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“Is that so?”
He nodded, swallowing the large bite of ham sandwich he’d had in his cheek. “You’re serious enough as it is. You need someone who can make you laugh.”
Brielle crossed her arms, her head tilting slightly. “Why do you say that?”
He shrugged. “Men are supposed to take care of their women. If she’s not serious enough, he can ground her. If she’s the one who’s making all the rules, he needs to bring a different kind of balance.”
While his statement resonated with her somewhat, it was difficult not to be a little offended. “A woman doesn’tneedto be taken care of.”
He nodded. “Oh, I know you can handle yourself. You clearly were raised by a man who made sure you’d neverneeda man in certain respects. I just think you should consider one thing. You’re still human. We’re not meant to be alone.”
“Yeah, and that means I’m looking for a partner in life. Someone who I can count on. Not someone who’s going to hold my hand and make me feel like I’m not smart enough to do what I’m more than capable of taking care of on my own.”
She didn’t know what it was about his statement that had her hackles raised. Maybe it was the time she’d spent with Wade the other night. There was something about Tad putting the guy down that got on her nerves.
The funny thing was that Tad hadn’treallyput Wade down. If he’d said that same thing yesterday, she might not have even batted an eye. “You’d do well to remember that the folks out here think a lot like me. This place was built on the backs of men like Wade. We all have a lot on our shoulders, and we’re all more or lesstoo serious.”
Tad stared at her, his expression startled. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant. Enjoy your sandwich. I’m going to check on Wade.”
10
Wade
Wade muttered under his breath. He shouldn’t feel like he was the odd man out, but after Tad made a show about treating Brielle like a lady, he’d realized just how out of his element he was.
As soon as the horses were guided to the water, he started his pacing. There had to be a better way. He just had to figure it out. Brielle didn’t appear to have any feelings for either of them. That was a point in his favor. In fact, she seemed to be keeping her distance from both of them equally.
If he wanted to win her over, he’d have to do a lot more than just show up. Maybe that was where he’d been going wrong all this time. He’d been trying to get Brielle to come to him. Simply being present wasn’t going to be enough—especially with Tad hanging around.
The worst part was that he didn’t want to change who he was just to win her over. He knew better than to believe that she would pick him just because he was acting like that foreigner. But if he got booted from the running, then he wouldn’t be able to figure out if Shane was right. He needed to stay close to the situation.
Branches snapped behind him. He froze.
“You okay?” Her soft voice wrapped around him like a warm blanket.
“Yeah,” he said, turning. “You?”
She rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I forget that Tad isn’t from around here. Especially when he’s dressed like he was born here.”
A smile tugged at his lips, and the heavy weight from his earlier emotions lifted somewhat. “You can blame Elijah for that.”
Brielle gave him a funny look.
“Tad borrowed some clothes at the recommendation of my brother. You couldn’t see him working on the ranch for your father dressed like he was when he arrived, could you?”
“Yeah, I guess not.” She leaned up against a tree, her eyes dropping to the ground. “Am I making a mistake?” Her voice was so quiet he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. But when she lifted her eyes to meet his, it wasn’t hard to see the confusion. “I know, I know. You don’t trust him. He’s a stranger. That’s not what I want to figure out. I’ve just realized something that I think I was in denial about.”
“That he’s a manipulative little—”
She scowled at him. “Knock it off. He doesn’t call you names.” Brielle sighed, her shoulders lifting and dropping as if she carried the weight of the world. “What if he doesn’t belong here?”
“He doesn’t.”
“No, I mean, what if he isn’t meant to be a cowboy?’
Wade let out a harsh laugh. “Have you seen the guy? He most definitely isn’t cut out for this kind of work. I don’t know what he did when he was in Vegas, but—”
