Hoyt nodded, thinking for a moment. “I just don’t understand how Bran has let something like that go on. He’s not a dumb guy, and except for that, his financials on the business look solid.”
Hoyt had graduated with an MBA from the University of Texas and was a star in his commodities brokerage in Houston. If he said Bran was a good businessman, then it was nothing but the truth.
“I think he’s doing a decent job with the business part, but I think he’s missing the human element,” she responded. “Since I started doing these interviews with the hands on the ranch, I can’t help but notice that he doesn’t seem very engaged with them. He doesn’t know anything about them personally, and he’s so set in doing things a certain way that he’s not willing to get feedback from them.”
“Sounds like you’re pretty invested in all this,” Hoyt observed, his brow knitted slightly.
Ava braced herself for what was coming next, but she had to come clean because she didn’t want to be the reason Hoyt said “no” to Bran. Bran wasn’t perfect, but he loved that ranch and the land it sat on, he deserved to make the expansions he wanted, and Ava felt confident that if she could find out where the missing money was going, it would be a good investment for Hoyt.
“I need this article to get a job,” she admitted. “It has to be a premier modern culture piece, but there’s something else you should know.”
Hoyt sat up a little straighter. “Ok, let’s hear it.”
“Bran and I have been…” Hell, she hadn’t really thought this through. How did you tell your big brother you were fooling around with his childhood bestie? “Um…”
“Shit,” Hoyt rolled his eyes. “You still have that crush on him?”
Ava’s eyes widened in shock. “Crush?”
“Oh please, midget. Like we couldn’t all tell you had it bad for him? Mom and Dad and I used to make jokes about it. Bran would come to the house, and suddenly you turned from a scrawny tomboy to this moody teen hanging around where you could see us all day, trying to act cool…wearing cut-offs that were too short.” He laughed, and she picked up a throw pillow and smacked him with it—hard.
“I can’t believe you. You’re such a jerk, Hoyt.”
He just laughed harder, then gave her a noogie and handed her his wine glass so she could polish off his, too.
“But you’re telling me it’s gone beyond a crush now, right?” He got serious again, and Ava’s pulse kicked up a notch. When she’d told Hoyt that she was dating Nathan, he’d shown up the next weekend, crashed on her sofa, and been there to interrogate her new boyfriend before they went out for a date. He’d done it Hoyt style—with a smile on his face and all the charm in the world—but she’d known if Nathan didn’t pass muster, Hoyt would intervene.
“It may have…”
“Hey, midget?”
She picked at the hem of her t-shirt. “Yeah?”
“Does he treat you right?”
She sighed. “He’s not sure we should get involved. I’m his employee, I’m your sister, he’s asking you to invest. And those are good points.”
“But…”
“But, it’s the best I’ve felt since Nathan, and I really need something that feels good, you know?”
Hoyt settled back and put his arm around her, pulling her into his big, warm chest. Older brothers had a way of making a girl feel so safe and loved.
“You deserve something good,” he said softly. “I haven’t told you enough, but I am so damn proud of the way you’ve handled things since Nathan passed away.”
She snorted softly. “You mean like losing my job and having to move back in with Mom and Dad.”
“Ava,” he chastised. “Your boss was an ass, and you were doing the most important thing you could—taking care of yours and Nathan’s son. There’s nothing—not money or career or prestige—that’s more important than Cam. I know you’re always keeping him first, even when your own heart’s breaking. You’re a hell of a mother, and an amazing woman.”
A tear ran down her cheek, and she burrowed into Hoyt’s side.
“There were some days I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get out of bed,” she admitted in a small voice.
His arm squeezed her gently closer for a moment. “I know, and I should have been there more for you. I’m sorry. Sorry that I let my own job and life get in the way of you, because you’re more important than money and all that other stuff, too.”
