicking his mouth, he edged Blaze forward at a slow canter. “It’ll be a cold day in hell when I take you back to them sons-of-bitches, sweetness,” he explained as he slung his leg over Blaze and landed right in front of her. “I told you last night you were mine.”

  “I think I’ll just leave you with the Gator while I walk away rather quickly,” Dec chuckled. “But I wish you both luck. Be interesting to see who gets their way. A word to the wise, Grant, keeping her here if she wants to be there is actually kidnapping.”

  “I don’t want to be there, but I have to be there,” Kaitlyn corrected.

  “You ain’t gotta be anywhere you don’t wanna be, which is precisely why I ain’t taking you back there.”

  “But I do have to go back. I have to face them. I have to figure out everything, and I really want to figure it out with you. I refuse to let you even possibly get arrested because of me, and Josh likes to show off his power as often as he can. He’s kind of a jerk really. He was Keith’s best friend so I think I always gave him a pass.”

  “I’ll make you a deal.” In the moments when he’d been able to reason with himself that morning, he’d come up with a somewhat tolerable solution.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I’ll take you back. You tell your daddy to take a long walk off a short pier. You get your jackoff of an ex, and Josh, and whoever else has their hooks in my baby to back the fuck up, and then you come back out here with me.”

  She gave him that grin that always turned him inside out, the one that lit her entire face, pinked her cheeks and made those adorable little crinkles appear by her beautiful blue eyes. When her dimple appeared, he was done for. “You really want me to come back with you that quick?”

  “I don’t want you to leave at all, peaches.”

  “I would love to do that, but I probably should see if I can pick up some extra shifts at Chully’s. I have to pay for Seth’s stupid car, and I have to buy a new car.”

  “If you come back out here with me, you don’t need a new car, and I’ll figure out some way to pay off that lowdown shitsucker.” He was stubborn enough to ignore the already mounting debt he was accumulating for the moment anyway. “I ain’t taking no for an answer.”

  “All right, fine.” She beamed. “I have some money saved up. Maybe I could sell that stupid ring and pay for his car or just get him to agree to use the money from the ring on his car, or something. I’ll just go back, apologize to my parents, make them a few dinners so Dad won’t make Mom more miserable, get some clothes, and come back out here.”

  “I can live with that.”

  “Good, because we do need to go. I want to be there by noon.”

  “We ain’t gonna be there by noon,” Grant informed her a few minutes later as he slung her luggage behind his seat in the truck.

  “I know, so please hurry.”

  “What’s in all them little bags?”

  “Makeup.”

  “Honey, you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever set eyes on, and ain’t nobody that ugly.”

  She dissolved into giggles, which eased a little of the tension that had settled squarely on his shoulders.

  “I like makeup, and lotions, and girly stuff. Buying them gave me this momentary high that I needed to survive. They were the only things I ever bought for myself. If I bought cookbooks or new kitchenware, Dad got mad. If I bought photography stuff or art supplies, Mom complained about the mess. No one cared if I bought new lip gloss or moisturizer and they make me happy, even if only for a minute. I think if I hadn’t been so miserable I wouldn’t have bought them as often.”

  “I didn’t know you liked to take pictures.”

  “We’ve only known each other three days. There’s probably a lot you don’t know yet.”

  “Well, tell me. I want to know.”

  “Tell you what?”

  “What’re your favorite things to do besides putting expensive shit on your face ‘cause you don’t need any of it?”

  “I like to be with you. Doesn’t matter what we’re doing.”

  Well, damn, if that didn’t stroke a man’s ego in all the right ways.

  He laced his fingers through hers after he cranked the truck. “I like that answer just fine. But what about before we met? What’d you like to do then?”

  “It’s been so long since I did much of anything fun, I honestly don’t remember.”

  “Have to do something about that.”

  “I love going to the creek. I want to take pictures of the ranch. It’s so beautiful here. I like to draw sometimes, too. I love to cook. Oh, my gosh, I want to try new recipes. I’ve wanted to for so long.”

  “Then I’m gonna make sure you get to do all of that along with anything else that makes my baby smile.”

  “I want to understand more about how the ranch works. I want to know more about your land. I want to go with you in the mornings when you leave in your truck. I want to know where you’re going.”

  “You gon’ have to get your sexy ass outta my bed before nine in the morning then.” He winked at her.

  “Isn’t there anything you do at a slightly less ungodly hour?” She giggled.

  He gave her a grunt and reveled in the fact that she didn’t require more than that.

  “Tell me about your horse. Dec said your mom named him. Or tell me your favorite things to eat. Or maybe tell me some more stories about Pleasant Glen. What’s the Cut ‘n Curl?” She was spinning her fingers through the curls just over her left shoulder over and over again. Tug, twist, loop, and release on repeat.

  “You just needing me to keep talkin’, sugar?”

  “Yes. Please. I don’t want to think about where we’re going.”

