Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Phoenix
“We agreed not to tell Penny we were brothers. You should have gotten our permission,” I said calmly to Atlas, needing to speak my mind since we finally got time away from everyone else.
Everest scowled while brushing temporary purple dye into China’s coat.
Stroking China’s leg, I made sure she was aware of me before applying pink glitter paint to her hoof. “You might have scared her off. I saw her letting a guy feed her.”
Atlas towered over me, adding blue hair glitter to China’s mane. “It wasn’t intentional, besides, all I said was that we’re brothers, not her brothers. And what do you mean feeding her?”
“Feeding her… food… but when I approached, she basically ran off.”
Atlas scoffs. “Then it doesn’t seem to be my comment that scared her.”
“Or I saved the day. But now, instead of a lie of omission, you said a friend told us about these jobs.”
“In an ideal world…” Atlas shakes his head at the streak of glitter. “We’ll be friends with her mom.”
Staring at the sparkly hoof and taking a beat to bury shame of my past failed relationship, I said, “I don’t need either of you fucking up my chances this time.”
“I think he’s talking about you, Everest.” Atlas happily shoved the spotlight in Everest’s direction.
“What did I do?” he asked, fully knowing his role in my past failure. “Besides, do either of you think we can actually have something with Penny… when we leave here?”
“I want to try.” Stating my interest almost assured they’d mess with me, but I felt something special with Penny. “Don’t rush me this time.”
Everest got serious. “Rush you? We’ve only known her a few days and we’re—”
“You know what I mean.”
Everest nodded. “Look… when I said you needed to stop being afraid and propose to your girlfriend, I had no idea she’d flake.”
I stepped away from China to get my shit together. Turns out my ex wasn’t the right one for me, and I was glad it didn’t work out, but if Everest hadn’t rushed me, it might have happened less publicly. “Does it ever occur to either of you to stop steamrolling everything?”
Everest defended, “You’re the one who proposed at the engagement party without having discussed the prenup. Everyone knows you plan it ahead of time.”
“Do they? Does everyone know that? I was fine, sitting back, letting my relationship play out when you made me doubt my plan.”
I made sure China was secure then stepped away from the barn. Atlas and Everest followed.
Atlas said, “Everest didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to. He just wanted you to quit being so goddamn guarded.”
“Seems I was guarded with good reason.”
“It was about time you found out her true intent.”
“I could have found out in a less humiliating manner.”
Everest wiped his hand over his cheek, leaving a purple streak. “I can’t believe you dated her for five years and hadn’t discussed the mandatory family prenup.”
“I can’t believe she refused it.” Atlas would have seemed like he was laughing at me if I didn’t know he’d seen Everest’s cheek.
“Penny is so much better. I don’t want to mess this up.”
Everest not knowing he matched the horse was just enough comic relief that we returned to the horses, switched colors, and moved on to decorate Hercules.
Atlas asked, “So what are you proposing? Tell her the truth while we can control the narrative or wait and risk her mom blowing our cover?”
“I made it clear from the beginning that we needed to tell her who we were.”
Hercules raised his tail and Atlas stepped to the side, allowing him to do his business before Atlas resumed the green sparkle tail paint. “Technically, we didn’t stop you. But you know, if we told her who we were, this thing between all of us wouldn’t have happened. And if she left the Ranch—”
Everest laughed. “Whoever scared her off would have been the favorite son-in-law.”
Everest and Atlas said they were interested in Penny but weren’t taking this seriously. I couldn’t figure out how to save this situation. “Her stay here is almost over. Our work commitment is almost done. I’m going to tell her who we are the next time I see her.”
Everest drew a pink heart on Hercules’ side. “I could get on board with that as long as all three of us are there.”
“Everything that happened here was authentic for me. Is that true for both of you?”
Atlas said, “I sure as fuck didn’t expect to fall for my stepsister.”
Everest agreed. “Yeah, it just happened.”
Now on to the next problem. “How are any of us going to deal with not being the one she chooses?”
I ran my fingers through my hair, forgetting that I had the glitter brush in my hand until Atlas and Everest cracked up.
“Trying to pretty up so she’ll choose you?” Everest teased.