She cried a little more, and Hoyt just held her, stroking her hair like he used to when they were little and she’d skinned her knee or gotten in trouble with their mom. After a few minutes, he put a finger under her chin and tipped her face up so he could look her in the eye.
“If Bran is good to you, and it’s what you want, then it’s what I want for you.”
“If he’s even interested, it’s just for now—I have to move back to Dallas to get my career back on track.”
“For a while, then, or whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “All I’m saying is, if he’s making you happy, then I’m happy. It doesn’t affect me investing in the ranch.” He gave a sudden grin. “I’m not going to hunt him down and beat the crap out of him—unless he breaks your heart.” His smile widened to show too many teeth and too much anticipation.
“No hearts involved,” she scolded. “But fun, and maybe even a good friend when I haven’t had one in a while.”
“What are you two doing in here?” Pat asked as she came into the room and started adjusting curtains and flipping on lights to make up for the fading sunlight.
“Just having a little sibling powwow,” Hoyt said, shoving Ava’s face into the sofa pillows. She responded with a muffled scream and thrashed around.
“Hoyt, stop tormenting your sister,” Pat instructed while she continued to flit around the room, straightening up anything that wasn’t already perfect and flicking at imaginary specks of dust. “And both of you come help with dinner. We’re eating in thirty minutes.”
Hoyt hauled Ava off the sofa, and they dutifully followed their mother as if they were still little children. Some things never changed, and that was fine, because other things were changing faster than Ava could keep up.
12
The biggest cattle auction of the year was held in Fort Worth and lasted two full days. Ranchers came from all over the state, and many brought family along to see the sights, do some shopping, and eat out at one of the dozens of high-end restaurants that served beef the ranchers produced.
Bran had always viewed the Superior Livestock Auction as an important business convention, a chance to meet up with fellow ranchers in a less-formal environment, forge connections, listen to the state of the industry. He’d always dragged Rick and a couple of other ranch hands along—sometimes substituting Hunter for one of the guys—and spent the majority of his time in the hotel lobby bar conducting business.
While he’d never thought of the event as a vacation, Bran found himself wanting to do the auction differently this year. He suddenly thought of all those other ranchers who had wives, girlfriends, and family along for the weekend, the trips to waterparks, the wine tastings, all the places he’d never gone and things he’d never done.
And so, five days after listening to Hunter tell him he needed to tear down the walls in his life, Bran told Rick not to come along to the auction after all. Then he went looking for Ava.
He found her in the infirmary, baby bottle in one hand, the other arm wrapped around the neck of a calf as she fed it. The sight did things to his chest—it grew tight and warm, all at the same time. Her blonde hair draped over one shoulder, and he could see her profile. Straight, perfectly proportioned nose, silky lashes, stubborn chin.
“This the one the mama rejected?” he asked as he approached.
“Yeah,” Ava said, kissing the side of the calf’s head. “He’s such a sweet boy, his mother doesn’t deserve the title. Carlos said she took one sniff and just walked away.”
Bran knelt next to Ava and smiled as he watched the cal
f gulp the formula from the bottle. “Some of the mothers are like that. No one really knows what causes them to do it, but it’s like they just don’t have the maternal instinct.”
Ava tipped the bottle up further to help the calf get the last swallows out. “There are humans like that, too,” she said, at last pulling the bottle away before the calf could tear the nipple. “We just have social pressures that keep them from being quite so obvious.”
Just then, a little voice rang out from the far end of the barn. “Moooom!”
“Speaking of moms,” Bran said, smiling as he helped Ava stand.
“I’m right here, Cam,” she called, leaning out of the stall so the little boy could see her. “Did Grandma just drop you off?
“Yes! Can I see the baby cow now?” he yelled as he ran down the aisle.
“You sure can,” Bran answered. “Get in here.”
He grabbed Cam before the kid could reach the stall and swung him up in the air, making airplane noises. Cam squealed in delight, and then Bran landed him in the stall, right in front of the calf. The calf was at eye level with the kid, and before Cam could say a word, the calf stuck out a long pink tongue and licked upward along the side of Cam’s face. Cam giggled like a maniac.
