Chapter Two
Resituating his Stetson for the tenth time since he’d slapped it on his head, Wyler strolled into the restaurant and was greeted by the blonde host standing at the podium. “Good evening, Mr. Ranks. Mr. Rose is waiting for you. Right this way.”
No matter how often it happened these days, he still wasn’t used to being greeted by name.
Hell, everyone in Sagebrush Pine always greeted him warmly, but he never would have believed he could walk into some fancy restaurant and be recognized.
Of course, that came with the territory when one married a Rose.
People seemed to have a second job around these parts making sure they treated the reputable family with extra consideration.
Sam owned the largest cattle ranch within a two-hundred-mile radius and an extensive portfolio of investment properties.
Anything he touched regarding land turned to gold.
When Wyler first started working at Sagebrush Rose, he thought Sam and his daughters were a knock-off version of the Kardashians, but boy-oh-boy had Wyler learned a lot in the last year—especially the last four months since he’d married Liberty.
His eyes had been opened wide to the hard work the family put into their legacy.
Sure, the family farmhouse had rugs and antiques that cost more than he made a year, but most everything in the farmhouse mansion had been handed down by generations of Roses.
The first-generation of Roses had landed on the undeveloped Sagebrush Rose Ranch in eighteen-ninety-four.
Each generation after poured blood, sweat and tears into making the beautiful ranch into what it was today.
The sisters were spoiled, no doubt, but they were also some of the toughest women he’d ever met. Talented. Business savvy. And could handle a horse better than most men.
The first week he worked as a hand, one of the horses had been spooked by a rattlesnake and jumped a fence.
He was caught at the east pasture tangled in barbed wire and fought against it, only making things worse.
Liberty had ridden up so fast that she’d lost her cowgirl hat in the wind, and was pulling on her gloves before she even left the saddle.
There had been an undeniable connection between her and the horse that calmed it enough that she could give him a shot of sedative so he wouldn’t hurt himself or one of the hands.
Several of the hands had started cutting the wire away from the horse’s injured legs, but Liberty had demanded that everyone step aside and let her help her horse.
After being freed, and the vet checking for life-threatening injuries, Liberty had begun belting out demands for the crew to immediately remove every single strand of barbed wire fence on the ranch and put up cattle panel and pipe fences in the horse pastures.
All the while she was covered in blood, some of her own and some of the horse’s.
Normally the expensive request would require Sam’s prior approval, but none of the hands had the courage to go behind Liberty’s back and get her father’s signature. She’d looked a bit like a warrior princess who’d gone to battle and shouldn’t be crossed. When Sam found out, he’d stayed silent too.
Wyler’s curiosity and interest had been tweaked then.
He watched for Liberty, stealing glances every chance he could.
There was something very different in her, unlike any woman he’d ever met.
He admired the fact that she was the most ladylike tomboy.
Not to mention the most beautiful. Eventually, stolen glances led to flirtation, mostly on her part.
Wyler couldn’t have ignored the temptation if his life had depended upon it.
One night after the other hands had gone to the bunkhouse, Wyler was out by the river alone enjoying an evening by a fire under the stars when Liberty had unexpectedly come off the path, walked into the firelight, and stripped down to her itty-bitty bra and panties.
She’d started for the water and got about halfway then looked back at him with a smile that could have easily knocked his boots off if he’d had a pair on.
Her voice had sounded like liquid velvet when she said, “You coming, cowboy?”
Of course he was. He got hard right then and there like a schoolboy seeing tits for the first time.
In his defense, a man would have to be out of his mind to turn down an opportunity to be near a woman as beautiful as Liberty. From her tousled curls, to her engaging eyes to hips that begged for a man’s grip, she was amazing.
He should have denied himself the temptation, walked away like an idiot, but the whiskey in his system had lent him enough bravery to deny all logic. He’d stripped down to his boxers and join her in the ice-cold water that didn’t even touch his hard-on.
She must have liked it because over the next month, he’d found himself, and his heart, right where they shouldn’t be.
Balls deep in sweet pussy and pleasured to near-stupidity.
