Page 21 of Bryson

"Yes! I'm leaving and there's nothing you can say or do to make me change my mind."

He stood there staring at her for a minute, the pain in his heart multiplying. "Then you leave me no other choice. You'll be hearing from my lawyers." Without another word, he turned on his heels and left. She waited until the door had slammed shut before sinking down on the stool, her knees shaking.

Chapter 7

The storm blew in with all its glorious fury as soon as he got back to the ranch. The end of summer electrical storm was something he was accustomed to and for the first time since he was a child, he welcomed its furor. It was something to take his mind off his own fury and the pain pounding in his chest. The lightning streaking across the eerie pinkish glow of the sky, the rain coming down in torrents minimized his own problems, forcing him to concentrate on what was happening around him.

He got back just in time to help with the rounding up of the cattle, getting them to higher ground. By the time they were through with the cattle, they were soaked to the skin, the rain pounding on them brutally.

Shouting instructions to his men, he allowed his mind to drift to her and hoped that with the damage the storm would make, it would be impossible for her to leave tomorrow. He knew that power lines would be down and the longer the storm lasted, the more damage it would do. He was hoping for a reprieve. Holy God, he was pathetic, he thought bitterly as he strode into the barn to help secure the horses and try and quiet their nerves.

"Boss, we have some trees down along the east perimeter fence."

"Get some men out there and secure it immediately! The last thing we want is for the animals to go roaming. Link?" He stopped the man as he was about to leave.

"Sir?"

"Send someone out to the pink cottage to make certain everything is okay there."

"Yes, boss." Link nodded and did not question why there was a need to do such a thing. Everyone at the ranch knew about Julianne Merrywood and what she meant to him.

"Easy boy." Tugging off his gloves, Bryson soothed his hand along his horse's flank slowly, trying to absorb the quivering. "It's just a storm. It will pass. Easy now." His deep voice did the job of calming the animal down. "That's a good boy."

He looked up as one of the men rushed into the barn.

"What is it?"

"Flooding in one of the outbuildings. We have to get the family out. And the creek is overflowing."

"Let's go."

By the time he dragged his weary self into the mud room to take off his sodden clothing that was now caked with mud, he was ready to drop. They had done all they could in the circumstances. They were going to have to wait until morning to assess the damage. But for now, they were just going to have to wait it out. The worst of it had passed.

He knew these summer storms. They rise up in fury and in a matter of minutes to an hour, it wears itself out and winds down. But even that short space of time could cause a tremendous amount of damage.

Fences were uprooted and so were trees. Tomorrow would mean a hell of a lot of work. Tomorrow she was planning on leaving him, again. Tugging off his boots, he pitched them away from him and rose to take off his clothing. Reaching for the towel, he rubbed the water from his skin and donned the set of clothing that was in the closet for just this purpose.

He would go up and take a bath and try and get some sleep because he was going to have a lot of work to do. There was no time to think about the fact that his entire life was fragmenting.

His hope to creep upstairs without his mother seeing him was dashed. She came out of her room as he ascended the stairs.

"Darling, do you have a minute?"

"Mother, if this is not something of monumental importance, I've had a very long and trying day and would really like to take a shower and go to bed."

"How bad is it?"

Biting off a sigh, he redirected his steps and walked towards her.

"Not anything we haven't seen before."

"I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I was too caught up to answer my phone." He touched her arm briefly. "I'm fine. We haven't lost much. Tomorrow, we'll be assessing the damage, but it won't be that much." He started to turn away when she touched his arm.

"Everything I ever did was because I love you and want what's best for you."

He gave her a puzzled look, his mind already on the hot shower and the tall glass of brandy that would somehow make him go to sleep.