Chapter 8
Colt
It had taken all of my patience to not say a word to Tiffany when I arrived back at the house to find Cheyenne’s truck parked in front of the barn at 11:30pm. Not because I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of Cheyenne staying in the guest room until her insurance paid for a new barn. It was just as well she stay until the unease over the whole situation settled out as well.
I was tempted. Too tempted when I saw Cheyenne curled up on the couch next to Tiffany with a book in hand as they talked idly.
“I won’t stay if it’s too much,” Cheyenne had said, the second she caught me glaring at Tiffany. “I can go on home. Tiffany said I could stay, but if—”
“It’s no problem that you stay here,” I had told her, ignoring the lust that shot through me at the thought of her sleeping just down the hall. “I’d rather you stay here. It’s safer for now.”
That was the end the end of the conversation. I had gone straight upstairs to take a long hot shower to release the tension steadily growing in my groin. It wasn’t just physical attraction that brought me close to Cheyenne. It was her compassion, her warmth. It was everything about her that I’d gathered so far since the day she arrived in Green Point.
Even the shower did nothing to help me. I still tossed and turned all night trying to keep myself in bed. I gave up after three hours of just dozing, instead venturing down to breakfast to find a pot of coffee already brewed at 6:30am. Pouring myself a cup, I walked through the dim living room to the windows that overlooked the barn and fields beyond. Sunlight barely peeked through the evergreen pines on the horizon. I immediately noticed that the barn lights were on, and I could see Cheyenne walking about with buckets of oats and flakes of hay.
I had to give it to her. Even though her barn had been intentionally burned down, even though she was distraught, she never said a word. She never broke from her routine and her passion to make sure that the horses under her care were seen to. No matter what.
The whole group of them, even the ones Tiffany and I owned, strained against the fence eagerly as Cheyenne walked out to greet them. She greeted them with a smile as she slipped through the fence with two full buckets in hand.
It wouldn’t hurt to ask her out on a date I guess. I took a long sip of coffee. Except, she’d perceive it as me taking advantage of her being here. There was just no escaping it now that Tiffany had invited Cheyenne to stay with us.
“Morning,” Tiffany called out, startling me. “You’re up early this morning.”
I tore my gaze away from the windows to glare at Tiffany as she came down the stairs.
“No thanks to you,” I quipped and continued on before she could question what I meant. “What are you doing up so early?”
“I’m helping out at Mattie’s bookstore today,” Tiffany said, heading to the kitchen. “Don’t you remember anything I tell you?”
“Apparently not.” I followed her into the kitchen to fill my coffee mug again. “What are you doing at Mattie’s store?”
She filled up both of our mugs with the last bit of coffee. “I volunteered to run the store today while she left town with her husband. I have some stocking to do.”
“Instead of helping around here?”
“You don’t help around here some days,” Tiffany pointed out, sipping at her coffee with a smile. “Besides, I thought maybe you’d like some time alone with Cheyenne. You know, to get to know her better.”
I rolled my eyes in irritation. “So, this whole entire thing was a ploy then? I should’ve known you were up to your usual tricks.”
“Always, dear brother,” she said as she winked playfully at me. “In all seriousness though, I did invite her to stay until we know she can at least protect herself in case something happens again.”
“She doesn’t own a gun?” I asked. “I mentioned getting a security camera to put in the barn.”
“Does Cheyenne look like the type of person who knows how to even hold a gun? Let alone shoot one?”
Rubbing a hand over my jaw, I knew that Tiffany had a point. As tough and proud as Cheyenne could be, she couldn’t protect herself very well again a person, or even a wild animal.
“I’ll rectify that,” I said. “I don’t need to go in until later this afternoon for the dinner rush.”
Tiffany smiled, visibly pleased.
“Teach her well,” she said and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “You’re a good man, Colt. I don’t care what Bill Coates says about you.”
It was cold outside when I made my way down to the barn after watching Tiffany drive down the road. Cheyenne looked up from the red mare she was brushing when I entered the barn to find her in one of the horse stalls. A shy smile spread across her lips.
“Morning,” she said.
“Good morning,” I said, and reached out a hand to let the mare nuzzle my palm in search of a treat. “Did Rick show you where everything was?”
“He did. Thank you again for letting me be here—and rent-free at that.”
“Not a problem. Stay as long as you like.”
“The insurance company called yesterday. They’re going to have a claims adjustor out next week to look at the barn.” She continued with her gentle brushing and pats on the mare’s belly. “I’m not sure what to tell my grantors. I’m afraid I’d lose them if they knew where I was staying.”
“I wouldn’t say anything until the barn is redone,” I advised, scratching the mare between her ears when she snorted into my hand in disappointment. “They don’t need to know unless you plan on never rebuilding the barn.”
“I want to,” she said. “I love it here in Green Point. I’m not giving up on my dreams just because of one man.”
She tilted her chin up and looked at me with such fierceness that it startled me. I had no idea if she meant Bill Coates, or if it was the man who—according to Tiffany—chased her out of her hometown. Any thought I had about asking dissipated when a guarded expression completely changed her face. Instead, I changed the topic to what Tiffany brought up earlier.
“When you’re done here, I was thinking I could teach you something new,” I said. “Something that would benefit you in the future.”
That piqued Cheyenne’s interest. She looked up at me curiously, her dark braid swinging around her shoulders as she straightened up from brushing the mare’s underbelly.