  “I’m gonna be right there the entire time. I ain’t going anywhere. You know that, right?”

  “I know, but my life never seems to work out the way I want it to.”

  “You ever met anyone as stubborn as me, peaches? Be honest.”

  “Probably not, but I like all of the things you’re stubborn about.”

  “I ain’t going anywhere. Come hell or high water, we’re gonna make this work.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Everett Camden

  Ev supposed he’d carry the regret with him ‘til the day he died, and for the most part that was okay by him. His mistakes had cost his son a helping of peace and had done nothing but serve to make Grant all the more stubborn. Ev deserved the remorse.

  He wasn’t surprised to find Luke climbing up in his truck when he reached his own. “Would you like to ride with your old man, seeing as we’re all going the same place?”

  “Maybe,” Luke considered. “Kaitlyn ain’t got a car, and I don’t think it’s too likely her daddy’s gonna be kind about her coming back out here. You and I both know Grant ain’t gonna leave her in Lincoln and that he’ll give her his truck. I figure he might need a spare. He can have mine. I’ll ride back with you.”

  Ev chuckled. His oldest son was always the cautious methodic thinker. He never did anything that he hadn’t planned six ways from Sunday. And, just like Grant and Austin, he expected mo
re from himself than any other mortal man. “I hear ya, son, but your granddaddy’s got a spare truck. We’ll make do. Austin and Natalie are gonna take care of clearing that corn for Grant today while he’s gone. He can’t bring himself to do it, and I’ll tell ya God’s truth I can’t stand for him to have to. Keep me company on the drive.”

  “Yeah, all right, but let’s take my truck. It’ll get us there a helluvalot faster.”

  “Fine, but don’t be riding that accelerator too hard or we’ll catch up to ‘em before Lincoln and he’ll see us.”

  “He’d have to admit he’s kinda glad we’re there and that might gall him more than anything.”

  “Nah, he ain’t gonna be mad we’re there as long as we’re not needed. Your brother’s good at getting himself in neck deep and then figuring out how to swim. Most of the time he makes it, but occasionally he needs a little help. Asking for help ain’t ever his preference.”

  “Tell me about it. You and I both know he needs to be running cattle on that land, but he’s clinging to all them good years he had.”

  “He did have a bunch of good years ‘fore the market turned. He put more than his fair share in the business accounts. I can’t figure out how to get him to use some of it to get back to rights.”

  “It ain’t just the money. He works my land just as hard as he works his own. He works harder than any of us and nobody would argue that. Every season Austin spent throwing himself off a’ bulls, Grant was home running his cattle. Hell, even the weeks it took me to convince Indie to come back to the Glen permanently, he did most’a my work for me. If I were being perfectly honest, I’d say he’s the reason Indie’s here. He spurred me off’a my own stubborn ass and got me to quit thinkin’ and make a move. You should’a seen half the town ready to throw in last night on his behalf. They all know without him the Glen wouldn’t be what it is.”

  “Question is how do we get all that through his thick skull?”

  “We could buy Abelkopp’s cattle for him.”

  “Yeah, we could do that, but he’s gonna have to have new pens and feeders, too. Also needs a new feed truck. There’s a fair amount of work to be done to add in another herd that large, and he’s gonna be trying to do all of that work and be out here for Kaitlyn. He does the work of ten men but not even ten men could do all of that.”

  “Well, we all owe him, so we’ll run the ranch in his stead, and he can get things squared with Kaitlyn. You seen the way she looks at him like he hung the moon in the sky just for her. She wants to be out there with him. They’ll get it figured. Sounds to me like he’s just gotta get her family off her back.”

  “Damn, son, you gone and got poetic in your old age.”

  “Yeah, well, my girls softened me up a little.”

  “Softened you up a little? They got you wrapped up so tight around their tiny fingers it’s a wonder you can still walk upright.”

  “Says the man who raised Natalie and Holly Camden and spoilt them up one side and down another.”

  “Your sisters are doing just fine, thank you very much.”

  Ev tried to hide his grin when Luke grunted. All of his sons had gotten that grunt from him. It was how cattle ranchers communicated a thousand memories in one quick sound.

  “And what do we do if we get him set knee deep in cattle and the markets turn again and corn goes back up? Three years ago we were shitting high ‘cause of him and took losses on all our stock.”

  “There’s gonna be good years, and there’s gonna be bad ones. All in the world we can do is pray there’s more good ones than bad. Try to save during the good to make do during the lean. Other than that, there ain’t no guarantees and there never will be. Your brother’s finally stumbled up on his one and only. We all knew it would happen eventually, but he’s been anxious for it for a long while. I intend to do everything in my power to get them married and give them a life God knows he’s worked his ass off for. You and I also know she’s real likely to end up with a bun in the oven sooner than later. Your granddaddy says this mess with her ex and her daddy’s gonna be a deep bucket of shit. I ain’t gonna let him drown in it this time.”

