by Melody Anne
“What could you have done?”
Colt winced when she asked that question. This was the reason lying was never good — you always had to be so careful with what you said. There had been plenty he could have done, and first and foremost was to buy the property. He’d never know why they hadn’t just sold it to him. He would have let them stay in the house until they were gone and he would have taken care of their land. Foolish pride was all he could think.
The couple hadn’t had children to pass the land down to, and it would have worked out so much better for all of them. But why waste time wondering? He would never have the answer. And he was dealing with Brielle now. That’s what he needed to remember.
“We all help each other out here,” he said, hoping that would be good enough for her.
When she didn’t question him further, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Brielle was apparently a lot more trusting than he was.
“You have really rich soils, superb pastureland, and a year-round supply of fresh water running through your land from a mountain spring.” Water from that same spring also ran through his land, but he left that part out.
When the two of them approached some low tree limbs over the trail, Colt ducked easily and didn’t think anything of it until he heard Brielle cry out. After turning in his saddle to look, he whipped his horse around, then jumped off.
Brielle was lying on the ground with a grimace of pain on her face.
“What happened?” Colt knelt down next to her and looked around for signs of a snake that might have startled her horse, or for any other reason she’d been thrown.
“I don’t know,” she said while trying to sit up and then wincing. That’s when he noticed the rip on her jeans, and some blood on her hip. She’d landed on a jagged rock. Bending down, he examined the cut.
“It doesn’t look too deep, but we need to get antiseptic on it to prevent infection. It will hurt for a few days, but other than that, it should heal fine. Let me grab some things to help clean and wrap it.” He got up, went to his saddlebag, and pulled out some first-aid supplies.
His horse was trained so well that he didn’t have to tie him to a tree. Shadow would stay until Colt told him to go and graze. They were so in tune with each other that the horse knew when Colt needed to ride fast and release energy or go slow and examine the land. Even the slightest of movements from Colt let his horse know what he wanted.
Returning to Brielle, Colt became suspicious when he glanced over at Bluegrass. The mare was calm and munching away on some nearby grass. The animal hadn’t been spooked, so it seemed as if Brielle had simply fallen off. Why?
“Were you telling me the truth earlier? Have you ridden before?”
When her cheeks flushed and she refused to meet his gaze, Colt was furious. “You don’t lie about something like that, Brielle. You could have been seriously injured, far worse than the few bumps you have right now. This land isn’t smooth and it’s not a trail for beginners.”
“I wanted to ride, to see the land, and you never would have brought me out here if you’d known I hadn’t been on a horse before,” she said, her shoulders tense, her eyes determined.
He had to respect her for wanting to learn more about the area, but he didn’t appreciate being lied to, especially about something so important.
“I still would have brought you out,” he said, though she was probably right — he most likely wouldn’t have, certainly not while she was astride her own horse.
“No, you wouldn’t have. Everyone here pretends I don’t even exist. I’m sick of it! I own this place and no one will let me do anything!”
Colt’s anger diminished as her voice rose. Did she actually want to learn how to run this place, or was she just frustrated because she didn’t know how? He was confused, and it was an emotion he wasn’t used to.
So instead of facing the issue, he focused on bandaging her up. He had to think. That’s the only thing that would help right now. They were about an hour away from the house now, or maybe a little more, depending on how slowly they went. And they’d gotten such a late start.
He was quiet as he finished up, and then he looked at her and took a deep breath. “You’re going to have to ride on my horse on the way back.”
He knew that was going to test every ounce of endurance and control he had in his body. Because now wasn’t the time to see how much chemistry the two of them had together.
She gaped at him, and took in a few of her own deep breaths. “I’ll be fine on my own horse.”
“Sorry, Princess. You ride with me, or we both walk, and I’m telling you, we’re a long way from the house if we go by foot.”
He was firm, and her eyes narrowed. He knew she hated it when he called her Princess, and she also hated to be told what to do, but it was something she was going to have to get used to. She deserved that name. Besides, he had to create distance between the two of them if he was expected to ride with her pressed against him for the next hour.
“Whatever, Colt,” she said at last, though her body was tense as he helped her to her feet. She was limping when he led her over to his horse, and he knew she was in more pain than she was letting on. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant ride for either of them.
The sun was getting low in the sky, and they’d be lucky to make it back to the house before it set. Gathering the reins to her horse, he tied a lead rope on, and then helped Brielle up on his horse before joining her and setting out toward her house with Brielle sitting in front of him — with her curvy ass pressed against him.
This was going to test him to the very limits. They were silent as they rode the miles back to her place, and Colt recited every church hymn he could remember. It was a good thing his mother had made him attend Sunday school for so many years. Maybe it was time to start going again.
Conversation. They needed to have a conversation.
“Where did you grow up?”
Brielle was quiet for so long that he thought she was just going to ignore him. When he’d given up, she finally spoke. “In Maine. It was a small seaside town, but I loved it as a kid.”
