Chapter 9

IN MY sunglasses and cowboy hat, I was sure that I must have looked hung over instead of in the pain that I was in. But I arrived, more sore that morning than I had been the previous day, but decidedly more clearheaded. I was going to try and stick to Tylenol and nothing stronger if I could manage it. Everything else made me loopy and way too chatty.

I was surprised to see Carly Landry there at one of the tables sitting with her brother. I took a seat while Everett went to get me a plate.

“Stefan.”

I looked up and she was there, hovering over me.

“It‘s good to see you this morning.”

I waited for whatever it was she wanted.

“May I sit?”

“Sure.”

“Glenn was looking for you earlier.”

Which was good, and I was going to say something to that effect when I turned to her, only to find that she was not looking at me at all. She was completely absorbed with something else. Her lips were parted, her eyes were wide, and her hands fisted on the table. I scanned the crowd, trying to find what had her so transfixed.

Rand.

I was stunned. There, cutting his way through people was Rand Holloway. He just walked in a straight line, and everyone moved out of his way. He was wearing his gray Stetson, flannel shirt, jeans, and boots, and somehow, on him, it was breathtaking. From Carly‘s reaction, I was not the only one who thought so.

Rand‘s stride was all his own. There was fluidity to it, a rise and fall, and he walked with a confidence that no one else I knew had, an absolute knowledge of his place in the world. The effortless display of his strength, power, and masculinity brought my heart up into my throat.

“Rand is here,” Carly announced unnecessarily, and as she rose and waved, he noticed her, and when he saw her, he saw me.

I smiled as his eyes narrowed as he reached me.

“Rand,” Carly said breathlessly, “I‘m so glad to—”

“Stef.” His voice cracked as his hands went to my face and he bent toward me.

“Don‘t,” I cautioned him, turning fast, kissing his palm before I leaned back. “How are you?”

The muscles in his jaw corded, but he swallowed everything down. I saw the effort it took, and watched as he picked up the chair beside me and turned it before he sat down. He was facing me, his knees on both sides of mine, and his hands went to my thighs, holding them. I took a deep breath as a surge of feeling tore through me. I was hurt and I had held myself together because I had to. But he was there and I could lean on him, and I had never, ever, been so happy to see him. His warm hand found its way back to my cheek.

“You shouldn‘t touch me.”

“I don‘t give a damn what anyone thinks, Stef. I love you and that‘s all there is.”

Looking at him, into the electric blue eyes I loved, I felt better. “Thank you for coming.”

“I came as fast as I could,” he told me, his voice low and deep, very husky, very sexy.

I nodded as he leaned back and lifted my broken leg up into his lap.

“You‘re supposed to keep this elevated,” he told me as Everett joined us.

“Hey, boss,” he greeted Rand warily.

“That looks good,” Rand told him, eyeing the eggs and biscuits and gravy that Everett had brought for me. “Bring me one, Ev, and tell Chris and Pierce that Stef and I need coffee and orange juice.” Everett didn‘t move, just stared at Rand, waiting.

“Did I stutter?”

“No, sir.” His smile came suddenly, and it was bright. “Thank you.” “No, thank you,” Rand told him, and touched the brim of his hat.

Everett let out a deep breath and then left.

I watched him go, and in the process of turning back to Rand, I found Carly. I had completely forgotten that she was there. She did not look like the same person. There was so much that she was showing me: pain, humiliation, hatred, and longing. Most of all there was that, the longing.

“Rand.”

He turned slowly from his examination of my leg and his eyes flicked to hers.

“It‘s nice to see you.”

He nodded. “And you. You look good.”

“Thank you.”

“How are your folks?” he asked, making conversation as his fingers dug into my thigh, massaging the knotted muscles there, cramped from walking oddly yesterday.

“They‘re well.”

“Good, please give them my best.”

“I will.”

His eyes flicked back to my face. “Could you take those off for me?” I really didn‘t want to.

“Stef,” his voice rumbled, my name sounding decadent.

I took the oversized sunglasses off and put them on the top of my head, pushing my hair out of my face.

He studied me for long minutes, and I saw the muscles clenching in his jaw.

“Rand,” I said softly, coaxing, trying to soothe the hurt and anger I found in his eyes.

“I need to have a word with Gil.” “No,” Carly and I said together.

“Have you looked at your eye?” Rand asked me through gritted teeth before he tenderly lifted my leg off his thigh, stood, and gently lowered it onto the chair.

“But Rand,” Carly began. “Gil was only—”

“He hit Stef and Stef belongs to me,” he said so calmly that for a second I missed that the man was furious as he started away from the table.

“Rand!” she called after him.

