Chapter 8 #2
“Not only did my father think that us girls shouldn’t work the ranch, he wouldn’t let us anywhere near the animals.
Well, not for fun, anyway. We had chickens and stuff, and Dani had to get the eggs.
If she did something wrong, he’d make her watch while he plucked them and tortured them while they were still alive. ”
He shuffles his feet, and I keep talking.
“To this day, she has a full-blown panic attack at the idea of being around chickens. Bridger, her husband, can talk her down. Then, my father discovered that he enjoyed making Alex, Dani’s twin, suffer by torturing animals in front of her.”
“What in the actual fuck?” Tucker growls, but I keep talking. I can’t stop.
“If a dog or cat wandered onto the property, they didn’t wander off again. Poor Alex, to this day, she can’t do pets of any kind. She can’t be around animals at all. Sometimes he did it in front of all of us, but Alex got the worst of it.”
“What did he do to you, Darby?”
I rub my lips together and take a physical step back, panic settling into my chest.
“Oh, I’m fine, I—”
“Hey.” He moves to me and pulls me into his arms, hugs me to his chest, and I melt right into him. “Sometimes, it’s okay to not be fine. It’s okay. It doesn’t make you weak or annoying or frustrating. It makes you human, sweetheart. What did the asshole like to do to you?”
My heart is pounding now because I’ve never told anyone this. My siblings think they know, and they were privy to some of it, but never everything because I wouldn’t allow them to know.
Not even Holden.
“If I tell you,” I whisper against his chest, “I’ll never speak of it again.”
“Deal.”
I clear my throat and swallow hard, and he tightens his hold on me, hugging me to him.
“I’m right here,” he whispers against my ear. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
“He liked—” I clear my throat again. I can feel the pain on my back and arms, the way the blood would flow down my skin and sting.
Tears fill my eyes. “He liked to make me bleed. He cut me often, almost always on my back, but sometimes he’d wrap barbed wire around my upper arms and then pull until I had a hundred cuts all over and then drag me around.
” Yeah, I’m babbling now, because if I don’t say it all at once, I’ll never talk about it, and he should probably know how fucked up I am before this goes any further.
“He loved it when I bled. He loved it. But he always did it where I could wear clothes so the scars didn’t show, and so people didn’t ask questions. I didn’t sleep on my back for years.”
“Baby.” Tucker’s voice cracks, and then he’s rocking me back and forth, and all I can do is cling to him, soothing him just as much as he’s soothing me.
“I’m a mess, Tucker. In so many ways. So if you’d rather call it a day, and we just work together, or I get reassigned, I understand completely.”
“Whoa.” He pulls back and frowns down into my face as he gently—always so gently—brushes my hair back behind my ear. “You think that because you got the short end of the stick in the parental gene pool that I would want to back away from you?”
“It’s a lot,” I whisper. “I can’t do storms. They’re the worst. Because he’d tie us up outside and make us sit through it. He was cruel and—”
“He wasn’t cruel, he was a motherfucking monster,” he breaks in, and for the first time since I’ve known him, he sounds truly pissed off. “And I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“He’s dead.”
He lowers his forehead to mine and his jaw tenses. I can see that he’s reigning in his temper, but it doesn’t scare me at all.
“I wish he wasn’t dead,” he says, so low that I almost can’t hear him. “Because I’d love to torture him.”
“I’m glad he’s gone.” I press my hands to his cheeks and offer him a smile. “Because he’s gone, my sisters and I can heal. We’re doing so much better. We really are.”
“I need to promise you something, right here and now.” His whole body is tight, every muscle clenched with emotion.
“I will never touch you in anger. Never, Darby. I think I’m the most ragey I’ve ever been in my life in this moment, because the thought of anyone hurting you in any way makes me want to tear the world apart. ”
Wow.
“You don’t have to worry about me hurting you.”
“I know that.” I push my fingers into his hair, trying to soothe him. “I know you won’t. I have an instinct for these things. And I promise to not turn every conversation into my childhood trauma.”
“You can talk about anything you want. I like listening to you.”
“Honestly, I’m not usually this verbose.”
He kicks up an eyebrow. “Using the big words now, are we?”
And just like that, all the tension melts away, and I let out a small laugh.
“I’m smart, Hotshot.”
“Don’t I know it.” He boops my nose and then checks the time. “The farrier should be here soon. He had to push back to this afternoon.”
I nod as we walk toward the barn. We’ve already ridden Ellie this morning, and now all the animals have been fed and watered. I’m going to brush out the horses this afternoon, after their hooves are done, so I’m out of the way, but I can watch the farrier at work.
