17
T earing my gaze from the window of the Bullshit Box, I drop my ass in the chair and slam the desk drawer. Bills need paying and schedules need to be assigned, but all I can do is sit and glower.
I rub the back of my neck, annoyed that I’m annoyed. Minutes earlier, I saw Ruby with Colton, snapping photos for our social media account. The vibrant sound of her laughter ringing out across the field was like a dagger in the chest.
The awareness that she’s laughing for somebody else, that she’s sixty feet away and I’m not touching her, has me feral. Colton’s hanging on her every word. And who can blame the kid? She’s too beautiful and the entire ranch knows it.
Hell, she’s got the entire ranch wrapped around her finger. With her sweet nature and bright smile, everyone wants to be her best friend. They practically trip over their damn boots to talk to her.
What is it about this girl? She has me wanting to smile at her and punch someone for smiling at her at the same time.
I don’t have the right to be pissed off. We’re doing what we’re doing for the summer and the summer only. I’ve made it clear to her I don’t want more.
Even if I can’t get enough of her.
Every night we fuck, I’m shattering. Having her perfect tits in my face, her hair swirling around me like a halo, clouds every ounce of resolve I’ve been holding onto. All my doubts, all my fears, disintegrate.
I can’t tell if she’s a real person or an angel.
And it fucking terrifies me.
I sigh when I come to a bill marked past due. When I see the vendor’s name, I frown. Field and Farm, a local farmer Silas sources produce from.
I glance over at Davis. He’s at the dartboard with Wyatt, engaged in an epic battle to see who has to take a group up to Crybaby Falls.
“Since when is F and F collecting early?” I growl. In the years we’ve been working with them, they’ve always waited for payment until the end of the season.
Wearing an identical frown, Davis grabs the bill and examines it. His expression fades to worry. “You think this is DVL putting pressure on small businesses to collect? Forcing us to fall behind on payments?”
I lean back in my chair and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Fuck,” I mutter, closing my eyes for a brief second.
Wyatt walks closer. “I can pull some money out of my rodeo fund—”
“No.” The last thing my little brother is doing is bailing my ass out. I have faith in Ruby. In what she’s doing.
I’m opening my mouth to say just that when the sound of shouting drifts through the open door.
“Shit,” I say, already out the door and running. I hear the scrape of chairs and know my brothers are right behind me.
My heart stops when I see Ruby with her hand slapped across her mouth, her expression petrified. She’s backing away from the water tank where a crowd has gathered. Sam wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her away, but she stumbles and falls to her knees on the grass.
I can’t get there fucking fast enough.
And then I’m hitting my knees beside her, pulling her against my chest. “Ruby, baby, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Charlie ...” Her eyes shutter, and she melts against me, her hands clamping down on my shoulders for dear life. She’s pale, the beat of her heart haywire. “In the water ...”
She doesn’t need to finish her sentence. When I glance over, Ford’s lifting a leg bone out of the water tank.
Guests gasp and cover their mouths.
Fuck.
Leave it to Ford to turn on the charm, holding up a hand to calm the rabble of the crowd. “It’s fake, folks,” he drawls to the gawkers. “It’s all okay, just a prank.” As if to prove his point, he tosses away the bone like it’s nothing but a beer can.
“Goddamnit,” I snarl, wrapping my arms tighter around Ruby.
The last thing we need is gossip going around that we have bodies popping up on our ranch. Not to mention, Ruby’s fucking terrified.
Ruby.
Sensing her panic, I tuck her against my chest to shield her from the sight of the bones. Her small body trembles in my arms. Instinct has me sweeping my lips across her temple. “I got you, baby. You’re okay.”
“Charlie,” she whispers, and every hard corner of my soul softens.
Fuck that I’ve called her baby in front of half the ranch. Fuck that I feel my oldest brother’s intent gaze on us. All that matters is Ruby.
“Go on up to the bar, everyone,” Ford says, nodding at the lodge. “Get free beers for your troubles.”
Guests cheer and drift away, chuckling at the appearance of a Halloween skeleton.
When they’re gone, Ford looks at me. “Wolfingtons?”
“Assholes,” Wyatt hisses.
Davis looks pissed. “Y’all gotta stop this shit,” he barks at Wyatt, shoving up his sleeves to fish out the remains of the skeleton.
Even I agree with Davis. This prank war bullshit is out of hand.
I help Ruby stand. “You okay?” I ask.
She nods, lower lip trembling. “I’m okay. It just scared me, is all.”
Bullshit. She’s shaking and her face is as white as a sheet.
“You’re not okay.” I reach for her, not caring we have the entire ranch’s eyes on us.
The step she takes away from me does something to my heart’s electrical wiring. I hate it.
“I have to get back to work,” she whispers, her hand hovering over her heart.
“Ruby—”
“I have to go, Charlie.”
With that, she turns so fast she almost slips, then she hurries across the dirt lane and up the road.
Sam comes up beside me and licks his lips. “She’s a pretty little thing.”
A streak of protectiveness consumes me. It’s easy for people to take advantage of Ruby because she’s kind. She’s too damn innocent to see the way Sam’s leering at her. I don’t like his body language, angled toward her like he plans to follow her.
“You into her, C?” Sam’s eyes drift to the soft shake of Ruby’s ass as she floats away from us.
“Yes,” I admit through gritted teeth. I want to grab Sam by the throat and throw him in front of the fucking tractor.
“Shame. I’d have her walking bowlegged in a week.”
My head snaps to him. I ball my fists, trying to keep my rage on simmer. “Talk about her like that again, and I’ll break your fuckin’ jaw. Got me?”
He gulps. “Yes, boss.”
I watch Sam slink off, making sure he’s going in the opposite direction of Ruby, before I make a move toward her cottage. As I head after her, my arm’s snagged by my brother.
“What?” I snap, annoyed.
“Charlie,” Davis says in a grim voice. “These bones are real.”
That sobers us all.
I stare at the pile of bones, gleaming white in the sun. “Christ.”
With the toe of his boot, Ford nudges what looks like a femur. “Where’d they even get a skeleton?”
“Dickheads,” Wyatt swears. “I’m gonna—”
“No. No more.” Davis levels a stern finger at Wyatt, the lines of annoyance around his mouth deepening. “Knock it off with the Wolfingtons.”
I clap Wyatt’s shoulder. “It’s not the hill to die on.”
Wyatt nods, but he doesn’t look happy.
I know my younger brother well enough to know it’s not over. I’ll have to talk to him later, without Davis around. I don’t have time to referee that fight. Wyatt will bitch and Davis will lay down the law and everyone will yell and it’s not the time or place.
“She okay?” Ford asks, his brown eyes following Ruby up the path.
“I don’t know,” I say, rubbing my jaw. I need to go to Ruby, but my oldest brother’s eyes on me stop me.
“We focus on the ranch,” Davis orders. “Fixing things.”
Hands fisting at my side, I nod and put Ruby out of my head.
The ranch is my priority. That and nothing else.