Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Emma
L ily didn’t ask for the dirty details of what happened between Mason and me, and I have to admit, I was thankful for it. Don’t get me wrong, I had no problem delving into details sometimes, but this hook up… It was monumental, maybe the best sex I had ever had…
But I was so full of regret about it.
I think that my best friend knew that, too. Once I had admitted it had happened, she asked if I had feelings for him, and I said no, obviously. I barely knew Mason Hewitt. He was just the sheriff. I had a couple of beers and hadn’t been with anyone in a long time, so that was all that happened… right?
“Ugh,” Lily groaned, her shoulders slumping as she stared at her phone. “Can you pick up Dara this evening from the Lowe Creek Ranch for me? She’s there with Jess, and it looks like I’m going to have to help Drew stage a house last minute. ”
“What time?” I slid a pan of cinnamon rolls into the glass case. “It’s not a big deal, regardless. I taught Sarah how to lock up.”
“Good on you!” Lily gave me a bright, toothy grin. “It’s about time that you put some trust in that girl. She’s just trying to make it like all the rest of us, and I know she loves working here.”
I nodded. “I’m thinking about asking her if she’d like to work here full-time. I know that I mainly keep part-time employees, but I think it’s time that I got some real help. It’s hard to keep up.”
“I’m glad you’ve come around to the idea.” Lily had been hanging around for the entire day, helping me through the lunch rush. “But I’m gonna have to split if I’m going to have time to round everyone up who helps me.”
“Well then,” I laughed. “Get out of here.”
“Okay, okay.” She held up her hands as she took off the apron, hanging it up on one of the racks. “Thanks for picking up Dara. That stupid hand-me-down car we let her have is in the shop again for transmission issues.”
“No worries, I don’t mind picking her up.” I shrugged. “It’s really not a problem at all.” It would be a nice distraction from everything with Mason. Granted, I knew that Lucas Lowe was Mason’s best friend. However, Mason should be working—at least, I thought so.
“You’re seriously the best. I can’t even express how thankful I am for you, and the fact that you moved here. It makes things so much easier.”
“Yeah, you just wanted me to move here so I could be your little errand girl,” I snorted, giving her a playful look. “For real though, Dara is awesome. I don’t mind picking her up. I just wish I could convince her to take a job working for me. ”
“Good luck with that,” Lily said with a sigh. “She’s dead set on becoming a freaking cowgirl out there at that ranch. She’s just waiting for Lucas to let her clean out the stalls.”
“Ah, makes sense.” I laughed. “I have to say that might be more fun for a tomboy like her, but I guarantee it smells better in here.”
I pulled down the long driveway of the ranch, the gravel crunching loudly under the tires of my SUV. I figured a place like this would have one of those fancy asphalt drives, but nope. This ranch had gravel deluxe, and it made for a rough drive. I had no idea where Dara would be, but I guessed she would probably be at the barn.
Maneuvering the car around the countless ranch trucks, I parked in between two of them. I killed the engine, feeling a little apprehensive about showing up uninvited to a place like this. I usually had no problem with being a guest at places, but showing up to the same barn that Mason and I hooked up in didn’t exactly provide the best distraction.
I slid out of the driver’s side, and shut the door, glancing around me. I didn’t see Dara—or anyone for that matter—anywhere. However, as I stood there a little longer, I heard the sound of voices just inside the horse barn. Gathering all the courage I had, I made my way to the entrance, peering inside. I hoped that I would see Dara…
But instead, I was met by two very familiar piercing blue eyes.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Emma?” Mason choked out, those potent, captivating eyes going wide at the sight of me. He was standing with whom I recognized as Lucas, and the ranch owner turned to see me at the sound of my name.
“You looking for Mason?” Lucas grinned at me, though I noticed that the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Something in my gut told me something was wrong with him. I was great at reading people, and with that came the ability to tell when someone was having a bad day. And Lucas? Yeah, he was having a bad day.
“No,” Mason fired off, his tone borderline rude.
“I was actually just looking for Dara,” I said sheepishly, feeling my cheeks grow red. “I’m here to pick her up. Lily and Drew are busy.”
“Dara is here?” Mason’s brows shot up like I just told him something he didn’t know.
“I figured she was here with Jess…” My voice trailed off, wondering if I just got the girl in trouble. “It was just a guess. I don’t actually know.”
“Right,” Mason snapped, causing Lucas to shoot him a weird look.
“Dara is here,” Lucas answered me. “She’s in the second horse barn—you can get there by following the path to the south.” He gestured to the southern exit of the barn. “It’ll take you right to her. She should be just about done with those stalls. I did tell her that she could exercise a couple of the younger horses, so she might be doing that. You’ll have to drag the kid out of here—Lily always has to.”
