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She was only stating fact; one I already knew. I let my shoulders slump and Riley put his arm around my shoulders.
“Based on the phone call, she already has,” I told her. “I know what she sounds like when she’s using.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more I can do for her unless she returns. If you give me your number again, I will put it back in her file, but I’ll also share it with the other supervisors in case Beth does come back. We’ll call you if that happens.”
I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Especially if she was married. I was sure the doctor felt the same way.
I gave the number, offered my thanks and rang off.
“Wow. I can’t believe she’s married.” My little sister. I still remembered her when she was young, before our parents died. All silly smiles and hugs.
The guys remained quiet, like they always did. I loved that they let me think, that they didn’t bombard me with questions or advice.
“It’s funny, I’m more upset she’s married than that she walked out of rehab. I guess I half expected her to do that. But a husband?”
“She’s a grown woman,” Cord said. He was the pragmatist of the two. Cut and dried. No false platitudes with him. Thankfully, because I didn’t want them. Perhaps years ago when Beth first started using I’d liked to hear the hopeful comments, all the possibilities of how things would turn out. How she’d turn her life around. None of them had come true. Not one.
I nodded and pushed up to standing, Cord stepping back. I smiled at him. “And that’s why I’m here, to let her do her own thing, whether it’s rehab or getting married. I’m not there to rescue her any more. Her husband is now. Ready to go riding?”
Riley stood, too, turned and took my chin. They liked me looking right in their eyes when we spoke, at least about important things. It was as if they could look all the way inside me, past all the fake smiles and emotional walls I’d gotten so used to putting up when it came to Beth and see the truth.
“The other choice is what?” I asked. “Go back inside and you’ll put that jeweled plug back in my butt?”
Cord patted my bottom, gave me a sly grin. “Gotta get it prepared, sweetness. We may not have taken you there yet, but we will. When you’re ready.”
After Archer had left the day before, they’d done just as they’d said. We showered and they’d washed me, making sure I was very clean, only to carry me to Cord’s bed and take turns between my thighs, eating me out until I came over and over, even with the jeweled plug deep inside me.
“If we go back in that house, we won’t make it back out today,” I countered, pointing at the locked front door.
Both men grinned. “Sweetness, it’s noon. I like how you think, that we’ll play and fuck for hours and hours.”
I felt my cheeks go hot.
“We’ll go to the ranch, introduce you to a gentle, sweet mare and take you for a ride,” Cord said as he took my elbow, led me over to the truck and lifted me up and into the front seat. “Break those pretty cowgirl boots in and see what being in Montana’s all about.”
Riley went around the front of the truck, climbed in the driver’s side. “And later, once you’ve gotten the hang of it, we’ll bring you home and you can ride two wild stallions.”
I had no idea riding a horse could be so much fun. At first, when we’d met Jamison in the stable and he’d introduced me to Sage, I was really wary. Especially when he showed me how to give the mare treats by holding my palm out flat. He’d demonstrated with a sugar cube and the horse had taken it from him with a toothy snuffle. But when it was my turn, I panicked and pulled my hand away. Horse teeth were big and there was no question in my mind Sage was going to bite into more than just a tiny piece of sugar. F
ortunately, Jamison was patient and handed me a half an apple instead, which she took eagerly and I didn’t panic about finger loss. After that, she was content to follow me out of her stall to be saddled. Not by me, but the others, who knew what they were doing. I watched because I felt like an idiot…and it was interesting. I didn’t want to be reliant on Jamison or any of the others just because I didn’t pay attention.
After the animals were ready, Riley helped me up, making sure the stirrups were adjusted just right, and Jamison waved us off.
We rode west—I wasn’t up on my compass skills, but I did know the mountains were in that direction. There was no path, there didn’t need to be one. This was open grazing land for Steele Ranch’s cattle. While I saw a few head eating grass far off in the distance, it was as if we had the whole world to ourselves. There were no roads visible. No telephone or electrical poles. No buildings. Just us and the horses and Montana.
Two sexy as hell cowboys who knew how to sit a saddle. Their jean-clad thighs were muscular and taut beneath their jeans, their cowboy hats shielding their eyes from the sun. Riley might be a lawyer and Cord might be the size of a refrigerator, but they both were excellent horsemen. They took it slow, letting the animals plod along. I became used to the back and forth sway and relaxed, realizing I wasn’t going to fall off, even loosened the death grip I had on the reins.
We spoke of anything and everything—except for the fact that someone had tried to kill me. I learned about Cord’s time in the military, Riley’s dad and even the girl they’d both tried to date in high school. It seemed they’d definitely improved their game since then.
By the time we returned, I was definitely relaxed. I even liked Sage. And as for Steele Ranch, it wasn’t all scary robbers and empty ranch houses. There was a feel to the place, something I couldn’t describe, a way of life. Relaxed, easy going, but very serious. The men were the same way, as if they knew what could happen and savored the little things. This glorious weather was deceiving; Montana wasn’t seventy-five degrees and sunny all the time. There were dangers here I didn’t even know. If I were stranded out here, I had no wilderness skills whatsoever, and I’d probably end up living out of the inside of my horse like a Tauntaun from Star Wars.
That was the ridiculous thought in my mind as we rode up to the stable. Cord dismounted first, led his animal over to mine as he grabbed my lead. “Ready to get down?”
“How?” I asked. For once, he was shorter and it was odd to see him tilting his head back to look up at me.
“Opposite of how you got up.”
I rolled my eyes, but I’d seen enough cowboy movies to have seen it done. In real life, it was a long way down. “She’s not going to run off, right?”
