Chapter 25
By Friday morning,the pain in my throat has lessened, and I can breathe through my nose again. I’m back at Steele Ranch after two days of rest, and the haze from all of the cold medication I’ve taken has worn off. I’m more lucid than I’ve been long before I got sick. Everything is clearer around me, my feelings sharper, and I’m more aware of every skip of my heartbeat and inflation of my lungs.
I’m wide awake when I never knew I had been dozing.
There’s only one woman who could be responsible for this sudden change, and I feel every flutter in my chest at the reminder of everything she did for me these past few days.
Johnny’s already waiting for me outside the guest house when I step out the door after my first day back. He unsurprisingly stuck true to his word earlier to pick me up for the reoccurring Friday night Peakside outing. It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve gone, but I’m antsy tonight. More than ready to use it as an excuse to see Poppy again.
Johnny’s hair still hasn’t been cut and moves freely in the breeze beneath his chocolate-brown cowboy hat. The grin lighting his face is infectious, and I give in to its pull, offering a slight one in reply. This guy is joy personified, and it’s too tiring to continue pretending I don’t enjoy his company. Even if it annoys me most of the time.
If he wants to try pushing his light through the cracks in my storm clouds, he can have it.
“You look better,” he notes, patting the hood of my rental car. I haven’t driven it in days but still can’t bring myself to return it just yet.
“Everything worked out just the way you wanted it to, then.” I give him a look that dares him to deny he wasn’t the one to call Poppy.
“I suppose you can call me Cupid from now on.”
“Not happening.”
After taking the porch steps two at a time, I set my booted feet on the dirt for the first time. Curling and uncurling my toes inside my socks, I try to get used to the new cowboy boots. The added weight is going to take some getting used to, but they’re not too bad. Never thought I’d say that.
I remind myself that it doesn’t matter how they feel because I’m only wearing them to keep from ruining another pair of my expensive shoes in the mud.
It’s not the entire truth.
“Don’t tell me you dressed up for me, Garry,” Johnny croons, kicking up one booted foot and crossing it over his ankle as he parks his ass over the hood of the car.
“Don’t sit on the car. Didn’t any of your million sisters ever teach you any manners?”
“They sure did, but that doesn’t mean I use them all the time.”
“What a shame.”
The jeans on my hips rub at the skin above my briefs when I walk toward him. There’s a new rip over my right thigh from when I snagged them while working on a loose fence wire this morning, and I’m itching to change out of them, not wanting to be seen in public with holes in my pants. However, I didn’t have a chance to wash my laundry while I was sick, and I have nothing other than suit pants left to wear.
I’ve learned quickly that Peakside isn’t a suit type of establishment.
With the sun shining over the ranch and the pink-and-orange-painted sky cloudless, it looks more like summer than spring. My boots hit a patch of freshly sprouted green grass, and I inhale the scent of Eliza’s flowers blowing over from the main house. Even birds chirp from the clusters of trees dividing the land, their song so unfamiliar to me. I don’t remember the last time I could hear birds sing from my penthouse in Toronto.
“You could always just say, ‘I missed you, Johnny, my best friend,’” he says.
“You want me to lie?”
“We both know it wouldn’t be a lie. Now, get in the car before we’re late and everyone puts a ban on you coming next time.”
“I’m surprised there isn’t already a ban on me joining,” I admit, not moving.
He stares at me as if I’m the biggest idiot he’s ever spoken to. I arch a brow and plant my hands on my hips, waiting for him to explain what I’ve done to deserve that look.
“You’re kiddin’, right?”
“I’m failing to see what’s so hard to believe.”
“Poppy told everyone you were coming. Dared ’em to argue with her on it.”
My lips part, a surprised breath slipping through them.
I haven’t spoken to her since she dropped me off this morning. She told me Beautifully Bold had a class this afternoon and that she had to get back to work after already missing a class that I wasn’t aware of. I didn’t put up a fight because regardless of my ridiculously selfish want to stay in bed with her for another day, I know what it’s like to love your work the way she does hers. It was stupid enough to allow her to take care of me when I was ill, but nowhere as close to as idiotic as my spilling the history of me and my father to her. Or sharing more about my mother than I ever intended to tell anyone here.
Poppy listened, though. Listened and offered soft words of comfort that hit me square in the chest. There wasn’t an ounce of judgment in her voice or body language. Just understanding.
Fuck.
“Don’t try to meddle again, Johnny. Mind your business,” I tell him despite the spark of hope in my chest that I squash like a bug.
He lifts his hands in front of him. “Hey, I’m not doing anything other than relaying information. With Brody still gone, I’ve been helping Anna with Sky. We’ve been chatting.”
“You’ve been gossiping,” I correct him.
“You call it gossiping, I call it hearty discussion.”
“There’s nothing to discuss regarding myself and Poppy.”
The lie tastes putrid, but I don’t allow myself to dwell on that reaction. Luckily, I’m saved from the remainder of this conversation when my phone rings in my back pocket. I answer it without glancing at the caller ID so I don’t risk losing the surprising burst of service.
“Yes?”
“How many times have I told you to answer with a simple hello,” Nathan chastises me.
“You should stop wasting your breath.”
“Yeah, probably. Anyway, I finally have an update on your order. Good God, man, where have you been living? The fucking middle of nowhere? The delivery company put a wait on it because they only go out that way once every two weeks.”
“Not surprising.”
“Finally got the call this morning, and they’ll be delivered tomorrow morning. That work?”
