by Lauren Wood
***
I was fuming the rest of the day and I stayed out in the far corrals for most of it. The sun was setting behind me as I walked back up to the hand house. I didn’t want to see Cliff and Cece hanging on each other. I didn’t have it in me today, so I just wanted to get in and get some rest.
There was noise as soon as I entered and I had a feeling that I knew what it was. It was also clear which room it was coming from. I should have just kept walking. I didn’t care anyways, not really, so why was I so worried about it? I had to know who Barb was in there with. I knew that it wouldn’t matter, but something drew me to the door and all I could do was move forward as if I was in a trance.
When I got my hand on the doorknob, I could tell that it wasn’t locked. I should have stopped there. The moans from the other side of the door were enticing and made it clear what was going on. She didn’t mean that much to me, so why was I so worried about who it was she was in there with?
Opening the door, the light from the hallway lightened up the room and there was a man on his knees, facing towards the door with Barb’s ass in his hands. He was moving slowly and Barb wasn’t as into it as it had first sounded. She wasn’t nearly as quiet when she was with me and I was going to take that as a good sign.
“Barb?”
She stopped and looked up. The man still hadn’t heard me. “Dante, this isn’t what it looks like.”
Barb was pushing the guy off of her and it was only when he hit the floor and made a sound that I realized it was someone I knew very well. I had talked to him a few hours before. He was one of the people that I was trying to stay away from. I had to make sure, had to see him and when I did, I just shook my head. What the hell was wrong with him?
“Cliff. Well isn’t this quaint.”
I wasn’t mad at Barb. We were sort of together, but not really. She had just become a convenience that I took advantage of a couple of times a week or more. There wasn’t talk of the future, but I was upset at Cliff. How could he be so stupid to cheat on Cece and to do it in the way that he was doing it? It just didn’t make sense to me and I had to wrap my brain around it.
Walking out, I didn’t answer the calls or the questions that came out from behind. I didn’t want to see either one of them again, but I was more pressed on the fact that I had to tell Cece. She had a right to know after all. But damn, I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell her. I didn’t want her to hate me over it and I had a feeling that she wasn’t going to be happy to hear this from me.
Chapter 8
Cecelia
“Where have you been Dante? I was looking for you earlier. Cliff bailed on me halfway through the work in the barn and now we don’t have enough stalls for the night. I don’t know if that is a good thing or not. They might get out or fight if they have to share.”
“It will be okay Cece. We can go finish up now if we have to.”
“It’s one o’ clock in the morning.”
“What do you have to do?”
I shrugged and told him that I guess I didn’t have anything to do. I was up because Cliff was still around here somewhere. I thought I would find him, not Dante out here. I was angry that he had left me in the lurch and again, Dante showed that he had far more class about everything.
“Thanks Dante. I really don’t know what I would do without you around here. You are like my knight in shining armor.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Well right now we will because I really appreciate the help. I didn’t want to wake anyone up going to the hand’s house.”
He had a strange look on his face for a minute that I didn’t get. I knew Dante and I knew when something was wrong.
“So what are you doing wandering around in the middle of the night? Is this how you pick up all of those women?”
Dante chuckled and the sound eased my soul for some reason. I was grateful that he was willing to help me, but I should have known that he would. Dante was always doing all kinds of things that were helpful. He was the type of guy that I could trust to do what was right, even if it wasn’t very pleasant. There were a lot of jobs like that around the ranch and he had never shirked from any of it.
“No, sadly I don’t think that tactic would work very well.”
“Works well enough for Barb. I have seen the two of you. Are you guys together?”
He shook his head no quickly and I don’t know why I liked that answer so much. I didn’t like the idea of them together, but I was glad he was happy, though it still didn’t answer why he was out here. I had gotten sidetracked with my curiosity and now I was feeling like a boob about it for being so nosy.
“No Cece, I don’t think me and Barb will be having much to do with each other anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, it was never much of anything. Sometimes I don’t even know what it was or what I was thinking having her come here.”
“Well, be nice and don’t let it mess with the rhythm of the place. We need her right now and she does a pretty good job.”
That funny look was back on his face like he wanted to tell me something, but he was having a hard time doing so. “I don’t think that is going to be a problem from my end.”
“So if you aren’t here to find some tail, what are you doing out here this late at night? I didn’t see you for supper.”
Another shrug and his eyes moved away from me. “I don’t know. It seemed like a nice night to get out. I was going to check the barn to see if it was in good shape before I went to bed as well. You know I don’t sleep very well.”
“I thought that was getting better. I hadn’t seen you on the porch in a while.”
His jaw tightened and the dimple that was sometimes there, a smile almost always on his face was gone. We had been walking to the barn the whole time and we were finally almost there. Several boards still had to be put up to finish the stalls and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
“With all the sounds in the night, the porch isn’t very peaceful anymore.”
