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When they’re gone, Ford looks at me. “Wolfingtons?”
“Assholes,” Wyatt hisses.
Davis looks pissed. “Y’all gotta stop this shit,” he barks at Wyatt, shoving up his sleeves to fish out the remains of the skeleton.
Even I agree with Davis. This prank war bullshit is out of hand.
I help Ruby stand. “You okay?” I ask.
She nods, lower lip trembling. “I’m okay. It just scared me, is all.”
Bullshit. She’s shaking and her face is as white as a sheet.
“You’re not okay.” I reach for her, not caring we have the entire ranch’s eyes on us.
The step she takes away from me does something to my heart’s electrical wiring. I hate it.
“I have to get back to work,” she whispers, her hand hovering over her heart.
“Ruby—”
“I have to go, Charlie.”
With that, she turns so fast she almost slips, then she hurries across the dirt lane and up the road.
Sam comes up beside me and licks his lips. “She’s a pretty little thing.”
A streak of protectiveness consumes me. It’s easy for people to take advantage of Ruby because she’s kind. She’s too damn innocent to see the way Sam’s leering at her. I don’t like his body language, angled toward her like he plans to follow her.
“You into her, C?” Sam’s eyes drift to the soft shake of Ruby’s ass as she floats away from us.
“Yes,” I admit through gritted teeth. I want to grab Sam by the throat and throw him in front of the fucking tractor.
“Shame. I’d have her walking bowlegged in a week.”
My head snaps to him. I ball my fists, trying to keep my rage on simmer. “Talk about her like that again, and I’ll break your fuckin’ jaw. Got me?”
He gulps. “Yes, boss.”
I watch Sam slink off, making sure he’s going in the opposite direction of Ruby, before I make a move toward her cottage. As I head after her, my arm’s snagged by my brother.
“What?” I snap, annoyed.
“Charlie,” Davis says in a grim voice. “These bones are real.”
That sobers us all.
I stare at the pile of bones, gleaming white in the sun. “Christ.”
With the toe of his boot, Ford nudges what looks like a femur. “Where’d they even get a skeleton?”
“Dickheads,” Wyatt swears. “I’m gonna—”
“No. No more.” Davis levels a stern finger at Wyatt, the lines of annoyance around his mouth deepening. “Knock it off with the Wolfingtons.”
I clap Wyatt’s shoulder. “It’s not the hill to die on.”
Wyatt nods, but he doesn’t look happy.
