Chapter Seventeen
Charlie
I walk out of my house and bypass the office, going straight to the barn. My hair is still wet from the shower I took not twenty minutes ago. The sun is high in the sky, birds flying in and out of the dense forest all around me.
“You look like you’re in a great mood,”
Emmett says to me when I step into the barn. I look over at him as he sits on top of the desk, papers in his hand while he writes, clipboards hanging behind him in five rows across and down. It’s where all the ranch hands go to find out what needs to be done for the day. It’s Emmett’s office of sorts. We gave him an office next to mine, but he never, ever steps foot in it. Instead, he grabbed the desk and placed it here in the barn. “It’s going to be a good day.”
“I’m fine,”
I lie to him. I’m pissed. Actually, I’m past the fucking point of being pissed. I just don’t want to think about why I’m so pissed. It’s another lie I just told myself. I’ve been lying to myself a lot these days. “Why aren’t the horses out yet?”
I look around and see most of them still in their stalls. “It’s a full day. The horses need to be out there getting prepped.”
He picks up the mug of coffee from beside him. “It’s not even eight,”
he tells me. “They always eat at this time and then are taken out.”
He just stares at me while I look around, seeing a couple of the ranch hands chatting and laughing in the corner. “There are people just standing around doing nothing.”
I point at them.
“Why don’t you go in your office and do paper things?”
He puts his mug down. “Then come back when whatever it is that crawled up your ass is out.”
“Nothing has crawled up my ass,”
I hiss at him. “Have we evaluated all the horses twice?”
I ask him, and he chuckles.
“If you want to do it, go right ahead.”
He smirks. “Seems you have the time.”
I turn around and head to the stall where I was thinking of going first. “She’s ready to be taken out,”
he announces, and I unlock the gate.
She just stares at me. “Hey,”
I greet her, my voice going low, “come on, let’s get you out of here.”
I hold up my hand, and she retreats from me. “I’m not going to hurt you,”
I assure her, not moving from my spot, leaving it up to her to come to me. “I’m going to get you out there,”
I say as she takes one step forward, her tail whipping behind her. “Atta girl,”
I coo to her as she takes another step to me, finally nudging my hand with her muzzle. “What’s up, pretty girl?”
I rub up her nose as she stares at me, letting her smell me and get used to me. “You ready to go out?”
I hold her lead rope in my hand and walk her out of her stall.
“Feeling better?”
Emmett asks me, still sitting on his desk, but now all the clipboards behind him are gone, so I know the jobs have been handed out.
“I’m fine.”
I walk toward the fenced pen on the side of the barn.
“Word around is that you were hanging out in town last night.”
My back to him, the hair on my neck stands up.
“I went for a walk,”
I state, and it’s not exactly a lie. “Jesus, when did people start giving you a play-by-play of my life?”
“And a drink, apparently.”
I hear his boots hit the floor and then hear them approach me as he stands beside me. “Not a friendly one either.”
“People need to mind their fucking business,”
I hiss at him, “and not worry about what I’m doing.”
“People are also saying she’s fixing to change the state of the distillery.”
He continues talking. "Even some of the old folks who are holding grudges are thinking of going in to have a drink.”
“They should.”
It’s the only thing I say to him before I walk out with the horse. My thoughts go right back to her, where they shouldn’t be. The last thing I should be doing is thinking about Autumn. “It’s nice out, isn’t it?”
I ask Goldilocks, who walks slowly beside me. “It’s going to be a warm day.”
I look around, spotting one of the ranch hands. “Can you get me a saddle and bridle?”
I ask. “I’m going to take her for a walk.”
“Sure thing, boss,”
he says, turning and walking back into the barn. Emmett stands there staring at me as he drinks his coffee. He looks to the side when the ranch hand comes back out with the tack in his hand. “Let me help you,”
he offers, tossing the saddle on her back as we strap it on her and bridle her. She moves a bit, not sure what is happening, as I put one foot in one of the stirrups before hoisting myself up on her.
She backs up five feet. “It’s okay, girl,”
I say. “We’re just going for a walk. You’re going to like it.”
I nudge her side a touch as she walks forward, heading to the edge of the property. She is scared to go into the forest, but I lean down. “It’s going to be okay,”
I tell her as she walks, and the branches snap under her hooves, I go down the trail where we take all the other horses. “See? I told you it would be fine,”
I reassure her as we make our way back. “I won’t lie to you.”
I get off her when we get to the fence, walking her back to the barn. “She needs water,”
I say, walking into the barn and going to her stall. “I’ll be back after dinner,”
I tell her as she walks over to the pail where the water is.
