CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rusty
P eople say it’s impossible to turn back the clock. But the past few days, being with Janice again, felt about as close to time travel as you could get.
Rusty stood on the porch of his cabin, bathed in the warm Montana sunlight. He smiled, the corners of his hazel eyes crinkling, as he reflected on the last few days with her. His Little Girl.
Kissing her and making love and laughing with her felt just like he remembered. It was like no time had passed at all. And yet, somehow, it was even better. Ten years ago, Rusty had just been Janice’s Daddy. Now, he was her Dom, too. He spanked her whenever she talked herself down. He tied her up and made her come when she was being mischievous and he wanted to remind her who was boss. He held her down on the bed and fucked her harder than he’d ever fucked her before.
And the sex was so damn good.
It had always been incredible, but now? Now that they were older, wiser, more mature . . . all that extra life experience made everything feel so much deeper, so much more meaningful. It was the most beautiful thing Rusty had ever witnessed.
All of this told Rusty that it was time to sign a proper DDlg contract with Janice and make things official. What’s more, he needed to tell his brothers, and let Chuck know what was going on. Sneaking around stealing private moments together was fun and all, but it couldn’t last. They needed to be free to be together fully.
Yet, some unspoken fear held him back. Was it a fear of Janice’s father finding out? Was it a fear that Janice would reject him? Or was it a fear that he’d let her down again, just like last time?
"Maybe I'll tell everyone tomorrow,” he mused. “Have one last evening in private with Janice.”
Tonight, he and Janice had arranged to have a picnic in the pasture and spend some time with with Snickers. Rusty had an idea that he might even dig out some old photos for them to look through. He had an album somewhere that cataloged all their old adventures together.
Whistling, he stepped inside the dimly lit cabin. Dust motes swirled around him as he rummaged through a wooden chest filled with memories and trinkets he'd collected throughout the years. There had been times, when he'd been sick with emotion at the thought of never seeing Janice again, that he'd almost thrown the chest away. Thank god he never had.
"Ah, there ya are!" Rusty exclaimed, pulling out a small, colorful book from the chest. Janice had decorated the album for him, with doodles of hearts and stars all over it. Rusty hadn’t dared look at the thing for years. Hopefully, Janice would get a kick out of seeing it.
He opened the album at random, chuckling at his mop of light brown hair and the razor-sharp bob Janice had back then.
“You crazy kids,” he said sadly. “You have no idea how much heartbreak is to come.”
As he was about to close the chest, his eyes fell upon an old letter tucked beneath a pile of old ticket stubs. The sight of it sent a chill down his spine.
He hesitated for a moment before picking it up. The handwriting belonged to Janice's father. He’d know it anywhere—as spiky and angry-looking as Angus himself.
Rusty's heart raced as he unfolded the aged paper, dreading the memories that it would unearth. He couldn’t stop himself, though. Now that he’d seen it, he had to read it.
Maguire,
I trust you've had ample time to reflect on the mess you've made. It's come to my attention that you and my daughter, Janice, are carrying on in a manner most unseemly. It fair turns my stomach.
You should know well enough that I wield considerable influence in these parts. I could pull you out of the financial quagmire you've let your ranch sink into. But make no mistake, such aid comes with a hefty price.
You'll break things off with my daughter immediately. I'll not have her led astray by your newfangled notions and wayward lifestyle. Don't try to explain it to her, either. I won't have you getting inside her wee head, making her side with you over her own father. Just leave. And never come back.
So, here's how it stands: Cast Janice aside, and I'll see to it that your ranch stays afloat. Refuse, and not only will your property crumble to dust, but I'll make damn sure every soul from here to John o'Groats knows about your sordid affairs. My daughter will be shamed, her reputation in tatters. More than that, she'll not see a penny of my estate, nor make anything of herself in this life.
Think hard on it, Maguire. The choice is yours, but choose wisely, you understand?
Are you really selfish enough to ruin my daughter's life, just for a wee bit of fun?
Laird Angus Jameson
Glenmuir Estate
P. S. Mark my words, Maguire—if I catch even a whisper of you trying to contact Janice, be it by letter, phone, or through some mutual acquaintance, I'll make sure you regret it. She's to return to her proper place here at my cattle ranch, so that I can one day take her back to Glenmuir, where she belongs. Your fanciful ideas about love and freedom have no place in our world. Remember, I've eyes and ears all over these parts. There's nowhere you can hide from me if you choose to disobey.
