Aria was so distracted the following day that she barely managed to get her chores done and her horses ridden. Daytime was when the kids were in school and Aria was free to put some ride time in on the horses she was either training for customers or bringing along so that she could sell them herself. It was far more profitable to train horses for a customer willing to pay the animal’s bills every month than it was to train and sell them on her own. Feeding a horse each month, the cost of its shoes, vet bills, and the rest of the everyday expenses related to keeping it really cut into profits. That’s why the ranches like the Hernandez operation and the Collins ranch tended to sell off their young stock to people like her. The ranches had the food supply but not usually the time to put in the training. Farms like Clouds End had the manpower and training time, but not the big pastures and enormous hay supply.
Aria was handing off her fourth horse to one of the grooms to be walked out and unsaddled when she spotted another big plume of dust heading down her road. She slipped her phone from her pocket and checked the display. It was only one o’clock. She wasn’t expecting Darren for at least another two hours. Who would be coming up the road to her ranch?
Then the road curved just enough for her to see the giant-sized W emblazoned on the truck’s driver’s door. Aria gave a groan. Great. This was just what she needed, a conversation with a Weatherby of the Flying W to start her afternoon with a crash.
The Weatherby’s were a huge family with an even bigger ranch. It wasn’t quite the size of the Hernandez/Collins operation, but since Jesse Collins was now taking back the reins of her own ranch, the Weatherby’s had suddenly decided that this could be their chance to establish themselves as the ruling power in stock contracting, livestock sales, and land management. And of course, they were super humble and nice about it.
The truck roared to a halt in her gravel parking area. The big tires slung tiny rocks at the barn, and Aria could hear them pelting her corrugated metal siding. She sighed at the rudeness of the driver—whoever it happened to be. Then the driver’s door opened and Aria really felt like groaning.
“Hello, Paul.”
At least he wasn’t wearing his police captain’s uniform. The ass was a captain with the Denver Metropolitan police department, and he wasn’t likely to let anyone forget it. There were plenty of times that the guy drove around in his personal or ranch vehicle with his uniform on while randomly ordering people around and telling them he was going to arrest them for some infraction or another.
“Good morning, Aria.” Paul hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and rocked back and forth on the worn heels of his boots.
Paul’s trophy belt buckle was so large she was surprised he could sit inside his vehicle. She knew he’d won it this past year for the team roping competition on the local circuit with his brother Kyle. Normally Aria wouldn’t begrudge someone a belt buckle they’d won fair and square, but Paul went through four roping horses that season because he rode them into the ground until they were either burned out or injured. In Aria’s book, a cowboy’s horse was his number one priority. If he didn’t recognize that, then he wasn’t worth a damn.
“It’s not morning anymore, Paul.” Aria took the reins of her next mount from Jorge, her head groom. Jorge winked at her behind the horse’s neck and jerked his head toward Paul. “What can I do for you?”
Aria knew her staff would happily get rid of Paul Weatherby if Aria wanted them to. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be such a great idea since Weatherby was indeed a cop who had a habit of making a total nuisance out of himself. She shook her head at Jorge and sent him back to the barn.
“Well, Aria, I decided to come over here myself to confirm that a nasty rumor I’ve been hearing is false.” Paul swaggered a little closer. Even though he had been married for a good number of years, it was well known that he regularly cheated on his mousy wife with anyone he took a fancy to. Like most of the women in town, Aria tried to steer clear of his wandering eye. Having him move closer to her was disconcerting at best.
“And what rumor would that be?” Deciding she was safer if she was on her horse, Aria started to mount.
Paul grabbed the reins just below the horse’s bit and gave them a jerk. “You can stay on the ground long enough to tell me what I’ve heard isn’t true.”
Gold Nugget wasn’t used to someone being that rough with her mouth. The mare struck out with her front hoof and nailed Paul right on the shinbone of his right leg. He cursed and snatched the reins out of her hand.
“You bitch!” Paul shouted. He made a move to slap her mare across the nose with the reins.
“No! What are you doing?” Aria lunged for the reins, but Paul was bigger and stronger than she was.
Paul smacked Nugget’s nose, and the quarter horse lost her mind. She reared up and lunged toward Weatherby. Aria struggled to keep out of the way of the flailing hooves while trying desperately to get Paul away from her horse. Paul was cursing and trying to beat the mare with the long split reins while she spun wildly in circles.
Tears stung Aria’s eyes as the feeling of impotent rage washed over her. How dare this man touch her horse! She pushed against him, smashing her body against his, trying to move him away from the mare. Nugget just wanted to get away. In the background, Aria was aware of Jorge’s shouts and the sound of another truck sliding to a halt in the gravel.
Then, just as suddenly as Weatherby had attacked, a huge fist landed right in his face and stopped his tirade. Aria was on the ground. She’d been knocked aside by Weatherby’s elbow at some point. Her eye stung, but that didn’t matter. Right now, she could only focus on Laredo Hernandez.
The big man stood with his hands fisted at his sides. Casual boots and jeans had replaced his typical Western suit, and he wore a white T-shirt that stretched taut across his biceps and pectoral muscles. His white straw cowboy hat was pulled low across his brow, but Aria could still see him glaring angrily at Paul Weatherby.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing, Weatherby?” Laredo snarled.
Paul was holding his face with both hands. Thankfully, that meant he’d let go of Nugget’s reins. The mare had already hightailed it back toward the barn. Aria could see Jorge and her other two grooms catching the mare. They would take care of the horse. But she needed to take care of the jerk that had just had the audacity to beat her horse.
Paul Weatherby looked at Aria and then looked at Laredo. Laredo moved closer to Aria as though he intended to make sure Paul didn’t take a swing at Aria. “So, that disgusting rumor is true, then.”