“I’ll make it work. But they better arrive early. Lunchtime, at the latest. How hard is it to deliver a washer and dryer? I don’t care how far they have to drive to do it. I’m the one paying for it.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and huff a breath, ignoring Johnny’s beady eyes as they burn holes into the side of my face.
“That’s what I said. Even offered to up the delivery fee, but they were adamant. It’s their loss,” Nathan says.
“Just try to let me know before they arrive, and I’ll make sure there’s someone to receive them.”
There’s a long, heavy pause before he asks, “You’re being careful, right? I haven’t asked who these are going to, but I know they’re not for you.”
I turn, giving Johnny my back. “I’ll be back in a month, Nathan. If that’s what you’re so concerned about.”
“Not everything is about work. I’m asking about you. What’s really going on over there? You haven’t asked me about work in days, and while I’m grateful you’re taking a break, I’m curious as to why. You’re distracted, and I don’t know if I buy that it’s just because you’re busy working on that ranch. There’s more. You’ve just spent five thousand dollars on a washer and dryer that are quite possibly better than the ones in your own penthouse. That’s not nothing.”
“I’ve spent more than that on useless things, and you’ve never paid those purchases any mind.”
He makes a noise in his throat that sounds more frustrated than annoyed. “That is not the same. This is a gift for a woman. I know it is, so don’t try denying it. And as not only your friend but also vice-president of your company, the same company that kicked you to Cherry Peak, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m warning you to watch your back. You were quick to demand Brody force his girlfriend to sign an NDA the first time he mentioned her. Have you kept the same standards for yourself?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend, Nathan. Drop it. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”
“Fuck, Garrison. At least tell public relations. Bring it up to them and have something drafted, even if you don’t ever use it.”
My head weighs a million pounds as I drop it back and stare at the sky that’s growing darker with every minute I waste arguing with Nathan.
“Leave it. And keep this between us. The last thing I need is this getting to the board while I’m not there to explain.” The threat is obvious in my tone, so I don’t waste my breath with more words.
“Fine. Goddammit, fine. But the moment this goes sideways, I’m pulling you out of there. You’ll have to take care of everything else yourself.”
“I’m more than capable of doing that. This is nothing,” I grind out.
It’s absolutely not nothing. Regardless of the lack of emotional relationship, I’m sleeping with Poppy, and that in itself requires some sort of fail-safe protection plan. I’ve never hesitated like this before to ensure I have nothing to worry about if things do get messy. I hate messy. Always have. But the idea of handing a file of legal documents over for her to sign and risking her feeling uncomfortable or believing I don’t trust her makes me feel sicker than the past few days have.
“I’ll take your word for it, then,” Nathan mutters.
“Great.”
Before I say something that I can’t take back, I hang up the call and shove my phone back into my pocket. Johnny’s still staring at me; I can feel it before I spin on my heel and meet his stare. He doesn’t bother looking away and pretending he hadn’t been listening either. As annoying as it is that he eavesdropped, I do respect his honesty. It’s a quality that’s far too rare.
“Poppy hasn’t mentioned her washer and dryer not working. One of us would have gone over and helped her with it if she had,” he says.
My first instinct is to tell him her well-being isn’t his concern. But it’s not mine either.
“They were beyond help. She needed new ones. I have the means to give them to her. End of story,” I tell him.
His eyes narrow at the corners. “Alright.”
“Don’t use that tone.”
“What tone?”
“The doubtful one. I don’t have it in me to fight this battle again.”
“Who’s Nathan?”
My legs eat the distance between me and the car, but I swerve at the last minute. The truck is unlocked like it always is. No one in their right mind would come here to steal it. I ignore Johnny’s question and get in the truck, slamming the door shut behind me. It starts rough, black smoke puffing into the air, before Johnny joins me.
He does up his seat belt, damn near twitching with questions. “He’s a friend of yours from Toronto?”
“You’re a dog with a bone.”
“I’m just trying to crack your shell. I know it’s possible.”
“No, it’s not,” I argue, shifting the truck into first gear and pulling away from the house.
It’s become easy to drive the truck. I’ve taken it into town more often, relying less on Johnny to take me where I need to go. He’s been handed more responsibility this past week, and while Wade blames that on the upcoming breeding season, I think otherwise. He took my suggestion to heart and is testing the kid. I don’t want Johnny to fail because he’s preoccupied with me.
“Have you ever thought that maybe people here haven’t welcomed you yet because they can sense you don’t want to be here? Why would they give you a chance if you’re not going to offer them the same courtesy?” he asks, the sudden sharp tone of his voice taking me aback.
“I have just over a month left here, kid. It won’t do anyone any good to get to know me when I’m going to disappear forever. Plus, I have a less-than-appealing reputation. I doubt many people want to find out for themselves if I’m different than what they’re expecting me to be.”
He huffs, head shaking while he sets his hat on his lap. “You’re more than a reputation. Me, I’m friends with damn near everyone. I’ve always wanted to make my own opinion on someone instead of judging them for what someone else told me. That’s who I am. Poppy, though? Deny it all you want, you stubborn ass, but she gave you a chance, knowing that it could catch her in hot water with both Anna and Brody. Considering that she continues to do so shows me that you’re not as bad as you make yourself out to be.”
His words settle unevenly in my gut. Yeah, I think this kid might be Wade’s saving grace while also being a colossal pain in my ass. Even if he’s speaking nothing but the truth.
I’m just not ready to admit any of it to myself.
Not yet.