Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
TUCKER
“I don’t want your help, Tuck, ” Carson grits out as I approach. “Go find something else to do.”
I sigh, removing my hat and running my fingers through my hair. I’m not in a great mood, but honestly, if I have any shot at landing a lease on this land, I have to make nice with Carson—and that seems easier right now than answering Julie’s questions. “Look, Carson, whatever reason you hate me for…”
“I don’t hate you,” Carson retorts. “I don’t hate anyone. I just don’t like you.”
“Yeah, I don’t even know why,” I reason, folding my arms across my chest. “I never did anything to you, except what? Beat you a few times in high school rodeo? ”
“You were cocky, wild, and now you have the audacity to date my sister,” Carson seethes, his eyes icy. “ That’s why I don’t like you.”
“I like your sister.”
“So did your BFF, Nate, and look what he’s done. She never comes home because of those two.” Carson shakes his head, but gestures to a second saddled horse. “You can take Young Gun out with me. He’s only had a handful of rides in the arena. Exposure will be good for him.”
I narrow my eyes at him, the big, black gelding snorting and pawing at the concrete. I get it. It’s a challenge. “Fine. I’ll ride him.”
Carson grins wickedly. “As cocky as ever, Tucker Madison.”
“More like stupid,” I mutter under my breath, untying the gelding from the aisle of the barn, and leading him out to where Carson has already mounted up. I tie off the get-down rope to the horn and pull the slack from the rein. I pat the antsy neck of the horse, now prancing in the sharp wind. “If you’re gonna kill me today, just make it fast.”
Carson chuckles as I swing my leg over, and the gelding spins hard. “He’s a little fire breathing dragon.”
“I see that,” I bite back, holding the reins and keeping the horse in a tight circle. “Let’s go already.”
With a nod, Carson jets off at a lope, heading toward the nearest gate. I let Young Gun have his head, and unsurprisingly, the hothead takes off at a full-blown gallop, crow hopping with freshness.
But I can’t help it.
I laugh.
This is how I work off my stress, and with the pressure mounting to find a pasture lease for my cattle operation and play a good fake boyfriend to Julie in order to do so, I could use the adrenaline rush. I take in the rolling hills, the grass dormant, but the view still as pretty as ever, the pastures sprinkled with cattle and horses.
“Guess you can still stick ‘em,” Carson chuckles as I catch up, his voice loosening up a little as he opens the gate for us. “But I still wanna know why you’re back in my sister’s life.”
“You act like I was the one who broke her heart,” I say to him, happy that Young Gun has found a steady cadence in a trot. “I never hurt your sister. Nate did.”
“Everyone said you had a big falling out with Nate. What happened?”
I inwardly cringe as I think back to that final night, when Nate and I’s relationship exploded. Well, more like imploded. “Let bygones be bygones.”
“Nah, I wanna know. There’re too many rumors.”
“Rumors?” That’s news to me. “It was years ago.”
“Yeah, and Nate always said you stole money from his family.”
My jaw drops. “ What? I never took anything from the Rolands.”
“Not what Nate said,” Carson snaps, back to having an edge in his voice again. I now realize, this is why he doesn’t like me. He thinks I’m a thief.
“I got a full-ride scholarship with the rodeo team,” I say carefully. “I never took anything from them. I didn’t want it. Trust me. ”
“So then why did you and Nate have some big fallout? Huh? Just a disagreement at a pool party? Because I don’t buy that one bit.”
I fall into silence, almost tempted to let him think whatever he wants, but instead, I decide to tell the truth about that night—for the first time, ever. “I got into a fight with him over Julie.”
Carson halts his horse mid trot, like he didn’t hear me right. “What?”
I swallow my nerves. “Yeah, I, uh… I found out about him and Maddie… He had the nerve to tell me he was just with Julie for the ranch.” I can’t tell if Carson is about to punch me or not, so I just force myself to continue. “I told Nate he needed to stop, and I had been telling him for a long time, since I knew he had feelings for Maddie. But that night I saw him kiss Maddie. He accused me of being in love with Julie, and jealous of him.”
“Were you?” Carson’s question takes me by surprise.
“Jealous of Nate Roland? No ?—”
“Were you in love with my sister?”
Oh shoot. I feel myself growing anxious, my heart jumping to my throat. I’m supposed to be playing fake boyfriend, but here I am, having to confront real feelings from my past.
“Well?” Carson presses.
“Yeah,” I choke out, ripping my gaze from his. But I’m not anymore, I want to add. However, that wouldn’t play well into the whole boyfriend facade. “I didn’t ever tell her back then though. She didn’t look twice at me.”
“Thank goodness,” Carson laughs, but there’s a hint of surprising endearment there. “Does she know?”
I shove a cold hand into my pocket. “Know what?”
“About the fight? And you being in love with her back in high school?”
“No way,” I answer him, shaking my head. “I’d sound like a desperate idiot. I just had a crush on her, and hated the way Nate treated her. We were just a bunch of dumb kids back then. It’s in the past.”
