Chapter Eleven
T wo days later, Casey scrubbed his face and pushed the laptop away from him on the kitchen table.
He’d just spent three hours poring over their bookkeeping software, juggling expenses as much as he could, but there was only so much he could rob from Peter to pay Paul. Until they sold some stock, things were going to be tight. And since they didn’t plan to go to market until later in the year, something had to give.
He needed to talk to his siblings. When Jed had come clean about the trouble the ranch was facing last September, they’d learned he’d been forgoing wages for himself in order to ensure the ranch remained viable. They’d all agreed that that kind of shit was not going to happen again, and they’d all tipped their personal savings into the pot to help ease the situation. Two bad seasons and a run of shitty luck meant that it had barely touched the sides of their problems, though. And now Casey had more bad news to deliver.
Delaying the inevitable wasn’t going to make it any easier, so he stood and went in search of his sister. He found her behind the house in the veggie patch their mother had established twenty years ago, pulling weeds and straightening stakes.
“Sierra. You got a minute?” he asked.
She shaded her eyes with a gloved hand. “A real minute or is that just a clever ruse to lure me inside?”
“Definitely the second option,” he said, and she must have heard the heaviness in his voice because she stood and brushed the dirt off her knees.
She followed him inside and was at his side when he knocked briefly on the study door and pushed it open. They both paused on the threshold at the sight of Jed fumbling hastily with the mouse, quickly closing down a window on the computer screen. Casey only caught a glimpse, but it was enough to tell him what his brother had been doing: Facebook stalking his former girlfriend, Mae Berringer.
Mae had been Jed’s girlfriend in senior year at Marietta High, and they’d shared an apartment together for two years when they both went to college at Montana State. Then life as the Carmodys knew it had imploded when their parents died, and everything had gone to hell. Jed had dropped out of college to come home and take over the ranch and look after the rest of them, and Mae had been left behind.
Or something like that. Casey had never really been clear on just what had happened between his brother and the woman he loved, he simply knew that Jed hadn’t really looked twice at another woman since.
There was a small silence before Jed cleared his throat.
“What’s up?”
“Why don’t you just call her?” Sierra asked, bull at the gate as always.
“What are you talking about?” Jed asked, his cheeks turning a giveaway pink.
“She’s talking about Mae. If you’re still hung up on her, why don’t you just message her?” Casey said.
Generally, his policy was live and let live when it came to his siblings’ personal lives, but it was so obvious that his brother was stuck on Mae, someone needed to say something.
“We’re not having this conversation,” Jed said, his tone clipped.
“What would it hurt? If you’ve got unfinished business, maybe it would help you move on if you saw her again. And who knows, maybe she’s still single, like you. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Sierra said.
“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Jed said.
“Sierra’s right. You should call her. Get it out of your system,” Casey said.
Sierra nodded enthusiastically. “Or not. Maybe you’re still in her system, and you two can pick things—”
“She’s engaged to some guy in Helena,” Jed blurted, and Casey could see it hurt his brother just to say it out loud.
“Shit. I didn’t realize. Sorry,” Casey said, feeling like an asshole.
Mind, it had been thirteen years, so it was only natural Mae had moved on. The bigger surprise was probably that she wasn’t married with kids already.
“They announced it last week,” Jed said heavily. “I was just checking to see if they’ve set a date.”
Casey remembered the night Jed had uncharacteristically encouraged him to ask Eva out. What were the odds that was the day he’d heard Mae’s news?
“Have they?” Sierra asked.
“Not yet.”
Jed looked so gutted, Casey didn’t know what to say.
“Maybe you should still talk to her. For closure,” he suggested tentatively.
“You a relationship expert now, are you?” Jed snapped, his face hardening, and Casey was smart enough to know when to back off.
“Nope, not by a long shot. I was just trying to help, that’s all.”
“Do I look like I need help?” Jed asked.
Casey considered his brother, trying to be objective. Tanned and strong, Jed was a good-looking guy, but there was no denying that the burdens he’d carried from a young age had taken their toll. Lines bracketed his face and eyes, and there was a seriousness to him now that was at odds with the happy-go-lucky person he’d been before their parents died.
But Casey had been different then, too. They all had.
“Fair enough,” Casey said, holding up both hands to show he was conceding. “Point taken.”
“Did you come in here just to bust my balls or was there something else?” Jed asked.
“I need to talk to you guys about wages,” Casey said.
“Sit,” Jed said, pointing to the two battered chairs against the wall.
He and Sierra sat and Casey explained how tight things were, how the latest fence repairs had pushed their account at Big Z Hardware back up past a point he wasn’t comfortable with, and how he was worried that the reason the automatic waterer had failed was because their reticulation system was so old now, it was close to collapse. Given that it had been installed by their father nearly twenty years ago, it wasn’t an unexpected problem—but it was definitely an expensive one if it turned out they needed to replace the whole thing.
