Chapter 12 Beau
Beau
A Ceasefire in Wild Creek
Word is, the make out was intense enough to short-circuit a fence. And while we won’t say where it happened, let’s just say it wasn’t under the cover of night—and it definitely wasn’t subtle. Who knew they had it in them?
They always said the line between love and hate was razor-thin. And it looks like this pair toppled over into the land of love.
What does this mean for their decades-long feud? Who cares? I’m sensing a ceasefire in Wild Creek’s near future. So enjoy the hot Texas air and thank the sizzling new couple for your pool day.
Like always, if it’s worth whispering, it’s worth writing down.
- WCW
My eyes shot open to quick stomping up the stairs. My sister kicked my bedroom door open, like she was on the SWAT team. Her voice was a shrill yell that felt like nails on a chalkboard, as she screamed, “Beaumont Alexander McLeod the third, what the fuck is this?”
I groaned, rolling over. “Go away, Anna.” Whatever it was, I’d deal with it later. Sundays were the only days I took off from the ranch.
I flinched when paper hit my face, and when I sat up, the Wild Creek Whispers was staring at me. I had a pretty good idea what this was about, considering Anna was smiling so wide, I thought her face was going to split in half. She tilted her chin at the paper. “Go on. Read it.”
She was practically vibrating, and it made me nervous. “Sit down before you go into labor.”
She rolled her eyes but obliged me. “Now read it, or I will go into labor all over your bed.”
“I’m smart enough to know that’s not how that works.” I shook my head and looked at the article. It amazed me how the Whispers always said a lot without saying anything at all. All veiled innuendos, quick barbs, and leading questions.
“This doesn’t mean anything.” The words didn’t feel that great as I said them, knowing they were a lie. But I wouldn’t say anything about it until Claire and I spoke first. And that was understandably on the back burner with everything going on with Charlotte.
“You’re so full of shit! What happened in that F-250? We don’t have any of those, so it had to be Claire’s.” She clapped her hands on my shoulders and shook me. “Tell me everything. You owe me this.”
I shrugged her hands off me. “I don’t owe you shit, now get out of my room.” I felt like I was fifteen again with my pesky little sister demanding things from me.
She smacked me in the face with a pillow just like she would have back then. “Like hell you don’t! If it weren’t for me, none of this would even be happening.”
“Maybe not at the speed they happened, but this was all me.” Well, technically, it was all Claire. But my girl was never one to shy away from going after what she wanted, and she made it pretty crystal fucking clear that she wanted me.
The feel of her lips on mine and the little sounds she made followed me all day long and into my dreams. I was itching to see her again, and it took everything in me not to chase after her when she left me yesterday, but I knew she had other things on her mind. Things far more important than me.
“Just give me something,” Anna begged, flopping back on the bed dramatically.
“We kissed.”
My sister shrieked so loud I was surprised the windows didn’t shatter. Saying it out loud kinda made me want to do that giddy girl shriek too. But I settled with a grin because I was damn happy about it, that’s for sure.
She got on her knees, brown eyes wide and sparkling. “And?”
“And that’s it.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Oh.”
“She’s got a lot going on. Charlotte is not doing well…at all.”
She frowned. “That’s sad. She’s a nice lady.”
The memory of Claire collapsing against her truck, sobbing so hard nothing came out, had me looking down at the comforter, swallowing hard. “Yeah,” I cleared my throat, “she is.”
“How was the kiss?”
“Life changing,” I said honestly, not thinking. My mind was on Claire and Charlotte, not the question. I winced. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
Anna’s smile was borderline creepy with how wide it was. All teeth. Full joy. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”
I rolled my eyes and slapped her with a pillow gently, fighting a smile. “Go away.”
She just laughed. “Beau’s in loooooove,” she sang to the ceiling, kicking her feet.
My face felt like it was on fire. “Fuck off. No, I’m not. We just kissed, that’s it.”
“That’s what everyone says before the big fall. Next thing you know, they’re all you can think about. Everything reminds you of them. And your life is basically consumed by what they think and feel. It’s terrible, and magical.” She let out a blissful sigh. “Ugh, I miss Jo.”
My brows furrowed. “Weren’t you just at your house?”
“Yeah.” She sat up and patted my leg. “Don’t worry. You’ll get it one day.”
She stopped short. “Wait. What does this mean about the Cavendish partnership?”
