Wrangling Hearts (Cowboys of Wild Creek #1)

Prologue

Seventeen years ago…

The girls and I crept through the woods behind our families’ ranches, lured by the splashing and whooping of our brothers; they were riding the high of ruining our summer afternoon.

We were just minding our business, lying out in the sun while Tess looked for snails, when they ambushed us with water guns full of pickle juice.

Where they got that much pickle juice, I had no idea.

“We should just drown them,” I snarled in their direction. We had the four of them outnumbered with Tess. Not that she could do much against teenage boys, only being nine, but a body was a body in this war.

“Yeah, and then we can go rot in juvie. Great idea,” Savannah murmured, rolling her eyes.

Her best friend, Delilah, scanned the riverbank, eyes narrowed in thought. I knew she’d come up with something. She was the mastermind responsible for most of our pranks. I glanced over at Anna, who was wringing pickle juice out of her hair that she tinted pink for the summer, and winced.

I was pretty sure Emmett dumped a whole jar out on her. I’d be giving him an earful about that later when we got home.

Tess squeaked, slapping a hand over her mouth. She looked mortified. “Are they naked?”

I peered over the bush and was met with the sight of Weston Tate’s ass as he dove under the water. My eyes went wide with a gasp, and I hauled Tess to me, covering her eyes.

“Oh my God, they’re naked!” I hissed, looking at the girls. I’d never seen a naked boy before. None of us had.

Delilah’s eyes got that wild spark to them when she turned to us. Her grin was borderline feral. “We are so stealing their clothes.”

“No way,” Savannah protested instantly. She was always the one we had to coerce the most. Normally, it was a toss-up between her and me.

But this time, I was furious enough that I didn’t need any convincing since it would be me who had to wash pickle juice out of everyone but Anna’s bathing suits when we got home.

“Savvy, smell yourself,” Anna said. “Smell yourself, and then you’ll see that’s the only option.”

“It’s the only way they’ll learn their lesson,” I added.

I looked back towards the water, seeing Beau, Anna’s older brother, shake the water out of his hair. It looked like ink, wet like that. He slicked it back, the new muscles in his arms from working on his father’s ranch popping. Something about it made my heart race a little.

He was about to go to college in a few weeks, and as much as he infuriated me, it’d be weird not having him around.

Anna and I would be the oldest ones once he left, since we were only three years younger than him.

Not that he ever acted his age. If anything, I was the most mature person at this creek right now.

Delilah let out a hushed squeal, laughing like a lunatic. “Colt is getting out of the water!”

Anna gagged and looked away, not wanting to see her brother like that. Understandable. If it were Emmett, I’d be doing the same thing.

“Don’t make me do it,” Colt whined to the other boys as he walked over to the rope swing.

“Stop being a little bitch baby and do it!” Weston said, flinging the rope towards his best friend. They were attached at the hip, just like Delilah and Savannah. To the point that Weston and Delilah were an honorary McLeod and Hayes, respectively.

Colt grabbed the rope and wrapped his legs around it, putting everything on display. I pressed my hand against Tess’s face harder, earning a quiet, “Ouch.”

“Oh my God, that’s so gross,” Delilah murmured, her eyes widening.

“I didn’t know that’s what a penis and balls looked like,” Savannah whispered, her voice a mix of horrified intrigue. “It’s all so…floppy.”

I glanced at Beau again. He was watching his younger brother on the swing with a grin. My eyes moved lower down his lean body to the trail of dark hair that disappeared under the water. I couldn’t help but wonder if his was gross too.

I cleared my throat and looked away. “This is the perfect time to take their clothes.”

“You’re right, they’ll be distracted,” Anna agreed.

“Only if Colt gets the balls to jump,” Delilah giggled. “You know how big of a wimp he is.”

I looked at my sister. “Are you gonna do it with us or sit here and watch after Tess?”

“I don’t need to be watched after. I’m not a baby!” Tess argued, ripping my hand off her face. I let her go. She was more interested in looking for bugs than in what the boys were doing anyway.

Savannah chewed on her bottom lip. “Yeah, I’ll do it. But if we get in trouble, I’m blaming it on you, bear.”

“You always do. But we won’t get in trouble.” At least not with our parents. The boys, though, would never let this go.

“It’s not that bad,” Emmett said, trying to get Colt to jump.

He groaned. “Fine.”

He went swinging, and we went running.