“So,” Bran said smiling. “You think you could watch the baby for us while I talk to your mom about some work things?”
Cam’s eyes got wide, and he nodded, trying to look very serious all the while vibrating with excitement.
“You remember, no trying to ride him, and no pulling on his tail or his ears, right? He likes to have his face rubbed, and he’ll suck on your fingers to make you laugh.”
“Yes, sir,” Cam said.
“Good job. Your mom and I will be right outside the doors here.”
He led Ava out, putting his hat back on to keep the late afternoon sun out of his eyes.
“So, what’s up?” she asked, her gaze skeptical at best.
He deserved it—the skepticism. Since the day he’d torn her clothes off in the barn attic, then gone and said he should feel guilty about it, she’d pretty much ignored him. He deserved that, too.
But things were going to be different now. He was going to be different now. He was going to take his brother’s advice, stop making excuses, and go after what he wanted. He wanted Ava, no question. Now he just had to convince her to want him back.
* * *
Ava stood outside the barn, watching Bran. Her heart beat faster whenever he was near, and that was driving her nuts because Bran hadn’t indicated he had any more interest in them at all since he’d taken her against the wall of his barn attic and disrupted her already chaotic life even further.
“I, uh, I want to apologize,” he said, looking down at her from under the brim of his Stetson.
She crossed her arms, and if she looked defensive, well dammit, it was because she had to be. She’d told Hoyt that hearts weren’t involved, and she needed to make sure it stayed that way.
“For what?” she asked.
“For everything that happened last week when we were cleaning out the barn apartment.”
Great, as if his comments about guilt hadn’t been bad enough at the time, now she had to listen to it all again.
“I don’t want your apologies, Bran. Let’s just forget about it.” She started to move toward the barn door, but he lightly clasped her elbow.
“A? I’m trying to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry I acted like what we did was wrong. It wasn’t. It was…” He paused, and she watched him warily, heart still beating too fast.
“You’re amazing,” he told her, stepping closer, his hand transitioning from holding her arm to stroking it. “And I’ve been so caught up in looking for reasons I shouldn’t be with you that I neglected to mention I really want to be with you.” He gave her a crooked little grin, and her heart flipped over in her chest like a dog asking to have its belly rubbed.
“What about you being my boss?” she asked because she didn’t trust this. She wasn’t sure she trusted him.
“I’m only your boss temporarily. And really, I’m hardly your boss. You’re doing a story to submit to the paper in Dallas. I’m just giving you an excuse so you can hang around here and put it together.”
“And what about me being Hoyt’s sister?” She tried not to notice the little circles he was drawing on her wrist with his thumb, or the way his blue-eyed gaze followed the line of her neck and fixed on her mouth.
He stepped closer. “I haven’t even seen Hoyt in a year or more, and you’re all grown up. Only you can decide who you get involved with.”
She stopped herself from leaning right in to take a big whiff of his citrusy aftershave. Good Lord. She needed a backbone.
“So all the problems have suddenly gone away?”
He knitted his brows, managing to look sexy and perplexed all at the same time. “I guess not?”
Ava rolled her eyes. “What about the article I’m writing, and the fact you won’t listen to what your hands want?”
“Ava,” he chastised.
“Fine. What about the fact I’m trying to move back to Dallas…or is this just going to be a fling?”
“I hadn’t thought quite that far…”
Of course he hadn’t.
“Ava?” he said sweetly, running a finger down her cheek. “You’re the one who’s pushed for this. Have you changed your mind?”
She sighed, turning her cheek into his palm. He might be the world’s most frustrating man, but she couldn’t help wanting him.
“I’m not sure what I want,” she finally admitted.
“Ok.” His voice was gentle as he leaned down and pressed his lips softly to hers. “So maybe we can just see what happens? Spend some time together?”