“Right,” Carson snorts. “Why didn’t you tell her your feelings?”
“You a therapist or something?” I shoot back, squirming uncomfortably in the saddle. Maybe Julie’s questions were better. Carson doesn’t budge though, his cold eyes boring into me. I sigh, rubbing the stubble on my jaw. “I didn’t tell her because she was in love with Nate, and I’m not the biggest fan of rejection.” My tone grows sour at the end and I snap the reins.
“She’s with you now,” Carson catches up with me, his voice resounding over the sound of hoofbeats on the frozen ground. “How do you know she’d have said no?”
“Just a gut feeling,” I say flatly. Let’s be honest, even if I still had feelings for Julie, it’s clear she has one thing on her mind—shutting up her family and getting back at Maddie and Nate. The only reason I’m allowing myself to be used is because I need this deal…
Or I lose everything.
The reminder sends a shock wave of dread through my chest, and I let Young Gun have his head, picking back into a rowdy gallop.
Whatever it takes to end the conversation.
Carson and I finish checking fences and cattle in a couple of hours, and unsurprisingly, we don’t talk. But I don’t mind, because that means he also doesn’t go back to the conversation about the past.
“Thanks for your help,” Carson finally grunts as we head back toward the barn. “It wasn’t the worst company in the world.”
I chuckle as I pull up at the open barn door and dismount. “Yeah, well, you’re welcome.”
“I believe you,” Carson says as he slides off. “About Julie. But don’t let that go to your head. We’re not friends.”
Shrugging, I lead Young Gun into the barn, who’s now exhausted from the hard ride. “Thanks for the info. I’ll try not to cry myself to sleep tonight.”
Julie’s brother actually laughs at my sarcasm, and we fall into a routine of untacking and brushing down the horses. He has no idea that him being an ally instead of an enemy is good enough in and of itself, but…
I find myself irritated by the lie Nate put together to cover why I left town. As much as I try to let bygones be bygones, that’s a pretty big slap across the face—even years later. I lived with the Rolands for almost three years, and never once did I take anything from them. Here I was, this whole time, thinking the town just thought I was crazy and wild.
Nope, they think I’m a thief… And now, I’m pretending to be Julie’s boyfriend just so I can get a piece of the ranch. The thought makes my stomach roll with guilt. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. I finish up with Young Gun, and Carson disappears toward the house, saying something about lunch.
I pull out my phone, and scroll to Cash’s number, hitting the call button. I need some kind of voice of reason. Pronto.
“Hey,” he answers. “I was wondering what happened to you. You said you were extending your stay in a text but didn’t tell me why.”
I hesitate for a moment, but then spill it. All of it. For the next ten minutes, I tell him about the deal with Julie, the ride with Carson, and the rumors floating around town. When I’m finished, I’m met with silence. “Cash?”
“I mean, I said I get we’re desperate, but…”
“But I’m in an ever-loving mess,” I groan, leaning against one of the stalls. “I should’ve never accepted the offer. I guess I was just thinking it would be worth it, but I had no idea there was so much wrapped up in it… I’m not a thief—and if that’s what’s been said around town, why the heck would Cal Cooper take a chance on me? Julie’s boyfriend or not. I think I need to call it off.”
The sound of something behind me causes me to turn, and I see Julie, her eyes wide as she takes in the sight of me. She looks visibly upset, but I have no idea why. It’s not like she’s overheard anything other than the truth.
“The lease would be great…” Cash’s voice trails off in my ear. “But you just gotta make sure it happens. If it could actually work out, it would be the best thing for us. We could even expand…”
“Yeah, I gotta go,” I tell him, instantly hanging up and shoving my phone in my pocket. I throw my hands up at Julie. “Why are you looking at me like I just stole all the joy from your life?”
“You’re going to bail on me, aren’t you?” Her voice grows sharp as she folds her arms across her chest.
“Did you not hear? Nate Roland has told the entire town I’m a thief. Your brother told me so today. There’s no way your dad is going to even consider a lease to me. I’m wasting my time, when I could be pursuing other business options.”
Hurt flashes across her face, instantly making me feel guilty. “I promised you, I’d make it happen for you. Everyone knows that Nate is full of it, and Carson is just interrogating you, because he cares about me. Don’t give up. I’ll look like a big joke—I finally get a boyfriend, and then he bails on me at Christmas.”
I blink a few times, the end of the spiel instantly rubbing me the wrong way. “You’re only interested in this because of your image. That’s all you care about, Julie. Why do you even care what Maddie and Nate think?”
Julie’s shoulders fall, her voice fragile as she wrings her hands in front of her sweater. “Every Christmas, I come home alone. I’m so tired of always being the one who comes home alone, and they all whisper about me at the party… It sucks, Tucker.” Her eyes glisten under the low lights of the barn.
And I hate the way she gets under my skin.
With a reluctant sigh, I give in. “Fine, I won’t leave. But you better make good on your word.”