Chapter Twenty-Two
Daniel
I was grateful for the distraction of friends for Rachel, as Tuck filled me in on the slander campaign being run in Austin and even at Texas A&M against my girl by none other than Sara Abbott, Jason Steed, and my two least favorite ex-employees. I was shocked at the reach that the two ring-leaders had and the dedication they gave to their evil craft.
I wanted to be excited that I was getting married, but couldn’t begin to imagine the trouble that I and the school could receive if our engagement was used to prove any of the lies being spread.
“My personal favorite was that you turned down a much more qualified male (who of course, has no name) in favor of Rachel because she seduced you at her interview,” Tuck relayed archly.
“Don’t I wish,” I shot back, and was rewarded with barks of laughter from my brothers. Pete had joined us, not wanting to miss a minute that Logan and Tuck were on the ranch. He made a few offers of violence against Jason, but we all knew even as we painted happy pictures of smearing his face across the cement of his own driveway, that as usual, Sara was the real impetus behind the rumors.
Immediately, Jackson volunteered that we needed to keep it from Rachel as long as possible, but I knew if she found out later, it would be to my own disaster. I reminded Tuck about how Sara had worked both of us against each other when she was dating him, and he mentioned off-hand, that she needed a taste of her own medicine. That’s when Logan perked up, straightening his shoulders and grinning.
“Is she still dating the partner at your law firm?” he asked Tucker, who affirmed that indeed she was, much to the detriment of my younger brother’s career. “So what happens if she has fires to put out and doesn’t have time to smear Rachel anymore?”
Jackson’s eyes lit up and he took off back toward the big house, clapping Logan on the back as he passed.
Logan shrugged and pointed behind me. The girls were riding through the gate to the high pasture, single file. I watched as the slight figure of my bride-to-be led the others with confidence, head high, her long hair flowing out behind her. Hugh closed the gate behind them, and as she crested the first ridge, she waved to us before disappearing down the other side.
Jackson returned shortly with his laptop and suggested that we take to the veranda. Rachel’s brother Caleb and our fathers both joined us. Tuck gave them the shortened version and after a shared look, they turned back the way they had come and closed the front door behind them.
“Christ,” Tuck blurted. “You’d think they’d have at least offered a suggestion first.” He ran his fingers through his hair and pestered Jackson to pick up the pace of whatever “computer fuckery” he was performing. With a shake of his head, Jackson spun the laptop so that all could view the monitor and grinned.
“We could be fucking spies,” he stated with his hands clasped behind his head. “We could get her to say something on video and upload it. Better, we could catch the two of them together, and anonymously post it everywhere, make it go viral.” He leaned forward and folded his arms, resting his elbows on his knees. “It’s what she does, right? Only it’s a lot harder to make it go away when it’s true.” Tucker looked at Logan, then at me. Jackson and Caleb exchanged fist bumps.
“We could do it,” Caleb interjected. “Jackson and I could do it. She’s never even seen me before.” Logan nodded his head.
“Me, either. Put my hair up in a man-bun and get some skinny jeans, and I’d just be another hipster in Austin, totally camouflaged,” he added to the narrative. I looked over the last horizon I’d seen Rachel ride over.
“I have to talk to Rachel first,” I demanded. “We can’t go off on this without knowing that Tucker has a risk here. I don’t want him getting demoted or fired over this.” The guys all nodded their agreement.
“No kidding, you can’t,” interrupted my dad, who, along with Rachel’s brother, had returned – beers in hand. As they passed the cold bottles around, Jackson explained his idea for them, and how they could make it work without ever coming back to the Hargrave family.
“I don’t know,” I mused. “I’m more of a throw some punches, do a shot, and go home, kind of guy. This cloak and dagger stuff is too complicated for me.”
Jackson argued for a moment about the merits of anonymity, but I felt wrong for not being honorable and spying on them.
“Dad,” Jackson was chewing his lip, which usually meant he was upset and choosing his words carefully. “Tuck needs to get his life back, and Sara needs a fitting consequence for her actions. She uses the internet to hurt people.” He began to list her indiscretions and my jaw dropped at the sheer volume of malicious gossip that had been started or propagated by her. Each member of the Hargrave family could name someone they’d discovered had been put through the ringer by her or her mean girl squad of tennis playing, country club attending, puppy-kicking debutantes.