If he kept kissing her, she could definitely do that. “Got any particular ideas for how to spend time together?”
He grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
13
Ava looked around the enormous warehouse, abuzz with activity. Auction staff ran from place to place, papers in hand, gathering signatures, processing payments. In the main auction hall, the auctioneer was rattling off lots of livestock while bidders sat before computer screens looking over what was on offer, bidding via technology.
“Well, if it ain’t Sam Beckett’s boy,” an older man barked as he approached Ava and Bran.
“Hi there, Mr. Dawson, how are you?” Bran shook the other man’s hand and smiled.
“I’ve been wondering when I’d run into you. I called Rick to set up a coffee meeting, and he said he wasn’t coming this year.”
Ava felt a trickle of discomfort.
“I already knew what lots I was going after this year,” Bran answered casually. “So Rick didn’t need to make the trip. I brought along a friend who’s been doing some work for me, though. Ava, this is Kyle Dawson, an old friend of my father’s.”
Ava smiled politely and shook Mr. Dawson’s hand.
“Well,” Dawson said, “I can see why you’d want to bring along such a pretty little helper. I’ll tell you though, this trip was Rick’s favorite every year. He always really liked the chance to see his sister and her kids. I sure will miss them at my annual dinner at Del Frisco’s.”
Ava’s heart dropped. Del Frisco’s was one of the most expensive and famous steakhouses in Fort Worth. It appeared Bran had kept Rick from his favorite event of the year, from his sister, his nieces and nephews. And she was pretty damn sure Bran hadn’t known about any of it.
Bran slapped Mr. Dawson on the shoulder. “Well, I’m sorry I kept you and your buddy apart. I’ll make sure he’s here next year.”
Dawson smiled and nodded, then said his goodbyes.
“Do you want to go see how the auctioning works?” Bran asked Ava. “There’s a lot I’m interested in coming up in about fifteen minutes.”
Ava studied him, her own worst fears being confirmed. This was why all her interviews had gone the way they had, the employees saying that as much as they lov
ed life on a ranch, they weren’t sure whether the work was something they could keep doing. This was why the ranch hands had been so irritated when Bran had taken them off their regular assignments that day. This was why Bran’s rapport with his hands was nearly zero, and why he likely had an embezzler in the ranks.
Bran was tone deaf—about the ranch he loved and the people who worked there.
And Ava might be the only person who could help him fix it.
“Ok,” she said, her mind spinning with ways to help him figure out what was going wrong before it all imploded. “Show me the way.”
He led her to the auction auditorium, and a clerk set them up at a bidding station with a computer. Bran showed her how the bidding worked, then said there were two more lots to be auctioned off before it was time for the one he was interested in.
“So are all these people ranchers?” she asked, looking around the room at a mix of people in cowboy hats, baseball caps, and the occasional business suit with boots.
“Ranchers, foremen, some financial advisors,” he answered.
“Do you know that guy over there?” she asked, pointing subtly to a man with a long dark braid falling down his back, a gray Stetson, and ostrich skin cowboy boots.
“Nope, don’t think I’ve met him before.”
“Oh good, we can play my favorite game,” Ava said. “All you have to do is look at someone you don’t know and make up a story about them.”
Bran raised an eyebrow. “Uh…”
“Like this. I think that man with the braid is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, and the woman on his left is his sister that he hasn’t seen in a very long time.”
“And how exactly would you know he’s Sioux?” Bran asked skeptically.
“Because the Standing Rock tribe has a group of very active and vocal ranchers. They’ve been leaders in Native American ranching and farming.”
His eyes grew wider.
“And I’m guessing the woman next to him is his sister because they have the same nose and the same smile, and they’re around the same age. But they’re too formal with one another to be close, so there must have been some sort of break.”
Wrangling His Best Friend’s Sister: Beckett Brothers Book One Page 7
