“Hey, chick.” She threw her luggage on the floor and leapt at me, knocking us both to the floor. “You dozy mare. What the hell have you been doing?”
With that beaming smile of hers, she stood up, helping me up with her. She stood back and looked at me, pursing her lips.
“You’ve lost weight, Sophie. It doesn’t look good.”
I laughed. “Thanks. You look awful, too.”
Her freckled face creased into a soft edge. “I’ve missed you.”
I nodded. “Ditto.”
She turned around, stalking back to her luggage in one stride. She’d always had incredible long legs. Combined with her auburn hair, an hourglass figure, and an outrageous personality, it was no surprise she’d already been married for two years. Her husband, Taylor, would have been insane to not put a ring on her finger.
“Ta dah!”
Turning around, I giggled at her gift of two bottles of vodka. I pointed to my medication and pouted.
“Oh, come on, Soph. A couple of glasses isn’t going to hurt.”
I needed no further encouragement. As if nothing had ever happened between us, we sat on the bed, catching up on everything, giggling away as the alcohol slowly seeped through our veins. By the time she was pouring glass number three, I was already a little past tipsy.
“I’m so sorry, Zoe. I feel like such a fool. I don’t know why I didn’t believe you.”
She pushed my shoulder in a joking manner. “Stop being so soppy. It’s not your fault. I should have told you in a better way than in the middle of an argument.”
I grinned. “Over Haribo.”
Vodka sprayed everywhere as she spluttered with laughter. She was already on glass number four.
“I’m sorry, Soph. I never meant for it to come out like that. It’s felt like an eternity of hell without you.”
“Same,” I said. My smile creased my water filled eyes, spilling my tears. “Never again.”
Clinking her glass against mine, she nodded. “Never again.”
Both of us loved Haribo sweets to the point it bordered on a sheer obsession. On a girly weekend away, Zoe had eaten all of hers during the drive there. When we settled later in the evening with a bottle of wine, I had my huge bag all to myself. Trying to be funny, Zoe had grabbed the packet from me but I’d kept hold of it, resulting in the bag splitting and Haribo sweets raining down on the ground in abundance.
I’d lost my temper and shouted at her, telling her she didn’t share her sweets so why the hell should I share mine? Her venom laced reply had been ‘Well you share your fiancé so what’s a few sweets?’
Now though, none of that mattered. I’d had my eyes opened, and quite frankly, turned down a path that would only enhance my future.
“So,” she said, her green eyes glittering. “Tell me about your hot affair with the sexy Brady.”
I laughed. She’d had such a crush on him before she met Taylor. Fortunately for Brady, she hadn’t been quite so brazen and confident back then so had never approached him in that way.
“He told me he loved me today.” All joy seemed to leave me as I became lost in my problems once more. “But I can’t chase my dreams until I’ve dealt with reality.”
She frowned. “Why not? If you want your dreams to become reality then you need to worry about them more.”
“How am I supposed to even integrate him into my life with all this crazy going on? Not to mention the first few months would be long distance until everything with Ben is sorted out.” I shook my head, telling myself it wasn’t possible. “It wouldn’t be fair on either of us nor would we survive it.”
She wrapped her hand around mine. “You don’t know that, Soph. You’re defeated before you’ve even tried.” She licked her lips and eyed me for a second. “That pig really did a number on you, didn’t he?”
“Next time you don’t like a boyfriend, I’m listening to you.” I gulped down the rest of my drink and held my glass out for more. “Anyway, how long are you here for?”
“Well,” she said, refilling my glass. “It’s a good job I already pre-approved Brady.” She gave me a cheeky wink. “I’m here until you’re well enough to go back home.”
“Love you,” I said, wiping away a tear.
“Love you, too. Silly old moo.”
We giggled and took swigs of our drinks. Before we could continue the conversation, a quiet tap came from the door. Frowning, I hobbled towards the door, telling Zoe to stop fussing as she tried to help me.
“Hey.”
My heart thumped in my chest as I saw my handsome cowboy staring back at me. “Hi.”
He wore a small smile until he noticed the glass in my hand. “You shouldn’t be drinking with your medication.” He pushed the door open and narrowed his eyes on Zoe. “Might have known you’d have something to do with this.”
She lifted her glass and grinned. “Nice to see you, too, gorgeous.”
Turning his attention back to me, his mellow edge hardened. “How many have you had?”
I scratched my head and giggled. “Um, three? Or is it two? Nope, three.”
“I think that’s enough,” he said, reaching for my glass. “Otherwise you’re going to make yourself ill.”
Snatching my glass back, I shot him a killer glare. “Who put you in charge of what I do and don’t do?”
“No-one, but clearly its needed.”
Anger began bubbling beneath the surface. “Oh, really? Please indulge me.”
His dark eyes held a glassy stare, silently killing me. “Don’t make this anything it doesn’t need to be, Sophie. Just stop drinking. Please. You’ve had enough and you need some rest.”
