by S. E. Kloos
Later that afternoon, after both of them got read the Riot Act for staying out all night without telling anyone, Xander and Elizabeth were back at the Steele ranch. Elizabeth was on Laylonni as Xander continued to work with her on riding properly. She was doing really well in his opinion; she just got freaked out with anything faster than a trot. Trying to get her to overcome that was about to drive him nuts.
“It’ll be alright, Little Darlin’. I promise. Laylonni ain’t ever bucked no one off her. I doubt she about to start now, with as old as she is. She ain’t like Rocky. She won’t jump the fence like he would. I warned ya she gonna feed off whatever you feelin’, and if ya scared, ya gonna spook her. That is when accidents happen.”
She looked over at him, her face drawn a bit, “It’s a long way down, Xander.”
He didn’t dispute that, it was. “However, it’s gonna hurt worse if she rears and you fall off that way, Sugar Britches. You need to calm down.”
“I can’t help it if I’m scared.”
He leaned against the fence and kicked his booted foot on the bottom rung, draping his elbows over the top, “You can help if she knows it. Take a deep breath and ease into it. She ain’t gonna listen to you, if you wound up like a music box, baby girl. If she don’t listen, you gonna get hurt.” Once he saw her take a deep breath, he nodded, “Tighten ya grip up on the reins and give her a squeeze with your thighs. Once you do, don’t let up on your hold, but don’t add to it, either.”
Following the directions, she tightened her hands and tapped her feet to Laylonni’s sides, giving a squeak when the horse started to speed up from a trot to a slow gallop.
“Don’t do that, Sugar. You’ll spook her.”
Turning to look at Xander, Elizabeth gave him a look of terror, making him sigh. Stepping away from the fence and catching the bridle as Laylonni got within his reach, he turned her around in a circle a few times as he eased her speed. Once she was stopped, he ran a hand along her nose as he looked up at his girl, “She ain’t gonna hurt ya on purpose, Little Darlin’.”
As he was about to continue that thought, his mama called from the back porch, “Xander, Sugar, the Doctor just called. Said if you can be there in a half hour, he’ll get ya in today to see ‘bout that boot comin’ off ya foot, ‘sted of tomorrow mornin’.”
Nodding to her, Xander turned back to Elizabeth, “Ya wanna come along, or do ya want me to drop ya off at home on the way?”
Letting Xander help her off Laylonni, she thought about it a minute, “I still have to talk to Uncle Marsh and Aunt Steffy about leaving with you next week. This is as good a time as any, I suppose.”
Giving her a wink, Xander pulled Laylonni toward the stable to get her put up before taking his girl home, then heading to the doctor to get the stupid fucking boot off finally.
Chapter 20
After Xander pulled out of the drive, Elizabeth took a deep breath, heading up the steps and into the house. She called out for her aunt and uncle, heading to the kitchen when she heard the call back to her.
After grabbing a coke out of the fridge, she took a seat across from her uncle, who was reading the paper. Working out in her head what she wanted to say, she looked up at him, “Uncle Marsh, can I talk to you about something?”
WIthout putting the paper down, he smirked a bit, wondering when she was finally going to tell him what he had already figured out. “When y'all leavin’?”
Blinking at the paper, Elizabeth started at that, but answered in a guarded voice, “Monday afternoon. How did you know that was what I was gonna say?”
Chuckling lightly, Marshal put the paper down to look at his shocked as shit niece, “Eribeth, ya been spendin’ every second of the day with that boy for the last month. Figurin’ you was gonna wanna go with him when he left again, was as easy as slidin’ off a greasy log backwards, Sug. I was just wonderin’ when you was gonna tell us, is all.”
Tilting her head to the side a bit, her eyebrow slid up a bit, “You don’t mind?”
He snorted as he leaned back and crossed his arms, “You a big girl, Elizabeth, perfectly capable of makin’ up ya own mind on what ya wanna do. Farbeit for me to tell ya that ya can’t do somethin’ you clearly gonna do, with or without my say so. ‘Sides, I ain’t ya daddy. It ain’t my place to tell ya ‘no’. Ya came here to feel safe and it clear that Master Steele make you feel that.” It was then that he leaned forward to point a finger in her face, “However, that boy do anythin’ that you don’t like, ya call me and me, and his daddy’ll whoop his ass.”
