“Got a hot date later?” Quinn nudged her with his shoulder and she dropped her wrist. He held out his hand and made a quick bow. Ainsley found herself unwillingly smiling at his charm. “I’m ready for that dance you promised me, Flower Girl.”
One dance couldn’t hurt. It would help pass the time before she could sneak away. He whirled her around the dance floor with ease, holding her with loose arms but still guiding her. Meagan had told her he was about to go on assignment as a war reporter. His enthusiasm probably stemmed from his current, comparatively lower stress level.
Quinn lowered his head and she could smell mint on his breath. “Why is that tall and dark cowboy staring at you like he wants to whisk you away on that large horse of his?” His voice tickled her ear and he turned her slightly. Riley stood at the edge of the makeshift dance floor with his arms folded across his chest, glowering at her and Quinn through the other dancing couples.
She stopped moving, drawn by the set of his jaw and the darkness in his eyes. Quinn shifted them so she couldn’t see Riley anymore and her heart started beating again. “I should go. I’ll only end up ruining the festivities for everyone.”
“Not for me. And not for Meagan. And, really, we’re the only two who matter.”
She mustered a laugh that almost sounded genuine, but she headed to the refreshments at the end of the song. When she was certain no one was watching her, she slipped away from the party and headed for the greenhouse.
The smooth glass walls were cool under her fingertips. Aside from being with Riley, working with the plants had been her favorite thing to do at the ranch. The other women had preferred to hang around where they might be seen by the cowboy. Ainsley had wanted to help bring the greenhouse back to its stunning former glory.
But she couldn’t bring herself to open the door. Not now. Maybe it was silly, but the greenhouse was where everything had started. It had been witness to the budding of a new relationship, and the thought of seeing decaying plants and dead flower heads was too much for her to bear. She turned around and headed back to her cabin. She could make herself believe that the plants and flowers had been taken care of since she left and didn’t judge her based on someone else’s lies.
* * *
Riley frowned while Meagan’s brother twirled Ainsley around the dance floor. Her light purple dress swirled around her knees and the low neckline showed those two freckles that had intrigued him the nights they… He tightened his resolve, but each one of her smiles at Meagan’s damn brother shot through his chest and heat rose in his gut when she turned her beguiling eyes his way. She loved him. She said. Or that was another lie. He pushed back thoughts of holding her in his arms, touching her sensitive places and making her moan. It was lust, that’s all.
He couldn’t control his body’s response to her, but he sure as hell could control his own actions. Now, anyway. She had used their relationship to alleviate her own boredom, boasting to the other women of what he’d thought was special. When she finished her dance with Quinn and left to get a drink, Riley told himself the kick in his gut was relief she was gone and not disappointment that he couldn’t watch her anymore.
He danced with Fallon and his sisters, all the while keeping his eye out for the woman in purple. She never reappeared. What was she doing? Quinn danced with the wife of one of the hands. Since she hadn’t brought the accountant, she probably found some other guy to hook up with in the short time she was here. Maybe she would brag to Meagan about that, too.
“What in blazes is going on with you?” Jeanne asked. “You’ve hardly looked at me this entire dance and you’re leading me through a waltz instead of a two-step.”
He let the beat of the music pulse through him and adjusted his steps, wishing he could tell his sister to be quiet.
“I think she went back to her cabin. I saw her leaving the barn and heading away.”
Her eyes were wide with innocence, but he saw the interest lurking behind them. “Mind your own business, Jeanne.”
Jeanne stopped moving and dropped her arms. “Oh, go find her already. I don’t think I can put up with you like this for another two months.”
He took his sister’s hands again and led her through the dance. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Whatever. But I’m going to remind you of this conversation tomorrow.”
Mercifully the music ended soon after that and Meagan and Cookie cut their towering yellow wedding cake. Riley slipped away during dessert, loosening his tie and heading to the stables to work off some of the tension and decide on his next move.