“I’m happy not to take a wage,” Jed volunteered when Casey was done.
Sierra shook her head. “No. We agreed no one was making that kind of sacrifice again. We’ll all take a cut. It’s not like we’re living it up on caviar and lobster. We can live cheaply enough if we’re careful.”
“What about your flight hours?” Jed asked.
Sierra shrugged. “So I pull back for a while. I can start clocking hours again when things ease up. And Jack’s still throwing me hours when he can, although Gideon’s been spending a lot more time in Helena lately.”
Casey shifted in his chair. He’d always hated the fact that Gideon Tate’s private pilot had taken Sierra under his wing. Jack seemed like a decent enough guy, but Casey was not in love with the idea of his sister being beholden in any way to the man who had walked away without a scratch from the accident that had killed Casey’s parents. He knew it was probably irrational—his father’s car had skidded in front of Gideon Tate’s expensive SUV, not the other way around—but it didn’t change the way he felt.
Unfortunately, there was precious little he could do about it when they didn’t have the money to pay Sierra real wages, so there was nothing for him to do except suck it up.
For now, anyway.
“Here’s what I’m thinking—we all go down to half wages for a while, just until we get some stock to market. And I’ll start pressure testing the pipes so we can find out where we stand.”
“That suits me. Maybe we should start looking around for a good price on poly pipe, just in case?” Jed suggested. “If we’re prepared to suck up a long lead time, we might get a good discount.”
“Great idea,” Casey said.
“Leave it with me, I’ll see what I can hunt down,” Sierra said, and neither he nor Jed objected because her Google skills were much better than both of theirs. “Anything else we need to worry about?”
“Nope. Just pray it doesn’t rain before we get the alfalfa in,” Casey said.
They all nodded grimly, then Sierra stood and pulled her gardening gloves from her back pocket.
“Better get back to the battle of the weeds,” she said.
“Wait a second. I wanted to ask you both if you were doing anything tonight?” Casey said.
“When am I ever doing anything?” Jed said.
“I’m around. Why?” Sierra said.
“Eva’s got her presentation tomorrow, and I was thinking it might help her to do a dry run in front of the three of us tonight.”
Sierra nodded, her expression neutral. “Sure, cool. Happy to help out.”
“Ditto,” Jed said.
“Thanks, guys. Really appreciate it.”
Sierra flicked her hand dismissively to let him know it wasn’t a big deal before exiting the study. He followed her, troubled by the subtle undercurrent of tension between them since their late night conversation about Eva.
Sierra hadn’t said another word on the subject, and as far as he could tell she’d been just as friendly toward Eva, but there was a certain reserve behind her eyes when she looked at him, as though she was guarding her true thoughts or biting her tongue.
Never in his life did he think he would miss his sister’s take-no-prisoners, well-intentioned nosiness, but it was genuinely weird not to have her in his face, asking for details or offering unsolicited advice.
“Sierra,” he called, catching her as she was about to exit the house.
“What?”
She had one hand on the doorjamb, the other on the door, her expression expectant as she waited for him to speak. He stared at her, but his mind was stupidly blank. He honestly had no idea what to say to allay her concerns. The truth was, she was probably right—he was probably going to be gutted when Eva went back to her real life in LA. But that wasn’t going to stop him being with her in the meantime. Things were too good between them, on every level.
“You should wear a hat. It’s hot out,” he finally said, and Sierra gave him a look.
“No kidding,” she said, then she disappeared through the door.
He slapped his hand against his thigh, frustrated with himself, then headed out to the trailer to deliver his good news. He found Eva sitting outside in her lone camp chair, a frown on her face as she read over what he assumed was a printout of her presentation.
“How’s it coming along?” he asked.
“I think it’s okay, but I lost objectivity many hours ago. The great thing is that I keep finding new typos that I missed previously, so that’s awesome,” she said, lifting her face for his kiss.
As always, she tasted amazing to him, and he instantly wanted more. Her lips clung to his when he moved to break the kiss, her hand closing over his shoulder to hold him in place, and he followed her lead as she stretched the moment out.
Her eyes were a smoky, hazy blue when they finally came up for air, and he knew she was thinking of getting him naked and the things she wanted to do to him.
Heat pooled in his crotch, but he made an effort to ignore his libido and concentrate on more important things.
“Do you still want to go over your presentation tonight?”
“Yes, please. I need you to be my guinea pig so you can tell me if it’s too long, or too boring, or if I’ve missed anything out,” she said, the frown back between her eyebrows.
