SAGE
14
Some say mucking out the stalls in the horse stable is disgusting work. I don’t usually mind it so much, though. The process of cleaning then refreshing everything is soothing to me. And right now, I desperately need that. I pick up the pitchfork to loosen a bale of straw. I love horses, so caring for them isn’t a hardship to me, but it gives me an escape… and a lot of alone time to think. That’s always been a good thing… until recently.
I’ve been overanalyzing every nuance of my life and the recent situations I’ve found myself in. My dad has forever been an issue. Without Jonah here to take over the family ranch one day, I feel a sense of duty. As much as I’d like to leave this place behind, I can’t. I’m tethered to the land and all the tragedies it holds.
For starters, it’s only been a week since the night Toby’s apologetic ass took off and left town, proclaiming that he’ll fix himself. He said he’d do better. But at this point, the bastard has probably shacked up with someone else and is in the process of gaslighting her, too. I pause. Because down deep, I was never oblivious to what an ass my ex was. My lips pinch tightly together. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. I don’t need any more apologies out of Toby. In fact, there’s a part of me that hopes he doesn’t come back. I never want to see him again.
I could say the same about Samuel. Only he’s still here. And I’ve been over and over in my head what I’ll do when Dad returns. Will he believe me if I tell him what I suspect about the books or the depraved act I caught our ranch hand engaging in? Will he side with a man he obviously doesn’t know as well as he thinks he does? I have no idea how to handle it. Every time I think about my discoveries, both the fishy bookkeeping and what he did to that poor cow, I get so sick. My stomach rolls uncomfortably. When I think back to the look in his eyes, I admit the plain truth to myself: Samuel scares me. He really does. And I think he could follow through on his threats if I were to step a toe out of line.
Unfortunately, Samuel and Toby are not my only problems. My dad frightens me, too. My eyes crash shut. The men in my life come with the cost of my peace. I’m living in a nightmare, and I have no clue how to wake myself up.
Knowing there’s no easy way to evict my demons, I exhale carefully, getting back to fixing the bedding in the stall.
“I figured you might be in here.”
Startled, I flail wildly and let the pitchfork hit the stable floor with a loud thud. I suck in a breath, and my hand flies to my chest. It takes me a split second, but I recognize the voice as a familiar one—a safe one. I turn toward it, and my racing heart calms. Plastering a smile on my face, I look into Rhett’s laughing eyes. “Hey. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. You here to have a look at our new mama and her foal again?”
He nods. “Yeah. Thought I’d take a look at Cruella, too. I heard she had a little run-in with Casper the other day.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Oh my god, does he know? My cheeks heat, and I look away, swallowing hard. “Kade tied him too close to her, and things got a little wild.”
As I bring my gaze back to Rhett, my head goes hazy as memories swamp my brain of how I fucked this man’s brother in broad daylight where anyone could have come upon us. The thought of it makes me dizzy. The way his ranch-hardened hands had gripped my ass as I rode his massive cock sends shivers down my spine as goose bumps erupt on my skin. Please, please, please, tell me there’s no way that Rhett knows I’m standing here in the throes of a filthy-sexy memory starring his brother.
Exhaling hard, I blink several times to clear my head, then shoot Rhett an apologetic grin. I have no clue how long I’ve been staring at him without seeing him, all while he’d probably been waiting for more of an explanation about the trouble the horses had gotten into… and how that even happened in the first place.
I have no idea what Rhett would think about me and Kade, and it kinda worries me because he does talk to my father all the damn time. If he were to slip up and say something… Picking up the pitchfork again, I go back to fluffing the fresh straw, spreading it around the stall.
Rhett watches me in silence for a few moments then clears his throat in what I recognize as a bid to regain my attention. When I finally sigh and stop what I’m doing, I raise my brows at him. He nods, his eyes scanning my face. Finally, he huffs. “Yeah. I thought there was probably more to it than just the horses. Look. It’s your business what you get up to with my brother. I’m not here to bust your lady balls over it.”
Scraping my teeth over my lip, I ponder whether he’s really going to be this cool about the whole thing. Not that he knows the wickedness that happened in Black River with Kade, but maybe he doesn’t see the harm in it. I exhale hard. “Could I ask you not to?—?”
His jaw works to the side. “Mention it to Ridge?” It’s uncanny the way his whiskey eyes seem to pick around my head and decipher exactly what I mean without me having to say it .
“Please.” Over the last few years that Rhett has been helping us out at Lilac Meadows, he and I have become friends. We talk about his studies, the animals, and, lately, even my hopes that the business classes I plan to take at the community college will aid me in running the ranch on my own someday. Dad can use all the help he can get, and if he’s not careful, he’s going to drink himself right into an early grave. As sad as it is, I need to be prepared for that eventuality. He hasn’t been himself since my mother left us, not in his right mind at all, leaving me to fend for myself.
He slowly nods. “Yeah. You got it.”
My eyes search his, but I don’t see any hint that he doesn’t mean what he says.
A moment later, Samuel’s pervy voice drifts to us from outside the stable. My body gives an all-over involuntary shudder. Who is he talking to?
Drawing me back to the present, Rhett questions, “Something wrong, Sage?” He cocks his head to the side, peering shrewdly at me.