Giggling, she got up from her seat, moving to give him a hug. “You’re the best, Uncle Marsh.”
He smiled as he patted her back, “You always gonna be my little Eribeth, no matter how old ya get. The only thing that matters to me is ya happy.” Looking up at her when she pulled back, he promised, “If Xander makes ya smile, that’s all I care ‘bout. Just ‘member what I said now. Ya call me and I’ll be there, rifle in hand, to make it all better.”
After another hug, Elizabeth went into the actual kitchen to help her aunt finish up dinner.
Across town, Xander was pulling into the doctor’s office. Once parked, he reached into the back seat, grabbing his long lost love of a cowboy boot before heading inside. He didn’t wait but two minutes before he was called back to see the doctor. After shaking hands, Xander sat on the bed in the room to take the boot cast off, the customary digging of his nails against his skin following, just like every other time it came off. Lifting his eyes to the doctor when he chuckled, he went right back to it. “Fucker itches somethin’ fierce.”
Smirking a bit, Dr. Smith batted Xander’s hands away before he poked at different areas of the ankle, looking for any sign of discomfort in the young man. “I have heard that once or twice. Never actually had to find out personally before.”
Xander snorted. “Ya don’t want to, either.” After a few minutes, he couldn’t help himself, “So, it comin’ off?”
Dr. Smith hummed, turning the foot side to side a few times before letting go. “Looks like. I wanna get an x-ray to be sure, but I ain’t really seein’ a need for you to keep it on right at the moment.”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Xander followed the doctor to the radiology area for the x-ray, then back to his room, where he waited for the final say on whether or not he was going to be losing the boot. If he didn’t, he was gonna be pissed.
It was about a half hour later when Dr. Smith came back in, a smile on his face. “Looks like you got lucky, Boy. I saw no reason as to why you need the boot any longer, but I would advise waiting at least another week before you get in the way of another pissed off bull.”
That was fine with him. He wasn’t registered for anything for another ten days anyways. Pulling on a sock before, FINALLY, slipping on the matching cowboy boot, he all but leapt off the bed. After shaking hands with the doctor and a stop at the front desk to pay, Xander left, heading straight to his girl’s house. Without the stupid boot on his foot, he could actually take her dancing and be able to bend his ankle.
Forty-five minutes later, when he pulled up to the Johnson farm, Xander gulped at the sight of Marshal sitting in a chair on the porch, his shotgun across his lap. Slowly cutting the engine and getting out of his truck, a shiver ran down his spine when he saw the smirk creep up on Marshal’s face. Mentally squaring his shoulders for this, Xander walked up on the porch. “Elizabeth home?”
Marshal smirked even wider. “‘Course she is. She ain’t with you, is she?” Nodding to the railing across from him, he waited for Xander to take the hint and man up. Moving his gun to stand on the butt beside his chair, Marshal crossed his arms, and then looked Xander square in the eyes once he was right in front of him. “So, my little Eribeth tells me that she gonna go with ya when ya leave again. This true?”
Leaning back on the railing with his palms on the top, Xander crossed his ankles, nodding, “Yes Sir. That’s the plan.”
Nodding back, “I want a straight answer out o
f you, Boy. What intentions you got with my niece? I get I ain’t her daddy and you don’t really answer to me, but her daddy a Yankee. He don’t realise we do things different down here. You ain’t, and ya know exactly what I’ll do to ya if you hurt my girl.”
That shiver down his spine was back. Without his permission, his eyes slid to the shotgun that was still well within the man’s reach, causing him to gulp again. Looking back at him, Xander took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “I’ma be honest here, Mr. Johnson. I ain’t got any idea. I ain’t got any bad intentions, but we have only been datin’ for a month.”
Brows sliding up his forehead, he dug in. “Yet you willin’ to take my girl and go runnin’ all over God’s green Earth with her? You expect me to put my girl’s safety and protection in your hands, yet you don’t even know what you want out of your relationship with her? Are you outta your fuckin’ mind?”