I felt a wave of heat moving to my face and I knew what he was referring to. Cliff liked me to be a little vocal and I liked the reaction that I got from it so it made me a little wetter to think that Dante heard me as well.
“Sorry about that. I really need to remember that the window is open.”
There was a silence that fell over us and I was unable to think of anything good to say. I knew that there was a way to handle this situation, but I really didn’t know how to do it gracefully.
“You know Cece, we have become something more than coworkers since I started working here. And I hope that you can trust me. I like to think that we have some kind of report than just working together, that we have something akin to a friendship.”
“I can. Of course, Dante. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I have something to tell you that you aren’t going to like. I mean, you really aren’t going to like it and I don’t want you getting mad about it because I am just telling you because I feel like you have the right to know.”
My heart pounded in my chest. He was being so serious that it made me nervous. I didn’t know what to say or what to do about it all. I knew that he wanted to be clear with me and I didn’t like the setup of the situation.
“Just spit it out Dante, geez. You act like you are starting a federal case.”
“You don’t know how hard this is Cece. I don’t want to have to be the one to tell you this, but someone has to.”
The buildup was killing me and when I finally told him so, he blurted it out and I was stunned. I had been expecting a lot of things, but never in a million years would it have been that. What in the world was going on here?
“You saw them?”
“Yeah I walked in on it a little while ago. It was definitely Barb and Cliff getting it on. I didn’t want to say anything, but I thought you should know.”
I was shaking my head and telling him it was okay. I wanted to know. Which was true. I did want t
o know, but now it was hard to look him in his eyes. I guess maybe I really didn’t want to know, but now I had no choice. I knew and I was going to have to process it and figure out what the hell it was that I was going to do. The most obvious answer was to get rid of Cliff.
Chapter 9
Dante
“Are you sure you are okay?”
She was walking away and didn’t look okay at all. She actually looked like she was going to be sick. Had she really cared for Cliff that much? I hadn’t seen it that way, but it wouldn’t be the first time that I had really thought about it that way. I had always seen him as just a fling that would end and then I would be able to swoop in. I couldn’t swoop in if she had a look like that on her face. I wasn’t that callous because of my own needs. It would be easier if I was, but I wasn’t.
I looked around the barn and figured that I could do the last of it myself. I didn’t want to leave the horses out and I wasn’t going to go get anyone to help me. I certainly wasn’t going to ask Cece to do it. She wasn’t thinking about the barn or the horses. It was the first time I had seen her like this, but it was my fault and I felt guilty about it. Damn, I had not wanted to do that. I had not wanted to be the one to have to tell her.
The worst part was the sadness. I had hoped for anger. I had been amused and dumbfounded more than anything. Barb was a nice girl, pretty and willing to please, but there was no comparison in my eyes. There was never going to be any way that I would understand Cliff’s decision.
But I didn’t have to really worry about it. All I had to do was fix the barn and get the horses in. The rest was just going to have to play out itself. I would see her in the morning and hopefully it would all be taken care of.
It took a little while to finish up and get all of the horses in. It was far past midnight when I started towards the house. I heard yelling as I got closer and walked into a scene. Cliff was down at his truck and Cece was throwing things out of the window. Neither one of them saw me and I would have liked to have kept it that way. It looked like she had locked him out cause he tried the door and was handling it quite well on her own. I had seen Cecelia mad before, but I had never seen her quite this mad.
“Hey man, will you please talk to this chick? She has lost her mind and won’t let me come in.”
I was almost to the hand house and I wished more than anything that I had been unseen until I got there. I wanted to slip in and never have to speak of this again to anyone else.
“No Cliff, you are on your own.”
“Is that you Dante?”
She was calling down to me from her bedroom window and I was still in the shadows. I didn’t want to speak to either one of them, but I moved out into the moonlight so that she could see me.
“Yeah Cece, just got back from the barn. The horses are in and I am going to bed. Do you need anything?”
I left it open so that she could take it anyway that she wanted to. I was willing to grind the man’s face into the gravel if she so chose, but Cece was not that way. She didn’t need a man to pick up the pieces for her.
“No, I am good. Cliff was just leaving.”
She slammed the top window shut and after an awkward moment of silence I started to walk away. I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of any of that. I just didn’t. Cliff didn’t say anything else, just picked up the clothes strewn on the driveway and I made my way to bed. It had been an eventful day, one that I hadn’t seen coming. I wanted them to break up, that was the plan all along, but I hadn’t wanted it to go like this. This was just messy.
***
Sunlight brought clarity and I started to think of the ugly scene last night as something that was a good thing. It took care of Cliff, something that I wanted done anyways. But I wasn’t sure how Cece was going to be this morning. She hadn’t taken it well.