I blow out a breath. “No. I’m fine.” I can’t bring myself to discuss the criminal behavior of our ranch hand. With my lip clamped between my teeth, I shake my head, nervous as fuck where Samuel is concerned. Is he simply a sick individual who needs help? Possibly. Deranged? Most definitely. My body quakes again as his threat slams into me again.
“You’re sure?” Concern laces Rhett’s voice as if he doesn’t quite believe me. My throat tightens, and all I can do is nod, feeling his eyes on me as I go back to moving the straw around the stable. When I turn around, he’s there with a pail of water and hands it off to me before gathering some fresh hay.
Standing inside the stall with me, his brows furrow and his lips pinch together. He pulls off one of his gloves, gesturing to my face. “I, uh. I’ve been meaning to ask you about this.” He reaches out with a few careful fingers to the spot high on my cheekbone near my eye. The week-old bruising is a nasty yellowish color. I hadn’t bothered to put makeup on to hide it before coming out to muck the stalls, so yeah—it’s pretty fucking obvious. “What happened, Sage?”
I stare up at this man who I feel safe with, but in a different way than I do with Kade. It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally figured out I’m drawn to him because he reminds me so much of Jonah. He’s charismatic and confident. Driven. Trustworthy. I could never—and would never want to—replace him… but being around Rhett feels kinda like I still have a brother.
“Toby just—” I stop, blowing out a breath. “He lost it. I hardly remember what I said or did. I was simply trying to keep him from making an ass out of himself. Then, once he was thrown out of the bar in front of everyone, the embarrassment pushed him over the edge. ”
“Sage—” His teeth clench, regret washing over his features. “I’m sorry, we should’ve?—”
“There was nothing you could have done differently. I’ve thought about it over and over in my head. I think he was primed to go off. I got caught in the crossfire.”
He works a hard swallow down his corded throat, his eyes shifting away from me. “Where’s he now?”
“He said California to visit a friend—promised to work on himself so he could be better for me.” I sigh. “But it doesn’t matter how much reflection he does. It’s over this time.”
“Glad to hear it. He is never gonna change, Sage. You’re better off without him here.” He nods, as if reassuring himself. Working his jaw to the side, he gestures that I should follow him from the stall. I don’t know if he has more to say on the subject or not, but I’ll listen. I exhale softly and pull off my gloves, tucking them in the back pocket of my overalls.
Together, we head out to the horse pen where I’d left Cruella so she could run. He props his arms on the top rail and readjusts his hat, watching my pretty mare gallop around the circle before turning his head. He peers at me for a few seconds. “Everything else going okay? You and your old man getting on all right?”
Keeping my eyes trained on the steady loping of my horse, I shrug. “He’s the same. I’m good.” I can’t tell him about any of the rest of it. I can’t .
Unfortunately for me, Rhett sees my hesitation. Peering at me from the corner of his eye, he murmurs, “You can tell me if something isn’t right. What is it?”
Oh god, this is like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books that I used to like as a kid, only now it’s Choose Your Own Shitty Situation. I’ve already mentioned Toby, I’m not telling him about my dad. Instead of any of that, I go with the unknown variable and blurt out, “Is it strange for me to say I’ve been getting these weird feelings lately?” At his immediate confusion, I continue, “I keep feeling like someone is watching me.” I assume it’s that disgusting cow fucker, but I don’t know how to clue Rhett in without everything blowing up in my face. I pause, scared to say anything else. The more I think about it, the more I am sure Samuel would follow through on his threats if he found out I breathed a word about what I saw. Bile rises to the back of my throat when vivid memories slash through my mind. Rhett will freak the fuck out. My eyes slam shut.
“Sage, you realize you look ten shades of green, right? What the fuck’s going on?”
I suck in a breath, hoping it’ll calm me. Maybe if I give him vague examples, he’ll keep an eye out. I dunno. Shrugging, I mumble, “It’s just odd things. Hard to explain, but I noticed it when I was tilling the garden the other day. A couple other random times when I was in the stable and barn. Nothing I can pinpoint, honestly. But I’m uneasy. ”
He stares off into the distance. A flash of discomfort narrows his brow. He swallows deeply before eyeing me. “Do you think it could be Toby waiting to jump you again?”
“I don’t think so. Not to mention, Toby isn’t one to hide the monster he is—at least not from me. It feels different. It’s disconcerting. Gives me a funny feeling in my gut.”
Exhaling hard, Rhett turns to fully look at me. “I don’t like this.”
Sweat trickles down my back as a strangled laugh bursts from me. “You think I do?”
“Nope.” He rubs a hand over the stubble on his cheek. “Do me a favor and text me if it happens again. You have my number.”
Yep, because when my dad is too piss-drunk to take care of the animals, I end up being the one to call Rhett over here if we need him. I sigh heavily. “I’m such a mess right now. You must think I’ve lost my mind,” I mumble.
He claps a hand on my shoulder. “I think you’re a strong woman who has dealt with a lot. And sometimes we all need a friend. I can be that for you, Sage, if you’ll let me.” He huffs out a chuckle. “Maybe I should say, if Kade will let me.”
I appreciate him trying to lighten the mood with his humor, but knowing Kade, Rhett’s evaluation isn’t so much a joke… it’s a fact.