Chapter 18
Belle’s stomach was a bundle of nerves as she drove down the long driveway that led to Mrs. Fields’ boardinghouse. Gilley was sitting in the back seat attached to a dog car restraint Corbin had bought him because he didn’t want Gilley interfering with her driving or getting hurt if she stopped suddenly.
It had been a thoughtful gift.
Corbin was a thoughtful man. She hadn’t realized how thoughtful until the last few days when she’d gotten a peek at the man behind the solemn expression and vulnerable eyes. A man who was funny and clever. Hardworking and dedicated. Softhearted and caring.
She wanted to believe he cared about her. There were times, like today, when he’d looked at her a certain way, that she thought he had feelings for her. But then he’d blink and the look would be gone, leaving her wondering if it was all just her wishful thinking.
She had been doing a lot of that lately. Wishing for things that weren’t very likely to happen. And she needed to try and keep her feet firmly planted on the ground.
Or maybe what she needed to keep planted was her heart.
She kept wanting to give it away to a man who didn’t really want it.
Jesse’s truck and Liberty’s SUV were parked in front of the carriage house when she got there. Her nerves reached an all-time high and she was debating whether or not to turn around and leave when Jesse came out the back door of the house with Buck Owens waddling behind him. Gilley spotted the pug and went crazy, whining and barking as he tried to get out.
Jesse didn’t seem at all taken back by the sight of a huge dog sitting in her back seat. He grinned as she got out of the car.
“Let me guess. Melba.”
“His name is Mickey Gilley.”
Jesse laughed. “Of course it is.” Belle was hesitant about letting Gilley out. She didn’t know how he would act with other dogs and she didn’t want Buck hurt. But Jesse didn’t seem to have the same hesitation.
He opened the back door and received exuberant licks for his trouble. “Hey, big boy. You want to meet Buck?” He unclipped the straps and Gilley shot out of the car like a rocket and raced over to Buck. They sniffed each other for a few seconds before they started posing and playing and racing around the yard.
“That’s not a dog,” Jesse said. “That’s a hairy pony.”
Belle laughed. “A hairy pony I’ve grown extremely attached to.”
“It’s easy to do. Liberty and I don’t know what we’d do without Buck.”
She looked at him and he smiled that dopey smile—which didn’t seem at all dopey anymore. Just sincere. With his mussed strawberry-blond hair and soulful brown eyes, he didn’t look like a villain who was going to break her sister’s heart. He just looked like a sincere guy who wanted Belle to like him. Which made her feel like the worst kind of villain.
“I’m so sorry, Jesse,” she said.
He tipped his head. “For what?”
Obviously, he was a nice enough guy to go easy on her. But she didn’t deserve the easy way out. “I’m sorry for being so rude to you and acting like a jealous brat.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t be so thrilled either if my sister showed up with a saddle tramp like me.”
“From what Corbin tells me, you’re far from a saddle tramp.”
His eyes registered surprise. “What Corbin tells you? Have you and my brother become friendly?”
She felt her cheeks heat. “Umm . . . sort of. I’ve been helping him out at the ranch while my parents and Mimi have been visiting Hallie and Noelle.”
“Well, that’s real nice of you. But I hope you haven’t been helping him out too much. That’s not part of the plan.” Before she could ask what he meant, he continued. “And speaking of helping people out.” He glanced up at the second-story windows of the carriage house before looking back at her with sad eyes. “She’s missed you, Belle. She’s been real upset since y’all’s fight.”
“Upset or pissed off?”
He laughed. “Pissed off, but that’s how your sister deals with her pain.” He glanced at Gilley, who was exploring the yard with Buck. “Why don’t you let me keep an eye on Gilley while you go up and talk to her?” He winked. “I’ve always been good with horses.”
As she climbed the stairs to the office, Belle prepared herself for the worst. Jesse was right. Liberty usually showed her hurt through anger. It was likely she was going to explode as soon as she saw Belle. Good thing Belle had become extremely good at dealing with Liberty’s anger.
When she got to the top of the stairs, she found Liberty at the coffee bar fiddling with the coffee maker. Just seeing her sister made tears spring to her eyes. Liberty must have sensed her presence because she glanced up. Belle prepared herself for yelling. Instead Liberty merely lifted a hand at the coffee maker.
“I can’t get it to work.”
Belle bit back a smile. Liberty had never been good with anything mechanical. “Does it have water?”