He increased his stride to reach her brother. Nothing anyone said, even me, was going to stop him. And I understood. No one was allowed to hurt the people who Rand Holloway loved.

“Gil!” he barked out.

I saw the man in question rise up out of the chair he was in. He looked terrified, which prompted my next yell for Everett. I was actually much relieved to see Glenn and Rayland walking toward us with some others.

“Glenn!”

He heard me, saw Rand, and bolted toward him. Unfortunately, he wasn‘t quite fast enough. As my boyfriend reached the table, Gil threw a roundhouse punch at him that missed him by a mile. What did that say about my fighting prowess that he had landed a punch on me so easily? And it wasn‘t like I didn‘t know how to defend myself, but the blow Rand returned was leagues beyond anything I had in my arsenal. It was dead on, full of power, catching Gil squarely in the face. I heard the pop even from where I was, saw the gush of blood, and realized that it had taken only seconds for Rand to break the man‘s nose.

“Goddamnit, Holloway!” Gil yelled as Glenn and Everett grabbed Rand, pulling him back.

“Fuck you. It should‘ve been your jaw, you stupid piece of shit!”

Gil put his head back as several of his men shoved napkins at him to stem the flow of blood.

“This is all your fault.”

I looked over at Carly and saw how angry and hurt she was.

“Do you think he‘s going to thank you for this a year from now, five years from now when he has no children and no friends? He‘ll have no one to have over to his home, no other parents to spend weekends with, no friends to go to the movies with or double-date with because he won‘t have a wife, he‘ll just have you.”

The venom and hatred in her voice was scathing.

“That man was made to be a father, made to be a friend, and you‘re robbing him of all of it, all he could be, you selfish piece of shit!”

It was, as usual, about more than me. I was a catalyst lately, and that was okay. Instead of making her own life, she had been banking on a man to give it to her. Unlike most of the women I knew who made their happily ever after themselves and then found someone to share their dream with them, Carly was waiting for the guy on a white horse. I wish she had asked me; I would have told her that if she built her castle, someone would want to live in it with her. But she had to put it up first.

“You‘re taking away the home he could have! You‘re taking away everything!”

“Carly,” I said quietly.

“I—”

“Just stop,” I cut her off, “because what you don‘t know about Rand Holloway is a lot.”

She sucked in her breath as she glared at me with wet, red-rimmed eyes.

“I don‘t know what kind of ranch you live on, Carly, but on the Red Diamond, Rand doesn‘t have time to see a movie or spend time with friends,” I soothed her. “The man takes Sunday off mostly, and on that day everyone who lives on our ranch makes a trip up to the house, and we all have dinner, all the families, all the wives and kids. Everyone brings something, and in the summer we barbeque, and in the winter it‘s more stew and pot roast and things like that. Rand‘s friends normally see him on Saturday night after he‘s worked all day. He‘s been known to meet them to play cards or visit a bar to watch a game.”

The tears were flowing, but she was listening.

“Yes, he‘s lost some friends because he chose me, but he‘s also got some new ones.”

She took the napkin I passed her.

“And his family is the same because they all love me, and the ranch is thriving like crazy.” I smiled at her, reaching for her hand. “Rand Holloway doesn‘t need a wife. He just needs to love and be loved in return.”

The trembling she was doing turned fast to shaking. “It‘s filthy and you‘re sick, and if you think he really loves you, you‘re dead wrong. How could he?”

There would be no breakthrough, no epiphany, and I was so sad for her that I squinted so I wouldn‘t cry. I really was a bit more exhausted than I was giving myself credit for being.

“Okay,” I breathed.

“When he throws you out on your—”

“Hey.”

Looking up as Rand joined us, I noticed how huge the man‘s smile was. The brilliant turquoise eyes were brimming with warmth and happiness, just dancing.

I was captivated.

“Did ya see me?” He waggled his eyebrows.

I shook my head, and the smile became absolutely evil. He was very happy with himself.

“We don‘t go around hitting people,” I scolded him.

“Well then, maybe people shouldn‘t go around hittin‘ people that other people think hang the moon.” He cocked an eyebrow at me.

I stared up into mischievous blue eyes and realized that the way the man was looking at me, there could be no mistake about what I was to him.

Carly sucked in her breath.

He stood there staring down at me with possessiveness, heat, and plain old joy.

“Invite Glenn and Rayland home with us.”

“I did already,” he told me, reclaiming his seat beside me, lifting my broken leg back into his lap as Everett put a plate down in front of him. “They‘ll be right behind us when we leave, and Zach‘ll meet us there too.” Chris was there a second later with a small Ziploc bag full of ice. “Here boss, for the hand.”

“Thank you,” he said, eating with his left hand as he iced the knuckles of his right. Dusty brought his coffee and orange juice.