“How about using multiple guinea pigs? Jed and Sierra are both happy to help out after dinner.”
“Really? That’s so nice of them. Are you sure, though? I don’t want to stop them from doing something that’s actually fun,” Eva said, her expression both hopeful and concerned at the same time.
“Jed never has fun, and Sierra had no plans for tonight, so don’t sweat it,” he assured her.
She gave him a warm look. “Thank you for recruiting them, even though I am now super nervous about doing my run-through in front of them.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he said.
“It is to me,” she said.
He’d be lying if he pretended he didn’t get off on the way she was looking at him right now—as though he’d hung the moon and the stars just for her. The truth was, he wanted her to be happy, and there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do to make it happen.
“What time is your appointment tomorrow?” he asked.
“Two, at the library again.”
“I can rearrange a few things so I can drive you into town if you’d like,” he offered.
“You don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine once it’s all happening. I just need to get to the point where I can’t change anything else. Then I can stop second-guessing myself.”
“The offer is there if you want it.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
She reached out and tucked a finger behind his belt, using it to pull him closer. Her face was level with his groin and she leaned forward to press a kiss against his fly, her eyes lifting to his naughtily.
“I feel like you deserve a reward for being so supportive and thoughtful.”
“Virtue is its own reward. I’m pretty sure they taught us that in Sunday school,” he said.
“Oh, okay. So you don’t want me to do this, then?” she asked, pulling his fly down and slipping her hand inside his jeans.
Her fingers brushed against his cock through his underwear and he went from half-hard to fully hard in a split second.
“What exactly did you have in mind? Just so I can weigh up my options,” he said, pretending a calm he didn’t feel as she stroked him with a firm, sure grip.
“Well, first I thought I’d do this.” She reached for his belt buckle, making short work of it. “Then I thought maybe I’d do this.” She pushed his jeans open and reached into his boxer briefs, pulling his cock out.
He watched her assess his erection, her tongue darting out to lick her lips.
“And then I thought I’d just do this for a while,” she said, and he let out a low groan as she took him into her mouth.
Her tongue ran along his shaft before she pulled back to circle the head of his penis, and every brain cell he had shut down.
For the next few minutes he was lost in the heat of her mouth. She was avid and eager as she licked and sucked and teased him, squirming in her seat as though giving him head was just as huge a turn-on for her as it was for him. He sifted his fingers through her short, silky hair and closed his eyes as his climax finally took him, making his knees weak and wringing him dry.
When he opened his eyes again Eva was watching him, the tip of his cock still in her mouth. She let it go with an audible pop, then lifted an eyebrow saucily.
“So, that was option number one,” she said, and he laughed, because she was sexy as hell and funny and he adored spending time with her.
And not just because the sex was great. Not by a long shot.
Although it definitely had its moments.
“Why don’t we consider options two and three later?” he suggested.
“Two and three? That’s very ambitious.”
“When it comes to you, always,” he said.
She smiled and tucked him back into his jeans, fastening his belt with nimble fingers.
“What time are Sierra and Jed expecting me?” she asked.
“Eight. Is that cool?” he asked.
“Sure. That gives me plenty of time to work myself into a frenzy of nervousness,” she said.
“It’s just Sierra and Jed. No need to be nervous.”
“That’s what you think.”
He thought she was only joking, but when she arrived at the main house at eight on the dot he saw at first glance that she was seriously worked up. Her face was pale, and her hand was cold and damp when he took it.
“Relax,” he murmured as he led her into the living room.
“I can’t. I always get like this before presentations. Even pretend ones.”
“We promise not to heckle,” Sierra said from where she was waiting on the sofa.
“Speak for yourself. I have an extensive list of questions already,” Jed said.
It was a dumb joke, but it made Eva laugh and Casey was pleased to see some of the tension leave her face.
“Do your worst,” she dared his brother as she set her laptop and handouts down on the coffee table. “I’m just going to jump into this, okay, so I don’t chew up too much of your evening.”
“Whatever suits you,” Casey said.
He dropped a quick kiss onto her mouth, aware of Sierra watching from the couch. Then he crossed to the armchair and sat.
“The floor is yours, Ms. King,” he said with the wave of a hand.
“Okay. Here goes nothing.”
For the next twenty minutes Eva walked them through her presentation, the nervous quaver in her voice gradually disappearing as she progressed through the material. She showed them a graphic featuring her finished studies overlaid onto a computer model of the grain elevator, and she explained why she’d chosen each image, what aspects of Marietta’s history each one represented, why she’d opted for such a vibrant color palette. She drew their attention to the blue-purple bulk of Copper Mountain uniting the past, present, and future of Marietta, and she talked about her idea to approach other towns nearby to create a larger than life art trail of murals across the region.