We were all laughs and shrieks as we ran to the riverbank, snatching up their clothes, leaving only their boots behind.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins, my heart pounding against my chest. I loved this feeling, this rush of just being alive.

The only other time I had felt this way was on the back of a horse, racing against the clock.

“Oh shit!” one of them yelled. “They got our clothes!”

“Faster!” Delilah screeched through a fit of laughter.

We raced away through the woods, dodging fallen branches and low-hanging limbs. The boys were shouting our names and curses, followed by the rush of water as they got out.

“They’re coming after us!” Anna yelled, grinning.

We broke through the clearing out into Circle M’s pasture since the McLeod’s land was bigger than ours. I was breathless from the run, but my face hurt from how hard I was smiling.

“Annabelle,” a stern voice stopped me in my tracks, and my attention snapped towards Anna’s father, sitting on his horse, scowling.

My stomach dropped.

“Hi, Daddy,” she squeaked, shoving a red t-shirt behind her back.

“Now just what exactly are you girls doin’?” He grimaced. “And why does it smell like pickles?”

“Nothing, Mr. McLeod,” I lied, taking a step towards him and hiding the jeans behind me. “Just playing.”

Mount’s eyes narrowed at me. “I wasn’t askin’ you, I’m talkin’ to my daughter.” My head reared back, not expecting him to speak to me like that. He was terrifying, yes, but never outright rude. It only made me more on edge.

The sound of horse hooves approached, and I looked over to see my dad. Oh God. Now we were really in trouble. I glanced at my sisters, who all looked as guilty as I knew I did.

“Claire, what the hell is going on here?”

“I was just askin’ the same thing,” Mount said, his voice like ice towards him.

I opened my mouth, but the words got stuck.

Behind me, I could hear the boys laughing.

I winced, knowing what they were about to walk into.

They broke through the clearing in nothing but their boots, hands cupped over their junk to keep them covered.

I looked at the ground quickly, hoping nobody noticed the flush in my cheeks.

Their laughter died once they saw we’d been busted.

“Ah, fuck,” Weston groaned.

“Ah fuck’s right, boy,” Mount scolded. “Now somebody better start talkin’.”

“The girls took our clothes,” Colt said, and I shot him a glare. Snitch. He looked at the ground, swallowing hard.

“The boys filled water guns with pickle juice and sprayed us!” Delilah said. “What were we supposed to do? Let them get away with it?”

“Only because y’all put horse shit in our boots yesterday…again,” Beau added with a scowl that mirrored Mount’s. I knew that would bite us in the ass, but it was Savannah’s idea, so we couldn’t not do it.

Water droplets rolled down his body, gathering at his joined hands that covered between his legs. I cleared my throat and looked away. “They’ve been messing with us all summer, Dad.”

“So this is what passes as parentin’ at Golden Bridle, Ben?” Mount asked. “Lettin’ your girls run wild and cause trouble on someone else’s land and ropin’ my Annabelle into it?”

Anna stepped forward, frowning. “Daddy—” He held his hand up, silencing her.

My father’s eyes narrowed, his jaw ticking in that way that always meant he was done being polite.

“It’s harmless fun, Mount. They’re just kids.

And besides, it’s a shared creek behind both of our properties.

Or did you start buying up that land, too?

” He worked the leather rein in his hand, body tense.

“Taking what’s supposed to be mine just wasn’t enough, was it? Like father, like son.”

What was he talking about? I fidgeted, looking over at Beau, who looked just as uncomfortable as I felt.

Mount’s jaw tightened. “Your father gave up his right to this land when he decided to be a goddamn snake.” My eyes went wide.

What did he mean snake? He shifted closer, and I saw Emmett take a step forward out of the corner of my eye.

“You know what we do in these parts to snakes? We cut their heads off.”

Tess gasped and clung to my side.

“Dad,” Beau ground out. “Don’t do this. Not in front of the girls.”

“Why don’t you listen to your boy, Mount,” Dad said. “Things don’t need to get ugly just cause you can’t keep your anger in check. It was just a harmless prank.” He looked at the boys. “Right, boys?”

A chorus of low, “Yessirs,” came from them.

“This ain’t about some prank anymore,” Mount said. “This is about how your kids can’t seem to stay outta trouble.”

Dad slid off his horse, and I looked to my siblings, all of them on edge. I knew Dad and Mount didn’t get along, but I didn’t know it was like this.

