Chapter 15 Diamond
fifteen
Diamond
Darkness has fallen, and most of the ropers have left for the day, but Rhett said he and Alec would be there for a while yet. My Jeep beeps with the lock button, and the door of the building door swings open as I approach.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here!” I shout as I pick up my pace and run to my best friend.
Levi hugs me tight with a laugh. “Well, I am a team roper. I was helping some. Hunter had to leave, and it seemed like the right thing to do. I know I don’t have his skill, but some of the ropers here are just teenagers.”
“You’re a champion to me.”
Levi blushes and shakes his head.
“You’re here to see Rhett, I take it? How’s that going, anyway?”
“Well…I have no idea.” With a huff, I walk back towards the vehicles with Levi.
“He said he wanted to keep things casual and that he was too much of a mess. I agreed because… hello…the man is too damn fine not to just take what he gives. Anyway, we’ve been chatting some and last week he asked me to look at a house for him. ”
“The house he just bought?”
“Yeah, he was out of town and needed someone to go ASAP, and he trusted me. Said he could be sure of my vision. I went, and today he brought me roses, Levi. A motherfucking huge bouquet to say thank you. But the best part of that? He put a little note card inside. It was a get-well-soon card, and he signed it, ‘Love, Rhett.’”
I’m not gonna tell him the part where I sighed and crushed it close to my chest. He was being sweet and wanted to show thanks. I’m certain he didn’t realize the magnitude of it, but a guy can hope.
“Roses? Really? Does he know they’re your favourite?”
“He does. I told him. He guessed on the white.”
Levi whistles. “Doesn’t sound very casual to me.”
“Ugh, I know. I just…I don’t want to push him, but there’s something there, Levi. The way he looks at me, and how he didn’t even bat an eye when he saw my scar, and knows Dad lives with me. He’s just…god, he’s so fucking perfect, and I’m fucked.”
Levi laughs softly and bumps me with his shoulder.
“Fucked good or fucked bad?”
“Both, to be honest.”
We both laugh at my honesty, but it quickly fades.
“I see. That’s definitely a conundrum.”
It’s something all right.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Levi. We should catch up. But he asked to see me tonight and, well, here I am.” I spread out my arms and twirl in the spot. Levi laughs as he reaches for me.
“If you need me, you call, okay?” He hugs me hard before turning to his car. “Anytime, Dee. You know I’ll be there.”
“I know. Thanks, Levi.”
After watching him get in his car, I enter the facility in search of Rhett.
I don’t know what he had in mind when he asked to see me, but I sure as fuck wasn’t about to say no.
I’ve already resigned myself to accepting whatever it is he has to give and going with it.
I’ll nurse a broken heart later if I have to, but I won’t turn him away.
I find Rhett and Alec still inside the rodeo ring in deep discussion with a pile of rope between them.
“You boys doing okay there? Two handsome cowboys with a rope is how great movies start.”
Rhett’s smile when he sees me absolutely does not send the butterflies in my gut into a riot. When he bounces over the short gate and almost runs to me, it doesn’t squeeze my heart so hard it hurts, either.
“Hi.” His hand smooths down my arm. “You didn’t get to go home and change?”
“Should I have? I was already late, so I thought I’d come right over.” I peer around him at the scene he just left behind. “If you were planning a film, I wouldn’t mind watching.”
Rhett huffs a quiet laugh. “Nobody is watching anything… but I like where your mind went.”
Oh. Well, maybe showing up in barely there jean shorts and a tear-away shirt was the best plan after all.
A throat clears, and Alec steps closer. “Listen, sorry to disappoint with no movie, Diamond.” He chuckles as he pats my shoulder. “I’m going to head to the Airbnb and call my husband. I’ll see you in the morning, Rhett?”
“Absolutely. Thanks for coming, Alec. I’ll bring the coffee tomorrow.”
Alec wishes us a good night and leaves us.
“If you’re bringing the coffee, does that mean I get to see you first thing in the morning?”
I meant it as him visiting The Thirsty Cow for a takeout order, but Rhett licks his lips and swallows like he’s thinking of something else.
“Yeah,” he supplies with no clarity whatsoever on how he’ll see me in the morning. “Listen, I wanted to see you because I thought we could…” He laughs softly. “Promise me you won’t laugh.”
“Well, it depends. If it’s funny, I’m gonna laugh, Rhett.”
He runs a hand down his face, and his lips tilt in the smallest of smiles. “I want you to look at barn layouts with me.”
