Chapter Five
Kayla glanced at her watch. An hour had passed since she’d fled from her encounter with Dylan, and still he was foremost in her brain, not banished as she would have liked. She didn’t see anyone around as she approached the barn and slid out of the saddle. Her legs rebelled against the change, almost crumpling beneath her weight like wet noodles. Sweat glistened from Dizzy’s velvety coat. Kayla could relate and would give anything for a shower, but that would have to wait until she finished grooming the horse.
It had been amazing to be back in the saddle, the wind rushing through her hair, the steady beat of the horse’s hooves pounding the ground. She pressed her face against the mare’s long, sleek neck.
Aside from her anger with Dylan, the ride this morning had been fun. Different than when she was a young girl. Back then, she’d been more caught up in the image of a good-looking cowboy in tight-fitting blue jeans than she was in the beauty of the land. Of noticing the birds, or the lizards, or even the deer she spotted off in the distance. Today had certainly been an eye-opener. The quiet beauty of the morning had drawn her in and away from the hustle and bustle of the city and its tiring pace.
Dizzy was getting older and would have to be retired soon, but Kayla loved her all the same, maybe more. Her appreciation of the mare’s steadfast qualities and loyalty were more profound now than before she’d left home. Dizzy had been a handful as a young foal, dancing herself in circles when anything new caught her eye, earning her name honestly. But to Kayla, she was perfect.
She grabbed an apple from the basket closest to Dizzy’s stall and fed it to the mare. She picked up the grooming brush and began a rhythmic stroke down the horse’s back. Each stroke was a little stronger than the last as everything she tried to forget for the past hour replayed in her head. Anger simmered deep within.
Dylan had no right to put her father in a position to lose the farm that had been in their family for generations. And it was up to Kayla to help save the homestead. Come Monday, she’d start to put Plan A into place, hopefully with her father’s blessing.
“That was great. Don’t tell anyone, old girl, but I miss riding. More than I could imagine. And I miss you.” The horse nuzzled her shoulder in response.
Unfortunately, she’d be gone long before the soft bruising aches settling in her legs went away. Somehow, she’d find a way to visit more often when she graduated. Life couldn’t be all work, and she needed to pay closer attention to her parents’ affairs.
“I’m sorry I left and didn’t come back much, girl. But I heard Mom rides you sometimes, so I know you get good exercise.” Kayla gently swatted the horse’s flank, followed by a slow rub.
Chats with Dizzy weren’t unusual, and if horses could talk, Kayla would be in big trouble. Time after time, Becky had been stuck in town helping her mother, leaving Kayla to pour her heart out to the only set of ears who would listen without judgment. Dizzy had been the perfect listener. Always had been, always would be.
A sound alerted Kayla she wasn’t alone. She looked around and tried to pinpoint the location. She knew every inch of the barn and every nook of the hundred-acre farm.
Her gaze zeroed in toward the back corner. It was probably a cat, preferably not a rat. There it was again. Bigger than a cat or a rat.
“Is someone in here?” she called out, taking a few steps toward the storage shed against the back wall. She lifted the wooden lever and pulled the door open slowly. Of all the things that crossed her mind, a kid wasn’t one of them. Especially not one who looked like a miniature replica of Dylan.
She hadn’t seen the kid since he was eight years old and here he was, huddled on the floor in the corner of the tack room, and if she had to take a guess, hiding.
“Derek?” she asked, keeping her voice low. The fear in his eyes was already enough to make her want to hug away his worries.
“Who are you?” he asked, not bothering to answer her question.
His tone was defensive and challenging, more so than she would have expected from a thirteen-year-old. It took her by surprise, but then she didn’t have much experience with kids.
“I’m Kayla Anderson. I know you must be Derek.” A fleeting glimpse of recognition flashed across his face.
“You’re the spitting image of your brother,” she added when he remained silent.
Derek’s shoulders pulled tighter together, his eyes darting toward the opening behind her. It wouldn’t take much for the kid to bolt. He was angry at something or someone, and the chip on his shoulder looked greater than he could handle alone. The need to help tugged at her heartstrings.
“Lucky me,” he muttered.
Kayla chose to ignore his comment, for now anyway. It was better to start with a more obvious and easier question. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“No. I’m sick, but my jerk of a brother wouldn’t let me stay home.” Ouch. Dylan was a jerk, but to hear Derek call him one didn’t bode well for the direction of this conversation. Helping the kid was one thing, helping him deal with Dylan would be borderline insanity, not to mention impossible.
