8. Cami #2
Before they do, Jack has Granger in a chokehold with the pool stick practically wrapped around his neck, choking him out.
"Listen to me very carefully. You put my fuckin' cattle back or you'll figure out why my last name is Jessop.
You remember my father? Well, what I'm capable of doing to you is in another realm than what he had in him. You nod if you fuckin' get me."
Holy shit. Badass Jack is hot.
I glance at Jace who looks like he's about to raise his pool stick to hit Jack.
Before he makes contact, I'm on his back, choking him with it.
"I think the fuck not." I take a page out of Jack's playbook and squeeze with all my might.
Jace is surprisingly sluggish and can barely fight back. What a pansy.
Cash watches this with fascination and surprise, looking like he’s ready to jump in at any moment.
Jack releases and shoves Granger, who falls to his knees, clutching his neck, sputtering.
Jack says quietly, “If you so much as look at her, never mind throw something at her or step foot on her land, I will make your life a living fucking hell.”
He grabs Jace. "Same goes for you, you piece of shit. Stay off Wilder and Jessop Ranch. Trespassers will be shot."
“Next time I won’t miss,” I smile as I wipe my hands on my jeans.
"You heard that! That was a threat!" Jace yells as he looks around the bar, and Walker and Cash are standing, hands on their hips, watching all of this with a look of anger on their faces towards Granger and Jace.
"I didn't hear shit," someone mutters loudly.
"You hear anything?" Cash asks Walker.
Walker shakes his head "I just came out here and you were breaking my pool sticks."
"I'll get you two more," I promise with an apologetic grin.
"I'll tell you what, if I ever thought you two were perfect for each other before, well, it's crystal clear now." Walker points to Jack and me and starts wiping down the bar. "Two peas in a pod."
"Definitely," Cash mutters. “Both of them are fuckin’ nuts.”
“Better pick up an air freshener from the general store!” I call out to Granger and Jace as they leave.
Granger and Jace take off, still yelling as they head to their trucks. I straightened up all the stools we knocked over and set the broken pool sticks next to the bar.
Jack apologizes to Walker, and he shrugs, "Never much liked those two anyway."
"Did you really put a skunk in his truck?" I whisper to Jack back at our table as Cash walks away after dropping off our food.
"Did you glitter bomb him?" Jack asks at the same time.
"Maybe," I carefully admit with a whisper as I take a sip of my drink.
Jack laughs. "I wish I'd have thought of that."
"Where’d you get a skunk?" I ask as I take a bite of the chicken pasta. I close my eyes and sigh. Damn it's so good. I look over and give Momma Mary, the cook, a thumbs up, and she waves from the big kitchen window that divides the kitchen and bar.
"Ask your brother," Jack shrugs as he drags his bread through the Alfredo sauce .
"Where the hell did Ollie get a skunk?” I wonder aloud, surprised.
“I have no clue,” he says. "You were surprisingly badass there, Wilder. I'm surprised you didn't shoot him like you tried to last time.”
"What? I would never shoot anyone," I say in mock horror. "I'm a delight, Jessop."
"You know what? You remind me of Christmas lights. Complicated and a mess. But once I figure you out, you're festive and actually quite pleasant," Jack jokes.
"Did you just compare me to Christmas lights? And call me pleasant?" I give him a look of disdain. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, they're eating together. No, yeah. Not killing each other at all," Walker says on the phone to someone.
We both shake our heads and look at him, and he mouths, "Violet," and points to the phone, grinning.
I turn back to Jack suspiciously. "Why are you being so nice to me? And why are you in such a good mood?"
Jack looks straight ahead, guiltily.
"What did you do?"
"I need a favor," he says, leaning forward earnestly.
I raise an eyebrow. "You need a favor from me ? I'm not giving you a kidney, Jessop," I say, returning to my pasta. “You’re going to have to just die.”
"Can I crash at your house for a while?" he blurts, his eyes darting around.
"No, absolutely not. And you're not staying in my barn, either," I quip.
"Cami, please. I really need to stay with you. The lodge is full of all this filming bullshit. I can't stay there. Please. Ollie still has his room there. Can't I just stay there? You won't even know I'm there," he pleads.
Yeah, right. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate if Jack were in my house. Much less down the hall from me at night. He’d probably put night crawlers in my bed like he did when we were kids. I shudder at the memory.
I can’t help but replay our conversations that linger like ghosts from our past.
I don’t love you, Cami. Get it through your head. You’re Ollie’s sister. I shouldn’t have kissed you. That was a mistake.
He told me that years ago. A lot has changed since then.
Jack left immediately after high school and joined the military.
He didn’t even show up for his high school graduation.
He couldn’t get out of here fast enough, something he doesn’t talk about to this day.
And a lot has changed for both of us since then.
We’re both completely different people now.
He might be able to come back and pretend that nothing happened, like he didn’t just break my teenage heart, but he did.
Back then, it was hard for both of us, growing up on neighboring ranches.
After my grandparents passed away, my parents tried running the Wilder Ranch.
Jack’s father hated my family; our fathers were both mean and didn’t make our lives easy at home.
Jack’s mother died when he was around ten, so he didn’t even have a mom like Ollie and I did.
At least we had her to act as a buffer with our dad.
But then, later on, our mom’s excuses just got even bigger for our dad.
I don’t know if I can do it: let him live in the same house as me. I’m not a masochist.
I sigh when I look at him. "Not happening, Jessop. Plus, I'm not sure how much longer I'll have the ranch. Someone bought it. I have to find my own place to stay."
He stares at me for a beat, his mouth still. And damn if it's not a beautiful mouth.
"Cami, I'm going to tell you something and I need for you to not get mad. Okay?" he says, tilting his head to meet my eyes.
"Okay, you're starting to freak me out, Jessop. What? "
"I bought your ranch," he says quietly.
Yeah, right.
I throw my head back and laugh. “You’re an asshole. And that’s not even funny.” I take a bite of pasta and chuckle again. Very funny.
I laugh some more and then freeze when I see the look on his face and realize that there’s truth there. The sinking sensation in my gut turns my laughter to bitterness, disbelief, and hurt.
Tears fill my eyes, my body exhausted from tidal waves of emotion pulsing through it. “What? Why would you do that?” I whisper.
I stumble from my chair and turn to leave.
I turn to him, tears brimming and threatening to pour over like a dam trying to hold back the floods.
My stomach pinching, I look him in the eye, noting his tortured expression and gasp out, “I thought it was just a game. I didn’t think you really hated me. ”
I turn and dart toward my truck, stumbling as I get in, locking the doors and digging for my keys, my hands trembling. I’ve got to get out of here. Right now.
I jab my key into the ignition and start the truck and take off, pausing at the stop sign to buckle.
He had no right. He took the one thing from me that matters.
Of course, he'd want to stay at the house. It's his house. He probably just wants me out so he can move in. It's his now anyway.
I scramble into my kitchen and to the kitchen table where I feverishly thumb through the papers. The ranch was bought by a trust, which I understood. The name of the new owner I hadn’t noticed until now stares up at me from the page: J + C Trust .
This makes sense why Weston didn’t want to tell me. He knew his brother did this. He’s probably the one that helped him.
What does this even mean?
I drop my forehead into my hands. Why would he do this?