by Amanda Renee
“That brings me to why I’m here. I think I have a way to begin changing people’s minds about him. I hope you’ll hear me out before you disagree.”
Chelsea outlined the at-risk youth program and where Drew saw Ryder fitting in. “I don’t want this to be a hardship for you, which is why I brought it to you first. If you can’t afford to pay him, even with the tax write-off, I’ll cover his salary for whatever hours he’s not here. As long as you don’t tell Ryder.”
Tori shook her head. “Lying or hiding something from Ryder is never an option. He values honesty above all else. The truth always comes out and that might end any relationship you have with him, to say nothing of what it would do to my relationship with him.”
Chelsea hadn’t looked at it that way. “Fair enough.”
“I like the idea of the program and I think he would do well working with at-risk children, but I doubt he’ll do it.”
“Why? This is a terrific opportunity for him.”
“It is,” Tori agreed. “But he’s honor bound to Free Rein.”
The nagging feeling that had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach reared its ugly head. “To Free Rein or to you?”
Tori’s nostrils flared. “I am Free Rein.”
Chelsea sat down at the chess table near the window to collect herself. Tori wasn’t the enemy. There was no reason to give her the third degree. She lifted a translucent white pawn, rolling the cool onyx between her fingertips before setting it down two spaces forward. “You’ve told me how much you want him to succeed, so why don’t you want him to volunteer at the Bloodworth Ranch?”
“I can’t afford to let him work elsewhere and still pay him. A tax write-off only does me good at tax time.” Tori joined her at the table, moving a black pawn of her own. “I need every dollar now for those animals. Your offer to cover his salary is generous, but he would never forgive either one of us, so I’d have to take the financial hit.”
Chelsea moved her knight to a free space. “Not if I make a monthly donation to the sanctuary.”
“I’m just going to come right out and ask.” Tori moved her own knight. “If you’re financially capable of doing that, why haven’t you done so already? You’re supposed to be my friend. You’ve been here every weekday to pick up your daughter for what...the last eight or nine months? You’ve seen how hard Nate and I struggle to keep the sanctuary running, but you’ve never volunteered your time or offered to sponsor one of our animals. Yet you have no problem volunteering when my brother asks or donating money for Ryder’s sake. I’m sorry, but your offer comes across a little disingenuous to me.”
Chelsea slid another pawn two spaces, and Tori immediately countered with her other knight. “You’re a hundred percent right. I said the same things to myself the other day. I’ve been so laser-focused on my job and Peyton, I didn’t see what you were going through.” She toyed with the bishop before settling him next to her pawn. “That’s why I volunteered. And that’s why I told Judd I was embarrassed for not offering sooner. The same goes for the money. Regardless of whether or not Ryder volunteers at the Bloodworth Ranch, I will make a monthly donation to Free Rein starting today.”
“Thank you.” Tori moved her bishop next to Chelsea’s. “Check.”
“Crap, I didn’t see that coming.” She bumped her queen over two spaces.
“I can’t risk losing Ryder to the Bloodworth Ranch.” Tori claimed her pawn with a knight. “He runs a solid program. Ryder would make more money over there although he doesn’t offer the parolees a place to live.”
Chelsea nudged a pawn forward, poised to claim Tori’s bishop. “Drew doesn’t have room for another full-time parolee. I thought maybe you’d know that considering you were the one who told Ryder Free Rein was the only job available. I realize Whitefish isn’t Saddle Ridge, but the 45-minute drive is nothing.”
“Ryder wanted to be near his family.” Sacrificing the bishop, Tori moved the pawn protecting her queen forward two.
“He still could have been.” Chelsea removed the bishop from the table, which in turn caused Tori to claim hers. “Double crap!” She moved her queen back to its original position. “I know rents are higher in Whitefish, but he could have worked there and lived in your bunkhouse until he could afford to move.”
“Why are we discussing this?” Tori’s knight retreated. “You just said Drew doesn’t have room for another full-time employee.”
“No, but you knew about his parolee program and he would have hired him if there had been an opening.” She slid her remaining bishop across the table.
“I needed him here.” She nudged her queen one space. “He’s the only one who would work for what I’m paying.”
“The other day you said you felt guilty...is that why?” Chelsea jumped her knight. “You told me no one else would hire him. But how hard did you look?”
Tori shifted in her chair and pushed her queen forward, knocking one of Chelsea’s pawns over. “I didn’t look outside Saddle Ridge. Never said otherwise.”
True, she hadn’t, but for someone who’d said she’d felt incredibly guilty she couldn’t pay him more, it baffled Chelsea that Tori hadn’t expanded her search area or at the very least contacted the Bloodworth Ranch. “Was it because you needed him here or because you wanted him here?” Chelsea claimed one queen with the other.
Tori blew out a long slow breath and studied the board. “Because he belongs here.” Tori leaned forward and picked up her black horse. “Your inquisition is starting to tick me off, so I’ll only explain this once.” She struck Chelsea’s queen and claimed the space.
“I’m not trying to imply that you and Ryder are together.” Chelsea advanced her knight.
Tori’s left eye twitched, setting her king on the run. “No, but I’m getting a definite vibe that you believe there’s something going on here.”