“You don’t look sick. I was a kid once, too. There were plenty of days I wanted to skip out of school, and I always thought I had good reasons. But luckily, I didn’t, because without an education, I wouldn’t have anything.”
It sounded like the perfect parent response. Maybe Derek couldn’t see beyond the chores and the ranch yet, but soon enough, whether to stay or go would be his choice. He’d have the chance to follow his dreams, but he needed to be prepared.
Kayla offered her hand to help him up. He ignored it, pushing himself off the ground to stand.
“You want to tell me what’s going on? Issues at school or issues with Dylan. Which is it?” She squashed any thought of repercussions from Dylan. Maybe he didn’t even have to find out she was meddling.
“None of your business.” Head hung down and hands shoved in his pockets, he scuffed his feet, kicking at the hay strewn across the floor.
He was thirteen. And a boy. She didn’t expect it to be easy, but she wasn’t giving up, not yet anyway. Perhaps a little incentive would help. Kid style.
“I’ve got an Elephant Ear covered with chocolate and bananas up at the house that says you could make it my business.” Dylan’s comment yesterday about the pastries almost guaranteed her a win for this round. Besides, having missed breakfast when she rode out earlier, a loaded pastry sounded pretty darn good.
“You ain’t gonna rat me out, are you?” A light of interest sparked on his face.
“Depends if we talk or if you keep shutting me out. I don’t see any reason to bring either your brother or the school screaming down your back. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to turn my head the other way. It’s either me, the school, or your brother. Take your pick.”
“Are you serious?” His body stilled. She had his full attention at least for the moment.
“An Elephant Ear and a glass of milk serious.” Bribery at its finest. Kayla waited while he weighed his options.
“It don’t matter anyway, so deal. It’s not like the school won’t tell Dylan.”
“Good choice. But if you want privacy, I suggest you start talking. Once we get to the house, it’s all bets off, because my mother will be there. She may not see things the way I do.”
“You’re different,” he said, biting the inside of his cheek. Proof he wasn’t as tough inside as the hostile, bad-boy attitude he was trying hard to project.
Poor kid had been through a lot, losing his parents when he was only a little kid, and then to be stuck with Dylan as a father substitute. If his behavior was a cry for help, there was no way she would walk away. That was Dylan’s mode of operation, not hers.
“I hope that’s a good thing.” She laughed.
“You promise not to tell Dylan?”
“I promise.” He had no idea how easy it was to agree. Talking to Dylan wasn’t on her list of priorities, and the promise had a bonus. Derek’s confidence.
“Unless you’re in danger,” she added quickly. There was no way she could not tell Dylan if the kid was in real trouble.
“Only the danger of being laughed out of school and dying from boredom.” It was a start. His answer didn’t explain what was wrong, but it did set her mind at ease.
Kayla let out a deep breath. She could do this. After all, she’d been a kid once. Ironically, it was Dylan who had guided her through the messy part of life called childhood. Why he wasn’t having the same sort of conversations with Derek, she didn’t have a clue.
“Okay.” She turned toward the barn door and took a few steps, hoping he would follow.
“That’s it? You’re not gonna ask me tons of questions to find out why?”
She turned back to face him.
“I’m here to listen, not pry.”
“I get it. Why would you? It’s not like you know me or anything, so why should you care?” He held his body stiff and unyielding, as if somehow it would ward off the unwanted pain of rejection.
Time to call his bluff. She leveled him with a determined gaze. “Confidences are about a willingness to share. If I need to drag it out of you, it’s not a confidence. If you want to tell me, you will. And you still get the Elephant Ears.” She smiled, trying to put him at ease. “Coming?” She didn’t wait for his answer and turned to walked away. Kayla held her breath. Hoping.
And then she heard it. The scuff of a boot behind her, then another.
She pulled the door open and let him pass through before securely latching it closed.
“I hate it here. It’s always school and work, school and work. There’re no kids nearby, and the kids at school hate me,” he grumbled as they fell in step, side by side.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
She suspected he hated chores and the boredom. She could relate from her own past. The kids at school hated him, well, that part, she was wading in deep, uncharted waters.
“And my broth…hates…” Derek’s voice was barely a whisper as he choked the words out. Low enough she almost had to ask him to repeat them, but her brain filled in what she missed.
“Derek, listen to me.” She stopped to get his undivided attention. “You’re wrong. Please don’t ever think that way. I may be four years younger than your brother, but I was old enough to watch him take care of you like you were his own son.”