“Wonderful,” I sighed, glancing down at my watch. I was hoping to pick her up, get her home, and then get back to the café to help Sarah lock up. It would be her first time without my help, and as much trust as I had in her, I was still a little worried about it.
I could feel Mason’s eyes on me as I went to glide past the two of them, and my chest felt heavy as I tried to breathe. Why was he so handsome? His rugged look beneath his Stetson cowboy hat was to die for, and the way he filled out his uniform was something out of a movie… Every freaking thing about Mason messed with my senses, and my head spun as my arm brushed against his.
“Might want to be careful in those shoes,” Lucas quipped as I headed for the side door. “Hate to see you get horse shit all over them.”
Mason chuckled at his friend’s words, and I felt heat rush to my cheeks.
“I’ll watch out for it, thanks,” I muttered, my heart racing out of humiliation as I tried to push the door open.
“Pull it in,” Mason said, amusement deepening his voice.
“Right,” I snapped, pulling the door open and hurrying out of the barn. As soon as the door clicked behind me, I let out an embarrassed sigh and wiped the sweat from my forehead. It wasn’t even that warm—I was just all flustered and worked up over a less than five-minute encounter with the man I slept with.
As I walked along the trail to the next, slightly smaller barn, I worked to get myself together. The last thing I needed was to be all worked up when I picked Dara up. Besides, what happened with Mason… It was nothing. He hadn’t bothered to show up or call after the encounter—not that he had my phone number—but still.
He acted like I was just another person. I mean, yeah, it was a little tense and he was surprised to see me, but it was probably just the fact that I didn’t belong at the ranch. I took rhythmic breaths as I slid the second tan colored barn open, relieved to see Dara unsaddling a palomino horse.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked her, my voice forcefully cheerful .
“Uh, hey,” Dara giggled. She was the spitting image of her mom, though her blonde hair was always braided out of her face. “Mom said she had a staging.”
I nodded. “It looks like I caught you at the right time. Did you have a good time?”
A teasing smile grew across her face. “You sound like Mom. But yeah, I had a good time. Triton here is a real mess though. He has more energy than he knows what to do with.”
“He looks tired to me,” I said with a shrug, taking in the way his eyes were half closed.
“That’s because he’s all out of energy now.” She patted his sweaty back. “But it’s all good. I think he’ll make them a really nice ranch horse if they don’t sell him. I’m trying to convince Mom and Dad to let me buy him. Lucas said that I could work it off here at the ranch.”
“That would be really cool.” I tried to sound like I knew something about what she was saying. “Are you about ready to go?”
“Yeah, are you in a rush or something?” She eyed me as she picked up the brush and started working it down Triton’s shoulder. “I just have to brush him down and then I should be good.”
“That’s fine.” I shifted, my feet aching in my converse. They weren’t the best shoes to wear, but they looked cute with my light pink mid-length dress. “Take all the time you need.”
As long as Mason stays away.
“Cool, thanks.” Dara was focused on the horse, and I leaned against one of the empty stalls. My mind flashed back to the surprise on Mason’s face when he found out that Jess wasn’t with Dara…
Does he not know where his daughter is ?
I bit my lip, hesitating for a moment before I asked Dara. I didn’t want to get in the middle of anything, but… “Hey, where’s Jess? She’s always with you.”
Dara’s smile faded, and I knew I was wading into teenage drama. “Well… She used to hang out with me all the time—she’s the reason I started coming here. But today, she decided to go hang out with her new friends. ” The last two words were full of bitterness or annoyance. It was hard to pinpoint exactly how she was feeling about it.
“Ah… I see,” I said, not wanting to press too much. If she wanted to talk about it, she would.
And obviously, she did.
“Yeah, there’s this new kid at school. His family just moved here or whatever, and he comes across as so cool, but I think he’s a douche bag. He totally likes her though—like really likes her. She’s just gotten sucked right into him.”
So, boy problems. And Mason has no idea.
“Gotcha, are they like… dating ?”
She tipped her head back and cackled. “Who even dates these days? Everyone just talks. But honestly, I have no idea what they are. All I know is that she’s so wrapped up in him that she’s forgotten that I exist. I don’t fit in with that crowd. He’s seriously hanging out with all these kids that are nothing but bad news.”
“Define bad news ,” I narrowed my eyes at her, concern growing in my chest as I thought about Mason’s daughter.
“I don’t know,” she retorted in that typical sassy teenage tone. “I just know that I don’t like them.”
I nodded. “And I bet Jess’s dad doesn’t know about it.”
Dara’s eyes went wide, giving me the answer—before she lied. “I don’t know.”
“Hmm,” I said, shrugging it off. Regardless of what was going on, it wasn’t my business to get involved. Not my monkey, not my circus, right?
Right.
Plus, it would require me to talk to Mason—and I couldn’t stomach that right now.