“No,” I said, stabbing a finger in his chest. “I know what I do and don’t want. And I also told you earlier that I needed some space away from you.” I put my glass down on the table behind the door. My world was beginning to sway and I needed to steady myself with both hands on the doorframe. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“I came to make sure you were ok and didn’t need anything before you went to sleep.”
“Awww,” Zoe said, breaking the growing tension. “Soooo cute.”
I tried not to laugh at her but found it difficult. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine, thank you. If I need anything, I have Zoe.”
“Wooo!” Zoe said.
I turned around in time to see her lift her glass up a little too high above her head. When she looked up at it, she titled backwards and promptly fell off the bed. Shrieks of laughter came from the other side of the bed along with an empty glass rolling across the floor.
“I’m taking her back to the main house,” Brady said, trying to push past me. “It’s not safe for you to be left alone, needing care, in the company of someone that’s as out of it as she is.”
“Brady,” I said, placing a hand on his chest. “I’m fine. I don’t need you interfering. It’s not like I asked you here, is it?”
“You just want me to leave you to fend for yourself?”
“I’m perfectly safe. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Anything can happen!” His nostrils flared and he clenched his jaw. “I’d have thought your little escapade in the desert would have taught you that, at least.”
“That only happened because I was worried about your horse being hurt. I turned him loose to stop him being attacked.”
“So you thought leaving him to roam around in the dark, with numerous other dangers to kill him instead was a better option?”
“You ungrateful bastard. I did what I thought was best.”
He snorted and pushed back from the doorway. “I never asked you to, did I?”
My mouth dropped open at his sudden turn. What on earth had made him so vicious?
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said, his top lip curling back into a snarl. “Absolutely nothing.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I slammed the door shut, muttering
curses to myself. Zoe was knelt against the bed, her elbows on the duvet and her head in her hands.
“Well,” she said, giggling. “Someone’s a little touchy. Maybe it’s past his bedtime.”
I laughed but it wasn’t a true laugh. The unexpected visit and resulting confrontation had left me somewhat sober. I wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and cuddle my pillow where I knew I could still catch the invigorating scent of his shampoo.
“I’m tired,” I said, crawling under my duvet. “I’m going to sleep.”
“Plan.” The bedclothes lifted as she settled in next to me. “Night, Soph.”
“Night.”
I WOKE JUST AS DAWN broke. The morning sun was already warming the air to a barely tolerable temperature. I blamed that for the wave of sick currently pushing its way up my throat.
Making it to the toilet just in time, I heaved my guts up to the extent that my stomach felt as if I’d been through medieval torture. Looking at myself in the mirror, I pulled a face. My curly hair was unkempt, sticking out in all directions. Huge bags weighed down my eyes, and my normally fresh looking skin was a sickly grey.
“Urgh,” I said. I grabbed a hand towel and hung it over the mirror. “That’s better.”
I padded back out to the bed, rubbing at my pounding head. So convinced there was a tiny man playing bongos inside my head, I almost missed the thumping on the door. If it hadn’t been for my dressing gown falling off the back of the door with the force of the impatient person’s knocks, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
I expected it to be Brady so yanked the door open with an attitude ridden, “Yeah?”
Anna’s pristine appearance greeted me. She cast a piercing gaze up and down the length of me, obvious disgust written all over her face.
“Here.” She thrust a bunch of papers in my chest so hard, I stumbled back a few feet. “Looks like you win, although looking at the state of you, I’ve no idea why.”
I frowned, trying to fight through the fog encasing my mind. “What? Win what? I don’t understand.”
She snorted with obvious disdain. “I have no use for all of it anyway. What use is it without him to enjoy it with?” Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she focused on something behind me. When she snapped her attention back to me, her voice was a little softer. “I don’t like you. However, woman to woman, take my advice—don’t let that man go. It’ll be the biggest mistake you ever make.”
With that, she walked off, the only sound in the morning quiet being the click-click of her high heels on the ground.
“S’going on?” Zoe asked, half asleep. “Who was that?”
“Brady’s wife,” I said, closing the door. I took the papers from my chest, trying to smooth out the crumples. “She gave me a load of paperwork and said something about I win.”
Zoe sat up, yawning. She rubbed at her eyes and waved a hand in my direction. “I thought he’d already done that.”
“What?”
“Divorced her.”
My eyes widened. Scanning over the sheets of copy paper, I realised these were divorce papers. There, right at the bottom, was Brady’s signature—dated yesterday. Did he do this after he’d left last night?
“You knew he was married?”
“Of course I did. Uncle John told me just after I’d met Taylor. I was besotted with him though so Brady playing husband just went to the back of my mind. He was just a silly crush at the end of the day.”
“So what’s the big deal? Why’d she feel the need to tell me I win?”
Zoe shrugged her shoulders. “Last I knew, he was refusing to divorce her. Don’t know why. But then it all went quiet so I presumed he’d just done it.”
Refusing to divorce her? Did he still love her? Had it been her wanting it? But then considering her final words to me, it couldn’t have been her doing. Guilt began to prick at my conscience. Why hadn’t I just let him explain everything? I’d been so concerned with him being another Ben, I hadn’t even considered any other options.
“I need to go speak to him,” I said, hobbling around to find some clothes.