When put like that, he did kind of sound like it… but at the same time, he knew he wasn’t. Crossing his arms, Xander never moved his eyes from Marshal’s, “Elizabeth and I talked ‘bout this a lot, Mr. Johnson. It wasn’t a spur the moment thing. As far as our relationship, you right, you ain’t her daddy. I do understand that ya want what’s best for her. I want the same thing. However, what my intentions are is somethin’ I really only need to be tellin’ her daddy when I meet him. If you wantin’ me to be tellin’ ya that my intentions are marriage and the like, well... with all due respect, it’s too soon to be talkin’ ‘bout that. If ya want me to tell ya I love the girl, it’s a li’l early for that, too. What I will tell ya -all I’ll tell ya- is that she means a great deal to me. I wouldn’t hurt her if I was paid to. If that ain’t enough for ya, g’on and shoot me, but that’s all ya gettin’.”
Marshal looked at the young man that wouldn’t break eye contact with him. There was something in his eyes that told him the boy was full of shit on at least one point he just made. The youngest Steele was smitten with his niece. After a moment, he stood to clap Xander on the shoulder, “I certainly hope ya got your shit worked out by the time ya meet Kenny. He retired military... won’t think twice ‘bout puttin’ a bullet in your head, and he got plenty of friends to help get rid of the body.”
Xander froze as he watched Marshal head into the house. He didn’t know how long he stood there before a small hand waved in front of his eyes. Jumping a bit, he moved his eyes to look at the brown eyed beauty, who was currently looking up at him with amused concern on her face. Giving his head a shake, he hope Marshal was just pulling his leg. “Ya daddy military?”
The giggle came before she could stop it, “Special Ops, actually.”
Looking at the roof of the porch, Xander groaned, “‘Course he is.” Then his eyes reconnected with hers, “Anything else I should know?”
Shaking her head while giggling again, she promised, “You ain’t got nothin’ to worry about. My dad is gonna love you, I know it.”
Xander smirked at her, reached out to hook his fingers through her belt loops, and then pulled her to him. Wrapping his arms around her, he laced his fingers together behind her back, pressing a kiss to her lips before smiling at her, “That a fact, Sugar Britches? And just how you know that?”
Elizabeth just shrugged. “Your name ain’t Brandon Westfall.”
Chapter 21
The few days that followed the conversation with Marshal about Elizabeth leaving to travel with Xander was a very busy for the both of them. There wasn’t a whole lot of time for them to spend together since they both seemed to have a laundry list of shit to do before they left. Xander needed to work out accommodations for the both of them, as well as find boarding for Rocky. He had to send in the entry fees to the arenas that he was registered to ride at. His truck needed a tune up. His daddy kept him busy with chores and things around the ranch that needed done, which he couldn’t do on his own anymore, but wanted done before both his boys left again. Rocky needed reshoed and to be seen by a vet, if he was gonna be able to ride him in the few events that you don’t draw for. He also had to call the cleaning staff, who had been taking care of his own ranch during his absence, to let them know that he would be headed up that way soon enough. He was curious about how his lady was gonna take finding out that he actually owned his own home, but hadn’t told her about it yet.
As he was cleaning out a stall in the stable, a smirk tugged at his lips. She was gonna be pissed. He actually never thought much of her anger, it reminding him of this kitten he had as a kid. It would try to act all big and tough, but it was still just a kitten. He hadn’t taken any shit, but it made more noise than anything.
Dodging the hay coming at his head, he looked over at his brother in the next stall, cocking a brow in question. Kyle was leaning on the broom handle, his own brow raised. “Just what the hell you gigglin’ like a girl for?”
Smirking wider, he shrugged as he went back to what he was doing. “Wonderin’ how my girl gonna take it when she finds out ‘bout the ranch.”
Kyle rolled his eyes before getting back to his job. “She been here plenty Xan. She already saw it all.”
Xander snorted. “Naw, not this one. Mine.”
Head popping back up, Kyle just stared at his little brother a moment before finding the voice he was looking for. “You ain’t told her yet?”
Shrugging again as he put the broom in his hands outside the stall, Xander then grabbed a hay bail to spread it around. “Hasn’t come up.”