“Man, I am starving,” he said, smiling around the table at his men as they all took seats, having moved from where they were sitting before to be close. “Hey, Ev, I saw the bull riding, not too bad.” “You would‘ve won,” he answered Rand.

“Yes, sir, I would‘ve,” he teased him. “But I don‘t suspect that Stef‘ll want me to ride the bull anymore, so we‘ll have to make sure you win next year.”

“Yessir,” Everett agreed.

Rand turned to Chris and then Dusty and complimented each of his men in turn. And I watched Carly listen and take in the scene in front of her, lingering, hovering there to see the men vie for the attention of the man who was their world. Because without Rand, there was no ranch, and without the ranch, they had no home. He was the nexus of everything, and the longer she stood there, the more she understood. The man was the same, and I was an extension of him to them. That I was a man made no difference.

Her concerns, the prejudice she was speaking of might have mattered if Rand were dependent for his livelihood on one place or if he did business in only his town or the next, but he had been smart when he decided to grow his father‘s ranch, and made sure he explored all his marketing options far and wide. And whether people knew it or not, Rand was a shrewd and disciplined businessman. He had good instincts, and he understood people, and lately, since he had a partner who knew acquisitions, he had become downright deadly in financial matters. There was nothing the man was missing except children. And he even had a plan for that with the help of his little sister, who was also my—

“Oh, shit.” I jolted, remembering that I was supposed to call Charlotte.

Rand turned to look at me. “Did you just remember that Char‘s goin‘ to the doctor this Wednesday?”

“Yeah,” I breathed, staring at him.

“Well, she called me when she couldn‘t get a hold of you, and I told her what you were up to, so she‘s comin‘ for a visit this weekend, and we can talk about things.”

“Oh, God,” I groaned. “Maybe I‘ll sleep in the bunkhouse, and you can tell her I ran away to join the circus.”

He smiled at me. “She‘ll find you wherever you go ‘cause she loves you probably more than her husband or her mama or me.” I loved her just as much.

His smile was lazy and wicked. “She was fit to be tied.”

“Crap.”

“Maybe you best get her some jewelry,” he offered, “or a car.” I nodded as he cackled.

“Rand.”

He looked up at Carly.

“I hope you‘re happy.”

“I am, thank you, and I wish the same for you.”

She nodded fast before she turned and walked away.

“You take care now,” he called after her before turning back to me. “I think when I explain things to Char, I‘m gonna be in the same doghouse as you.”

“Nope, death trumps secrets.”

He brushed my hair back out of my face and looked at me before his brows furrowed.

“It‘s just a black eye. You should have been more worried about me on the bronco.”

“You decided to ride the horse, Stef. That was your choice. You didn‘t choose to get hit.”

“I—”

“Rand, you fuck!”

My cowboy turned his head and gave a sputtering, fuming, redfaced, pissed-off Gil Landry his attention.

“I‘m gonna call the sheriff and—”

“You won‘t do shit, Gil,” he yelled over to the other man. “You hit Stef first, and I already stopped in town and saw Austin before I came out here. He told me to have you give him a call if you felt the urge to talk to him.”

Gil was stunned.

“You know the sheriff here?” I asked Rand.

“Of course. We used to go fishing together when we was young. Now we hunt every winter. You met him before, Austin Cross. He has those speckled hunting dogs.” “Oh.” I did remember.

“He looks flabbergasted,” Everett said.

I turned to look at him. “What?”

“I don‘t have much call to use that word, and so… Gil Landry looked flabbergasted.”

“That‘s a good word,” Dusty agreed. “I like splendid. I don‘t think splendid is used enough.”

Everett nodded. “How ‘bout, the boss threw a splendid punch.”

“Yes.” Dusty nodded. “It was splendid.”

I rolled my eyes as Rand started to chuckle while he ate.

“None of y‘all is right in the head,” Pierce muttered under his breath.

It was hard to argue with him.

After breakfast, Rand started ordering everyone around, and they moved fast since they were used to it, and then he and I went together to talk to the rodeo coordinators. Hud Lawrence was thrilled to see Rand, and Rand shook Katie Beal‘s hand for being the one to call and let us know about the rodeo in the first place. I watched her stare up at him in awe, and I got it. If you had an idea in your mind of what a cowboy was supposed to look like, with the hat and the Wranglers, the jet-black hair, and the killer blue eyes, Rand Holloway embodied that ideal. The look she gave me, like good job landing that one, was adorable. It never ceased to be interesting, the acceptance of my lifestyle from some people, the anger from others. I myself had never cared who anyone slept with, and it still amazed me that some people did.

As Rand helped me back toward the trailer, his strong arm wrapped around my waist, I felt more like me than I had in days. And I got it. When