“Soph, you look like shit so I’m sure you feel it. The pretentious bitch has gone so just leave it for a few days. I’m sure he’ll be back here soon anyway. Seems like he can’t stay from you.”
I hoped she was right.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Unfortunately, Zoe was wrong. I stayed in bed all day, drifting in and out of sleep, wishing, hoping, every time I woke up that he’d be in bed beside me, smiling down at me.
The next morning, I went for breakfast with Zoe up in John’s house. John was his usual cheery self, whistling and humming as he made his way around the kitchen. The events from two days previously were still swirling around in my mind and I couldn’t help but ask questions.
“Your leg ok?” John asked, flicking the kettle into life.
“Yeah, thanks.” I took a bite of my pancakes. “John?”
He spun around from the cupboard, coffee mugs in his hands. “Hmmm?”
“What’s this about Brady divorcing Anna?”
His jovial mood flattened in an instant. He drew his lips into a thin line. “I think you should go see him about that.”
“Anna threw divorce papers at me two days ago before disappearing. I don’t understand.”
“You need to go see Brady.”
My stomach churned at the thought of facing him. Embarrassment flooded me. I should have just let him explain.
“Where is he?” I asked, licking my dry lips.
“Out in the far paddocks, fixing the fencing.”
“Bit far for me to walk,” I said, feeling slight relief.
“That’s ok. I can drive you out there.”
Hot tingles surged through me. What was I supposed to say? Would he even want to hear me out?
“Come on,” John said. “No time like the present.”
Zoe grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Go get him, Soph. I’m going to sunbathe.” She winked before skipping her way outside to the pool.
Following John out of the house, my palms began sweating. My heart beat a nervous rhythm deep inside me. The late afternoon sun was dying, making one thing at least a little more bearable.
John opened his truck door for me and helped me inside. I chewed on my lip as I ran over a thousand different ways to initiate the impending conversation.
“He’s a good man, Sophie,” John said, climbing in the driver’s seat.
“Why is he such an arrogant asshole at times?”
He chuckled as he drove us across the dusty landscape. “He’s not had it easy. I don’t want to say too much because it’s not my place to do so. If he wants you to know, then he’ll tell you himself.”
Ouch. That cut a little deep. Why hadn’t Brady trusted in me before now to tell me at least something? I double checked myself—he’d tried and I’d cut him off.
“So,” John said, breaking my tormented silence. “Have you had any thoughts of what you’re going to do when you get home?”
My heart thudded to a stop. Home. I’d not even considered what would happen when I got back. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to go back. Everything out here just seemed so easy, so relaxed—this felt like my home.
“I’m not sure. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like home anymore. It’s like a whole other world I’ve left behind.”
“Understandable. How do you feel about your sister?”
“Honestly?”
He smirked and nodded.
“Excuse my French but the fucking bitch deserved it.”
He chuckled. “That’s my girl.” He turned his head and threw me a cheeky wink. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Of course not,” I said, laughing.
“And what of Ben?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “The fact he jumped back on a plane when I was in hospital is totally unforgivable. It’s one thing to forgive an affair and rebuild trust but it’s quite another to aban
don someone you love whilst they’re essentially on their death bed. As far as I’m concerned, he made his choice quite clear.”
“Very true. You know, I’m not one for being soppy and all but I am quite proud of you. You’ve changed into a totally different person since you first came here. I’m pleased you’ve found your path.”
“Awww,” I said, teasing him. “Check you out being all sweet.”
“That stays between us,” he said, smiling. “You know, if you wanted to consider staying out here, I could help you find somewhere to live. I’d happily give you a job at the ranch, too.”
My heart leapt inside my chest, banging against my ribcage. Words failed me. What was I supposed to say to that?
“I don’t expect an answer now,” he said. “Just think about it. The option is there if you really don’t want to go back home.”
“Thanks, John. I appreciate that.”
He smiled and fell silent as Brady’s truck came into view. Nerves fluttered through me as I saw him working away on the wooden fencing. With his back to us, shirt drenched in sweat and clinging to every inch of him...damn. I swallowed an anxious lump, trying to stop my mind from thinking of him topless, yielding his hammer, flexing his beautifully sculpted muscles.
He stopped when he heard John’s truck approaching and turned around. Lifting his hat, he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before leaning back against his own truck. As John closed in on the last few metres, Brady’s eyes met mine.
Every inch of me jumped in turmoil. Those hazelnut eyes held nothing but a flat, emotionless stare. He licked his lips and switched his attention to John.
Opening the window, John nodded towards the fencing. “How’s it going?”
“Nearly done. Should only take another hour or so.”
John nodded. “I thought you two should talk.”
Brady moved his gaze back to me. “We’ve said all we have to say.”
“Anna paid Sophie a visit. With some paperwork.”
Brady closed his eyes, muttered a curse, and sighed. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll talk.”
John gave a single nod before getting out of the truck to help me out. I couldn’t bend my leg very easily which made getting in and out of a high vehicle rather embarrassing if I had no help.
Cowboys & Horses Page 15
