Chapter 15 Claire
Claire
The house had never been so clean. I’d spent the last four days deep cleaning. Like, on hands and knees with a toothbrush kind of cleaning. It was the only thing that truly calmed me aside from racing, and I needed all the stress relief I could get.
All I’d been able to think about these last four days was Mama, the Cavendish partnership, and Beau.
Mostly because two days ago, Preston Hollis grew some balls and did, in fact, call me again.
He said he had ‘inside sources’ confirm that Cavendish was going with Beau.
Then he proceeded to offer me just under a million dollars for Golden Bridle as it stood, so that I could “walk away with my dignity intact.”
Emmett had to stop Delilah and me from hunting him down and lighting him on fire after that.
No matter how hard I tried to forget it, his call had lingered, working its way beneath my skin like a splinter I couldn’t remove.
He somehow knew about my debt, about Mama’s medical bills, about everything.
But Sterling Hollis’s reach went far, and Preston was a little bootlicking minion for his power-hungry grandfather, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he had used that reach to go down the psychological warfare route.
I was surprised, however, that it was kind of working. But that was only because if Cavendish didn’t choose me, I’d have no other option but to cave.
On the bright side, Savannah came in late last night, still wearing her suit from work.
She hadn’t been home for more than a weekend since she left for college, and it showed.
I sent her out to go feed the horses, and she skipped down the stairs in a Lululemon set and stark white shoes.
And that was after she did her at-home Pilates.
Delilah and I had a nice giggle about that.
We had been glued at the hip since we submitted our proposal in case we got the call from Cavendish, and it was nice to have someone constantly around I could share all my thoughts and fears with.
I’d never had that before. I thought that was what I was building with Beau, but I hadn't heard from him. He was probably just as anxious as I was, but a text letting me know he didn’t hate my guts for fleeing the other day would’ve been nice.
I was helping the hospice nurse dress Mama when someone started running up the stairs. “Claire! OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod,” Delilah screamed, waving my ringing phone around.
All the air got sucked out of the room as I snatched it from her hand. “What if this is it?”
“Answer it and find out, or I will!”
With shaking hands, I accepted the call. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Claire Hayes?”
My heart nearly flew out of my chest. I grabbed Delilah’s hand, squeezing hard. “Yes, this is Claire.”
“Hi, this is Trent with Cavendish Equestrian Academy. We met last month when I came to view Golden Bridle with my colleague.”
“How’s your shin? I gave Vincent a good talking to after that.”
He laughed. “It’s fine, thanks. I’m calling to let you know that, after careful consideration and a glowing endorsement, we would like to offer you the partnership on behalf of Richard Cavendish.”
A choked sob left me, and I looked at Mama. She was watching me with tears in her eyes. “Are you serious?” I rasped, my voice shaking.
More laughter. “Yes, I’m serious. We believe that your veteran outreach program can make a positive impact in the community, and if you were to accept, we would like to start the process of creating a satellite location immediately.”
I waved mine and Delilah’s hands around, silently screaming. She started jumping up and down next to me, tears in her eyes. “Yes, I absolutely accept. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“Who gave the endorsement? Or is it confidential?” Delilah stilled next to me, looking confused, and I shrugged a shoulder. “I just want to thank them, is all.”
“Beaumont McLeod.” The name hit me like a sledgehammer. I turned to Delilah, my jaw dropped, eyes wide and welling with new tears.
“It was Beau,” I told her, not realizing I was still on the phone with Trent. My eyes darted around the room, unable to comprehend it. Mama was full on grinning at me, the brightest smile she had mustered in weeks, months, even.
“Yes. I’ll admit he was our first option, but he said if we wanted to thrive, we needed to go with you and ultimately declined our offer.”
I was speechless. Beau turned down Cavendish? I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I absentmindedly handed the phone to Delilah to sort the details, my back meeting the wall.
“Claire,” Mama rasped, her voice shaking. When I looked up at her, she said, “What are you still doin’ here? Go to him.” I nodded and walked down the stairs, my pace quickening until I was in a full run towards Circle M.
I made quick work of hopping the fence between our properties and raced up the porch steps, my heart pounding. I needed to understand why he would give up something he had worked so hard for when he finally had it in his grasp. It didn’t make any sense.
