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Chloé sat back in the large armchair her Aunt Brenda used to favor. The house felt empty and quiet. She didn’t like it like this. It used to be warm and noisy, with ranch hands and neighbors popping in and out all day. The coffee pot was always on and there was a permanent smell of baking from the warm kitchen. After Aunt Brenda had passed away fewer people seemed to come up to the house. Uncle John had become even grumpier, and she guessed his temper had made the neighbors feel unwelcome. Chloé had been glad to leave in the end. It wasn’t a happy home anymore.
“Here you go; it’s all you had in.” Bill suddenly appeared in front of her with a couple of packs of frozen peas.
She stared at him at first and then realized what he meant. She carefully removed her boot and noticed that her ankle was already beginning to swell. As soon as she pulled off her sock, Bill placed the cold packets around her, and she gasped as the cold assaulted her throbbing ankle.
“You okay?” Bill still looked concerned for her and she managed a smile.
“Yeah. Just a bit cold.”
“The coffee should be ready now. Just give me a minute.” Bill went back into the kitchen and quickly appeared with two steaming hot mugs of coffee and a plateful of cookies. “You missed your lunch,” he said as he offered her a cup.
Chloé stared at him as he put the plate on the small table and sat down in Uncle John’s chair. Her mind was reeling. How does he know I missed lunch? Was he at the wake? Did he really just happen to be passing or did he follow me out of The Wakefield Inn? Seeing him sitting in her late uncle’s chair made her blood boil but she didn’t know what to say to him. Talk about a lack of respect. He didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong and continued to chat nonchalantly.
“This place needs a lot of work. Are you planning to get it done up or just sell it on?”
Chloé took a deep breath to quell her anger. “I don’t know yet.”
“My advice is to sell it on right away. Don’t go throwing good money after bad. I don’t know if you realize that the ranch isn’t doing very well at all, but it would be best to get rid of it while you can. The sooner you can get shot of the place the sooner you can get back to your life in – where was it? Atlanta?”
She nodded.
“I might even be able to help you out, too. I think I might know of someone who wouldn’t mind buying a dilapidated old ranch at the right price. I’ll make some more inquiries and get back to you on that one, sweetheart; you just leave it to me.”
She finished her coffee and slammed her mug onto the table next to her. It was only then that he actually looked over at her. Until that time he had been looking all around the room while rattling on about how rundown it all was. He seemed a little surprised by her expression.
“I’ll think about it. Thank you for the ride home.” She threw him a steely gaze and he quickly got out of his seat.
“Right, well, you just do that, sweetheart. I’ll be off now and let you get some rest. You’ve got another big day ahead tomorrow. What time shall I come ’round for you?” Bill straightened his coat as he made his way toward the door.
“I’ll call you if I need you,” she replied evenly. She didn’t really want to make an enemy of the man, but she was seriously pissed at his arrogance right now.
“All right, you’ve got my number haven’t you?”
“Yes, I’ve got your number all right.” Her voice was even colder than the peas, but she was doing her best not to yell at him to get out. If only she hadn’t injured her ankle she would have shown him the door ages ago. In fact, he never would have gotten through it in the first place.
She noticed a slightly shocked expression cross his face before he turned and let himself out of the front door.
Chloé was relieved to hear the slam. As if today wasn’t bad enough now she had Bill Simmons to contend with. He had hardly ever spoken to her before, and his use of ‘sweetheart’ made her cringe. He was obviously only after the ranch, and saw her as an easy way to get it.
A horrid thought suddenly flashed through her mind. Is that what Tyler Brannagh wants, too? After all, he had stood her up the last time she had been here and now here he was acting as though nothing had happened. Venom surged through her veins at the thought. Neither of them is interested in me – it’s just the ranch they’re after.
It was getting dark but it didn’t matter. Hot tears of anger and disappointment flooded her face as she sat mulling everything over. Bill was a very powerful man but that didn’t mean she had to fall in with his plans. And there was no denying Tyler Brannagh was a very handsome cowboy, but he was also a deceitful and conniving snake.
She wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do, but one thing was for sure – she wasn’t going to let either of them get their hands on her ranch. She hated her job in the city and was beginning to realize just how much she loved it here at Rough Oaks – despite some of the people who lived here. Waking this morning to the sound of birdsong, smelling the country air as soon as she stepped outside, and being surrounded by hills and pasture was like being in heaven. She had forgotten just how much she loved everything about the place. She had left to escape humiliation and only made herself even more miserable. Now it was time to do something about it. It was time to make her own decisions about her future.
* * * *
The winter sun was trying to break through the clouds when Chloé awoke the next morning. She had managed to hobble to her room eventually and got a surprisingly good night’s sleep in her old bed. Waking up there instantly put a smile on her face. Putting her weight on her injured ankle was a lot less painful today and the swelling had gone down considerably. She practiced walking around on it while she puttered about getting herself ready. There was no need to be at the attorney’s office until ten-thirty so she had plenty of time.
She pulled on a smart, green woolen dress, one which she had bought to wear to work, and put a cream scarf with it to brighten it up a little. Rummaging in her old closet she pulled out a pair of boots which she had hardly ever worn. She had fallen in love with them and just had to have them – even though they were a size too big for her. They were made of soft leather and she was relieved to be able to pull one on over her slightly swollen, injured ankle. It took an extra sock to make the other one fit better and then she stood back to admire her reflection in the cheval mirror.
Her brown hair was wavy and she left it down today. She was used to having to wear lots of makeup for her job, as all the women at Jarvis-Brockman were expected to be immaculately turned out at all times. Being home again it was nice to just be able to swish on some mascara and a lick of lip gloss – and some concealer, of course, as even at twenty-two years old her freckles were still noticeable without it. Chloé had always hated the dang things – ‘sun-kisses’ her Aunt Brenda used to call them. What with freckles and the extra rolls of flesh which insisted on clinging to her stomach and hips, she felt destined to never have any self-confidence.
The dress looked nice, though, and she was in a good mood today so she wasn’t going to let anything faze her.
She was washing her breakfast dishes when she noticed Tyler from the kitchen window. He was walking one of the horses out of the stables. It felt like a lead ball had just landed in her stomach. She recognized the horse as Thunder, a beautiful black quarter-horse. He had been bought at the same time as a mare, whom Chloé had christened Lightning. Aunt Brenda favored Thunder and told Chloé that Lightning was hers. How she loved that horse. Lightning was, as her name suggested, white, and could be quite temperamental, but Chloé knew just how to handle her.
She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered the day she had left the ranch. She had gone to say goodbye to Lightning and found her gone. When she asked one of the hands where her horse was, he told her that she had died last night and that Tyler had taken her away already. It was the last straw. Chloé had hated Tyler for not letting her say goodbye to her own horse more than she hated him for standing her up the previous night.