When I got into the kitchen, there were several people already there and one of them was Barb. I could tell she looked like she was going to run off at any moment, but it didn’t look like Cece was paying her much attention. Alice was cooking breakfast for everyone and Cece was too worried about the schedule and a few things on her calendar that needed attending to even say hello. I was surprised to see Barb there after the way Cecelia took care of Cliff. I half-expected her to fire Barb as well. It looked like Barb was waiting for the same fate.
But it never happened. Everyone had breakfast and Cece gave everyone their jobs for the day. Barb was one of the last to leave the kitchen, but I could tell that she was dying inside a little bit. When she finally left Cece had a smile on her face and I knew that it was because she was messing with the young girl. Better yet, it appeared that Cece had enjoyed it.
“I can’t believe you haven’t fired her yet.”
Cece shrugged. “Why should I? I need her and she did me a favor with Cliff. It is good to know the truth, you know?”
She was being far better about it than I was. There was no way that I would have been so cool about it. I didn’t think I would be able to see her every day after that. I don’t know why I didn’t really care, maybe I should, but I just didn’t. I never wanted her in that way. Barb was never permanent. It worried me that Cece had so much anger because to me it meant that she cared about Cliff more than I liked to think about. But how she was handling Barb was vastly different. Why was that?
“I guess, but man that is one hell of a reminder walking around every day.”
“You know Dante, I didn’t even think about it. Do you want me to fire her? Does it bother you that she is still around? I mean, you were the one that walked in on it and all. I will get rid of her if you want. I would rather lose Barb then you.”
I knew that it must have been hard for her to say such a thing, but I am glad that it was an option. “I don’t really care to be honest. It was never like I had much to do with her outside of a few brief moments a couple of times a week.”
Her face got a little red and I wasn’t sure from what. “Oh, well okay. Then it is settled. She will stay on at least until I find some more workers. I am still about two short, but we are going to be okay for now.”
“So what is on the agenda today?”
“The vet is coming down and doing shots and vaccinations. If you could oversee that, I would appreciate it. I want to make sure they are all ready for duty if need be. I am already getting a few calls from some networking that I did at the rodeo. At least that trip wasn’t a complete waste of time, although Cliff sure turned out to be that very thing.”
It was still too soon to put my opinion in. She was taking it well I thought and I didn’t want to say anything to change it. I had seen him for what he was as soon as I met him, but she had to learn on her own. As long as I didn’t see that sadness in her face again, I think I would be okay. We would get past this and hopefully this time it would make us grow closer.
“Anything else?”
“No Dante, that’s it. But thank you. I know that telling me must have been hard and I could tell you didn’t want to. It would have been worse if you would have gloated, but thank you for not. I don’t know if I would have been able to handle that so well. I know I made a mistake, so thanks for not saying, ‘I told you so.’”
I just shook my head like I understood. I almost had, but it would have done me no good to kick her while she was down. It was clear that she was bothered by the way everything turned out, but at the same time, it was also clear that she had really liked Cliff. It was going to take her time to move on from him, but at least now I had a chance. Maybe she would finally see that I am not like those other people. I was here for the long run with her. No matter how it went with others, if I ever had Cece in my arms, I was never going to let her go.
I left her in the kitchen and set about getting the horses pulled out that were getting shots today. Not all of them needed some and after I found the immunization folder, I made sure I had them all out and there before the vet got there. The old crotchety man was never the nicest guy to deal with, but it had to be done.
I wasn’t prepared for the cute little vet tech that came by instead. It was old Dr. Johnson anymore and it caught me off guard. Lisa was the new vet tech that was going to help the old doctor out and I had to admit that if she worked with me, she would be an easy mark. The problem was that I was changing and the old me always got me in trouble. It was not okay for me to flirt with her or what my body naturally wanted to do. I found that I wanted to keep my distance so that I would have a chance with Cece. Even though my body needed something more, I was going to wait as long as I could. I had to, for my own sanity.
So against all instinct, I ignored the doe-eyed look of Lisa and made it through the whole afternoon without getting myself in trouble. It was hard because I wasn’t used to denying myself, but it was worth it if it meant that I could have her soon. There was too much banking on the fact that she would be ready to move forward with another man. What if Cliff was the final straw for her and he had ruined it for everyone else? I had to push her to decide that she needed to move on and that moving on was with me.
That evening I ate dinner in the ranch house and I even stayed after to help her out with the dishes.
“Lisa was adorable. How old was she?”
“I don’t know. She was pretty young. Just got out of college from what I gathered.”
“I thought you would know more about her. You must be slipping.”
“She is too young. I am retired from that.”
“When did that happen?”
“I don’t know, I guess my priorities have changed.”
“Mine too. I don’t think I am going to worry about men anymore for a while. No offense, but you guys are nothing but trouble.”
“Not all of us Cece. You can’t hate us all because of one idiot.”