I’d bet money on it. Chelsea bumped her own king forward one. “Is there? Whatever it is, you can trust me. Heck, pay me a dollar and then you’ll have attorney-client privilege.”
“There’s nothing to hide.” Tori’s black knight slid in front of her king.
Chelsea hadn’t said there had been. “No?” She eliminated one onyx horse with another.
As if realizing what she’d said, Tori quickly continued. “Having Ryder work here means I can send him into town during the day and people will have a chance to interact with him. Maybe they’ll even remember the person he was before this happened.” Tori took out Chelsea’s knight with the pawn she had planned to capture next. “I had hoped he’d run into his brothers and those chance meetings would help bridge the distance between them. After Saturday night I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
Chelsea positioned her rook, ready to end the game. “That fight made it all the way to one of the senior partners.”
“What happened?” Tori blocked her with a pawn.
“Just a good dressing-down. He warned me about Ryder last week and again today.”
Tori’s eyes widened. “They can’t tell you who you can date.”
“No, but I was warned that any relationship with him would have consequences, starting with the clients I lost because they saw me dancing with Ryder.” Chelsea overtook the pawn.
“I’m sorry.” Tori sent another one forward. “I never imagined this would trickle down to you.”
“I see bad things happen to good people all the time in the courtroom.” Chelsea moved her rook forward another two squares. “Check. You’d think I’d be used to it. I may not know Ryder that well, but I can see something inherently good inside him. That’s why I’d like to see him volunteer at the Bloodworth Ranch. Working for you is a great start, but that doesn’t carry as much weight as him volunteering at a place he has absolutely zero connection to.”
“Okay, but is there any way you can arrange for him to volunteer on the weekends and not during
the week? At least then I have people here to help cover his absence.” Tori moved her pawn, leaving her king wide open.
“I’ll talk to Drew, but I think that’s what he had in mind.” Chelsea smiled, loving the taste of victory. “You just hung your king.”
“What?” Tori stared at the table. “Did you call check?”
“Sure did.” She nudged the black king off the board with her rook. “Your mind was clearly elsewhere.”
“I guess so.” Tori tugged the cord of the blinds and raised them, giving them a better view of Ryder. He had removed the lunge line from Cactus and stood in the center of the pen as the horse cautiously approached. He didn’t reach for him or call his name. Instead, he remained quiet and still, allowing Cactus to decide if he wanted more from Ryder and not the other way around.
“Trust me when I say, you’ll never find a better man.”
Chelsea believed Tori, despite the nagging voice telling her there was more to his story. She trusted Ryder. If she’d been her own client, she’d warn herself the same way Stephen had. “Then help me convince him to volunteer at the Bloodworth Ranch.”
“Okay.” Tori wrung her hands. “You first. I need to check on our new horses. I’ll take the girls in the truck. Let me know what he says.”
“Before you go—” Chelsea ran into the kitchen and retrieved her bag from the breakfast bar. “Let me give you this first.” She removed her checkbook and wrote out two amounts. “This one is my first monthly donation to the sanctuary.” She handed the check to Tori.
“You just made a donation the other night.”
“That was a special circumstance. This is what I promise to donate every month.”
“Thank you.” Tori folded the check in half and tucked it in her pocket as Chelsea finished writing out the second one.
“And this one is for babysitting Peyton every day.”
“No, no, no.” Tori walked away from her. “Absolutely not. Our kids are best friends. I refuse to make money off that. We discussed this the last time you offered to pay me.”
“I don’t care.” Chelsea thrust the check at her. “Friendship aside, you’re providing a service and deserve to get paid. I should have insisted months ago. You either take it or I’ll find some other way to give you the money and you won’t realize it came from me.”
“Fine.” Tori snatched it from her hands.
“Fine.” Chelsea capped her pen and tossed it in her bag. “Friends?”
“Always.” They both laughed. “Now go get your man. He’s been sulking since Saturday night. I think he misses you.”
“Yeah?” Chelsea slung her bag over her shoulder. “Then he should have returned my call yesterday.”
“Uh-oh.” Tori giggled. “You know how men are...stubborn as those donkeys out there, which you’re now the proud sponsor of.”
“I am?”
“I’ve been looking for a monthly sponsor for Jam Jam and Marmalade.” Tori pointed to the pasture next to the round pen. “They’re the smaller mother and daughter donkeys that are always together. I can’t think of a better sponsor for them than you and Peyton.”
“Jam Jam and Marmalade. I love that. They’re perfect.” She gave her friend a hug. “Thank you. Let’s go tell Peyton.”
“Nope.” Tori spun her around and steered her to the back door of the great room. “You can tell her later.” She swung the door wide and gave her a little shove through it. “Go get your man.”
“He’s not my man.” Chelsea tried to grip the door frame, but Tori pried her fingers loose. “I’m doing this to help rebuild his reputation.”
“No, you’re doing this so it will be socially acceptable for you to date him. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Now go.”
Tori was wrong. Half wrong, anyway. She really did want to see Ryder happy and accepted by his family along with the rest of Saddle Ridge. She also wanted to be the one standing next to him when it happened.