“What rumor?” Aria demanded. “What are you talking about? You come out here to my land, uninvited, and you start beating my horse? You don’t touch my horses! You want to ruin a horse, go buy someone else’s and screw it up. God knows you do that pretty damn well!”
“You’d better watch your mouth!” Paul snarled. He pointed his finger right in her face. Then he pointed at Laredo. “Now that you’ve hooked up with the Hernandez bunch, you’re on my radar. You’d better watch yourself.”
“You’re an idiot!” Aria fired back. “Jesse Collins has been my best friend since grade school. I’d pick any Hernandez over a Weatherby any day of the week!”
Paul’s glare was so ugly that Aria felt a shiver go down her spine despite the hotness of the weather. He curled his lip at Laredo. “You always did have a talent for picking the losers. But then your last loser realized that she could do better.” Paul made a gesture between the two of them. “Maybe this is a perfect match. The alcoholic and the snooty ice queen. Aria won’t want you in her bed, but you’ll be too drunk to care!”
Laredo did not seem to react at all to that ugly insult. Aria kept looking at him, expecting him to do something. But the only thing he did was point at Weatherby’s truck. “Get in and drive, Paul. One more word and there won’t be a lawyer in the world that will keep your ass from getting fired for misuse of power.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Paul scoffed, but he was moving toward his vehicle. “Just pull a typical Hernandez move and threaten me with legal action. It’s all you losers know how to do these days.”
“Because we aren’t the ones fighting a losing battle on the wrong side of the law,” Laredo retorted. “Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on between the Flying W and R&R Stock Contracting. The two of you can screw each other as much as you want, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get that contract.”
“We’ll just see about that!” Weatherby climbed in his truck and hightailed it out of her farmyard. The gravel kicked up by his wheels spattered the gleaming white gooseneck horse trailer behind Laredo’s truck. The horses inside whinnied in alarm, and the trailer rocked back and forth as they shifted and stomped in irritation.
Aria did not feel her anxiety begin to drain from her body until Weatherby’s truck turned onto the two-lane highway and disappeared over a hill. At that point, she felt almost faint. Her knees wobbled, and she actually felt as though she were going to pass out.
“Whoa there,” Laredo murmured.
To her surprise, his hands were quite gentle when he supported her weight against his side. He put one arm around her waist and began to walk with her toward the split rail fence surrounding her riding ring. He smelled good. It was so odd to notice that, under the circumstances, but the scent of sunshine and sandalwood was almost rejuvenating in a way.
“Thank you,” Aria murmured. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t gotten here when you did.”
“You’d have handled it,” Laredo told her in a quiet voice filled with confidence. “I have a feeling you would have horse whipped his butt and sent him packing just as soon as you got over the shock. It’s not like you could have possibly anticipated that he would do something that asinine. What kind of a man whips a horse that doesn’t belong to him?”
“What kind of man whips his own horse?” Aria fired back.
The ghost of a smile tilted up the corners of Laredo’s mouth. “A Weatherby.”
“Touché.” Aria felt a giggle well up despite the situation. He had a dry wit and that was unexpected. Had he always been like that?
She stared up at him. His handsome face was utterly composed. He had shaved, and he didn’t look quite so haggard today as he had last night. She felt the strangest urge to touch him. It was almost as though she could not stop her fingers from reaching up to gently stroke the softness of his freshly shaven cheek. He caught her hand and pressed his cheek against it.
“Are you all right?” he whispered. “That was quite a shock.”
Aria managed a nod. His scent enveloped her, and the warmth of his body was a welcome presence beside hers. “I don’t know why Weatherby came out here.”
“I think I might be able to answer that.” Laredo exhaled a long sigh. “The Flying W is trying to edge out the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company on a big stock contracting deal. It’s basically a contract that would entitle the winner to provide rodeo livestock to every single rodeo in the state because the circuit is replacing JP Rawlings.”
“I’ve heard about that. I think anyone who depends on the state rodeo circuit has heard of that.” Aria realized that Laredo saw this business—her business—from a very different angle.
Laredo took her hand from his cheek and lifted it to his lips. He kissed her knuckles and sent a thrill through her body that had nothing to do with the shock or the temperature outside. “Weatherby has been harassing me because of some”—he hesitated here as though he didn’t want to talk about it—”personal problems that I’ve been having recently. I think he believes he can strengthen his family’s bid for that contract by putting me in a cell and capitalizing on the break between the Collins and the Hernandez ranches.”
“Is there really a break though?” Aria wondered out loud. “Jesse has been a member of your family for years. Why would she just turn her back on the operation?”
Laredo’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You’d have to ask her.”
Aria had asked Jesse. She was as tight-lipped—literally—as he was being. But that was all right. In Aria’s world, everyone was entitled to their secrets. In fact, how could Aria fault Laredo for keeping secrets when she was busy looking at the time because she was afraid that Laredo was still going to be here when Darren showed up with both Jaeger and Bella in tow. Oh, it was a tangled web that she was weaving, and Aria was beginning to be afraid that she was about to strangle herself with it.
There was another insistent stomp, and Laredo turned to look at his horse trailer. “I think those horses are tired of being in the trailer. I picked them up out at our ranch this morning. I had Cal pull out the ones he thought had promise. He’s got a better eye for that sort of thing than I do.”
Aria sighed. Laredo had not made a single protest when Paul Weatherby called him a loser. Last night, he’d told her he looked ridiculous on a horse. Now he was saying that his older brother was better at picking out talented horses than Laredo was. How could everyone think that Laredo was an arrogant prick that ran the Hernandez ranch like his personal piggy bank when the man was so insecure that he acted like a teenaged boy with an inferiority complex?