“And did that change?” he asked when she paused a while.
“Everything changes,” she said with such a sigh that he felt it run through him. What was her real story? When she was silent for a while longer, he decided to speak about himself.
“I grew up right here in Sterling. Loved it then, love it now. This community, while very small, has the greatest people you will ever want to know. I could go anywhere, but I choose to stay here.”
“Have you ever left?”
In the moment, Colt didn’t even think about the fact that he was supposed to be a ranch hand. “Yeah, I’ve done some traveling. I got my MBA at Harvard. Met some of my best friends there. To this day we’re still as close as brothers.”
“Harvard? You went to Harvard and you’re a ranch hand?”
Crap! There was the thing about lying again. He was silent for a minute while he tried how to answer as honestly as he could.
“I had amazing parents, the best in the world. They died five years ago while on vacation in Oregon. Black ice. I was devastated. But I worked hard in school, got excellent grades, and played basketball.” That was honest, at least.
“Wow. That’s impressive, Colt. But why ranch if you have an MBA from Harvard? You could go anywhere with that, make so much money.”
“I grew up here, and I love it here. I knew when I went to college that I would come back home.” That was also true. She just didn’t know he was extremely wealthy. She didn’t need to know that right now. Maybe never. Well, that wasn’t true. She would have to know when he bought her land.
“I went to Brown,” she admitted shyly.
“You’re pretty impressive yourself, Brielle.” Colt didn’t add that he was surprised to hear it.
“I don’t tell too many people, because I didn’t finish. I had one year left, English major. I once thought I would write for the New York Times, or
USA Today, and then I thought maybe Time magazine. Then, that dwindled to a fashion magazine; then it all just sort of fell away.” Her voice trailed off in embarrassment.
“Why? Why would you quit if that’s your passion?”
“Probably similar reasons to yours, though not as noble. I had a bad experience at the end of my junior year of college and I wanted to go home. I hadn’t planned on returning home, but after that, I tucked in my tail and ran, and home is where I landed. My relationship with my father and brothers was already shot by that point, but I still knew I could come back; I still knew it was a safe zone.”
“Was it a guy?”
“No, nothing that typical,” she said with a laugh that he was glad to hear. “I had a professor I didn’t get along with, and a roommate who betrayed me. Really, I think back, and I know it was stupid to leave. I know I should have just moved out of that apartment, and transferred out of the professor’s class, but I was spoiled and frustrated, and…” She trailed off as she thought about past decisions.
“I think all of us make choices in life that we wish we could take back. Those choices don’t define us, though, Brielle. If we learn from them, we grow.”
She was silent for a while after his words, either processing them or rejecting them. Colt wished he could see her face, read her expression.
“Well, I landed here. I don’t know how wisely my choices have been to let that happen.” She added a laugh as if it were a joke, but he could hear the pain in her voice. She really thought very little of herself. It didn’t help that he had judged her quickly and harshly.
But what had he been supposed to think? First impressions mattered, and their first encounter hadn’t gone well. Colt was now more confused than ever before because he was beginning to find out more about this woman, and it wasn’t all bad — some was pretty damn good.
She was intelligent, but she seemed to hide behind a mask of vanity. One thing he knew for sure about Brielle Storm was that he had no idea what tomorrow would bring.
They got lost in their own heads for the last twenty minutes of their ride to the ranch, and just as he’d suspected, the sun was almost all the way down by the time they reached her horse barn.
He was beginning to get on edge as he tried to figure out his jumbled thoughts about this complicated woman, so when the next words from her mouth were a complaint, he didn’t react well.
“How does anyone ride horses day and night?”
“You get used to it.”
“I can get down myself,” she snapped when he held out a hand to assist her from the horse.
“I know you can. I was just trying to be helpful.”
Colt had to admit he was surprised when she gripped the harness and hoisted herself off the horse, her legs shaking but somehow still managing to hold her up. Well, the day wasn’t quite over yet, as she was about to find out.
“How is your hip feeling?” She was limping slightly, but not too badly. She’d live.
“I’m fine,” she told him with enough heat that he knew she was indeed fine. So fine.
“Good. We need to brush down the horses, then.”
Brielle looked at him as if he were sprouting horns. “No. I’m going inside now.”
Colt lost his smile. “They’ve worked hard for us. We need to give them a brushing.” His voice was firm, but she’d asked to be taught and this was a valuable lesson. Even if they were exhausted, their horses still needed to be taken care of.
“Well, have at it,” she told him as she turned to leave.
“I won’t take you out again if you don’t take care of your animal,” he said.
“You work for me, Colt. Don’t forget that.” She then turned again.
“Don’t get too overconfident, Brielle. It makes you look like a spoiled little snot, and that happens way too often.” He wasn’t even attempting to be pleasant now. Though there’d been a nice stretch in the middle, the day had gone rather badly and was aiming to end even worse.