Rusty's jaw clenched as he finished reading the letter, his good mood gone quicker than a spooked mustang. All those highfalutin’ Scottish words and fancy talk. What it boiled down to was simple enough: "Keep your mitts off my girl, or I'll make her life a living hell."
Plain as day, once you cut through all the bull.
Rusty shook his head, wondering how a man could threaten his own flesh and blood like that. Folks sure had strange ways of showing love, if you could call it that.
A pang of anger coursed through him, along with sadness over the ultimatum Angus had once given him.
What could he have done back then except walk away? Angus had told him to choose, but what choice did he have?
There had been no way he was going to cost Janice her inheritance, just so that he could be with her. It was millions, and a life in a Scottish castle—the kind of life that Rusty could never hope to offer her,
On top of this was the threat that Angus would destroy Rusty's life, too. The ranch Rusty and his family had lived on in Colorado for generations had been staying afloat due to Angus's contributions over the years. It wasn’t that Angus was making those contributions out of generosity. Oh, no. By keeping the neighboring ranch afloat as a struggling horse ranch, Angus was preventing competitors from buying it and potentially becoming powerful rivals in the cattle business. This support helped him maintain a near-monopoly in the local beef production market. Rusty knew it. His brothers knew it. His cousins, who still operated the ranch in Colorado, knew it. But again, what choice did they have?
Just then, Rusty’s eyes fell on another letter. He wrote this letter to Janice after receiving her father's damning missive.
"Janice," the letter began, "I don't know how to tell you this, but circumstances have changed, and we can no longer be together. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
In the letter, Rusty had tried to explain why he had to leave her without incriminating her father. Obviously, it was impossible. His excuses sounded pathetic and he feared they’d make things worse. Besides, Angus had told him not to contact her with so much as a “whisper.” So, with more heaviness in his heart than he ever thought possible, Rusty had just disappeared overnight, thinking it was for the best.
Janice had been saved, and his own ranch had been saved, meaning his brothers and cousins could stay there, but Rusty had left Colorado and kept a low-profile working on wrangling jobs in Utah for a number of years. The whole time, he had felt nothing but guilt and remorse.
Now, his hand trembled as he held the unsent letter, the memory of his pain still fresh. Suddenly, the fear of history repeating itself threatened to consume him. What if Angus found out about him and Janice again? What if Janice decided to go back to her father and try to make amends? What if Rusty was left with another impossible choice?
Rusty took a deep breath, his eyes lingering on the two letters. Finally, he tucked the letters away in the chest, hiding them from the world once more.
"Get it together, Rusty," he muttered to himself. “The past is in the past.”
Unfortunately, Rusty's mood had shifted, a dark cloud hanging over his thoughts. He couldn’t escape the feeling that Janice was going to end up getting hurt again, one way or another. Either by him, or Angus, or both of them.
But now was not the time to dwell on such things—he had to meet her at the stables.
As Rusty approached the stable, he saw Janice tenderly massaging Snickers, the brown mare's eyes closed in contentment. The sight momentarily lifted his spirits, but the weight of the letters still pressed down upon him. He tried to put on a brave face as Janice turned to greet him.
"Daddy," she said, flashing a warm smile. "You're just in time to help me finish up with Snickers."
"Sure thing," he replied, forcing a smile in return.
Janice studied him for a moment, her green eyes narrowing in concern. "What's wrong? You seem . . . off."
Rusty hesitated, unsure of how to express his inner turmoil without revealing the secrets hidden in those letters. "It's nothin', really. Just got some stuff on my mind," he said, hoping she would let it go.
"Are you sure?" she pressed, her voice soft and full of worry.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Rusty assured her. "Let's just focus on Snickers, alright?"
Janice nodded hesitantly, clearly not convinced, but returning her attention to the horse. As they worked together in silence, Rusty's thoughts were a whirlwind of emotions, the specter of the past haunting him even as he attempted to move forward.