So what if it hadn’t even been a week and she’d already put her reputation on the line for the cowboy? Her father always told her she had to “risk it to get the biscuit.” She just prayed Ryder wasn’t more of a gamble than she could handle.
Chapter 6
“Are you avoiding me?” Chelsea called from the fence rail.
“Not at all.” Ryder had been painfully aware of Chelsea the moment her Impala turned off the main road. “Just giving you some space.”
Cactus nudged his shirt pocket, determined to get the cookie Ryder had hidden there earlier.
“Funny, I don’t remember asking you for it. If you’re mad at me for leaving the dance without saying goodbye, I called Tori yesterday to get your number, so I could explain. I left you a voice message, but I never heard back.”
“No explanation necessary. I understood why you left. Peyton should never have seen that fight. Missy shouldn’t have either.”
“That wasn’t a fight. He cold-cocked you without provocation.”
Ryder fished the cookie out of his pocket and gave it to Cactus. “My presence was enough to provoke him.” The mustang nudged his shirt again as Ryder stroked his muzzle. “That’s all the cookies I have.” Cactus snorted, then walked away. It was progress. Each day the horse learned to trust him a little more. Eventually he’d win over his affection without the promise of food. After he completed training, Ryder would be hard-pressed to let him go. He’d make a great horse for whoever adopted him.
He opened the back gate of the round pen and released Cactus into the pasture to graze, needing the extra minute or two before he gave Chelsea his full attention. The push-pull war that raged inside him increased every time he saw her. He latched the gate and steeled his nerves as he turned around. There she stood, the low, late-afternoon sun silhouetting her features. Even though her eyes were in shadow, he still easily envisioned every fleck of blue and black within their depths. His boots grew heavier with each step. He hadn’t counted on her watching him cross the sixty-foot sand-covered expanse that separated them. And it was crazy for him to think she wouldn’t.
He gripped the top fence rail, his fingers inches from hers as he climbed over it until they were standing face-to-face. He tried his damnedest not to stare at the lush, full lips he’d been dying to kiss since they’d met, but it was too late. Chelsea needed to leave. To run and never waste another second thinking of him. Lifting his gaze to hers, he watched her pupils dilate with the sudden realization of his desire.
“You should go.” Sending her away hurt almost as much as having her near. “I know you came here to talk about what happened, but I’m not going to. That’s another reason I didn’t return your call yesterday. Forget about the other night. All of it. I had no business asking you out or dancing with you. And don’t blame Wes either.”
“How can you brush off what your brother did?” Anger flashed in her eyes and a small part of Ryder reveled in the fact she felt the need to defend him.
“Because I should’ve visited my family before going out in public. I knew I might run into my brothers at the dance. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened in town already. Thank God my nieces and nephews weren’t there to see it. Your daughter should never have seen it either. I went there for purely selfish reasons and it bit me in the ass. Hard.”
“What reasons?”
You. Only you. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It matters to me.”
“Why? You don’t know me, Chelsea. This is what...the fifth time we’ve talked? We haven’t gone out on a date, we haven’t kissed, although Lord knows I’ve been tempted. But you and I can never be together. I have too much to straighten out in my life first.”
Chelsea’s brows rose as she stared at him. “You arrogant, self-righteous, son of—” She clenched her fists and stormed away from him, before stopping short and squaring off to face him once again. “How dare you think I’m hunting yo
u down like a lovesick puppy. I came here to help you.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Really? Because the last I checked it wasn’t normal for one sibling to go around punching the other...in public no less.”
“You won’t leave until I hear you out, will you?” Ryder hated the tone of the words coming out of his mouth, but Chelsea’s anger was better than her love, or any remote form of it. “Fine, tell me what you think I need.”
Her high-heeled foot tapped wildly on the ground and he wondered what she looked like stripped down...barefoot and barefaced, wearing only a plain T-shirt and an old pair of jeans. Made-up Chelsea excited him, but raw Chelsea intrigued him more.
“I don’t know if I should even tell you now.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“If you think I’m going to beg you, I hope you brought something warm to wear because we’re in for a long, cold winter.”
Chelsea’s eyes narrowed, and for a brief second, she looked like she might spit nails. And then she smiled. “It won’t work.” She waggled her finger at him. “I see what you’re trying to do.”
Shit! He wanted to argue with her. He wanted her to run away and think the worst of him. But she wouldn’t. She had more stick-to-itiveness than he’d given her credit for. “Fine, I’m listening.”
“Have you ever heard of the Bloodworth Ranch?”
“No, can’t say I have. Where are they located?”
“In Whitefish. The owner, Drew Kent, runs an at-risk youth program where they match parolees with troubled kids, so they can learn from not only their experiences but learn a trade as well. He could use someone to teach the kids the basics of horse training. The idea is to interest them in pursuing a career instead of looking for trouble.”
“It sounds like a good opportunity for someone. But why are you telling me? I already have a job.” Starting over in Whitefish might have been a possibility weeks ago. He’d still be close enough to visit family—well, Harlan—and he’d probably be able to walk around without people hating him. “I’m committed to Tori and Nate. I’m sure they are already taking heat for hiring me.”