Of all the things that could have come out of this man’s mouth, that wasn’t one I was expecting.
“Um…like, online or are we driving to the farm supply store and looking at their models?”
“Oh, I didn’t think of that! Do you think the yard is still open for browsing?”
“They have cameras in the yard, so maybe?”
Rhett grabs my arm and pulls me towards the office. “Let’s get Tater and go look quick, just in case. Is that okay? I need to grab food anyway. Have you eaten?”
His sudden switch from quiet and reserved to man-on-a-mission has me struggling to catch up on his new information.
“You brought Tater with you?”
In the office sits a dog crate filled with a fluffy bed, toys, water, and a very excited Tater. Rhett bends down to release the latch, and she flies out, bouncing and licking his face. He murmurs to her and laughs before she scuttles over to me, tail wagging, and she rolls over for a belly rub.
“Oh, Tater, you must be so happy coming to work with your dad every day.”
“I enjoy having her here, too. When I’m not actively working with students, I’ll let her wander with me. She doesn’t take off after horses or anything. She listens, but I’d rather keep her safe if I’m distracted.”
He has to stop saying shit like that if he doesn’t want me dropping me to my knees. Rhett is far too good for this earth, and I wish I knew why he thinks he’s such a mess and not worthy of someone. So far, I’ve not seen anything bad.
“I’m sure she’d have lots of guardians watching over her if you were busy, but it’s smart to keep her safe.”
“She probably needs to pee, and then we can get going.”
Rhett’s excitement is contagious. I’m not really sure why I’m this excited to go look at model barns on a night when I’m not properly dressed, but something tells me Rhett will make it all feel completely normal, and I’ll be wondering why I’ve never done this before. Perhaps even hoping to again.
After Tater does her business, she hops in the truck and immediately sits in the passenger seat. I raise an eyebrow at her, then Rhett.
“Come on, girl, scooch over and don’t hog the seat.”
Tater immediately presses against his thigh with her head in his lap while I take what’s clearly her spot.
“I feel like the other woman here, taking her spot like this.”
Rhett’s laugh rumbles as we pull out of the parking lot. “She’s just happy to be here with us. Don’t worry about her being mad at you.”
He drives us towards the farm supply store that’s on the other side of town. With one hand on the wheel and the other on Tater’s head, scratching her ears, a contented smile plays on his lips. He’s even more handsome like this than when he was naked and moaning underneath me.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said.” Rhett breaks the silence with a glance my way. “In the video about a barn for Wilbur.”
“Oh? Is that why we’re heading out at 10 P.M. to look at barns on property that may or may not be locked up?”
“Yeah, I want to do it before winter, and I have to get things decided quickly. I thought… well, I want your opinion. You have a vision, and I liked how you sounded when you talked about it.”
“And how did I sound?”
Rhett takes a moment to signal before turning into the lot with model barns and sheds.
Once he stops and parks, he turns to me.
“Like a man who’s invested in the outcome.
Who wanted the best for my horse.” He opens his mouth to say more, then closes it before trying again.
“Come on. Let’s see if we can get a look anywhere. ”
He cracks the window and tells Tater to stay in the truck while we walk into the dark yard.
Posted signs warn us that the area is under video surveillance, but I was still expecting the gate to be locked.
Perhaps it’s normal to have people just drive in here at all times to look at pre-made buildings.
Cowboys and farmers aren’t exactly on nine-to-five schedules, so I guess it makes sense.
“This one is nice,” he says.
It’s a smallish barn with a sloped roof and more like a lean-to than a barn.
“You said you grew up in Northern Manitoba, didn’t you?” Rhett nods. “The snow might drift in here too much. You need more shelter out front than the trees provide.”
“Good point. Which one appeals to you?” he asks as we stroll down the dark lane.
I almost say whatever one he likes, except he asked me here, not as a romantic getaway that only farmers might enjoy, but because he values my opinion.
He wants to listen and hear me about something as trivial as a barn for his horse.
Which isn’t trivial to him at all. If I’m being honest, it’s not trivial to me either.
“Dee?”
I’ve stopped walking. Lost in my thoughts over this man who has me tied up in knots worse than whatever he and Alec were working on.
“Sorry, was just thinking.” My boots crunch on the gravel to catch up to him. “Maybe a single entrance that you could build a windbreak around if needed, and the building closed in. No windows, they just break, but you could have those vents at the top, the ones that spin?”
Rhett nods as he looks down the row. “I think I see one over there.”