Chapter Thirteen
Trev felt like a nervous teen as he approached the door of the foreman’s house, shoulders hunched against the rain, which was ridiculous because as a teen, he hadn’t been all that nervous. Maybe he had banked on good looks and charm.
Mac had spent the entire day away from the ranch yesterday, finally pulling in around nine o’clock.
The next morning, she’d run into Jordan while doing the first cow check, then dove into her chores without checking in with Trev.
That left the ball in Trev’s court, and he decided to put it into play.
He needed to touch base and tell her that he’d be heading back to work soon and that she was welcome to stay on the ranch as long as necessary. That was all.
Right …
When Mac opened the door, her hair was damp, and she held a towel in one hand.
He didn’t know if she’d just got out of the shower, or if she’d been out in the rain that was now soaking the back of his jacket.
Either way, he liked the way the damp waves framed her face.
He liked every damned thing about the woman.
“You better come in,” she said, standing back to allow him entry.
Once the door was closed, he pulled off his hat, letting water drip off it onto the rug protecting the tamarack floorboards.
She held the towel in both hands in front of her, not looking one bit self-conscious about him catching her with wet hair.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her wet and muddy more than once over the past weeks.
“I’ve been called back to work early.”
Her lips parted as if to protest before her expression shifted to neutral. “It’s a good thing Jordan’s here. Is he staying?”
“He is.”
“Then there’s nothing holding you here.” She swallowed. “In fact, I think this is for the best, all things considered.”
Trev rubbed his cheek, telling himself to remain logical in the face of this now-distant woman. He knew why she was distant. She was afraid of getting sucked into a relationship and then being hurt because of it. Logic wasn’t helping.
Mac shifted her weight, seemingly uncomfortable with his lack of response. “What does this mean for my job?”
“Nothing. Jordan needs you, just like I do.” He locked eyes with her before adding, “Only in a different way.” He could see that she got the message.
“Trev—”
He caught her arm before she could turn away. “I’m being honest, Mac. I’m not going to corral you—I meant that—but I fucking hate the thought of us missing out on something good because of knee-jerk fears.”
“Okay.” She took a backward step as he released her arm. “Honesty is good. Scary as hell, but … good.”
Her phone buzzed on the counter. She ignored it.
“I don’t mean to scare you.”
“I know.” She didn’t look reassured, but she did look like she was trying to believe him. “But here’s the thing—you are.”
“Do you have feelings for me?”
She took a few paces to the small table near the sink unit. “I don’t know how to handle this.” She kept her back to him as she spoke, so he barely heard her words. “This wasn’t in the playbook.”
“Will you answer my question?” His heart was actually starting to hammer.
The phone buzzed again.
“I’m not going to do that, Trev.” She turned back to him, chin lifted. “I’m not ready to.”
Mac grabbed her phone as if needing something, anything to break the tension in the room, then let out a low curse.
“What?” he asked automatically.
“I have to go meet someone earlier than expected.”
He knew the answer before asking the question. “Who?”
“Brooke. We have things to discuss.”
*
Brooke had not only changed their meeting to an earlier time, she’d also changed venue.
Mac pulled into the first available parking space near the Main Street Diner, then stopped to take a fortifying breath before reaching for the door handle.
She was fighting on too many fronts—personal, professional, and emotional.
But if she could put this issue to bed, then she’d only have two fronts—her job hunt and her feelings for Trev.
Make that her freaking scary feelings for Trev.
He had not taken the news that she was meeting with Brooke all that well, but he also seemed to realize that he had no say in what went on between her and his ex. After all, Brooke was her ex, too.
Brooke was sitting toward the rear of the diner, and she lifted a hand when Mac came in, just as if they were still friends and travel buddies. Mac wished they were. Life would be easier that way.
Easy didn’t seem to be the path Mac was destined to follow, however. She slid into the booth and then glanced at the server who’d followed her to the table, coffee pot in hand.
Mac turned her cup right side up and the server filled her cup and topped off Brooke’s.
“Would you like menus?”
“We’re only having coffee,” Brooke said, flashing a smile that faded as soon as the woman nodded and walked away. She poured sugar into her coffee, stirred, then set the spoon on a napkin. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
She spoke as if the meeting were her idea. Typical Brooke. Back in the day, she’d laughed at her tendency to take over and actively encouraged her friends to rein her in when she started managing. Her self-awareness had been captivating.
“Didn’t you try to cancel?”