She simply said “hard” and his body reacted like a race horse coming out of the gate.
He was caught up in an invisible wire like that poor horse she’d saved.
He wasn’t schooled in how clandestine affairs worked, but he was willing to learn everything there was to know.
, with Liberty’s guidance When she’d mentioned marriage, she could have easily said “be a dumbass” and he’d gone right along all too willingly.
He’d fallen for her like a dumbass would. Lock, stock, and barrel.
What had he thought would happen?
When she’d mentioned divorce, he’d been unraveled—the rug pulled out from underneath him. He’d been at war within himself, wanting to fight for her, but pride had rendered him silent. There came a time when a man needed to remove the claws from his balls.
Yet, truth was, he didn’t want to lose her.
He had one chance and he aimed to tell her exactly how he was feeling.
He would lay it all on the line and let her decide.
He didn’t want a divorce, and if that meant giving up his dreams of ever running his own ranch then so be it.
What he wanted right now, more than his next breath, was his wife.
He wanted to make their union real. To wake up with her each day.
He patted his shirt pocket to make sure the ring tucked in the velvet pouch hadn’t disappeared. The keepsake had belonged to his mother, the only thing of hers that he had left. It wasn’t much, not a big diamond, but it meant a lot to him.
Sweat beaded his brow.
Would she even like the ring? It wasn’t what some rich fellow could give her, but Wyler knew all the money in the world couldn’t make a person happy.
He would gladly spend every day treating her with love, kindness, and respect, until he took his final breath.
Unlike how his father had treated his mother.
Even as a kid he’d tried to protect her—swearing he’d never be like his father.
When he passed away, Wyler had gone to the graveyard, the only one in attendance, and said good bye to the man who had never fit the bill as a dad.
The only thing he’d done for Wyler was leave him a plot of land that was worth a million which Wyler refused to do anything with because it meant nothing to him.
It was the moral of the situation. Even today, he couldn’t believe the old man hadn’t sold everything he had for a bottle of whiskey and a temporary high.
Wyler wasn’t his father. He wanted a family. And if God willing, he’d be blessed enough to have a house full of kids. He wanted this with Liberty. The perfect unification of her stubborn character and his patience. Her beauty and strength and his determination. He’d consider his life a success.
His cheeks burned as a smile took up residence on his lips.
Imagining Liberty carrying their baby made his heart heavy and his chest puff out some.
He knew she’d be a good mother. She came across as hard knocks, but he knew it was a defense mechanism.
He’d seen the softer side of her. Saw how she cared for her family and went to bat for them
He wanted to plant his seed inside her and create the family that he’d always wanted.
“Have a wonderful dinner, Mr. Ranks.” The hostess offered him a lingering smile and he guessed most men would be flattered at the uninvited attention from the young woman.
Yet, as beautiful as she was, Wyler didn’t have any desire for any woman but his Liberty.
The woman who’d shown him what he wanted—needed.
“There he is,” Sam’s booming voice rattled the chandeliers as he marched toward Wyler, extending his gnarled, leathered hand. Wyler gripped his father-in-law’s roughened hand for a firm handshake. “Liberty isn’t with you?” Sam looked beyond Wyler’s shoulder.
“She must be running behind.”
“Every time I complain about my daughters’ punctuality difficulties I always get, ‘Daddy, we’re being fashionably late’.
” He snorted. “Whatever that means. What’ll you have to drink, son?
You tried their bourbon yet? Made and aged right here in the U.S.
of A.” Sam waved over the bartender and flashed two fingers.
“Is Trinity here with you?” Wyler searched for the young woman that Sam had been spending a lot of his time with.
“Nah. She’s studying for her bar exam. Wouldn’t invite her anyway.
” He paused while the bartender set two tumblers onto the slick, black bar top and poured a liberal amount of whiskey into each.
“You’d think it’d kill my daughters to treat Trinity with some respect and kindness.
” He scratched his temple. “They aren’t the ones dating her. ”
“Have you factored in that Trinity is younger than Liberty and Honor?” Wyler appreciated that he could have a raw conversation with the other man. “They’re just looking out for their father’s interest.”