Chapter Four
Garrett met his brother as he was pulling alongside the stables.
Trey grinned as he slid out of the truck. “Hey, how’s it going around here?”
“Good. I’m glad you’re back. Let me help you with unloading the horses.”
Trey glanced at him. “I’ll take the help. One of them is pretty feisty.”
“How many did you bring home?” Garrett asked as he stood aside and waited for his brother to open the back of the horse trailer.
“Just five.”
Garrett followed his brother in and started backing one of the horses out.
Trey chuckled when Garrett had ahold of the horse he’d just told him about, and the mare started to act out.
“You could have warned me which one it was,” Garrett complained.
“Naw, what’s the fun in that? This makes life more interesting.”
Garrett rolled his eyes. He pulled down on the lead that was attached to the halter. “Knock it off, you knucklehead,” he grumbled to the horse, making his brother laugh.
“Denny, can you put the trailer away for me?” Trey yelled at one of the men who worked for them, standing several yards away.
“Sure thing, Boss.”
Trey turned back to his brother. “Okay, now tell me what’s wrong?”
Garrett looked away from him. “What makes you think anything’s wrong?”
Trey snorted. “Because I know you.”
Garrett walked over to the fence and watched a few of the horses in the small pasture graze as their tails swished at flies.
“A woman checked in a few days ago.”
Trey waited for a moment. “And?”
“She’s beautiful.”
Trey rolled his eyes when his brother paused again. “And?”
Garrett turned toward his brother. “She looks and sounds sweet, and her laugh is so cheerful and contagious, and everyone seems to like her, and…”
“Come on, man, you’re killing me. Finish it,” Trey demanded.
“I am attracted to everything about her, but the woman terrifies me.” Garrett looked away from Trey. “I can’t wait for you to see her, but I know you will want her. She’s everything we love in a woman.”
“But … you think she’s like Abby because we thought the same thing about her and were wrong.”
“Yeah.”
“Not everyone is like Abby, Garrett.”
“I know that, but what I feel for Madelyn surpasses what I ever felt for Abby, and I’ve only known the woman a few days and barely talked to her.”
“Why haven’t you tried?” Trey asked.
“I have, but then something holds me back, and I get mad and take it out on her.”
“How?”
“I’m rude and abrupt with her, and I can’t stop it, but I’m so frustrated because I can’t touch her.” Garrett pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need you to meet her. I’m hoping you don’t feel anything for her, and then it will make it easier for me to ignore her.”
Trey snorted out a laugh. “You already said you think I’ll like her.”
“Yeah, but part of me hopes you don’t like her because if you do and we try to have another relationship, and it fails … I’m never going to want another woman we both agree with, and I don’t want to have one without you. It’s what we’ve always wanted.”
“Yes, but it will never happen if you’re afraid to move forward and forget about Abby.”
Garrett nodded. “I know. It wouldn’t bother me so much if I had normal feelings for Madelyn, but it felt like I got hit with a two-by-four the second I saw her.”
“Let’s take it one day at a time. Let me meet her, and then we’ll talk again.”
Garrett relaxed and exhaled. He felt better having Trey around. His brother had always kept him on an even keel, and he desperately needed that now.
“Let’s go find her,” Trey said.
Garrett nodded and headed toward the lodge. “Daisy will know where she is. The two have become chummy.”
“That’s good to know. Abby didn’t like anyone, and no one liked her.”
Garrett nodded. He’d noticed that right off the bat, too.
He hadn’t found anything about the woman he didn’t like. He would just have to see where it went.
One thing he promised himself was that he needed to rein in his frustration because he knew Madelyn took it as he didn’t like her, and that was far from the truth.