“Of course it has water. I’m not that inept, Belly.”
“You aren’t inept.” Belle walked over and opened and closed the pod lid before pushing one of the brewing buttons. “You’re just too impatient and always put the pod in before the machine says ‘ready to brew.’” To prove her words, coffee poured down into the waiting cup.
Liberty sighed. “Well, damn.”
All the tension evaporated and they started laughing. Deep, stomach-clutching laughter like Mimi when she’d had too much elderberry wine. When they finally sobered, they spoke at the same time.
“I’m so sorry, Libby!”
“I’m so sorry, Belly!”
They came together in a tight hug and burst into tears. Since Liberty rarely cried, seeing her sister so upset made Belle cry even harder. They stood there sobbing until Liberty finally spoke in a nasally voice.
“Unless you want snot all over your shirt, Jelly Belly, I need a Kleenex.” She drew back. Her face was blotchy and her cheeks wet. Belle knew she looked just the same.
Belle grabbed one of the little napkins from the coffee bar and handed it to her before she took one for herself. They kept their arms linked as they moved over to the leather couch and sat down.
“Remember when I had a major crush on Timmy Myers,” Liberty said. “I invited him out to Cooper Springs to swim and he came up out of the water with that green booger hanging out of his nose.”
Belle laughed. “And that was the end of your crush.”
“I just couldn’t get that image out of my head.” Liberty took Belle’s hand and smiled. “I missed you, Belly.”
“I missed you too. I’m sorry I’ve been such a jealous brat. I knew one of us was bound to fall in love. I just didn’t think . . .”
“It would be me.”
She shrugged. “You always said you didn’t need a man to make you happy.”
Liberty leaned back on the couch and sighed. “I know. I thought I didn’t. But then I met Jesse.” She shook her head. “I didn’t ever want to be some silly woman who got all sappy over a man. But dammit, I’m a silly woman all sappy over a man. I don’t like it, but I can’t seem to help it. I know this entire thing”—she waved a hand around—“has taken you by surprise. It’s taken me by surprise too. But that doesn’t mean I had the right to push you into moving here. You’re right. I’m impatient, controlling, and used to getting my way.”
“Because I’ve always wanted you to make all the decisions. You were right too. I was too afraid to make decisions for myself because I was worried they’d be wrong.”
Liberty smiled. “I guess that’s why we make such a good team.”
“It is.” She paused. “But I’ve come to realize we aren’t always going to be a team.”
Liberty sat up. “What are you talking about? Of course, we’ll always be a team. We’re the Liberty Belle.” She held up her fist. “Together, we ring loud and clear.”
Belle laughed at the motto Liberty had come up with when they’d been eight. “That’s still the worst motto ever.”
“It is not. We can’t ring without each other.”
Belle had thought that once too. Now she knew it wasn’t true. “You can ring just fine without me, Libby.” She smiled with her lips . . . and with her heart. “And I can ring just fine without you.”
Liberty’s eyes narrowed. “What happened while I was gone?”
“Nothing happened. I just realized I can make decisions for myself.”
Liberty studied her. “No, something else happened. You look different. You look all flushed and happy like . . .” Her eyes widened. “Like I looked after I fell in love with Jesse.”
Damn, Belle had forgotten how perceptive her sister was. Still, she wasn’t about to confirm her suspicions. Especially to herself.
“I don’t love Corbin.”
Liberty’s eyes widened and Belle instantly realized her mistake. “Corbin? As in Jesse’s half brother?”
Belle wanted to backpedal, but it was too late. Besides, she really needed to talk to her sister about everything that had happened while she’d been gone.
“Corbin and I kind of started . . .” She tried to find a word, but before she could, Liberty found it for her.
“Having sex?”
Since she couldn’t deny it, she only shrugged. It was a mistake. Liberty’s eyes bugged out of her head and she jumped to her feet.
“Jesse!”
Belle got up. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to freak out because I had sex. I’ve had sex before, Libby.”
“Oh, it’s not the sex. It’s who you had it with.”
Jesse appeared at the top of the stairs. “Did you need something, darlin’?”
Liberty pointed a finger at him. “You said that Corbin was a nice guy. You said all I had to do was trust you and your plan. Well, I trusted you and your plan and not only hasn’t Corbin given my family’s ranch back, but now he’s seduced my sister. And I’m done trusting. I’m going to kill him!” She started to stride past Jesse, but he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet.