When she was done she gave a sigh of relief and held up her hands.
“Okay. That’s it. Phew. How did I do?”
There was a moment of complete silence, and the bottom dropped out of Casey’s stomach as he waited for his brother and sister to react. He’d thought Eva’s presentation was great, but Jed was hard to read at the best of times, and Sierra looked nothing short of stunned.
Then Sierra started clapping, the stunned look on her face morphing into a smile that took up her whole face.
“I don’t know what to say. Outstanding. Sold. I want ten. No, make it twenty. I want to build a grain elevator in the yard just so we can look out at those amazing images every day,” she said.
Jed was smiling, too, and Casey shot Eva a look, pleased to see she was smiling, and that the color was back in her cheeks.
“It wasn’t too long-winded when I was going through the technical bits?” she checked.
“I think it’s smart to talk about life-span and maintenance the way you did,” Jed said. “It’s one of the first things I’d be thinking about if I was on the committee. Everyone knows the weather can be brutal here, so it’s no good putting up something pretty that’s going to be peeling off in a single season.”
“Pretty? Please. Those images are heart-stopping,” Sierra said. “Can I see them again, please?”
They spent the next twenty minutes critiquing Eva’s proposal, and Casey’s admiration for her only increased as he watched her genuinely engage with the process. He was almost certain he’d have been telling his brother and sister where to stick it after ten minutes, but Eva simply made notes and asked questions and offered alternative ways of delivering the same information.
As he watched her, a warm sensation filled his chest, pushing against his ribcage. It took him a moment to recognize it—he was proud of her, of the way she was handling herself, of what she’d pulled together.
She was so talented and smart, so capable and thoughtful. On some instinctive level he’d understood she was special the moment he met her, and every second since had only underscored that belief.
She was hyped after the run-through, talking in a stream of consciousness as they walked side by side out to the trailer. He listened and responded and watched her beautiful face and finally admitted to himself that he was more than half in love with her.
Not exactly a huge revelation, but it added an extra layer of complexity to the situation.
“God, listen to me—can’t shut me up,” Eva said, dumping her stuff on the counter.
“I like listening to you,” he said.
She smiled wryly and shook her head. “Do you ever say the wrong thing?”
“Have you met my sister? She’d be happy to give you chapter and verse on my many follies, vices, and faults,” he assured her.
She sat on the edge of the bed, still smiling. “Name some of them for me.”
“You want me to inform on myself? I’ll leave it up to you to discover my feet of clay for yourself.”
“Give me just one fault, then. Something I can cling to whenever I start to despair over how perfect you are.”
“All right. Let me think,” he said, gazing toward the ceiling as though he really needed to interrogate the subject. “Okay. Sometimes, I put my elbows on the table during dinner.”
Her smile widened into a grin. “That was pathetic. You know that, right?”
“It’s not my fault my faults are so minor.”
“I’m not going to tell you any of my faults now,” she said.
“Just as well. We don’t have all night.”
“Oh. Foul. That was brutal,” she cried, but she was laughing, and when he joined her on the bed, her arms came around him willingly as they tumbled back together onto the mattress.
“Take it back,” she said, her nose only an inch from his.
“Okay, I take it back.”
“I think I’m going to need a physical token of your contrition.”
“Really. What would that look like?” he asked.
She wrapped her legs around his thigh and humped it shamelessly.
“I’ll give you two guesses,” she said, and he couldn’t keep a straight face any longer.
“What could it possibly be?” he wondered.
The next half hour involved lots of laughter interspersed with liberal quantities of nudity, heavy breathing, and moaning. By the time they were lying tangled and replete beneath the covers, Casey had sore stomach muscles from laughing so much.
“Thank you. I needed that,” Eva said, lifting her head from where it was resting on his chest to look him in the eye.
“Anytime. And I mean that.”
“I believe you.” She lifted a hand to press the tip of his nose playfully. “That offer you made earlier to drive me tomorrow—is that still on the table?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then I think I’m going to take you up on it, thank you.” Her smile was slightly shy, and he wasn’t prepared for what it did to his chest. “I feel stronger with you in my corner.”
“You’re gonna kick ass,” he said fiercely. “So much ass, they’re going to need an ass-cleaning crew in there after you’re done.”
“I really hope you’re right.”
They turned out the light then, and he stroked her back until her breathing evened out and her body became heavy with sleep.
He was way, way too wired to follow suit.
He wanted her to succeed tomorrow, so badly—and not just because she’d be leaving town if she failed.
He wanted her self-belief to be vindicated.
He wanted her to have the recognition and success she deserved.
And yes, he wanted her to stay, even if it was only for a few more months, because he was crazy about her.