Chapter 6 #2
The Maddoxs and my family weren't friends.
Never pretended to be. Two ranches with neighboring properties and competing interests—my dad building a reputation as one of the best horse trainers in the state, Cole's father running a bigger operation that always seemed to want more.
More land. More clients. More of everything.
The rivalry was quiet but constant, the kind that simmered under polite nods at the feed store.
And now Cole's taken over. Expanded. Looking to keep growing.
"Cole," I say, voice flat. Nothing warm. Nothing inviting. "How's the ranch?"
"Pretty damn good," he says easily, like we're old friends catching up. "Been busy lately, actually." His gaze slides past me, deliberate and calculating. "A lot of your previous boarders have moved their horses to our stables. Seems folks prefer a place that can promise consistency."
My nails dig into my palms.
He shrugs, all casual indifference. "Too bad about your daddy's place. Hate to see good land struggle like that." He pauses, lets the words settle. "Course, I've made Mae a fair offer. More than fair, really. But she won't even discuss it."
Something hot and sharp flares behind my ribs.
An offer. He's been trying to buy us out?
I'm vaguely aware of Chace stepping in closer on my right, Shae on my left, both of them silent but solid. Eli closes the distance and stops just behind my shoulder, close enough that I can feel the heat coming off him, close enough that Cole's eyes flick to him with something like amusement.
"Well I'll be damned," Cole says, that humorless smile widening. "Looks like you've still got your guard dogs, Hazel."
Eli's hand curls into a fist at his side. I can feel the tension radiating off him, tightly leashed but dangerous. Cole notices too. Of course he does.
Cole lifts both hands in mock surrender. "Easy now. I'm going." But he leans in slightly as he says it, just enough to make the moment feel intimate. Threatening. His voice drops. "But that land's going to be mine eventually. One way or another."
The words land heavy, a promise and a threat wrapped together.
Then Cole tips his hat to me, turns on his heel, and walks away like he hasn't just confirmed what I suspected—he's been circling, waiting for us to fail so he can swoop in and buy the place out from under us.
The noise of the rodeo rushes back in all at once—music and laughter and the announcer's voice crackling over the speakers. But it feels distant, muted, like I'm hearing it through water.
I exhale slowly and look at Eli.
That look on his face—I've seen it before. Years ago, when Cole's father tried to poach one of our trainers. When someone at the feed store made a crack about my dad's methods. Eli's always been protective of this place, of us. I'd just forgotten how much.
Chace shifts beside me, breaking the silence. "Man, don't let him get to you. Cole's all talk."
"No, he's not," Eli says quietly. Dangerously.
The moment stretches. Thick. Uncomfortable.
Before I can say anything, Addie comes barreling through the tension like sunlight cutting through storm clouds.
"Did you see?" she says breathlessly, flushed and bright-eyed, ribbon clutched in her hand like she can't quite believe it's real. "I placed! Second!"
The shift in energy she brings is so abrupt it almost gives me whiplash. I turn toward her, and the smile that comes is genuine, cutting through everything else. "Addie, that was incredible. You rode it clean."
She laughs, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. "I know! I thought I screwed up that second turn, but—" She stops, finally noticing the tension still hovering around us like smoke. Her smile fades. "What happened? What did I miss?"
I don't answer. I'm looking at Eli again, and the question is out before I can stop it.
"What did he mean?" My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "What offer?"
Eli turns on me so fast it makes me flinch.
"Don't worry about it," he snaps. "You won't be around long enough for it to matter."
The words hit like a physical blow. Won't be around long enough.
I blink. Once. Twice. "Excuse me?"
"Eli, don't," Addie says, voice strained. "Come on. Not here."
But he's not looking at her. He's looking at me, and there's something raw in his expression now, something that's been building for days finally cracking through.
"You've been a complete ass since I got home," I say, heat flaring fast and sharp in my chest. "Snapping at me. Shutting me out. Acting like I'm some stranger who wandered onto the property—"
"You are," Eli cuts in.
The words drop between us like a stone into still water.
I step closer, pulse pounding hard enough I can hear it in my ears. "This is my family's ranch, Eli. I have every right to know what the hell is going on."
His laugh is sharp and humorless. "Your family's ranch." He shakes his head. "You want to know what's going on, Hazel? Really?"
"Yes," I fire back. "I do."
"Then talk to your aunt." His voice is hard. Final.
"Don't put this on Mae—"
"I'm not putting anything on anyone," he says, and there's something in his tone now that makes my stomach twist. Something like hurt underneath the anger. "This has been going on for years. You just weren't here to see it."
The truth of it lands hard because I know he's right. The boarders leaving. Cole circling like a vulture, making offers. All of it happening while I was gone, while I was pretending I could just walk away and nothing would change here.
Addie moves forward, voice pleading. "Eli, stop. You're being unfair—"
"No," he says, still not looking at her. His eyes are locked on mine. "I'm done pretending."
"Pretending what?" My voice comes out hoarse.
For a moment, he doesn't answer. Just looks at me with something that might be disappointment, might be grief, might be fury—I can't tell anymore. When he finally speaks, his voice is rough and too real.
"That you give a damn about any of this."
I freeze. "That's not fair—"
"Funny how things fall to people who stick around," he says, and the words cut deeper than any of the others. "Five years, Hazel. Not a call. Not a text. You walked away from everything—from everyone—and now you show up expecting what? A parade? Answers? Forgiveness?"
"I didn't expect anything," I say, but my voice wavers.
"You ran," Eli says flatly. "And you don't get to come back and act shocked that the world kept turning without you."
The rodeo noise crashes around us—cheers and music and laughter that feels obscene against the moment unfolding between us.
"I came back to help," I manage.
"Then help," Eli says, eyes hard and hurting in a way that makes my chest ache. "But stop acting like you're owed something. Stop acting like you didn't leave us all to pick up the pieces."
"You think I don't know I left?" My voice shakes but I don't look away. "You think I don't live with that every single day? You want me to apologize for surviving? For choosing myself when staying here was killing me?"
For a second—just a second—something flickers in his expression. Then it hardens again.
Chace steps forward, jaw tight. "Eli, that's enough—"
"Stay out of it, Chace," Eli snaps, rounding on him. " You and Shae, acting like she didn't ghost all of us. Like it's fine that she just gets to walk back in—"
"That's not what we're doing," Chace says, voice low and careful.
"Isn't it?" Eli's laugh is bitter. "She left. And now I'm the asshole for being the only one who won't pretend it didn't happen."
Shae's hand tightens on her beer bottle, but she stays quiet.
Eli looks back at me, and something in his expression shifts—closes off, like a door slamming shut.
"Talk to your aunt," he says again, quieter this time but no less final. "Ask her about Cole's offers. Ask her how many times he's come around trying to buy the place. Ask her why she's been lying to you every week for five years." He pauses, jaw working. "If you're still here long enough to care."
Then he turns and walks away, shoulders rigid, disappearing into the crowd without looking back.
I stand there, heart hammering, chest tight like I've taken a blow I never saw coming.
Addie stares after him, stricken. "Hazel, I'm so sorry. He didn't mean—"
"Yes, he did," I say softly.
And the worst part is, he's right.
Because for the first time since I came home, the truth settles in—heavy and undeniable and impossible to ignore.
This isn't just about me leaving. It's about what I left behind. And what someone else has been waiting to take.