Which was the worst thing he could possibly do. Belle knew her sister, and you never used physical force with Liberty unless you wanted her to reciprocate.
“Ouch!” Jesse released Liberty and held his chest with a horrified look. “Did you just titty pinch me?”
“I sure as hell did and I’ll do it again if you don’t get out of my way.” Liberty started for the stairs again, but this time, Gilley came charging up the stairs and stopped her. The dog jumped on her, covering her face in wet kisses. Belle didn’t know if the dog thought Liberty was her or he’d just realized that there were two identical women he got to love.
“What the hell!” Liberty tried to push the dog away, but Gilley wasn’t having it. He knocked her back a few steps, which had Buck—who had just made it up the stairs—growling and waddling over to protect his mama. Jesse scooped him up as Belle grabbed Gilley’s collar and pulled him down.
“You need to get a grip, Libby,” she said. “I’m a big girl who can handle having sex.”
Liberty studied her. “I know you, Belly. You can’t tell me it was only sex.”
“That’s all it was.”
The deeply spoken words had Belle turning to find Corbin standing at the top of the stairs. His eyes were cold and hard and his jaw was clenched. For a brief second, she wondered why he was so angry, then her mind keyed in on what he’d said. Not the agreement that it was only sex, but the verb he’d used.
Was.
As in past tense.
“So you just used my sister for sex?” Liberty asked. “Is that what you’re telling me? You just used her as something to keep you entertained while you waited to kick my parents and grandmother out of their home?”
He didn’t blink. Nor did he look at Belle. “Pretty much.”
Belle had been wondering how Corbin felt. She had her answer now. She felt like a wrecking ball had just hit her square in the chest. She had never experienced a broken heart, but that was the only way to describe the pain.
Liberty growled and started for Corbin, but Jesse stepped between them. “What the hell, Whitty? Why would you do that? Belle’s family.”
Corbin laughed, but it held no humor. “Family? Yeah, sorry, but that word doesn’t hold any meaning for me. Especially when it comes out of the mouth of a brother who has been stabbing me in the back.”
“What are you talking about?”
Corbin’s eyes glittered with anger. “I’m talking about the plan you hatched up with the Holidays to get rid of me.”
Belle waited for Jesse to deny it, but he didn’t. He just sighed. “It wasn’t a plan to get rid of you, Whitty. We only wanted to make you realize that ranching isn’t your thing.”
Corbin snorted. “Please don’t act like you did it for me. The only reason you did it was to get Liberty back. You don’t give a shit about your own brother and sister. All you care about is getting some Holiday puss—”
“Watch it, Whitty. You’re treading on thin ice.”
“What? Does the truth hurt, big bro?” He laughed that humorless laugh again that made a shiver run down Belle’s spine. “Well, too bad. And here’s some more truth that’s going to hurt. Your plan failed. I’m not giving back the ranch. I don’t care if Sunny doesn’t want it. Or if I’m the worst rancher this side of the Pecos. Holiday Ranch is mine. So fuck you and all the Holidays.” He finally looked at Belle and smiled smugly. “Although I guess I already fucked you.”
Before Belle could get over Corbin’s brutal words, Jesse punched him. Corbin’s head flew back, but he recovered quickly and threw a punch at Jesse. Liberty went to join the fight, but Jesse pushed her out of the way and drove into Corbin, knocking him onto the floor where they wrestled while the dogs jumped around them and barked.
Belle stood there stunned for a few seconds before she realized that if anyone was going to take control of the situation, it would have to be her. She placed her fingers in her mouth and loudly whistled. Gilley and Buck dropped to their haunches while both Jesse and Corbin stopped wrestling and looked at her.
“That’s enough,” she said in the voice she used when kids in a wedding party got too rowdy. She couldn’t help the stab of concern she felt at seeing Corbin’s swollen eye and the blood dripping from his nose. Nor could she ignore the pain that still throbbed in her chest from his hurtful words. But she pushed those feelings down and tried to keep her voice steady and emotionless. “You need to leave.”
There was a flash of vulnerability in his deep blue eyes—or maybe it wasn’t vulnerability at all. Maybe it was disgust. She no longer felt like she could read Corbin.
Maybe she never could.
He didn’t say a word as he got up and headed for the stairs. Gilley went to follow him, but he pointed a finger and said, “Stay.”
The dog stayed, but let out a pitiful whine as he watched Corbin leave.
Belle knew exactly how Gilley felt.