I walk out of the stall, leaving her with one of the hands as he takes off her saddle. Walking to the next stall, I do it all over again, making sure all the horses get their exercise. By the time I walk the last horse in, the sun is setting and the only one left in the barn is Emmett. “Hey,”
I say, walking with the horse to his stall, “everyone gone?”
“Yeah.”
He leans back in his chair, his feet up on the desk. “Need help with him?”
“No,”
I reply, and he takes his feet down and stands up.
“Then I’m going to get out of here.”
He grabs his keys off the hook behind him. “A couple of us are going for a drink.”
I turn my head to him. “Want to come with us?”
“No,”
I snap, turning back and going to grab some fresh water. He just nods at me as he walks out.
I put the water down in the stall before making my way to my house. As I walk up the steps, I get angrier and angrier with every second that passes. “I have a date tonight.”
I hear her voice as I step into the shower. The minute she said the words, it was like someone threw ice-cold water over my head, and the blood inside me also turned to ice. She got out of bed—which was a first. Usually, she waited for me to leave before she did that. And, apparently, she hated me so much she washed the sheets each time. When I saw her standing there in just her barely there lace panties, my mouth watered right away and my cock stirred in my pants, obviously not picking up on the fact it wasn’t the time. Every single step toward home, I got edgier and edgier.
Getting dressed and making my way to the kitchen, I check to see what I’m going to eat even though I have no appetite. I take out one of the prepared meals I ordered for the week, nuking it for a couple of minutes, grabbing a beer, and taking a pull of it. I swallow the food only because I know I need to get something inside me, then finish the beer and head out.
The minute I start making my way toward the path, I hear her voice in my head.
“I don’t know why I should care, but I do, and I don’t need you showing up here in case someone is here.”
I ball my hands into fists as I make it to her house, not even pretending that I’m not going there. I should just go to see Jennifer, but my head and my feet are not on the same page. My eyes find her house in the darkness, as I walk up the steps and sit down on the swing and wait for her. Which is the dumbest thing I think I could be doing. I should get the fuck out of here and not be waiting for her to come back from her fucking date.
Every single noise has me looking to the side to see if she’s home. My hands are on my knees as I think of every time we were together since she’s been back. I think of the fact that last night, she refused to look me in the eyes. I think of the fact that she washes her fucking sheets every single time we’ve been together. I think of the fact that every single night instead of getting dressed and getting the fuck out of there, I stay. I climbed into bed with her last night and then curled into her when she gave me her back. I shake my head, not wanting to acknowledge what is going on.
I push up to my feet, the swing moving back and forth as I walk to the back door and turn the handle, expecting it to be locked, but instead, it opens. I walk into her house. “Autumn,”
I say her name, wondering if maybe something is wrong with her car and she’s already home, but no one is home. I close the door behind me and shake my head. “She left her fucking door unlocked,”
I hiss out as I walk to her bedroom. My eyes do a sweep of the room to see that she made the bed already, not sure if she washed the sheets. I smell her perfume in the air, and I clench my teeth together, thinking about her getting ready for her date and putting it on for him.
Turning back toward the living room and sitting on her couch, I lock my eyes on the front door. Feeling so off-balance, I literally think I’m going to trash her whole house while I wait for her. The possessiveness in me feels so unnatural as my leg moves up and down, the nerves in me unbearable.
I hear the crunch of gravel and see the headlights shine into the house before they go off, and the sound of a car door closing. I wait to see if another one will close. But the only sound is the one of her walking up the front steps and then the key going into the lock before the door opens and shuts right behind her.
She takes two steps into the house, putting her purse on the table, not even noticing I’m here. She makes her way to her bedroom when she looks over at me, and yells as she jumps back, putting her hand on her chest. “Jesus fucking Christ,”
she hisses, “you scared the shit out of me.”
I take her in, wearing a pair of green shorts that show off way too much leg, with a tight white T-shirt that falls just above the waist, showing off her stomach. Her hair looks ruffled, and that just pushes me off the edge. I fly off the couch. “Did you fuck him?”
My voice is lethal as I cut the distance to her, close enough I can smell her. Close enough to make me lose what little control I have left. “Did you fuck him?”
I roar out, my head moving toward her, and two things happen at the same time. One, her body shakes in front of me, shaking so much it’s a wonder she’s even standing. At the same time, she turns her head to the side, closing her eyes as if she’s shielding herself from me, as her hands come up to protect her face. The action makes me take a step back, my heart feeling like it’s going to come out of my stomach. “Did you think I was going to hit you?”
My hand shakes that she would think that. I’m a lot of things, I know I am, but I would never, ever hit her.
Her hands go down as she opens her eyes, and her head turns back to look at me. I can see the fear written all over her face, and I’m expecting the worst answer. I’m not expecting the answer to knock me right to my core. “Wouldn’t be the first time a man put his hands on me.”