Chapter 12
I feel like a woman.
Abby stared at herself in the mirror as she played with her hair. She reached for a pink lipstick and applied it before rubbing her lips together. Then she added a light layer of lip gloss.
“Whoa,” Caleb said as he came up behind her. “You look good.”
She looked at him in the mirror. “Thanks.”
“Does it mean something that you’ve changed out of your work clothes and put on makeup?”
“I . . .” She sighed. “The Easts are doing our family a huge favor. They’re nice people, and I want to make a good impression.”
Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “You’ve already done that.”
In the last few days, both of her brothers had seemed to age overnight.
Brice acted more like a man than a rowdy teenager.
Caleb had begun to notice things other than himself.
And she saw that his jeans were getting too short again and his shirts weren’t fitting properly over his widening shoulders.
“You need to start wearing some of Brice’s clothes until I can get you new ones.”
He raised a brow. “You’re not changing the subject, and my clothes are fine. I saw you last night, sis. You like the Easts. Or more importantly, you like Clayton.”
“He’s nice,” she admitted.
Caleb snorted. “And good-looking.”
Abby hesitated. She didn’t want her brother to get his hopes up about anything, but she didn’t want to lie either. “Yes, Clayton is handsome.”
“He was staring at you.”
Her stomach clutched at the revelation. “Was he?” she asked, trying to sound uninterested while checking her makeup in the mirror once more.
“It’s okay, you know. Have some fun. It’s not like you don’t deserve it.”
Abby turned to face her brother. “You and Brice mean the world to me. I don’t regret anything.”
“I know, but I want to see you happy.”
“I am,” she said, shaking her head as a frown formed. “What makes you think I’m not?”
Caleb dropped his arms and gave her a flat look. “Abby, you never go out. Not with guys, not with friends. Not even when Jill was still here. All you do is look after us. You fill your days with work and stuff around the house so you don’t notice you’re lonely.”
She put her hands on the sink behind her to help steady herself. All this time, she thought she’d been hiding things so well from her brothers. Apparently she’d been wrong.
“I like Clayton,” Caleb continued. “I like Mr. and Mrs. East, and I love the ranch. Flirt with Clayton. Let him flirt with you. Hell, kiss him, Abby. It doesn’t have to go anywhere. But remember, you’re pretty and should have guys falling all over you.”
Abby glanced at the ceiling as the tears gathered. Then she pushed away from the sink and pulled Caleb to her for a hug. She squeezed her eyes closed. “I have the best brothers.”
“You’re damn straight, you do.”
They shared a laugh as they pulled apart. “Get your coat.”
“You look great. Just smile at him. That’s all it’ll take.”
She thought about Caleb’s words as they drove to the ranch. Her heart was pounding so hard when they pulled up to the house, that she thought it might burst from her chest.
Her brother was out of the car before the vehicle had come to a full stop. She watched him go with a smile. At least here, she knew her brothers weren’t getting into trouble. But that thought led to why Brice was working at the ranch to begin with.
She needed to mention the people who’d gotten him involved with the rustling again. Maybe this time, he’d tell her something, anything. Even though the Easts would get the money back that their CPA had embezzled, they should have their cattle and the bull returned, as well.
Abby frowned as she sat in her still-running car. Was it a coincidence that the money had been stolen at almost the same time as the cattle? Something told her it was connected. But how? When she’d mentioned Nathan Gilroy to her brothers, neither had shown any kind of recognition.
She jumped, grabbing her throat when someone knocked on her window. Abby found herself looking at a familiar silhouette in the darkness. She turned off her car as Clayton opened her door.
“Everything all right?” he asked worriedly.
She reached for her purse as she stood. “Just thinking about things.”
He closed the car door behind her and walked her to the front of the house. “Like what?”
“The embezzlement and the theft of the cattle. It all happened very close together, right?”
“Within a day, yes. You think it could be tied together?”
She nodded as they entered the house.
He put a hand on her back and maneuvered her toward the back of the house. As he did, he leaned close and said, “I came to the same conclusion.”
Once inside the office, she turned to face him when he closed the door. “Do you have anything that will link the two crimes?”
“Nothing. It’s why I need some clue from Brice.”
“I know.” She flattened her lips. “I’ll talk to him again.”
Clayton removed his hat and raked his hands through his blond locks. “Just to warn you, Mom already plans for you three to stay for dinner again.”
“Oh, we couldn’t.”
“You’ll break her heart if you decline,” he stated with a solemn face.
She knew she was being played, but she liked being with the Easts—especially Clayton. “We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”
“I certainly don’t.”
“Then we’d be delighted to stay.”
The smile he flashed her could’ve lit up a room. He replaced his hat and bowed his head. “I’ll let her know. Is there anything you need?”
Why was the first response that sprang to mind “you?”
It was all Caleb’s fault. If he hadn’t told her about Clayton staring at her the night before, she wouldn’t be a nervous wreck around him. Now, she was very aware of him.