She meant every word. Dylan had given up his own dreams when his mother died, and any hope of ever leaving vanished when his father passed away a few years later.
Dylan was the most responsible, selfless person she knew. Except when it came to her. But his feelings toward her were irrelevant at the moment. However, it was important for Derek to get a glimpse of understanding about the sacrifices Dylan had made, all for him. Judging by the scowl on Derek’s face, understanding was not one of the emotions he was feeling.
She had to try again. “He loves you. Everything he’s done to hold the ranch together has been for you, to give you a home. He had to take on a ton of responsibility after your parents died, and he did it without a second thought for his own dreams.”
Mentioning his parents probably wasn’t the smartest thing she could have done. A flash of pain flittered across his face, but luckily, it disappeared just as quickly, and in its place, a sudden inquisitive interest took root.
“What do you mean?”
“Dylan wanted to be a rodeo star. He dreamed of getting out of Riverbend and making it big. Anything but ranching. And chores. And boredom. Sound familiar?”
Just like it had once been her and Becky’s dream to leave. Only Becky had never escaped.
Poor choices had a way of stealing your dreams, and sleeping with the guy your best friend loved qualified as a poor choice.
And still, Kayla would have given up everything she’d done in the last five years to change places with Becky, because somehow, Becky was the one who ended up with what Kayla wanted desperately and lost. Dylan’s son.
Becky had never told anyone the identity of the father of her child, but Kayla knew the gut-wrenching truth. Had seen it with her own eyes and had it confirmed by Becky. It didn’t get any more real.
“He’s never said anything to me about it,” he mumbled.
She tried to close the door on memory lane and focus on Derek.
“Maybe because it’s not important to him now. You are.”
“He sure don’t show it.” Derek continued to keep pace next to her as they neared the house.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“He doesn’t have time for me. Any idea what it’s like to be the only kid who doesn’t have parents come to school stuff, the only kid who can’t go to town to the soda shop and hang? Dylan’s always got an excuse, and I’ve always got chores. And when you muck stalls every night, it’s kinda hard to get rid of the smell. The kids laugh and tease me about the way I stink.” It was the most he’d talked since she’d found him in the shed, and it was enlightening.
“I’m sorry. Kids can be hard on other kids, and unfortunately, we can’t fix them. But you can work on fixing what ails you.”
Derek stepped in front of her and stopped, and Kayla ran into the slender boy, almost knocking him down. She put out her hand to steady them both.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“For starters, ignore the kids. They’ll grow up someday, and they won’t be half the person you are if you learn how to be nice to people and treat them the way you want to be treated. I’m sure it’s hard to turn the other cheek, but the bigger man who does is the one who wins the fight in the long run.”
“You sound like Dylan.” It didn’t come out as a compliment.
“Maybe Dylan’s right.” It pained her to say the words. “And your brother has his hands full doing the job of two parents. Maybe you could cut him some slack. Do you usually see both parents of every kid at school events?”
“No.”
“Want to know why? The other parent is at work. And Dylan’s doing the work of two, which doesn’t leave him much time. I’m sure he’d love to be at your events, but then who would cover his other jobs? When you wear the mom, dad, and ranch manager hats, the work is never done.”
Defending Dylan didn’t come easy, but it was for Derek. And it wasn’t the kid’s fault Dylan was still a jerk.
“How come you’re so smart?” he asked.
Gotcha. The full circle. “Because I stayed in school and paid attention.”
“Figures you’d say that. Are we done yet?” Derek grinned. Her heart did a little flip.
“No. There’s one other thing.” She stopped short of the house to finish the conversation. Several trucks were parked out front, which meant the wedding cavalry had arrived to work on the barn. She hoped Dylan wasn’t a part of the group, for her and Derek’s sake.
“You’re bored. I remember the feeling well, trust me. What interests you? What have you always wanted but don’t have? Sometimes you have to dream small before you can realize the big dreams you want to go after.”
“I have Jezebel, but I can’t ride out far because I’m too young and everyone’s always too busy to go with me. I like dogs, but Dylan says they’re too much trouble and he can’t take on more. I wouldn’t mind trying bull riding, but they tell me I’m too small at school.”
Kayla had to agree with the riding restrictions. The dog, well, that would be a perfect idea, but Kayla knew getting Dylan to change his mind would be next to impossible, given his history with dogs. But the bull riding, surely if Dylan knew he was interested it would help to forge a bond between the two brothers.