  “Dad, you didn’t let him drown in it when he was seventeen. You were trying to teach him a lesson.”

  “Yeah, I was, but all I managed to do was make him determined to rely solely on himself and never ask for no help. That wasn’t what I was going for and I intend to try and right my wrongs if I can.”

  Chapter Thirty

  With every mile they progressed, Grant was forced to sit and watch his baby resurrect her shield of armor. Piece by piece, the closer they got to Lincoln the more of herself she tried to morph into something her parents found respectable, he guessed.

  “Stop,” he finally commanded.

  “Stop what?”

  “Stop trying to turn yourself back into New Kaitlyn. Just be my Katy Belle. Please.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re sitting over there not listening to me talk, trying to remember how to be something you’re not. I pay attention, remember?”

  “Grant, I have no idea what we’re about to walk into. My mother could be curled up in the bed refusing to eat. My dad could be walking around with a pistol. Seth could be at my house. Kelsey could be there. Josh is most definitely there if he’s not out in his patrol car looking for us. And my sister might even be there, though I doubt it because she’s never there.”

  “None of those are reasons for you to try to be something you ain’t. It occurs to me that I never said this outright last night so I’m saying it now. I love you. Just the way you are. My Katy, not this half version of yourself you show everyone else.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah, wow. That’s what I think whenever I see you.”

  “I love you too, Grant. Will you just promise me something?”

  “Anything.”

  “Promise you won’t let any of them scare you off, but promise if I do ask you to leave so I can deal with all of them, that you will.”

  “I’ll make good on the first half of that but not on the second.”

  “I have to deal with them carefully. I may need to do it on my own.”

  “I have to know you’re safe and secure and that you know you’re loved, so we may be at an impasse, sugar.”

  “So stubborn.”

  “Guilty as charged.”

  “My father is … well … really, he’s kind of an asshole lately. He’s just extremely controlling. Wants everything done his way because his way is the best way in his mind. Might have to lay off the tying things around my wrists. He’s a complete prude, and he was a detective so he notices everything.”

  “You got marks on your wrists?” Guilt pricked his resolve, but she’d loved every minute of being bound for him.

  “They’re barely even noticeable.”

  “I’m sorry, sugar. Didn’t mean to pull it too tight.”

  “No, don’t apologize. That was the hottest thing ever. I’ve never been so turned on. Just keep my father in mind.”

  “I’d much prefer not to have your father on my mind when I’m getting down and dirty with you, but I’ll refrain from mentioning to him that you call me Daddy now, too.” He winked at her as her cheeks streaked the color of a ripe raspberry.

  “Oh, my God, I can’t hear myself all that well when we’re having sex. Please tell me I did not actually call you Daddy.”

  “You didn’t yet, but now I have a new goal.” His deep bellowed chuckle filled the truck cab. God, he wished he felt as jovial as he sounded.

  “Turn here. The gate code is 1631.

  “Here? You live in the country club?” Grant’s stomach turned as he recalled the sheer number of times he’d flipped off this very entrance. Just how much money did the chief of police make? An impending sense of failure took a vicious blow to his already battered sense of self-worth.

  “On the ninth fairway, but we don’t live close enough to have golf balls come through the windows or any
thing.”

  “Guess that’s handy.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You swore you’d never lie to me.”

  “Didn’t mean to exactly. It’s just I ain’t ever gonna have this kind of money.”

  “So?” Kaitlyn’s shrug bolstered him far more than he should have allowed.

  “Just wondering what the hell you’re doing with someone like me.”

  “Do you really think that little of me?” She sounded good and pissed suddenly. Fuck it. That wasn’t what he’d meant at all.

  “That came out all wrong. I’m just pretty sure I don’t deserve you. Feelin’ a little off-put, I guess.”

  “That was a pretty good recovery there, cowboy. I’ve dated the rich asshole, remember? I’d much prefer a cowboy with honest intentions and an unbelievable work ethic, even if he can’t buy me fancy things. I don’t need fancy things. I don’t even want fancy things. I want you.”

  “I’m right here, sugar.” He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss between her knuckles, earning himself that sweet grin that always did him in.

  Dread slithered over Kaitlyn with every inch Grant’s truck progressed. Nausea roiled in her stomach. Bile singed her throat. Josh’s squad car was in the driveway. She couldn’t see the numbers on the one parked on the street, but it would be a safe bet to say it was another one of her father’s lackey cops who would do anything he said to try and win his favor.

  It was after 1:00. The warrant had already been issued, and they all knew he would bring her home. They were driving into a trap. Pure unadulterated hatred filled her. “Stop the truck,” she demanded frantically.

  Grant slammed on the brakes. “What?! Why?”

  “They’re waiting on you. Just let me out here. I’ll run. You drive away fast. I’ll call you when I get them calmed down.”

  “What do you mean they’re waiting on me?”

  “They assumed we’d be late. Mark my words, there’s already a warrant out for your arrest. Just leave me here.”