Actually, that was a lie. She’d been aware of him from the moment she realized he was in that room with her at the sheriff’s station.
Clayton’s raised brow reminded her that she hadn’t answered him. She jerked, embarrassed to find herself gawking at him. But, my God, the man was so damn gorgeous he was lickable.
And that made her think of tangled limbs, sighs of contentment, and moans of pleasure. Her body heated instantly, while her sex clenched.
“I’m fine,” she finally said.
But it came out like a needy whisper.
Damn her body for revealing what she was trying so desperately to keep hidden from everyone—including herself. She was lonely. Extremely so.
To have someone hold her, comfort her, was something she dreamed about every night. She didn’t remember what it felt like to have a man’s arms around her, much less the taste and feel of a kiss.
Was kissing like riding a bike? Would she remember how to do it? Or would she need to relearn all over again? The thought made her groan inwardly.
She was pathetic. On an epic scale.
“I should get to work,” she said and turned to the desk.
She walked to the chair and soon realized that Clayton had moved with her. Her head lifted as she met his gaze. He was standing so close, she could lean to the side and rub her shoulder against him. And it was such a tempting thought.
“Let me move this out of your way,” he said.
Abby looked down to see him reaching for a stack of papers. And here she thought he’d wanted to be beside her. She quickly moved out of the way, her embarrassment growing by the second.
“You’ve worked a long day,” Clayton said. “Maybe it’s too much asking you to come every night.”
She shook her head, forcing a smile. “It’s not that, but thank you all the same. I want to do this for you and your family.”
“Because you feel like you owe me?”
He wore a smile, but she couldn’t help but suspect there was more to his words than he let on. “There is that, yes. It’s also nice to test myself and put what I know from work and what I’m learning in college into action. I’m making lots of notes for you to then take to the next CPA you hire.”
“Right. Another CPA.” Clayton glanced away and blew out a breath. “I’m not in a hurry to do that after what happened with Gilroy.”
“But I’m not licensed. I don’t even have my degree. This is the kind of work I do every day, but my boss, the CPA, looks over things after me to make sure I caught everything.”
Clayton’s head cocked to the side. “You mean you do her work and she takes credit for it?”
“Well . . . yeah. She’s the one with the degree and certification.”
He grunted, which could mean anything. She didn’t know him well enough to understand all his intricacies. But she wished she did.
“You should have your degree,” he said.
She shrugged, trying to look as nonchalant as possibly. “I wish I did, but I’m making do. I’ll get there eventually.”
“I’ve no doubt.”
He held her gaze for a long minute before he tipped his hat to her, said her name in a low murmur, and walked out.
A shiver went through her. The man was perfection.
“Damn,” she whispered.
He reminded her of a placid tiger who watched everything with belied interest. But if anyone stirred the animal, then there would be a lethal show of force.
Abby sat and managed to focus her mind on the books. She’d only been studying them for half an hour before there was a knock on the opened door. She looked up to find Justine.
“Hi,” Abby said, waving her inside. “I should’ve come to say hello, but Clayton led me straight here.”
Justine smiled and set a mug of hot chocolate near her. “He is very bossy. He gets it from his father.”
Abby chuckled. “I want to thank you for the dinner invitation again, but you don’t need to do that.”
“Why not?” Justine asked. “You’re here, your brothers are here, and it’ll be dinner time when they finish their chores.
I have to cook for my two men anyway so there will be plenty of food.
This way, you don’t have to worry about cooking after working all day and then coming here to work some more. ”
Abby had a feeling that there weren’t many arguments that Justine lost. “We appreciate it. And if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”
“Sweetheart, you’re doing it already,” Justine said with a smile. “And, I confess, I’m almost glad all this happened. I’m not happy that my husband was hospitalized, but it’s made him slow down. It brought my son home, and it’s brought you and your brothers here.”
Unable to help herself, Abby asked, “Where was Clayton?”
“South Africa.” Justine sighed and walked to the sofa. She sat and crossed one leg over the other. “Clayton fought for his country. Although he won’t tell me much of anything about it, I’ve read enough in the news and seen movies to know that, as a SEAL, he did some dangerous things.”
Abby was so shocked, she barely found the words to ask, “He’s a SEAL?”
“Was. He resigned from the Navy after many tours. Hell, I don’t even know all the places he was stationed.
I just know that somehow, my son survived.
And when we thought he’d return home, he chose instead to take a job guarding wildlife in South Africa.
” Justine paused, her eyes filling up with tears.
“The day we lost Landon, we lost Clayton in another way entirely.”
Abby rose and walked to Justine. She took the older woman’s hands in her own. “I’m so sorry.”
“Clayton didn’t smile for the first three days he was here. Then you arrived. He’s different around you. Almost the way he used to be.”
Abby wasn’t sure what to say to that declaration. “I haven’t done anything.”
“That’s the blessing, my dear. It’s not what you’ve done or said. It’s you. All you.”