Enough with the jokes. I set the brush aside and wiped my hand on my hair then tried to get rid of the color by rubbing my fingers on my jeans.
Everest said, “Or the other option. I’ve only heard of it happening a couple of times at Rawhide Ranch, but what if she chose more than one guy?”
“Could you deal with not having her all to yourself?” I stared at Atlas.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Because you’re the controlling asshole.”
Everest punched Atlas’ arm playfully. “He’s right.”
Atlas sighed and put the finishing touches on Hercules before capping the bottle. “You might not believe me, but I’ve thought a lot about this.”
“And…” I had to admit I was curious.
“I think our stepsister needs all of us. Everest, you’ve got soft skills she seems to love, like massage and music.”
“Thank you for admitting that.” Everest beams.
Atlas turned his attention to me. “Phoenix, you’re not as grumpy as you act.”
“Thanks for the insight, Dr. Phil.”
“Deny it all you want, but you swung big, got hurt, and haven’t gotten back in the game.”
“Hurt? Getting dumped by the woman you intend to spend your life with qualifies as a little more than hurt.”
“Sure, it sucked and you took it really hard, but it’s good to see you’re finally letting your guard down.”
“I don’t want to talk about this.”
Atlas wouldn’t let it go. “Talk about what? That you’re one of the most fiercely passionate people I know… when you let your guard down?”
“He’s right,” Everest said. “Let her see that side of you.”
Atlas continued so he could highlight himself. “And of course, I’m her Daddy Dom. I can give her the safety and security—”
“Fuck off, Atlas. We can all do that.” If we didn’t have to get the horse—unicorns—ready, I’d be done with my brothers.
Everest laughed. “He does have that big dick energy.”
Atlas smiled at the compliment. “It’s not the only—”
Listening to his bullshit wasn’t on my agenda. “Atlas, this is serious. We lied to her about who we are and how we got these jobs. We have to make this right. Immediately.”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” The phrase was sung amidst squeals as the three of us turned and saw a group of Littles go wide-eyed, and then run away in a flurry of pink.
“What was that all about?” Everest laughed.
“Oh, shit.” It hit me all of a sudden. “They heard. They’re calling us liars.”
“Is that going to be a problem?” Atlas stepped beside the building to see where they were going .
“Did anyone say her name? They wouldn’t know who we’re talking about,” Everest reasoned.
“We have to catch her as soon as class gets out.” Atlas checked the time. “It looks like it just started. Let’s get cleaned up.”
“What are we going to do about him?” Everest motioned to the horse named Atlas who was still in need of his unicorn transformation. Atlas, our brother, had refused to be a part of that.
I asked, “Do we all agree that Penny takes priority?”
Atlas nodded, and despite his disdain for the project, said, “We’ll give up some of our free time this evening to finish getting the horses ready.”
“Deal,” Everest said and I nodded my agreement, my mind already sorting through how to handle the reveal.
We quickly cleaned up our work area, put the decorations away, and returned the horses to their pastures, before heading back to our rooms to clean ourselves up.
Then just after I stepped out of the shower, there was a knock on my door. Not hard and obnoxious, like one of my brothers. I threw on some clothes before answering.
“Hi, I’m Silas, one of the service subs. Master Derek needs to speak to you right away in his office.”
No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening. There was only one reason Master Derek would need to talk to us right away, and it wasn’t because we hadn’t finished unicorn prep.
“Let me throw some shoes on.”
Silas nodded and stood in place.
“I know where his office is.”
“I was told to wait for you.”
The world was crashing down around me. Why couldn’t I fall in love with a woman without drama?
When I was ready, I stepped outside and found two other service subs waiting for my brothers.
Wasting no time, Silas motioned for me to go with him. My brothers and their guides weren’t far behind.
Samuel was with Master Derek. When all three of us brothers were lined up in front of his desk, Derek said, “I’ve been informed that you’ve lied to one of our guests. Is that true?”
“I can explain.” Atlas spread his hands in a definitive manner, but Master Derek wasn’t having it.
“A yes or no will suffice.”
“Yes,” I spoke up.
“I will not have the integrity of this Ranch threatened.”