Kyle just shook his head. “She gonna kick your ass.”
Pausing to look over at him, Xander gave him an incredulous look. “You don’t honestly think she thought I still lived at home with my mama, did you?”
“You give her any reason to think otherwise?”
He went to open his mouth, only to pause a moment. No, no he hadn’t. But he had enough faith in his girl’s intelligence to figure out that he didn’t, in fact, still live with his parents. Deciding it really didn’t matter, he finished his stall before moving on to the next thing on the list; fixing the floor at the back of the loft.
“Damn, how the hell many times that floor need fixin’?”
Moving to the back of the stable, he looked up at the spot that was supposed to be replaced, pursing his lips before sighing as he peeled his shirt off. After wiping his face off with it, he tossed it off to the side, grabbing a crowbar and hammer. With a roll of his shoulders, he began the climb into the only place that Hell is actually above you. Moving to the back where the damage was, he used the side of his boot to move the loose hay out of the way, then crouched down. He began the task of removing the seven planks his daddy wanted replaced.
He was lowering the fourth one down when he happened to look to the front of the stable. His girl was walking in with a tray of sweet tea, Mark behind her. Draping his arms over his thighs, he smiled at her. “Whatcha doin’ here, Little Darlin’?”
After setting the tray in her hands down, she looked at him, feeling her mouth go dry at the sight. As her eyes moved along his form, they caught sight of a single drop of sweat. They followed as it slid down his neck, over his pecs, then across the washboard he called abs. It got caught in the very well defined ‘V’ before finally vanishing below his well worn and beat to hell jeans.
Clearing her throat a bit while giving her head a shake, she looked at his face for once. “Ya mama called me. She told me that your dad has you pretty much booked for the day, but Rocky needs to go to the vet for his physical today, if he is going to get it at all. So, I’m here to get him, and I brought you some extra help.”
Grunting a bit, Xander took his hat off, slipping his fingers through his hair to slick it back, then wiped his forearm across his brow before putting his hat back on. He gave her a very serious look. “Do you even know how to trailer a horse, Sugar?” When he saw a light glare form on her face, he held up a hand to keep her quiet a minute. “It’s just a question, Little Darlin’, so don’t be gettin’ all upset now. You can actually HURT Rocky if ya don’t know
whatcha doin’.”
Elizabeth blinked at him at that. “Oh, okay. No, I don’t, but Val does. She’s coming with me so that I know where I’m going.”
Nodding, Xander bent back to fish his truck keys out of his pocket, then tossed them down to his girl. “Careful now, Ya here?”
Catching the keys, Elizabeth just stared at them a moment before looking back up at Xander, who had returned to the task of taking up floor boards. Blinking at him, she asked, “I get to take your truck?”
Xander shrugged as he handed down another plank. “It’s just a truck, Sugar Britches. Don’t rightly give a fuck about it. I got another one.” Looking over at her, he warned, “Watch the gas and turns, and for Christ’s sake, do not let Val drive if you wanna make it home alive. Girl’s got a foot heavier than the bull that broke my ankle. With a trailer on the hitch, y’all can’t be doin’ that.”
Mark snorted, but made no comment as Elizabeth grimaced. “I know.”
Xander smirked, nodding to the back exit of the stables. “Rocky’s out back in the corral, and the trailer should already be hitched up. Thank ya, Little Darlin’. I’d give a hug, but...”
Elizabeth giggled. “No, you keep your nasty ass far away from me right now.” Giving him a smile after a bye to Kyle, Elizabeth went out the back to get Rocky.
Chapter 22
It had taken the three boys till nearly dark to get everything finished that Jim wanted done, then they were handed a different list by Bev, so that the field by the lake was ready for the barbeque the next afternoon. It was well after dark by the time they once again got back to the house.
Sweaty and filthy, Xander and Kyle said bye to Mark, then went inside to get something to eat before they fought over who got to get a shower first. They were both lying on the table in the dining room when plates of food and a beer were put in front of them. Without sitting up, they both replied ‘Thanks, Mama’, only to receive a giggle that wasn’t from their mom.