“Don’t talk about my kids like yours weren’t there too. You think you’re so much better than us, flashing your money around, but you’re not.”

Mount got down, and my spine went rigid. I pulled Tess closer. “Maybe if you spent more time raisin’ them, and less time tryin’ to outdo me—”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Dad interrupted.

“The only reason you have this land we’re standing on is because you stole it from my family.

” His face was red, his forehead vein bulging.

I’d never seen him so angry before. Savannah and Delilah were huddled together, mouths ajar.

“You’ve built your success on the back of my family’s suffering, and you know it! ” he yelled.

Panicked, I turned to Beau, mouthing, “Do something.” It was our job as the oldest siblings to shield our younger siblings, and they definitely needed to be shielded from our fathers coming to blows, which would happen in the next few seconds if Beau didn’t step in.

“You have my clothes,” he whispered, looking down at the jeans and white shirt balled up in my fists.

I handed them to him, and he turned, putting on his jeans. I looked at anything but his ass, aimed directly at me. He left the t-shirt on the ground and stood between our fathers, placing his hand on Mount’s chest. “Give it a rest,” he said, voice rough. “Let’s go, Dad.”

Mount pressed against Beau’s hand like a bull desperate to get out of his pen. “Only sufferin’ your family’s had has been your own damn fault!”

Beau shoved against him, grunting. “Dad! Don’t do this in front of Anna.”

It was like a flip had been switched, and Mount looked over at his daughter, a horrified, remorseful expression on his face.

Her cheeks were streaked with tears while she held herself.

He swallowed, looking at Beau. He nodded and straightened his shirt before he got back on his horse and left, kicking up dust.

The other girls handed the boys their clothes back silently, and we parted ways, something unspoken in the air. It was thick, heavy. A division of some sort. I couldn’t quite explain it, but I knew things would never be the same after today.

Emmett, Savannah, Delilah, Tess, and I all walked back to Golden Bridle with our dad. Periodically, I glanced over my shoulder to find Beau, Anna, Colt, and Weston walking towards their house, looking as torn up as I felt. I had no idea there was so much animosity between our fathers.

When we got home, I helped Dad untack his horse. We worked in silence, but when I couldn’t take it anymore, I asked, “What was that, Dad? Why do you hate Mr. McLeod so much?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “Claire, there’s something you need to understand. It’s probably about time I tell you this anyway, since Golden Bridle will be yours one day.”

“The Hayeses and McLeods have a long history,” he started.

“It goes back for generations. For years, our families had been good friends and neighbors. But then in the seventies, my father and Mount’s father thought about joining our two ranches.

” I had often wondered why the ranches hadn’t just joined.

Circle M had the cattle, and we had the horses, so it made sense.

We brushed both sides of the horse, and I’d never seen my father’s face look so resentful before. He was a kind, generous man. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. And yet now, and earlier with Mount, I saw a side of him I never wanted to see again.

“The deal was all written up, but then one day, without warning, Beaumont bought the land for himself, cutting your grandfather out of the deal.”

My jaw dropped. “What? Why?”

He scoffed. “Because the McLeods are greedy, Claire. Because that was his plan all along. He bought the land and nearly bankrupted my father in the process. He had to sell off half his herd and fire about two-thirds of his ranch hands.”

My hand fell, the paddle brush dropping to the ground. We didn’t even have ranch hands anymore. Not ranch hands plural anyway, just Carl, who helped Dad with training here and there. “We’re broke?”

My father wrenched his jaw. “We’re not broke. We’re just…not doing as well as the McLeods.” His face hardened. “Because of the McLeods.”

I didn’t need him to elaborate any further. They ruined my family, betrayed us, and that was all I needed to know.

I was right earlier. Nothing would ever be the same after today.

Weeks went by without a word from the McLeods. It hurt at first, but then I remembered what that family did to mine, and I was relieved. No contact became the new normal. The expectation.

I watched from the back of my horse as Beau drove off to Texas A&M with boxes in the bed of his truck. It felt final watching him leave. The last remains of our friendship disintegrated into ash with his departure.

Looking at Circle M made me sick to my stomach after what Dad told me. And when my gaze fell on Anna, sitting on her own horse, and she waved, I turned around and rode away.

It was time to grow up and stop playing games. I just wish that I had savored that afternoon a little more now that I knew it was the last.