A light shone from one of the back stalls and murmured voices greeted him. It should’ve been dark and quiet. Let the wayward wedding guests have their romp in the hay. Riley didn’t care—until his brother bolted from behind the wooden divider with hay stuck in his hair and his dress shirt half untucked.
“Hi, Riley. What are you doing here? I was looking for something. I found it. Let’s go back to the wedding.”
Seth tugged on his arm and hurried past him to the stable door but Riley didn’t follow. He trudged to the stall, hoping he wouldn’t see what he expected—a dark-haired girl sitting on a hay bale next to a bottle of wine. While he had been pessimistic about relationships all night, Seth had been getting ready to… he didn’t want to acknowledge it. She had to be out of high school already, with a smooth fix to her mouth and subtle makeup that girls learned to use once they realized men didn’t want to wear it, too. “Seth!”
“Crap,” his brother muttered, shuffling his feet while he slunk to Riley’s side. “I can explain.”
“You think I need an explanation?” Riley didn’t know whether to be pissed off or amused. “Are you going to introduce your friend?”
The girl spoke up after Seth gave him a blank stare. “I’m Gina.”
He rememberd her name from the night Seth got hurt. “You work at the rec center?” She nodded and he held out his hand to help her up. “How old are you, Gina?”
“I’m legal. Seth wasn’t about to contribute to the delinquency of a minor or anything.”
“Except for himself.” Riley fixed his brother with the hardened stare he had used with teens partying on the mountain range.
“Dammit, Riley! Mind your own business.” Seth’s hands bunched and he kicked a hay bale. Riley took a step away, letting his brother take his temper out on the straw.
“He’s not twenty-one?” Gina’s voice sounded strained, like she was trying to maintain her cool façade despite these life-shattering words.
“Gina, he’s not even eighteen.”
“Right.” Seth gritted his teeth. “I’m just a baby who needs his big brother saving him from the dangers of women. You’re always screwing things up, Riley! I wish you’d never come back home!” He stalked over to the tack room, kicking loose tufts of straw as he went.
“He seemed older.” Gina made no move to stop him. “Thanks for, well, yeah.” She nodded a good-bye and left, clutching her purse and staring straight ahead. Riley closed his eyes, dreading the conversation he was going to have to have with his brother.
Seth stood in the tack room holding the clipboard Cookie normally carried and gripping a pencil, narrowing his hooded eyes at Riley’s approach. “Well, let’s hear it, Riley. Let’s hear whatever extraordinary brotherly wisdom you’re going to lecture me with this time.” His sullen tone made Riley want to slug him and comfort him at the same time.
“Let’s just get back to the wedding. We can talk about this tomorrow.”
“Oh, no.” Handling the clipboard like a sword, Seth came toward him. “You treat me like I’m a little kid and now you want me to go play nice with the grown ups? I’m not leaving here until you get out all you have to say and I can live without you interfering in my life.”
“Not tonight, Seth.”
Seth snorted his disbelief. “Playing the silent card, then? It won’t work. Fine. Go away, Riley. I’m staying here. Unless you think I’m too young and
stupid to be trusted with the horses by myself.” He slammed down the clipboard.
Riley took a calming breath and kept his voice in the most neutral tone he could muster. “I’m going back to the wedding.” Even dealing with Ainsley wouldn’t be as hard as this.
“Don’t think that you’ll get me to talk by avoiding it, Riley. Gina liked me for who I was, not because of my age. I never lied to her about it. I just didn’t correct her when she guessed wrong.” His brother left the small room.
Riley itched to race away, to do the easy thing and leave his brother, to find Ainsley and figure out if they had a future. His mind worked to stay put and give Seth the attention he desperately needed. His heart pulled him in both directions. Immediate problem first. Following Seth, Riley folded his arms across his chest. His brother’s face darkened so he uncrossed his arms and sat on a hay bale instead.