“Understood,” Everest said.
Master Derek waited for Atlas and me to acknowledge his statement, then continued, “Now, while I was told that you lied and that it has to do with Penny, I don’t know the full details. Who wants to give me a very brief rundown of the facts?”
Damn, apparently the Littles had been paying attention and knew exactly who we’d been talking about.
Atlas stepped forward. “Penny is our stepsister, and we didn’t tell her.”
“She’s the one the three of you are interested in, correct?” Samuel asked.
“Yes.”
“How does she not know she’s your stepsister?” Master Derek’s brow furrowed.
Atlas continued, “Because our parents have some weird secret relationship, and we’ve never even met her mom, and she’s never met our dad.”
“How did you know she was here?”
“Her mother asked our father to ask us to keep an eye on Penny.”
Master Derek looked at Samuel then back at us. “Keeping an eye on someone is very different than engaging in a relationship.”
“We understand. We didn’t intend to do anything more than protect her.”
“That’s not necessary at the Ranch.”
“We realize that now that we’ve seen the amazing community you’ve built.”
“Are the relationships the three of you are pursuing real? Or is that the lie? Have you deprived her of a chance to have the true Rawhide Ranch experience?”
The three of us interrupted each other. “It’s real.”
“I didn’t expect to fall in love with her.”
“We intended to watch from a distance to make sure she was safe.” I tried to bring coherency to the rush of words. “She’s reserved, and her mother worried someone might take advantage of her.”
Master Derek cocked his head. “That would be unacceptable—grounds for removal from the Ranch.”
The three of us nod in understanding.
He paused for a moment, then said, “I read her file and each of yours. Did you know she was looking for a Dom?”
We each nod.
Samuel said, “I’ve had a conversation with you, Atlas, about the importance of honesty and openness.”
Master Derek took back over. “How can you expect a relationship to work when it’s based on a lie this big?”
I cleared my throat. “It’s a terrible starting point, Master Derek. It all happened so fast, we were torn by the possibility that if we told her, she might leave the Ranch. That would have deprived her of the experience and all of the amazing classes she’s been so excited about.”
Everest added, “And we talked about us leaving instead, but didn’t want to leave you shorthanded.”
“Aside from the fact that you never should have come under false pretenses, neither of those were your choices to make.”
I hung my head in shame. I should have stood up to my older brothers. “We honestly thought we were doing the right thing to put her mother’s mind at ease. We were going to keep our distance. We didn’t expect any of this to happen.”
Atlas said, “I believe that the conversation the Littles overheard was us discussing that the next time we saw Penny, we had to tell her everything.”
Everest added, “That’s why we didn’t finish prepping the unicorns. We realized we’d screwed up, Sir, and were getting cleaned up so we could catch her after her class.”
Master Derek turned to the counselor. “Samuel, I want you to have Catherine on standby if an intervention is needed as this is an unusual family matter.”
My heart started beating again. When had it stopped? Was it possible to survive this?
Master Derek turned to us. “You saw the error of your ways, so I’m going to give you a chance to make this right. Do not pressure her or make her feel guilty in any way.”
“Sir, the first thing out of our mouths will be apologies.” How to word it was a bigger dilemma.
“That’s a good starting point.” Master Derek asked us what else we planned, and we explained our commitment to allowing Penny complete freedom of choice, and that we would respect it whether she wanted none of us, one, or all.
“Her class is about to end, so I’ll let you go, but we’ll stay in touch. Aside from talking to Penny, for now your activities will be limited to party prep and your rooms.”
Samuel waved a finger. “May I make a request?”
“Absolutely.”
“It’s late in the day and Penny will need dinner soon, then she needs quiet evenings to wind down.
Also Cat’s in an appointment for the next couple of hours, so she won’t be able to counsel Penny should that be required.
What if these three finish party preparations, then meet with Catherine and me, and we save the reveal to Penny for the morning when there’s a free block of time? ”
“It’s not ideal, but it makes the most sense,” Master Derek noted.
We all voiced agreement and he dismissed us.
As we exited, he said, “By the way, I was informed that the horses, er… um, unicorns, look beautiful.”