“Bull hockey,” she said. “If you’re smaller, you just need to hang on tighter. Have you told Dylan?”
“Nah. He don’t care what I want, only that I get my chores done,” he said.
“Give him a chance, you might be surprised. Your brother has some slick moves he could teach you.”
Derek’s face lit up at the prospect. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Cool. Um. Sure. I’ll think about it.” Back to thirteen going on eighteen.
The front porch screen door creaked open.
“Hey, Randy. Come and look at what the cows called home from the city. If it isn’t little pesky Kayla Anderson.” Tommy looked great, and still every bit a cowboy, his grin wider than the brim of his hat. He stepped off the porch and wrapped her in a big bear hug.
“Hey to you, too.” She laughed. “Put me down, you big buffoon, you’re killing me.”
No sooner than her feet touched the ground, she was lifted back into the air for another embrace. “Little Kayla’s not so little anymore. Quite the sight for this cowboy’s eyes,” Randy said with a wink.
“Nonsense. Flattering me won’t get you what half the women in the county probably throw at you willingly,” she teased.
Randy was always the big flirt, and women ate it up.
Derek had stepped off to the side, looking unsure of himself. Her heart went out to the kid. A boy trying to find his way into a man’s world.
“How come you ain’t in school, Derek?” Tommy asked.
“He’s not feeling well, and I’m keeping an eye on him.” She’d jumped in without thought, but Derek’s smile of approval was worth the little white lie. Without a friend, Kayla would have been lost growing up on the outskirts of town. She wouldn’t be here long enough to change anything long term, but for now, she could be his friend, and that included helping him out of a tough spot.
“Good thing. Dylan would skin him alive if he was cutting school again,” Randy said.
“Well, he’s not. And we were just going inside for milk and Elephant Ears, if there’re any left after the two of you beat us to the kitchen. Care to join us?”
“Would love to catch up with you, but we’re here to clean the barn for the wedding. Maybe later, darling. Good to see you again,” Tommy said.
“And if you’re not too city soft, you could always pitch in. Would make the work go easier if we had a sweet thing looking like you do working with us.” Still the charmer.
The two men raised a hand in farewell and shuffled off toward the barn. “Later,” they called out.
She pulled Derek into the house and made her way to the kitchen. “Come on, let’s go see if they left us any chocolate and banana toppings for our Ears.”
“Sounds good.” He grinned as they entered the house.
“What the hell are you doing here when you should be in school?” Dylan’s large frame filled the doorway, his voice hard and unyielding as he stared down at his little brother and waited for an answer.
Derek’s happy laughter disintegrated. Minutes ago, she’d promised herself she’d do what she could for Derek while she was here, and although it was one thing to lie to the others, lying to Dylan’s face was a lot harder.
And it shouldn’t be. Years ago, she’d gone all out to break through the wall he’d built between them, and when he’d finally succumbed, she’d thought they would be together forever. That he was her destiny.
She’d been so naive. Dylan had only wanted another notch on his belt. Lying to him now shouldn’t mean a damn thing.
“He stopped here on his way to school because he wasn’t feeling well. I told him to stay until he felt better.” The lie rolled right off her tongue without a glitch.
“Since when do you have the right to interfere?”
Kayla knew he wouldn’t appreciate her help, but it was too bad. The boy needed a champion, and for the next week, he’d found one. “You weren’t around. For heaven’s sake, get over yourself. It’s just one day.”
“One day of many. Something you wouldn’t know anything about since you never come around.”
“Well, maybe you don’t know everything, either.” Dylan’s jaw would have hit the floor if it was possible.
Point for me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dylan demanded, stepping closer.
Derek’s eyes widened in alarm. He would never trust her if she failed him now.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters to you. It didn’t before, and it doesn’t now.” Years of pain echoed in her words, demanding their place in the universe.
Another point for me.
Dylan’s expression hardened. “Is this about Derek, or about you and me?” The deadly calm of his voice made her nervous.
She swallowed hard, trying to find a way to answer. “Derek. There isn’t a you and me.” Another lie, but a necessary one.
“That’s one point of view,” Dylan said, turning to his brother. “What’s going on? The truth.”
“Um, I told you I didn’t feel good this morning, and you didn’t believe me. It got worse, so I stopped here, j-just like Kayla said.” Derek squirmed under Dylan’s gaze.
One eyebrow arched questioningly. “Ms. Anderson to you,” Dylan said.
Derek stood a little taller. “She told me to call her Kayla. We’re friends.”
“Is that a fact?”