He couldn't let it consume him. Not now. Not when they were finally finding their way back to each other after all these years. He had to believe that things could be different this time—that they both could grow and change for the better. But as the sun set over the ranch, casting long shadows across the dusty ground, Rusty couldn't shake the feeling that their happiness was balanced on a knife's edge, teetering between hope and heartache.
It seemed that Janice could sense it, too. As Rusty observed her, he could sense that she was not as at ease as she usually was. It was as if some invisible thread had pulled her taut, making her movements stiff and unsteady.
"Ouch!" Janice yelped suddenly, stumbling backward as Snickers nickered nervously, retreating a few steps away from her. The mare's ears flicked back as she eyed Janice warily.
"Are you okay, darlin'?" Rusty asked.
"I'm so stupid," Janice muttered under her breath, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "Snickers stepped on my toes. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have put my foot so close to her hooves."
Rusty opened his mouth to correct her. He knew that he should spank her for saying something negative about herself, to make the situation into something sexy and positive, but the sadness that weighed on him held him back.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," he finally managed to say. "We all make mistakes."
Her green eyes met his, searching for a reassurance that he couldn't quite give. "I know," she whispered, "but it's just . . . it feels like something's off, and I can't put my finger on it."
Rusty swallowed hard. He wanted to reach out to her, to tell her the reason for his sudden awkwardness, but he knew that doing so would only hurt her more. She could never know the role her father had played in their break-up. It would destroy her. Instead, Rusty tried to focus on the present, forcing a smile as he stepped closer to Snickers.
"Here, let me help you," he said, gently placing a hand on the mare's flank, feeling the warmth of her body beneath his palm. Together, they stroked and reassured Snickers in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, the air between them thick with unspoken tension.
"Rusty," Janice said softly, breaking the silence, "promise me that you'll always be honest with me."
He hesitated, his heart clenching at her words. "I promise, Janice," he finally responded, trying to hide the tremor in his voice.
“Tell me truthfully—is something wrong?”
"Just got a lot on my mind, that's all."
Janice studied him for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Well, speaking of having things on our minds, I think it's time we told Chuck about us." Her eyes met Rusty's, determination shining in them. "It's getting harder and harder to keep this a secret, and I don't want to hide our relationship anymore. Don’t you agree, Daddy?"
Rusty felt a pang of guilt at her words. He knew she was right, but the fear gripped him, the fear that their past would come back to haunt them. "Soon," he said quietly, looking away from her piercing gaze. "But not tonight. We should wait a while longer."
"Wait? Why?" Janice's brow furrowed, and her arms crossed over her chest defensively. "What are you so afraid of, Rusty? Are you ashamed of me, of us?"
"Of course not, Janice," Rusty replied, pain lacing his words. "It's just . . . are you a hundred percent sure you don’t want to go back home? To your father?"
Janice’s eyes widened. “Back to my father? Why would you ask that? Do you want me to go, Rusty?”
“No!” said Rusty. “Definitely not. Not at all. I just, you know, I wondered if you were interested in trying to salvage any kind of relationship with him. Plus there's your title and inheritance to—”
Janice shook her head vehemently. “He can't take that away from me. And I don't want to go back now. I risked a lot to get here, remember? I needed to escape from him, Rusty. I can’t be near my father. Not now, not ever. Not when he won’t accept me for who I really am.”
“You understand what you’re sacrificing, though, Janice?”
Anger flared in Janice’s eyes. “You want me to go back to my father so that I can inherit all his land? You think that matters to me?”
Rusty swallowed. “No. Of course not. Although it is yours, by right. And it would be very unfair if he took it all away from you. Are you sure you wouldn’t ever regret that?”
The anger in Janice’s eyes was replaced by sadness now. “I thought you understood me, Rusty.”
Rusty looked away, unable to meet her gaze. "I do, Janice. I'm sorry. The situation is just complicated, that’s all."
"Complicated," she repeated, bitterness seeping into her tone. "Seems like everything is always 'complicated' with you."
"Look, I promise, we'll talk to Chuck soon. I just need some time, alright?"
"Fine," she huffed, her frustration evident. "But don't wait too long, Rusty. Secrets have a way of coming out, whether we want them to or not."
Rusty nodded, knowing she was right. He couldn't keep the truth hidden forever. Not from Chuck. And not from Janice.