I slammed my fist against the door. I hadn’t even thought about what I’d do if Mount answered. Push him aside and find Beau, I guess.
The door opened, and Beau was standing there, stunned. It looked like I had interrupted his morning routine: hair a mess, shirt unbuttoned, and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He took the toothbrush out, getting ready to say something.
“Why’d you do it?” I blurted. “Why’d you turn them down?”
“Hold on,” he said, all garbled, and left me on the porch. I chased after him, shutting the door behind me. I wasn’t going to sit there and wait. I’d been waiting for him to say something for four days already. I wanted answers. Now.
He was halfway up the stairs when I caught up to him.
“They said you were their first choice, but you declined. That you told them if they wanted to thrive, they needed to choose me.” He cupped a hand under the sink faucet and rinsed his mouth.
“Was this some kind of pity thing? Did you find out about the debt? You worked so hard for this, Beau. Why—”
He slammed his toothbrush down on the counter. “Because I’m in love with you!”
The words hit me hard enough that I staggered back. I blinked, absorbing them. “What?” The question was nothing more than a wisp of air off my lips.
“I love you, Claire. I gave it up for you. For literally no other reason than the fact that I’m in love with you and I want you to get everything you want in this world.”
I opened my mouth to say something, closed it, then opened it again. “You gave it up for me?” Tears rolled down my cheeks, but neither one of us moved. “What about Joseph? Mount?”
“Fuck Mount. I sent him to stay with Anna yesterday. He had finally said he was proud of me, and it just might’ve been the biggest letdown of my life. It meant nothing to me, not when I knew how badly it would hurt you.”
He took a step towards me. “And before you say anything. No, this had absolutely nothing to do with pity; I know better than to pity you. And I don’t know anything about your finances.”
He cradled my face in his hands. It felt like coming home, having him touch me again. “You had to give up one dream already, and I didn’t want to take this one away from you, too. I want to be the person who helps you achieve your dreams, not stand in the way of them.”
My heart physically ached with love for him.
It stole my breath, brought tears to my eyes, and left me speechless.
Nobody had ever given up something like this for me.
I didn’t know what to make of it, what to say, how to feel.
All I knew was that there wouldn't be anyone else for me. Not ever. Not after this.
My hands wrapped around his wrists. “I love you, too,” I whispered through tears.
His eyes darted between mine. That stunning blue was the only thing I wanted to look at for the rest of my life. “You love me?”
I nodded and leaned forward, my nose brushing his. “So much so it might border on obsession.” A shudder wracked through his body at the answer, and I smiled, loving how I affected him.
“So,” he swallowed, “does that mean you’re not mad at me for not answering your texts and calls?”
“I’m furious. You’re gonna have to work real hard to earn my forgiveness,” I whispered against his lips.
“Better get to work then,” he said and crashed his lips against mine. The kiss was raw, urgent, so full of need it broke my heart and mended it all over again. Before I knew it, I was in Beau’s arms, his hands cupping my ass. I locked my ankles around his hips as he walked us blindly down the hall.
I flew onto the bed with a yelp, and Beau looked ready to devour me whole as he crawled over my body, eyes dark with promise. “I’ve missed you so fuckin’ much,” he rasped, placing open-mouthed kisses along my chest and up my neck.
My back arched as his tongue ran along the sensitive spot of my neck, my hands sinking into his hair. “I missed you,” I sighed. “Don’t ever make me go that long without you again.” My eyes fluttered shut as his hand ran up my side to cradle my chin, bringing my mouth to his to kiss me again.
It was electric. All-consuming. Heat rushed through my veins and settled low and heavy between my legs until I was nothing more than a throbbing ache. An ache only Beau could fix.
I reached between us, working his belt. It slid through the loops with a whoosh and hit the floor with a smack. He stood, ripping his shirt off and tossing it to the floor. My mouth went dry at the sight of him. Jeans slung low on his hips, hair a mess, shirtless—he was so hot.
He hooked his hands in the waistband of my leggings, yanking them and my panties off with a kind of urgency that had me moaning. And when he dragged me to the edge of the bed and sank to his knees, I was trembling with anticipation.