She turned to glare while still walking away, and that’s when her foot sank into in a big pile of fresh horse dung.
“That’s it!” she yelled, causing several heads to turn in her direction. “Look all you want! I’ve had it with this stinky, smelly place.”
The men in there were trying desperately to quiet their laughter, but after she was gone and the echo of her front door being slammed could be heard all the way down in the horse barn, the men let go and laughed aloud.
“That’s enough,” Colt warned them, and they stopped at once. “She may be having a difficult time here, but she does own the place. You might want to remember that.”
“Aw, Colt. You’ll own it soon enough,” one of the hands said.
“I don’t know, Brandon. She may be a pain in the ass, but I think a lot of it’s an act. That woman has more backbone than I would have given her credit for on the first day I met her,” Colt told the young man.
None of the men knew how to respond to that, so they shut up. They were so sure the city girl would run off into the night that they hadn’t even considered the possibility that she might actually stick around.
Colt decided it was a good time to head home. He handed Brielle’s horse over to Brandon to take care of, then climbed on board his stallion, and rode off.
One thing was certain. He had a lot to think about.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FOR TWO DAYS Brielle refused to leave her house. It was probably the only place in the entire county where the door was locked and the lights were off. She didn’t want to see anyone, and didn’t want to climb from her bed. She was embarrassed that she’d opened up to Colt, and more embarrassed about her snotty attitude afterward.
But that’s what Brielle did. When she was afraid, when she began to let someone in, she had to fix it quickly, keep that person away. Because if she let them in to her heart, they had power to break it.
That had happened once when she was thirteen, a naïve idiot full of absurd hopes. It wouldn’t happen again. Shaking her head, she shut down her memories of that horrible day so long ago. She’d told herself she wouldn’t think about it, and she wasn’t going to. No way.
She’d made her way downstairs a few times and fetched food to carry back to her room and eat in bed, but other than that, she stayed upstairs and popped Advil like candy to relieve her miserable muscles and the ache in her hip where the deep scratch burned.
A few hot baths, a lot of movies, and about sixty hours were just what she needed, though. Because on the third day, she woke up to find she wasn’t hurting nearly as badly.
She could run this ranch without looking like a spoiled brat. The key was to not open up to anyone, to keep it all about business. If she did that, she’d be tough, ready for anything. Brielle knew she was smart, even if most people didn’t see that. She chose for them not to. Just one more effective barrier against the world.
Falling from the horse, then stepping in the horse manure, aching so badly she thought she was going to die, and hearing the men laugh at her had all added up to her finding herself at the breaking point. But she wasn’t going to prove all of them right and be the pampered princess they were making her out to be.
If she wanted to work, she could. That was for sure. So what was she going to do about it? That was the real question. As she took a nice long hot shower, the wheels in her brain were turning. What had she done in the past when things hadn’t gone her way?
She found a solution, that’s what she did. So how did she get the young ranch hands to listen to her? There was nothing she could do if they weren’t willing to follow her lead. Of course, that was sort of like the blind leading the blind, but, dammit, she was the leader whether they liked it or not.
She didn’t want to take advantage of them; she just wanted them to help her make this place a success so her father wouldn’t think she was a failure. Somewhere in the past couple of weeks, his opinion had begun to matter to her. Not that she would ever tell him.
Some
where along the way she had switched her thinking. Maybe it was her conversation with Colt, though she wished that hadn’t happened. And maybe it was just that she’d had so much time on her own. Maybe it was even the ranching books she’d been flipping through, and all the Web pages. But, whatever the reason, she had made a decision to do this, and so she would. But she knew she couldn’t do it without serious help.
Yes, she still wanted to get away from Montana, but before now, she’d wanted to get away at any cost. Now, it was more important for her to walk away with her head held high.
If she made the place a success and then sold it, her father would be proud, and she’d show her brothers that she wasn’t some stupid little girl — that she was just as capable as, or even more capable than, any of them. It’s not as if any of those boys had been prizes in the past.
So she needed to figure out how to get the men to listen to her. Once she had their attention, she could work on the respect part. A smile split her face when she figured it out. They were men, after all!
Got it! First get them to see her, and then she could make them listen!
* * *
Colt had no idea why he was working like a flipping ranch hand on Brielle’s property when he had his own land to deal with, but here he was speaking with Tony after helping the men mend fences for the last two hours. It was insane. For her to think he worked for her was one thing, but now he found himself actually working for her, and for nothing.
What in the world was wrong with him? His eyes wandered toward the house for the hundredth time in the past ten minutes. He hadn’t seen her since she’d stomped off after their ride, and for the first day afterward he was glad of it — or he’d told himself he was.
She’d acted like an overprivileged twit, but that was just the thing — it was an act. He knew that. She had been feeling vulnerable, she’d been tired, sore, and hurting. So instead of admitting this, she’d stormed off, making them think the worst of her. What he wanted to know was why?
