Chapter 22
Lacey
The house is quiet and peaceful this morning. My pointer finger hits the power on the coffee pot; the sound of the crushed coffee beans coming to life inside the maker wakes my senses to life.
I reach for a cup in the cabinet, yawning wide before grabbing the creamer from the refrigerator and the sugar from the pantry, tugging my baggy t-shirt to me for warmth until the heat of the coffee hits my system.
I don’t know why I went to the cottage last night.
In all honestly, I should have gone and checked on my brother.
But it was his fault any of it happened to begin with and if I am being honest, he needs tough love right now.
I can hear my mother’s voice in my ears, Lacey, he will calm down, just be good to him.
I love you mama, but not this time. I am not his mother or his wife. I am his sister, and he needs to learn his actions have consequences.
I don’t know what the hell is wrong with him when it comes to Beckett, but I am officially determined to find out or they both can spend the rest of their lives in a jail cell. I should have let Cade take them last night, but I was too tired to even argue.
The warmth of fresh-brewed dark roast coffee hits my lips and tongue, warming me up on the inside. Just what I needed to get up and going this morning.
The house is quiet, almost too quiet for my liking. I guess I can let the idiot back inside tonight. He is normally the one who has the coffee going first thing.
He is still on my shit list. I just like my coffee ready to go.
Twenty minutes later, my boots bounce off the front porch, in my Wranglers and a black tank top, the sun already making its way over the mountainside, before I am at the barn ready to start some chores.
“Morning, Lace.” Brigg’s voice says from the hay loft. He throws a bale down landing in the middle of the barn in the wheelbarrow.
“Morning. Hope you slept well.”
He grins, climbing back down the ladder to meet me. His poor right eye is purple. “I did. Carson and a few others have gone out to do fence checks this morning. I decided to stick around and do some of the labor around the barn.”
“Briggs. Your eye! I am so sorry,” I exclaim, covering my mouth.
He shrugs. “I knew better than to get in between those two idiots.”
“Idiots is the best word to describe them,” I laugh.
“Can I help you with anything this morning?” he asks me.
“No, but thank you. I am going to get the filly out this morning and work with her,” I tell him, walking into the tack room and grabbing a halter.
She stands in the stall closest to the tack area, watching me walk toward her. This little girl is one of the most gorgeous horses I think I have ever had the privilege to have in my barn.
“Hey there, girl. How was your night? I hope it was better than mine.” I rub her nose and move the hair from her eyes. She nudges me, making me giggle.
I have yet to pick out a name for her. Beckett is right, it needs to be something fierce and beautiful, like her. She follows me closely out to the arena, stopping just inside the fence and waiting on me to shut the gate behind us.
“Let’s try some lead changes to warm you up, girl.” I grin at her as we step into the middle of the pen, allowing her enough space to really move her legs.
“Mind if I watch?” I jump at his voice.
“Beckett.” I grab my chest, “How did you sneak up like that in boots?”
He smirks, a sexy low smirk. “That’s for me to know and you to never find out.”
This idiot and his damn charm. I bite my lip to keep from smiling too long.
Shit, now my nerves are all wound up. What is it about him being near me lately that makes me want to crawl out of my skin?
“You can only watch if you stay there and be quiet,” I tease back.
Lacey, stop flirting.
I gasp, finally noticing his eye. It looks worse than Briggs. “Shit. Beckett your eye looks horrible.”
“It feels horrible,” he chuckles.
He stays sitting on the top fence post watching us.
I instruct the young filly to move to the right a few circles before turning to the left and doing it all over again.
She moves so beautifully; it is hard to keep my eyes off her.
I am not so sure what I am going to do with her.
She would make a heck of a rodeo horse, but I also wonder how well she can do ranch work.
I guess only time will tell, and I don’t need to rush the process.
Hooves in the distance get my attention; one of our cattlemen is running his horse toward the barn a lot faster than is safe.
Briggs walks out in time to meet him. Beckett jumps off the fence, walking with me to the gate of the arena, the filly’s lead rope in my hand.
“What is it, Joe?” Briggs asks, a hint of concern in his voice.
“It’s bad. Carson won’t talk to us. We need Lacey. Come on.” He turns to Beckett and me. “It’s Nugget, Lace. He’s hurt.”
My heart goes to my feet. For a minute, I think my knees might fall to the ground, but I hold steady.
“Where is he?” Beckett opens the gate, allowing me and the filly to head on into the barn.
“Near the river on the back side. Horses got spooked. Cattle ran into him. We are going to have to put Nugget down. Two broken legs. Carson won’t leave him.
He is just holding Nugget’s head, screaming at everyone.
” He pauses, shaking off his own emotions.
“I knew if anyone could talk sense into him, it’s Lacey. ”
My heart falls. My father’s beloved gelding that he broke and raised from a colt. He loved that horse, and it was left to Carson in his will. Who am I kidding? I love that horse, too.
“Take me to him,” I tell Joe, locking the filly back in her stall.
Beckett rushes to the tack room, coming out with two lead ropes. “What are you doing?” I ask him.
“You’re not going alone. Plus, I helped your daddy with Nugget, too. I want to say goodbye.”
It’s all I can do to hold back tears, but I nod, grabbing a lead rope from him and getting one of the mares from a stall while he grabs one of the geldings.
“Briggs, do you mind staying here and watching the place?” I ask my foreman.
He nods, choking back his own emotions. “It’s safe with me, Lace. Go help Carson.”