Chapter 2 #2
“Come on, Abi, you know with everything else, that’s the only thing that hasn’t changed,” I muttered under my breath.
Just because rodeos weren’t calling didn’t mean my phone was silent. I still had the charm and charisma that seemed to attract the bunnies. At least that didn’t fade with the hope I’d ever announce again.
I turned to Abi, leaning against the counter. She stood with her hip cocked, one eyebrow raised, and her arms folded. She had the mom thing down; even I was nervous for what she was going to say next.
“She’s local, you know. She’s going to expect more.”
“No one ever expects more from me.”
“That’s not true.”
“Okay. Let me rephrase that: no girl ever expects more from me.” I raised my mug, cheering myself, accepting that’s just who I was.
“Ain’t that the truth.” A Southern drawl came into the kitchen, and with it, my soon-to-be brother-in-law.
Cash Callahan removed his hat, his black hair untouched, as he made his way over to my sister, his hand slipping over her waist as his lips met her temple.
“Why are we talking about Wyatt’s love life? ”
I raised a brow and tilted my head. “I wouldn’t call it a love life,” I muttered.
“Did you not see Melanie leave?” Abi looked at her fiancé, arching her back a little.
Cash raised his brow and gave a slight frown before shrugging his shoulder. “What’s wrong with that?”
Thank you, Cash.
Hard to believe that six months ago, I couldn’t stand this man after he all but vanished from our lives after Abi’s husband—his best friend—died, hurting my sister in the process.
Then here he was, marrying my sister and taking my side.
Shortly after he moved to Hartwell Hills, Abi shoved a paintbrush in both of our hands and practically forced us to paint her stables.
It took a week just being him and me, but thankfully, it broke the dam.
He apologized for screwing up when Sylas died, I apologized for holding a grudge, and slowly, the man became a friend. Dare I say, a best friend?
Not that I would admit that aloud to Abi. She could think I still hated him.
“She’s local. He never brings local girls back here.” Abi raised her hand at me.
“He can bring whoever he wants here, as long as they stay in the apartment and Stetson doesn’t see.” Cash defended me.
“I’d rather he gets back to work, not just laze around all winter.”
“I’m not lazing around. It’s only eight. I’m awake and here,” I said. “When I see Lachlan, I’ll go do any job he wants me to do, and I can help Cash.”
“I told him to call Hawkins,” Abi said softly, looking up at Cash.
“Any luck there yet?” Cash turned to me.
I shook my head, looking down at my boots.
“Ah, well, it’ll happen. Until then,”—Cash took a step, reaching over me to the carafe, still full of coffee—“I have a job you can do.”
“What’s that?” I asked. “Time your clients?”
“Well, yes.” He nodded, filling his own mug with coffee. “But after that, Quinn’s arriving tonight. We need all the brawn to get her moved in.”
Quinn?
Quinn Compton?
I still thought about Quinn Compton. I thought about all the ways her body moved with her horses as she rounded those barrels.
I thought about the way her eyes would meet mine, the perfect shade of emerald to get lost in.
And I thought about the way she called me off.
You’re a playboy, you’re childish, all you care about is who is keeping your bed warm and how soon you can announce at the NFR…
“She hates me, you know that, right? She’d probably kick me out of her place if I showed up.”
“Well, you did hit on her one too many times,” Abi mumbled under her breath, yet still clear as day.
“Twice. I hit on her twice.” If you’d call that hitting on her.
“And asked her out,” Cash added.
“Which she promptly told me no,” I reminded him.
“She’s not overly fond of you, I’ll admit that, but she didn’t have much help packing her trailer, so I want to make sure she has help unpacking her trailer. Lachlan and Rhett are coming; it would go faster if you would, too.” Cash walked back over to Abi, pulling her close to him again.
“Where is she staying?” I asked, not knowing of any place that was for rent around Alpine Ridge.
“The Richards had their condo open up; she paid for the year up front.”
“Damn.” I raised a brow. “The entire year?”
Cash nodded. “I think Jeff is going to ask her to buy it if she likes it, but she’s getting in tonight, and we need the hands.” Giving Abi a kiss, he plopped his hat on his head and slapped my shoulder. “She’ll be here in a few hours. See ya there?”
Cash left through the back door, not even giving me a moment to answer him. I looked at my sister, who was studying me intently.
Out of everyone on the ranch, she knew.
She was the only one whom I trusted with everything.
Maybe it was a twin thing, or maybe it was because I knew she would hit me with hard love and whip my ass back in gear.
Whatever it was, she knew every single detail.
There was nothing I would keep from Abi.
She knew why I wasn’t getting jobs. She knew how I felt about Quinn, even after what she had said to me.
She knew I was slowly falling apart and hiding it very well.
“You don’t have to go help. I actually agree with you,” she said, her tone mixed with a sigh. She walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my middle, her chin resting on my shoulder. I loved being her twin, but I loved how unique we were. “Quinn would absolutely hate having you there.”
I let out a laugh. “I’ll call Hawkins. Maybe he has some good news for me. And I’ll find Lach. And help Cash until he heads to Quinn’s.” I wrapped my arm around her, squeezing her shoulder. “I’ll stop ‘lazing around.’”
Abi shook her head. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Sure you did, but it’s okay.”
She pulled away from me, giving me a soft smile. “Call Hawkins.” Her smile vanished as she pointed at me, before turning and grabbing her book from the counter. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a chapter to finish before I tend to some horses.”
“Enjoy.” I raised my mug to her as she left the kitchen, leaving me in the silence.
Glancing out the window, I could see Cash greeting his client in front of the stables, a smile on his face as the girl jumped from her truck, the mud slushing onto her jeans and boots.
Cash shook her hand and patted her shoulder, leading her into the stables.
I looked down at my own jeans and boots—not a speck of dirt on them.
Quinn was right in everything she said to me that day. Playboy, childish, more starch than man. And it stung more than it should have.