Page 18 of Rope Me, Cowboys

“Especially if you make it together,” Sawyer said.

“Of course,” I said. “Everything’s better together.”

16

Amber

A week later, I’d explored everything there was to see, except four of the cabins out back. While the boys were out working, I stood on the back porch, holding a mug of tea between my hands to warm them, and studied them. They stood in a row, set at a forty-five-degree angle from the house. The first one was just across an expanse of lawn, but the furthest one, where the Grimeses lived, was quite a way off.

Though I went into one the first day, I hadn’t been inside the others. It felt weird to go in somewhere that Mrs. Grimes said was private to them, even if they didn’t tell me not to. Still, I could see the potential. I’d been turning it over in my head since Holden told me they were barely holding onto the ranch. Now it was time to put it out there.

I turned and headed back inside to make dinner. True to his word, Sawyer didn’t try to saddle me with the domestic tasks, but I’d asked to be put on the cooking rotation. I wasn’t there for a free ride.

Once the table was set with dishes and a vase of dried wildflowers in the center, I went out back and ring the big dinner bell. Every time I rang it, I felt like Lady Liberty ringing the Liberty Bell. I kept that little tidbit to myself as I stood tall and regal and let the gong ring out across the yard. And yes, I was aware that Lady Liberty didn’t actually ring the bell.

A few minutes later, when everyone was seated at the table and eating, I took a deep breath. “Guess what I did today?”

“Got caught on a barbed wire fence?” Waylon asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.

I gave him a murderous glare. “No,” I said slowly. “I got to thinking about the cabins.”

“You want one, right?” Waylon said, setting down his fork and bracing the heels of his hands on the table edge. “The fourth one. We each have one, and the Grimeses are living in the fifth. And since our father married your mother, you think you get a piece of the ranch.”

“What? No.” I couldn’t help but feel the sting of his words. I couldn’t believe he thought that about me, that I was after their money.

“What about the cabins, Amber?” Holden asked, giving me an encouraging smile.

“Well, you had mentioned maybe you were in a little financial trouble,” I said. “And I thought that since you have four houses out there…I mean, they’re small, but they’re cute cabins. Maybe you could set up some kind of bed-and-breakfast type thing. Or at least rent them out on Air B&B. You don’t have to do anything for that. It rents out as-is, and you can do it during the tourist season, when people come up to ski, and also in the off season, when they come up to go to the Tetons.”

“No,” Waylon said, not looking up from his chicken parmesan.

“Why not?” I asked. “I get that you don’t want strangers hanging around, but come on. You already have Mrs. Grimes, and she’s nosy as hell. And if you need money…”

“No,” he said again, raising his eyes this time. To my surprise, they were flashing with anger.

“Hear her out, Waylon,” Sawyer said.

“Okay then,” I said. “If you’re so protective of them, why don’t you move out there and rent out this place? It’s huge. You could get a whole bunch of people to rent the lodge at once, and you’d have your privacy out back.”

“You don’t know anything about this place,” Waylon said. “You can’t just come in here for a week and start making changes. That’s not how this works.”

“Then enlighten me,” I said. “How does it work? I’m just supposed to sit up in my room and stay out of the way for three months? And then when I leave, you can forget I was ever here at all?”

Waylon’s stormy grey eyes were hard as slate. “Exactly.”

“That might work if we weren’t related,” I said, shooting him a triumphant smile. Maybe I was gloating a little. But he couldn’t get rid of me that easily. If I was stuck with him for the rest of my life, then he was stuck with me. We were all in the same shitty situation together—thrown together by our parents, who couldn’t even be bothered to tell us before they got married.

“We’re not related,” Waylon said, his brows lowered in a fierce glare. “We’re blood brothers. You’re just a busy-body like Mrs. Grimes, living on our property and poking into our business. I suggest you stay out of it.”

“I suggest you get used to it,” I said. “Because I’m here to stay. If not on your ranch, at least in your life. And don’t count on me making it easy for you to forget it.”

To my horror, my throat constricted painfully, and my eyes ached with unshed tears. They threatened to burst forth at any minute, but I wasn’t going to let this jerk make me cry. At least not where he could see it.

“Enjoy your dinner,” I said. I stalked out of the kitchen, grabbed my jacket from the rack, and headed out into the bitter cold twilight. I hoped they felt guilty for sitting around the table eating the dinner I had cooked for them. Part of me was furious at Waylon, but a little part of me knew he was right. Here, just like at home, I was dispensable.

Sure, they might enjoy the chicken I’d made for dinner, but if I hadn’t been there, someone else would have cooked. They wouldn’t miss me. I hadn’t made a notable contribution, and Waylon had let me know it. He’d told me exactly where I stood. I was a nuisance—a forgettable nuisance.

I thought of all the times my parents had made me feel exactly like that. Classes they’d signed me up for, only to shove me off on the nanny. It was her job to take me to ballet, gymnastics, piano, painting, tennis, horseback riding… When I had a recital or a match, they’d forget as often as not. And when they did come, they’d spend most of their time ducking out to take phone calls. They’d let me know in not-so-subtle ways that I was a pain in their very busy asses.