“You didn’t have to move back home, you know.” Seth flung the clipboard on a small metal table and stood with his legs apart and hands on his hips. “I’m old enough to take care of myself and Jeannie. You could have stayed up there in your stupid mountains.”
Riley shook his head. “I was worried about you. About everybody.”
Gesturing to the workers and animals around him, Seth turned in a small circle. “You can see we’re all perfectly fine.”
“I didn’t move home to be your father, Seth. Maybe I needed to be around my family, too. I’m your brother and I love you. I couldn’t help out if I wasn’t here.”
“Nobody asked you to come.” Glaring, Seth stood in front of Riley as if daring him to defend himself again.
Getting slowly to his feet, Riley put his hands on his brother’s shoulders, which trembled beneath him. Only an inch separated their heights. He hadn’t realized how much the kid had grown. “It wasn’t your fault, Seth,” he said softly.
His brother blew out a breath like he’d been punched in the stomach and took a step back, breaking Riley’s hold. “What did you say?”
“I miss him, too. Every day.”
“You think this is about Dad?” Harsh laughter came from Seth’s throat and a shadow crossed his features. “It’s not.”
Riley didn’t move. “No one could ever take his place. Not me. Not you. And no one is trying to, either. What happened was horrible, Seth, but it wasn't your fault.”
“It’s not about Dad, Riley!” Seth shouted. He jabbed one finger at him. “Stop talking about him! Stop! You can say it’s not my fault all you want, but we both know it is.” His voice cracked and he started to storm off, but Riley grabbed his shoulder. Seth turned, swinging, and caught him in the eye. Riley stumbled back and tripped on the hay bale, but recovered enough to tackle Seth as he bolted out of the barn.
Seth rolled onto his feet and yelled as his fists pounded into Riley. “I should’ve gotten there in time! That’s why everyone blames me for his death. No one says it out loud but I can tell.”
“They don’t.” Dodging the blows, Riley exhaled sharply when Seth landed a kick on his thigh. He let his brother use him as a punching bag, reining in his instinct to defend himself.
“No one wants me here. They wish I was the one who died.” Seth slammed his shoulder into Riley’s chest and the two men went down, kicking up dust as they grappled on the ground.
“Not true.” Sliding behind Seth, Riley wrapped his arms around his brother’s midsection. Seth dropped his weight but he had nowhere to go. Riley kept his grip, his arms stinging with the punches and the effort it took to hold on.
“Get off me.”
“It’s not your fault, Seth.”
“Get off me!” Seth twisted and tried to shove Riley away, but he held firm. “I let Gina believe what she wanted because she didn’t know anything about what happened.” Seth brought his head up sharply into Riley’s jaw. Stars radiated from the pain and he grunted. Still, he didn't let go. “She didn’t think I was a stupid kid who killed his own father. I wanted to be with someone who didn’t know.”
Riley shifted so they were both sitting. He wrapped his arms around his brother, enveloping him in a hug. Seth pushed him off, but there was no strength in the attempt. Tears streaked down his cheeks, creating a path through the dirt on his face, and his shoulders shook as sobs wracked his body. Riley held him tight, feeling his grief, his anger. His brother’s muscles loosened—his energy spent, his emotions depleted.
“You’re such a jerk, Riley.” Seth wiped his nose with the back of his hand and leaned back on the ground.
Riley lay next to him to catch his breath. He flexed his jaw. Stings covered his elbows and knuckles. When had his brother learned how to fight? “I know. But I’m a jerk that loves you.” He got to his feet and extended a hand to help his brother up.
Seth cracked a small smile, the most Riley had seen from him in the past six months. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. . Seth wiped his face with his shirt, spreading the grime around. “I know you’re not here to take Dad’s place, Ry. And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you came home.”
Riley wrapped his arm around his brother’s neck, getting him in a chokehold and knuckling his head. “Me, too.”
Seth shoved him off. “Don’t we have to go to a wedding or something?”