“Such as?”
“You’ll see,” I said, and smiled at her. “Rick will be here soon to help out with the horses, too.” I caught the hesitant look on her face. “You don’t have to worry about them when he is here. I trust Rick completely with this ranch, Cheyenne. You can trust him too.”
“Where are the rest of your ranch hands?” Cheyenne asked. “I noticed Rick is the only one here besides you and Tiffany.”
The lack of sleep from the night before didn’t help my mood which instantly soured at the memory of a couple of ranch hands searching through things in my father’s office.
“I couldn’t trust them,” I said darkly. “I’ll bring on workers as we need them.”
“Oh.” Cheyenne looked down at the stall floor, visibly uncomfortable. “I didn’t mean to pry, Colt. I’m sorry. I was just curious about it.”
I sucked in a deep breath to regain control of myself. “No, I’m sorry, you’re fine. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I had a bad night.”
Opening the stall door, I hooked a finger on the mare’s bridle to lead her out, despite Cheyenne’s protests. She stopped when she realized the mare wasn’t pulling back out of fear and followed us out to the fields.
“You think I don’t know how to handle an abused horse?” I asked, amused by the shocked look on her face. “Come on. Follow me.”
Cheyenne followed me across the field to the edge where the land sloped down to a small pond the horses enjoyed an occasional drink from. I pointed to where I had placed a few bottles on some fence posts before pulling out my .9mm to hand over to her.
“You’re going to practice some gun safety,” I said.
Panic filled Cheyenne’s eyes as she pushed the gun away gingerly with a grimace.
“I’m all for guns,” she said. “I’m just not into using them myself. I trust people.”
I put the lead over the right side of the horse to make her stay. I didn’t want her running off on us. She was abused and skittish, but she also seemed to do good at going with the flow of things. I just hoped the gun wasn’t going to scare her off, I was a little worried about that.
“You trust people too much,” I said, and pulled out some earplugs. “Here. Put these in so you don’t go deaf in the process.”
“How will I hear you then?”
Our fingers brushed when Cheyenne took them from me. I waited until she pushed them into her ears before I took my stance behind her. Taking a deep breath, I placed my arms around Cheyenne’s slim body and encouraged her to grab the .9mm by showing her how to properly hold the gun. The smell of her soap filled my nose with cinnamon and vanilla when her braid brushed up against my face.
Every single one of my muscles coiled. It was tempting to drop my arms and smooth my hands along the soft curve of her waist. The recoil of the gun caused Cheyenne’s body to jerk back against mine in surprise at the force. She kept ahold of the gun though and turned to give me an excited look that instantly brought a smile to my face.
I didn’t mind the feel of her firm ass pushing up against my groin briefly either. I let her shoot a few more rounds, enjoying the closeness of her slender body next to mine.
Before I could savor the closeness, I felt my phone buzzing from inside my jacket pocket. I took the gun back from Cheyenne as she pulled out her earplugs with a confused frown.
“Tiffany’s calling,” I explained when I looked at my phone. “She hardly ever calls. Let me see what’s going on with her real quick.”
“Of course,” Cheyenne said. She took a step back to give me some space, even though it wasn’t needed.
“What’s up? You okay Tif?”
“Um, sort of.”
Concern shot through me at the tension in Tiffany’s voice. I looked over at Cheyenne who returned my stare in concern.
“What’s going on?” I asked, clicking on the safety of my gun before holstering it. “What happened?”
“I was trying to get to the top of a bookshelf. The shelf wasn’t… it wasn’t secured to the wall.” Voices echoed in the background. “I’m okay. It fell on my leg, but there was a tourist here who helped me. They called 911.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” I demanded, running a hand through my hair in aggravation. “Hang on; I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“I should be at the hospital by then,” she said, then groaned into the phone. “I think it’s broken, Colt. I can’t feel it. I can’t even move it.”
Turning on my heel, I jogged back up the hill with Cheyenne right behind me. I caught sight of Rick’s truck parked right behind me and gritted my teeth.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital then,” I said. “Call me if something else happens. Tell those paramedics to call me.”
“What’s going on?” Cheyenne cried out, grabbing ahold my arm. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, no. I’m not sure. She was climbing up a bookcase, and it fell on her leg somehow. They’re taking her to the hospital right now. Her leg might be broken.” I fished through my pockets desperately looking for my truck keys.
“Where are my damn keys? Why the hell is Rick blocking me in?”
“Colt.”
I stopped at the sharpness in Cheyenne’s voice. She took my hand in hers, squeezing it gently as she guided me in the direction of her truck.
“I’ll drive,” she said. “You need to calm down. Look, the paramedics are there, right? She’s in good hands right now.”
She opened the passenger door for me, and I got in, somewhat perplexed. I never accepted help or handouts of any kind. One thing I prided myself on was being the person who could help others and be the rock in a time of crisis. It struck a chord in me when Cheyenne climbed into the driver’s seat, and I realized that I appreciated having someone there to help.
Not caring if it was crossing a line, I reached out to touch her hand as she pulled out onto the highway in the direction of the hospital. Our fingers threaded together, and a bolt of pleasure went through me. I caught Cheyenne’s gaze briefly before it returned to the road in front of her.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I pressed a soft kiss to the back of her knuckles, savoring the taste of her skin. It didn’t escape my notice that she didn’t pull away. Her fingers squeezed tightly instead.