“She’s not sure if she’s staying in or not. At first, she said she was dropping out, and I think I might’ve talked her into staying, but we weren’t really…” The last thing on my mind yesterday was her staying in that fucking competition. Well, once she kissed me anyway.
“That’s when the smooching started,” she teased.
“Okay, you can fuck off for real now. Goodbye.”
“Byeeeee,” she said, and then sang “Beau’s in love” until I heard the front door close behind her.
I was restless all morning, my mind drifting to Claire. I did everything I could think of to get the anxious energy out: rode Daisy, practiced cutting cattle, did laundry, worked on the Cavendish project, cleaned out the fucking fridge.
It was only a matter of time before I found myself back at the hospital, staring at the last place I had seen my mother.
I had avoided it at all costs since then; I didn’t even go when Mount had his hip surgery.
The only thing that brought me to this part of town was that my doctor’s office was in the complex—
And now Claire.
I had a pretty strong feeling she was in there when I didn’t see her walking around Golden Bridle this morning, and I was desperate to see her. To know she was okay. Or as okay as she could be anyway.
Grabbing the wildflowers I picked back home, I let out a deep sigh and got out of the truck.
My heart was in my throat as I walked through the automatic doors.
My skin crawled at the fluorescent lights.
My stomach turned at the antiseptic scent.
It was like I was five all over again, just a boy saying goodbye to my mama with a brand-new baby brother I didn’t know what to do with.
But a girl I was starting to really care about was nearing saying bye to hers, and I refused to let her do it alone.
I found Charlotte’s room with the help of a peppy nurse. Her scrubs were pink, and something about that was unsettling. Far too cheerful for a place like this, I thought.
“Charlotte,” the nurse said, pushing open the door slowly, “you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?” It felt like a blow straight to the chest to hear her voice. It was so frail. Definitely not the woman who used to referee our horse races, screaming at the top of her lungs like she was at the Derby. “Who?”
The nurse looked at me over her shoulder and opened the door wider.
When I walked in, Claire was in the same clothes she had on yesterday, curled in a recliner in the corner, sleeping.
Charlotte was in bed, her skin pale, nearly translucent.
A purple scarf was wrapped around her head, and she had an oxygen cannula in her nose.
But when she saw me, she smiled. “Beaumont.”
God damn, I wanted to cry seeing her so happy to see me. I cleared my throat and kept my voice low so I didn’t wake up Claire. “Hi, Mrs. Hayes.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “It’s good to see you.”
“You, too, sweet boy. It’s been a while.” She patted my cheek and looked me over. “My word, you sure have grown up into a handsome young man.”
I chuckled—and blushed. “Thank you.”
I set the flowers on the rolling tray next to her bed, right on top of the newspaper that was open to the Whispers, and sat down in the chair next to her bed. “Those for me? They’re beautiful.”
I smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“That’s awfully nice of you.”
I couldn’t hold it back anymore and glanced over at Claire.
She looked peaceful, absolutely dead to the world.
Her dark auburn curls were left unbound, framing her flawless face.
My chest tightened just watching her, and I wondered if Anna was right.
Because even though she wasn’t more than five feet away, I missed her.
“She’s beautiful, isn't she?”
“Yes,” I answered, my voice a little breathless.
“I haven’t been the best mother”—she took a deep, rattling breath—“since Ben died. She had to grow up too fast. And the rest of my kids ran away as soon as they could. Emmett to the Army, Savannah to Stanford, Tess…Lord only knows.”
She raised an oxygen mask to her face, taking several deep puffs from it before she spoke again.
“Emmett came back to us in one piece, Savannah is coming to say goodbye as soon as she can, and Tess didn’t even answer the phone.
But Claire? She gave up her life for this family.
For Golden Bridle. She’s never wavered.”
I didn’t say anything because what could I have said? It wasn’t my place to make comments on how they ran their family. But I knew this was going somewhere, especially if she read that Whispers article.
“My Claire needs someone who lets her be independent, but also takes care of her.” I fidgeted in my chair.
“She doesn’t like to ask for help. Likes to do things herself.
She needs someone who jumps in and gets things done without being asked.
Someone as selfless as her.” She took another deep breath.
“It’s a hard balance, but I know the right man can do it. ”
The room went quiet for a while aside from Charlotte’s labored breathing, the monitors, and the blood rushing in my ears while I waited for the loaded question I knew was coming.