Riley looked over his brother’s dust-covered suit and glanced at his own torn dress clothes. “Maybe we better clean up first.”
Seth nodded, but shifted his eyes to the ground. His finger crept up to his tie as if it were strangling him. “I don’t want to go back. I think I might want to take a walk.”
Something in his brother’s face stopped Riley from persuading him to return. Maybe some solitude was what Seth needed right now, not being around happy, laughing people. “That’s fine. Just stay out of trouble.”
“You have nothing to worry about.” Seth grinned as he left the barn, fading as the darkness enveloped him.
Riley pounded the dirt off his clothes the best he could, then washed his hands and face in the barn sink. He wasn’t going back, either. He debated saddling Westley and going for a ride to get away from the celebration. The decision was taken out of his hands when Molly came into the barn. For a place that was supposed to invite solitude, it was doing a lousy job of it.
“I was looking for you,” she said.
He hadn’t wanted to be found, but kept his features neutral and slid around Westley so Molly couldn’t see his messed up clothes. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” She sat on a bench, extended her legs and wiggled her pink stitched boots in front of her. “I think you should talk to Ainsley.”
Riley froze in the act of patting his horse, then brought his hand back down to his side. Her name had been unspoken between them for a month. “Why’s that?”
Molly shrugged. “Female intuition.”
“Your female intuition is what got me into this mess to start with.” He turned back to Westley but his mind wouldn’t quit. That earlier kiss has been one of pure animal instinct, a need to imprint himself upon her and leave her yearning, but he hadn’t been able to get her passionate response out of his mind. Or the sting of her palm off his face. “What would you have me say?”
“Find out what really happened, maybe.” His normally direct, analytical sister lifted her shoulders again. If she was wavering on her opinions, then maybe there was something else to it. She rose and brushed her hands together to get rid of bits of dirt from the bench. “I think she already went back to her cabin. Good luck, big brother.”
* * *
Ainsley’s suitcase was the only thing that stood between her and the door. She had changed out of her purple dress and into the familiar comfort of jeans and a t-shirt. All the wedding setup had been taken down, all the flowers artfully placed around the ranch house and cabins, and her friend was married and enjoying the beginning of her new life. There was nothing keeping Ainsley here.
Unless she wanted to torture herself. It had been torture watching Riley dance with Meagan’s sister. Torture t
hat he was only a few feet away and she could do nothing about it. Torture knowing that she was an object of lust and desire, not of affection and love.
“Okay, then.” She grabbed the green handle of her bag and hauled it to the van, flung it behind the driver’s seat and rolled the door closed. Done. Now all she had to do was drive away.
That was easier said than done. She arrived at the cattle guard, staring at the road beyond in the haze created by the headlights. It would take her back to whatever passed for her normalcy these days. But she didn’t want to go.
This was her last chance. If she left now, she was never coming back. And there was too much of her heart here to leave it behind.
Dammit. She put the van in park and slid out of the seat and slammed the door, then kicked it for good measure.
“Are you okay?”
The voice in the darkness jolted her heart and made her cry out. She whirled around, squinting to find the source. “Seth?”
“Yeah.” He took a step closer and she could make out his cowboy-hatted silhouette. “What are you doing here?”
Leaving. “I’m not sure.”
He nodded as if the answer made perfect sense, his eyes taking note of her escape vehicle. “He was a mess without you.” Then he grinned. “He was a mess with you, too. It was fun to watch.”
“I’m glad I could provide you with some entertainment.”
Her tone was dry enough to make Seth laugh and she realized it was the first time she had heard that sound from him. He thumped the van with a fist. “But now you’re sneaking off? Does he know?”
Well, when he put it that way… “It’s complicated.”
He snorted. “Yeah, that’s what adults always say when they don’t want to explain things to a dumb kid.” He stepped back into the darkness and his tone went flat. “Go then. Everyone does at some point anyway.”
Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy? Page 28