“Are we lowering ourselves to the level of our adversary if you do this?” I asked hesitantly. I was a turn the other cheek, kind of guy. I didn’t want a war with someone who had so much more practice being terrible to people.
“No, sir,” Caleb actually responded before Jackson could say a word. “This is just what goes around, comes around. We won’t lie, or make things worse than they are.” I frowned.
“I’m sorry, I can’t get behind this.” I sighed. “I know Rachel won’t take part in something that hurts someone else, even if the parties involved more than deserve it.” Jackson and Caleb exchanged a look.
“Bro.” Jackson gave the laptop to Rachel’s brother and put his hand on my shoulder. “We aren’t saying go on the offensive here. But we’re going to make the video, just in case.” He grinned evilly. “She starts making trouble for Rachel, we got her covered.” I sighed and nodded my head.
“Seems like stupid kid games, and I’m too old for it. But Jason has already tried to make himself a victim to avoid responsibility for his actions. So, I guess it’s kids we’re dealing with, and kids’ games will have to do.” I rubbed my hands over my stubble. “Let’s get the bonfire started before Mom has to come find us to do it.” I downed the last of my beer and tossed the empty in the barrel in the corner. Logan and Tucker did the same and left Caleb and Jackson to finish theirs, still hovering over the laptop like a couple of crackpot conspiracy theorists.
The fire blew sparks up into the night sky, adding their number to the stars shining brightly above us. I never got tired of seeing how many stars were visible out there, unseen by the people in Austin. I figured they just had the wrong idea of a night life. I tipped my beer back for a swig and watched the huddle of women sitting on logs we’d set up as consumable seating.
By the end of the night, there was no wood, no beer, and no food left to show we’d been out there, just the smell of campfire and good memories. Exactly the way we needed it to be.
Rachel came and found me as the light burned low and the last log was being pushed into the embers. She rested her head on my chest and my arms automatically went around her when she sighed. We stood in the dark, the fading firelight dancing at our feet as I held her close, wondering what I could do to keep her safe, always. It wasn’t until she slid her hand down my stomach to my jeans that I realized that perhaps, safety was no longer something she worried about.
We slipped away without goodnights, leaving our guests to my parents to bed down for the night in the guestrooms of the big house. Rachel pulled me along, laughing, until we reached my front door. Her eyes got dark and pensive, and she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth as she ran her hand down the front of my pants, squeezing the bulge that was getting bigger by the minute. I moved out of reach and slipped past her into the cabin, pulling her in with a quick jerk that spun her into my arms.
I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the bedroom, so I pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor, then took her down to the couch and kneaded and kissed her breasts as I held her in place with my body. She arched her back under me, and her nipples were hard in my mouth, making me harder than ever. My jeans were too tight to leave on any longer, I stripped out of them and then took hers off, leaving her panties for the moment.
I rubbed my fingers over them until they were soaked as I licked the scars on her belly and used them as the path back up toward her breasts. I teased her nipple in my mouth until I drew a moan from her, then jerked at her panties. They tore down the center of the soaked fabric and I plunged into her, then lifted her up and twisted her on top of me. I squeezed and massaged her breasts as she rocked on me, holding me so tight inside her I thought I would explode before the pleasure could take her.
Finally, she fell forward so her breasts were pressed against my chest and I held her as we moved in harmony. I kissed her as she came screaming into my mouth, until her screams died to helpless moans as I licked and sucked on her tongue. Trembling, she collapsed onto my chest, only lifting her hips in perfect rhythm to bring me throbbing to the edge and over as I held her hips down on me.
We lay there for an eternity, drifting in and out of sated drowsiness until she shivered from the cold night air on her back. I carried her to bed and she curled up at my side and sighed. I kissed the top of her head and drifted off, so sleepy I didn’t know if the last words in my head of “I love you” were spoken out loud or just thought as my head hit the pillow and the world disappeared into black.