A truck pulls in just as we reach the barn, and Tucker scowls as he watches a man who looks to be in his forties get out of the cab and start walking toward us.
“Is something wrong?” I ask Tucker as he slides his hand into mine, linking our fingers, as if he wants to keep me close.
As if he’s protecting me.
“I don’t know.” His voice is grim, and he’s definitely not happy.
The man, who’s muscular and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and tanned skin, nods as he approaches us.
“Hey, Tucker,” he says, but his eyes flit to me. He offers me a smile and taps the brim of his hat. “Ma’am. George couldn’t get away from that emergency he was taking care of this morning, and he asked me to fill in for him. He said he sent you a message, Tucker.”
Tucker pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks it.
“I didn’t see it,” he murmurs, and then sighs when he checks a different message. “Fuck, I have to go out with my guys for a bit to check on something.”
He turns to me, and I see the uncertainty in his eyes. He doesn’t want to leave me alone with this guy.
“I’m Peter,” the man says, but doesn’t offer me his hand. “I’ll be taking care of the horses this afternoon. I’ve been out here with George before.”
“Hi.” I offer Peter a nod and then turn back to Tucker. “You should go. I’m fine here. I’m going to brush the horses after they get their manicures. They’ll feel shiny and new. A spa day.”
Tucker’s eyes soften and then he turns back to Peter. “I’ll be gone for an hour. You’re working on all of the horses in the barn today.”
“I have my orders from George,” Peter says with a nod, and then returns to his truck so he can get his things and dig in.
Tucker turns to me. “Do you want to go with me?”
I frown up at him. “I’m fine here. Really. Why, don’t you trust that guy?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust him, I don’t know him.” He lets out a breath. “I’ll take the side-by-side so I’m faster. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I’ll be in the barn. Brushing horses. Perfectly safe.” I wink at him and walk away, making my hips sway a little more than normal. I can’t believe I told him so much about what happened when I was a kid. I can’t believe that I wanted to.
But I feel better because now he knows everything, and he still wants me around. I don’t have to wonder or second guess, and that makes me feel better. Now we can just settle right into whatever this is that’s blooming between us.
Sex.
Hopefully it’s dirty, naughty, fun sex that’s blooming.
With a smirk, I get busy organizing the tack room while Peter gets started on the first horse. He watched me for a second, but then he got to work, and I chalked it up to us being strangers and general curiosity.
I don’t get the creep vibe from him. He’s handsome but doesn’t hold a candle to Tucker.
No one holds a candle to the sexy rancher.
It’s not long before Peter’s done with the first horse, and I take her outside to brush her down and give her some love in the paddock.
Ellie nudges my shoulder, and I give her a carrot, letting her munch while I brush.
Once we’re three horses in, and Peter has been respectful of my space, I return to the barn and watch him work, staying back, out of the way.
It’s not an easy job, and I see why he’s in such good shape, having to hold onto those feet and legs, and the amount of force he has to use to clean out the hoof, take the old shoe off, and then apply the new one.
It’s a whole fascinating process.
With that horse finished, Peter passes him off to me, and I lead him outside but then discover that I’m out of carrots, so I walk back in and find Peter drinking some water, taking a break.
“That’s hard work,” I mention as I cross my arms over my chest. “How did you get into this?”
“I’ve been doing it since I was in high school. My dad was a rancher, and I learned from him.”
I nod and then turn toward the fridge, but his voice stops me.
“I haven’t seen you around town before.”
“Oh, I’m new to the area. I’m working as a vet intern for Tucker for the next year or so.”
He nods, and starts to walk toward me, and a little alarm bell rings in the back of my head. So, I step back, but that doesn’t make him stop advancing.
“Are you single?” he asks, his eyes drift down my body, and I immediately tense. Oh, hell no.
“I’m not interested,” I reply, any trace of friendliness gone from my voice. I want nothing to do with this guy. “You can stop right there.”
Peter smirks and my stomach sinks, but I tip my chin up and meet his gaze head on.
“Or what?”
“I’m telling you to stop because I’m not interested in anything except for work. Plain and simple.”
His dark eyes roam over me, making me feel like I’m coated in oil and filth. I need to recalibrate my creep meter if it wasn’t going off the second I saw this asshole.
Tucker must have sensed it.
I can hear the side-by-side coming toward the barn, and relief rushes through me, but Peter must not hear it because he advances on me, manages to get his hands fisted in my shirt, and yanks it up while he tries to kiss me, but I jerk my face to the side, out of reach.
“Get your fucking hands off me!”