Brooke made a face. “I did. Then I realized that you were right. In our small world, animosity makes no sense.”
“I didn’t say I was giving up animosity,” Mac replied before sipping her coffee. She barely tasted it.
“You shouldn’t,” Brooke agreed, making Mac wonder if she was about to spring a trap or was simply being candid. Brooke folded her hands together in front of her. “We were friends. I destroyed that.”
“You did. Why?”
“Fear.”
Mac tilted her head as her fingers hugged the cup in front of her.
“I … did a bad thing before the wreck and a horrible thing after.”
“Agreed.”
Brooke studied her for a few silent seconds. “You know?”
“I know that you had a reason for saying I was driving. I know that you hoped that by saying you’d pay for damages that Trev would leave well enough alone because the season was almost over and I was done with rodeo that year.
He didn’t. It took a few weeks for him to confront me about insurance.
” Brooke’s cheeks were taking on color. “To save you having to pay.” Mac sipped again, watching her former friend over her cup.
“When I called to ask you why you’d told such a lie, you blocked me.
I didn’t know where you were until a few days ago. ”
Brooke’s hands were clasped together tightly enough to make the knuckles go white. Maclyn had never seen that actually happen before. “Anything else?”
“You met a guy at a bar who was in the truck with you that night.”
The high color faded from Brooke’s cheeks.
“How do you know that?”
Mac wasn’t about to rat out Madi Fletcher, so she merely lifted her eyebrows.
Brooke closed her eyes, and it looked as if her lower lip was close to trembling before she pressed her mouth into a flat line. “He was married. He threatened me before his friend picked him up.”
“Threatened you how?”
Brooke didn’t answer, so Mac tried again.
“Did you know he was married?”
“I decided I didn’t want to know.” Brooke stared into her coffee cup. “He was dangerous and charming and bossed me around in a way that no one else did. It was novel to not be treated like a princess. I wanted to experience something grittier. Stupid.”
“And maybe understandable.” Mac had no idea why those words came out her mouth, why she was reassuring the woman who’d lied about her. “Except for that lying thing.”
“I knew I’d made a mistake cheating on Trev. I felt shitty and stupid, and I didn’t want him to have a hint of what had happened, so I said you were the driver.”
“You could have talked to me.”
She shrugged off the suggestion. “I was in panic mode.”
She let out a shaky breath and Mac found that she was actually feeling sorry for the woman. “Why did you break up with him?”
Brooke gave her a curious look, as if the answer was obvious. “The lie,” she said softly. “I couldn’t make a life with him with that between us, and I couldn’t tell him. I was too ashamed.”
“And he would have dumped you.”
Brooke lifted a shoulder. “Maybe.”
“And that didn’t happen in your world.”
“Trev and I wouldn’t have lasted even if I hadn’t …” She exhaled instead of finishing the thought. “I see that now. I kept pushing him along a path he didn’t want to take. He would have rebelled. It was his nature after all.”
“Yet he’s still on that path.”
Brooke gave her a wide-eyed look. “You’re in contact with Trev?”
“I’m working for him. He’s my boss.”
My lover.
He was starting to feel like her everything.
“He knows?”
Mac nodded.
Brooke focused on her cup. “Life has a way of catching up with you.”
“So I’ve found.” Mac opened her purse, pulled out a five and set it on the table next to her cup. “I’m pretty sure he’s never going to say anything to anyone.” Because that was the kind of guy he was. “And that’s what I need from you.”
Brooke’s gaze came up.
“Do not work against me while I job hunt.”
“I’m sorry about—”
“It’s fine.” Mac cut her off before sliding out of the booth. “We couldn’t have worked together anyway. Just don’t mess up my chances elsewhere.” And I won’t mess up yours.
That, she assumed, was understood.
Brooke’s phone rang as Mac started for the exit. She’d only made it a couple of yards before Brooke’s startled, “What? When?” stopped her in her tracks as the other diners turned their heads. Brooke pushed herself awkwardly out of the booth, holding the phone to her ear as Mac reversed course.
“Deaconess. Okay.” Her gaze met Mac’s and held as she continued to listen. “I understand. As soon as I can.” She let the hand with the phone drop to her side after ending the call, looking shell-shocked as she said, “Mike.”
“What happened?”
“Horse wreck at the arena. He’s being take to Deaconess in Bozeman.” Her voice shook as she spoke.
“I’ll drive.”