Chapter 5
KADE
I’m in a meeting with Grayson and Wyatt today to talk about some ranch business, but I’d rather be anywhere else. My mind is occupied with Chloe to the point that if I was quizzed on what we’re talking about, I’m not sure I’d pass.
When I got in my truck this morning, her perfume still hung in the air.
I sat there for a full five minutes, just breathing it in with my eyes closed.
Did she really ask me to go to her sister’s wedding with her?
It doesn’t feel real. I keep replaying the moment she asked, because I don’t think I’ve ever been more surprised in my life.
For a moment at least, she wanted to spend more time with me?
Even though she took back the invite, all night I wrestled with the idea of just turning up.
There’s a difference between being spontaneous and stalking someone.
Yes, I want to spend a little more time with her so I can figure out whatever this is.
This feeling that’s been controlling me ever since I saw her at the ranch, it’s more addictive than the thrill I get from riding a bucking bronc around the arena.
“What do you think, Kade?” Grayson asks, pulling me out of my head.
Dumbfounded, I look at him across the stained cedar wood desk and ask, “Huh?”
With concern filling his gaze, Grayson darts a look over to Wyatt, who shrugs.
“What’s got into you?” Grayson asks, returning his attention to me.
The thing about my family is they can tell when you’re lying, but they won’t call you out on it right away.
They’ll let you dig the hole first. I look between them, weighing up whether to tell them about Chloe.
To confess the confusing feelings that have been eating me alive for the past twenty-four or so hours.
Aside from my omissions about the rodeo, there have never been any secrets between the three of us—four if you include our sister, Gracie.
Maybe that’s why I find myself tentatively replying, “I met a woman last night.”
“At The Wildflower?” Grayson asks, sitting back in his chair. The movement makes a high-pitched creaking sound echo around the room. A groove forms between his brows as if he’s trying to figure out who I could have met in the only bar in town that I wouldn’t already know.
“Yeah.” Nerves twist in my stomach.
“You mean the woman you defended from that jack-off?” Wyatt asks, tapping his pen against the notepad he has balanced on his thigh.
For some reason, the tone of his question gets my guard up, and I snap back. “Her name’s Chloe.” Pausing, I force myself to take a breath before turning to Grayson and saying, “She’s in town for her sister’s wedding.” For twelve days, I remind myself.
Grayson asks, “And she’s distracting you now?”
I run a hand through my hair and stand, walking over to the big window with the perfect view of the mountains. “She is. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her, and I can’t figure out if that’s because of her or because of… something else.” Something I can’t quite pinpoint.
“King Kade’s in love,” Wyatt teases, the smirk on his face visible in the reflection of the glass.
“I’m not in love, Wy. I just… can’t get her out of my head.”
This isn’t love; I barely know her. Besides, she’s leaving at some point in the very near future. But it sure feels like the beginning sparks of an inferno that will consume me more than the wildfires that come on the hottest summer days.
Marching back to my seat, I drop into it with a huff, because part of me hates that I feel like this.
Like I don’t have a hold on my emotions, and that I’ve all but loaded the gun for my brothers to take shots at me.
No matter how old I get, they still treat me like I’m their baby brother.
Sometimes I wish they didn’t only see me that way.
“I knew I shouldn’t have told you two shit. ”
Wyatt guffaws before snapping his mouth shut and growing serious when Grayson’s scowl lands on him.
“Let’s just get back to work. What did you wanna know?” I fold my arms over my chest and wait for Grayson to speak.
He takes his sweet time, the ticking of the clock the only sound in the room as he assesses me.
“The Stoneheart ranch in Texas has reached out about a partnership. They’ve got a base in Wyoming too, so there’s the possibility of expanding in the future, but I’ve been hearing some whispers about some of their dealings.”
“What have you heard?” I ask, flicking back through the research pack. We’re nothing if not thorough when we’re considering doing business with someone.
Grayson sits forward, resting his elbows on the solid wood surface.
“I spoke to Sam at the Lone Star Range ranch down there, and he said that Henry left out some vital details when putting some cattle up for sale. A rancher brought the herd, but they barely made it back to their ranch, with over half of them dying from shipping fever. Then there was the altercation he had with some traveling ranch hands, where he threatened a few of them after refusing to pay. It’s all hearsay, though. ”
“I think it’s enough to say no,” Wyatt chimes in.
I nod. “I’m inclined to agree. We don’t need to link our reputation to one like that. Even if it is all hearsay, it’s still out there and will do nothing but tarnish our name.”
Grayson pulls his keyboard forward, typing a note on his computer. “Then it’s agreed. I’ll let them know.” When he’s done, he looks at Wyatt and then me before saying, “I think that’s about it for today. What have you guys got planned?”
Wyatt clicks his pen and throws it, along with his notepad, onto Grayson’s desk. “I’m going out with Beau to check on the cattle up in the northern pastures.”
Blowing out a heavy breath, I stand at the same time as Wyatt. “I’m working on the ATV that broke down last week. I need to pop into town first and pick up the part Marshall ordered.”
I follow Wyatt as he heads for the door before stopping in my tracks when Grayson asks, “Kade, have you got a second?”
Wyatt gives me a shit-eating grin before waggling his eyebrows and mouthing “You’re in trouble” as he walks out and closes Grayson’s office door. Nothing in his tone gives me a clue as to what Grayson might want to talk about, and that settles in my gut like a rock.
Does he know? About the rodeo?
He can’t. If he did, he would have spoken to me about it a lot sooner.
God, I hate the lies.
Inhaling a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I slowly turn toward Grayson. He’s looking at me expectantly, and when I don’t take a seat or speak, he stands, rounding his desk to lean on the edge. Our dad used to do that.
Over the years, but especially since Dad passed, Grayson has stepped up to be a father figure to us Wilde kids. Every day, he reminds me more and more of Dad.
“Is everything okay with you?”
I huff out a laugh nervously. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”
Grayson shrugs a shoulder, his gaze never wavering from me. “I don’t know, you just haven’t seemed like yourself lately.”
“I’m fine. Just got a lot on my mind.” Please leave it.
I can tell he wants to ask more questions, but that he’s warring with himself over whether that’s a good idea or not. It feels like hours pass before he dips his chin and sighs heavily. “Okay, but I’m here if you wanna talk. We all are.”
“I know.”
My secret is on the tip of my tongue, ready to spill from my lips.
Grayson and Wyatt weren’t there when Uncle Kurt had his accident, but they felt his loss as much as I did.
My attention shifts to the picture of Uncle Kurt, our dad and Mom with her belly round with Grayson as they stand on the front porch steps of the house, with beaming smiles on their faces.
Any idea I had about telling Gray my truth disappears as I look at that picture.
It’s a reminder of the promise I made, of the man with so much life left to live and the danger that comes with the rodeo.
Instead, I leave, carrying the weight of my lie, just like I’ve done for so long now.
There isn’t a world in which I can come clean and not leave my family heartbroken at my betrayal.
Nobody wins, especially not me, because as soon as my secret is out there, I’ll lose their trust and the rodeo.