Chapter 29
MADDIE
There’s a knock on my office door as I’m reviewing the invoices for a corporate retreat in a couple of weeks. “Come in,” I call, making a note of the outstanding balance so I can email the finance department of the company this afternoon.
Mona opens the door, a wide-eyed look on her face as she says, “Wyatt Wilde is here.”
My heart stutters and I stand, smoothing my hands over my jeans. What the hell is he doing here? A ball of anxiety forms in my stomach.
“Did he say what he wanted?”
She shakes her head. Mona—along with everybody in town—is aware of how much Wyatt dislikes us, especially Deacon. He’s made no secret of it, so for Wyatt to show up in my office when he’d normally dump whatever the problem is in the driveway must mean something is wrong.
Swallowing down my nerves, I force myself to relax. Whatever he wants, I’ll deal with it like I always do.
Dropping back into my seat, I clear my throat and refocus my attention on the papers in front of me. “You can show him in.”
Without looking up, I can feel Mona’s uncertainty. She hesitates for a beat before asking, “Are you sure?”
I nod, even though everything inside of me is screaming at me to demand that she send him away.
No good will come of me and Wyatt being alone in my office; just look at what’s happened the last two times.
Although maybe meeting here is the safest thing; there are people around and, more importantly, no beds.
“Do you want me to keep the door open?” Mona asks, gnawing on her bottom lip.
It would be safer if she did, but I find myself replying, “No, if Deacon comes around, I don’t want him catching sight of Wyatt. In fact, radio me with a heads-up if he shows up. No. Better yet, tell him I’m not here.”
Without another word, Mona backs out of my office. Thankfully, I’ll have a minute to steel myself before Wyatt’s here sucking all the air out of the room.
God, what is he doing here? Is he insane?
Maybe Chloe told him she knows and he’s mad about it. Well, tough luck. I can’t take it back.
He could be here for round three, but that feels too risky. It’s more likely the Chloe thing.
Damnit. I should have made her promise not to tell him, too, but I thought that was a given.
Dread fills my stomach, heavy and churning as I wait. After what feels like an eternity, I hear their footsteps approaching like a prisoner on death row waiting for their last meal. Every thud feels overly loud and makes my pulse kick up a beat.
I train my eyes on the doorknob as it twists, the movement happening in slow motion. Like the universe knows how on edge I am but wants to prolong my torture.
Come on, Maddie, get it together.
Mona pushes the door open, steps inside, and casts a glance in my direction as she holds it open for Wyatt. He moves into the room with the ease of a man who is used to owning them, and all I can do is sit behind my desk as heat fills my body.
We stare at each other when he comes to a stop in the middle of the space, his blue eyes watchful and filled with something that looks a lot like heat. He inclines his head and says, “Maddie.”
My tongue darts out to wet my lips, and I grip the arms of my chair when his eyes drop to my mouth. “Wyatt,” I murmur, my voice laced with lust that I hope Mona can’t detect.
Has he always looked this good? How did I never notice before? It’s like the moment we had sex, I’ve been seeing him differently and my body craves more of him every time he’s near. Sure, I’ve found him attractive before, but his arrogance always turned me off.
Today he’s wearing a pair of worn blue jeans, a white T-shirt that’s molded to the contours of his muscular body, and brown boots.
It’s normal attire and what most of the people around the ranch—my brothers included—wear.
And yet, it looks different on him. He looks sexy and masculine and like he’d clear my desk with one sweep if I asked him to.
I’m so caught up in taking every tiny detail of him in that I barely notice Mona slipping out of the room until Wyatt moves to sit in one of the chairs in front of my desk. I force my body to relax as the familiar tension swirls between us.
“Why are you here, Wyatt?” I ask.
He sets his hat on his knee, like he’s settling in for the long haul. “It’s nice to see you too, Maddie.”
I don’t reply; instead, I sit in the uncomfortable silence and wait for him to answer my question. He doesn’t just turn up here unannounced unless a guest has done something to his land—and he sure as hell never comes inside.
Wyatt looks out the window at the lodges and the lake that they surround, apparently unfazed as my eyes bore into the side of his face. “What were your plans for the Evergreen land?”
My brows draw together. Is he being serious? He’s come all the way out here to ask me that? Well, he’s wasted a trip.
“It doesn’t matter what my plans were,” I bite. The anger I felt two weeks ago when I found out he went behind my back swirls back to life in my chest. It’s hot and heavy, almost too much to bear.
“Humor me?” he asks. An emotion I can’t quite name swims in his gaze.
Uncertain of his motives, I shift in my chair, sitting a little straighter. “Why do you want to know? It’s not like your family is in the same business as me and you want to take my idea and replicate it. So, why are you asking?”
“Maddie… just answer the question,” he huffs out, like I’m the problem.
“Fine.” I shuffle the papers on my desk and move my pen from one side to the other, more to distract myself than anything.
Emotion clogs my throat as an image of my mom flits through my mind.
“I wanted—” I clear my throat when the words crack.
Burying the hurt, frustration, and grief, I continue, “I wanted to set up a new offering. The plan was that we’d take guests out and show them the real Montana for a night or two.
As much as I love the glamor that comes with our cabins, or the luxury camping, that’s not what Coldwater or even Montana is about.
” I pause, looking out of the window as I’m transported back in time.
“When we were kids, our mom would take Deacon, Rhett, Sawyer, and me out to the furthest pasture, and we’d spend the night under the stars, building fires from scratch and listening to the sounds of nature surrounding us. ”
Wyatt doesn’t say anything when I pause, so I continue, “With nothing but a rifle for protection, we’d play pretend like we’d just discovered the wonders of Montana under a star-studded night sky.
It was the most fun we’d have all summer, and I figured why not bring that experience to others.
When our mom passed away, we stopped doing it, and as the business grew, the land was used for grazing cattle instead.
I truly believe sleeping out under the stars without today’s modern comforts at your fingertips is something everybody should experience at least once in their life.
When the Evergreen land came up, it felt like fate because of its flat plains and the creek running right through it. ”
I lift a shoulder, my body deflating at the reminder of everything I had planned. Even now, two weeks later, it feels like I’ve let Daddy down and the memory of my mom. Like I failed them.
Wyatt’s voice is soft and layered with a hint of something I can’t quite name when he says, “Will you give me a tour?”
“Of my ranch?” I ask, confusion filling my features.
Wyatt nods. “I want to see what you’re doing because it dawned on me that I don’t know much of anything you do around here. Besides from the bus loads of tourists that wind up in town.”
I size him up for a second, uncertainty giving me pause. Does he have an ulterior motive? Should I send him packing? If I give him the tour, it’s like showing him another part of me and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.
Wyatt watches me, his face neutral as he waits for me to decide. I should tell him to get out of here.
Instead, I stand, gathering up my phone and set of master keys. “Sure. We can head out on foot to the cabins, and I’ll ask Evan to saddle up some horses. Let me tell Mona where I’m going and grab a radio first.”
With that, I leave the room in search of Mona.
I don’t know what Wyatt’s doing here, and I don’t know why I said yes.
Am I making a mistake by showing him around?
Why did he want to know my plans for the lot of land that he now owns?
Or at least will do soon. I doubt I’ll get the answers today, but I’ll keep my guard up until I get a proper read on him.