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The horse bobbed her head a few times and he smiled. He’d always preferred the company of horses to people. Yes, he knew this was ironic considering he’d gone into the service industry. To be fair, the folks in Rocky Ridge weren’t so bad.
Well, up until recently they hadn’t been bad at all. Now he wasn’t so sure.
Megan’s blue eyes filled his thoughts, and he had to forcibly remove that image before he slung himself up into the saddle. Daniel nudged his heels into Diamond’s flank and they were off. He didn’t bother looking toward the house or the table outside where everyone sat. They were watching him without a doubt and he didn’t want to give them any satisfaction.
He pushed his horse into a canter and let her pick the trails they followed. Ducking his head against the air that pulled at his hat and his clothes, he attempted to come to terms with the bad news.
A coffee shop. A specialty tea shop. Everything he had done to make Mountaintop Java what it was would soon become obsolete. He couldn’t afford to let his shop fail. There was no other option but that this venture succeed.
Even if he decided to sell to keep what he could, no one would want to buy the place when Megan was working against him right across the street.
So, what could he do? He had to draw more customers somehow. He had to make people see that her bookshop wasn’t the place where they wanted to get their caffeine fix. But how?
Sabotage?
A thrill rocked through him. That wasn’t such a bad idea. Well, it wouldn’t be if he was the kind of person who was willing to get his hands dirty. He could find out what brews she had and buy them, then make them special.
That sounded too much like he was going on the defensive. He needed to drive her away somehow. Still nothing came to mind.
“Daniel!”
The sound of the horse’s hooves hitting the earth made it sound like someone was calling for him. That was strange.
“Daniel! Will you slow down?”
He jumped, pulling on the reins and tossing a look over his shoulder. Bo was coming up on him fast, though he was still far enough away he didn’t know how he’d heard his voice over the sound of the horse running.
Daniel darted to the left, allowing Diamond to slow enough that Bo could come along side them. His hat was missing and his face was wind chapped. But it was the utter look of guilt he still wore that put Daniel on edge. He stiffened even before his brother said a single word.
“I wanted to tell you I was sorry.”
“Sorry?”
Bo nodded, glancing back over his shoulder even though the view of the ranch was long gone. “I need to get something off my chest.”
Daniel cocked a brow. What did his brother have to confess? The only thing that Daniel could think of that would cause their relationship to become strained was if he’d been the one to help Megan set up her business. Even still, he remained on high alert.
Bo pulled hard on his horse’s reins and Daniel did the same. They stared at one another until Daniel let out a heavy sigh. “Well, it must be bad for you to come chasing me all the way out here. I’m not even sure how you managed to find us since I let Diamond lead the way.”
His brother let his focus dip to his hands where he held the reins. “Diamond is pretty predictable. We take her on the same path at least four times a week.”
“Just spit it out already, will you?”
Bo raked a hand through his hair and sighed. “I knew about Megan.”
“You… knew about her.” He shook his head, unsure of what his brother was getting at. “What do you mean?”
“I knew she was coming here to open the bookstore.”
“Okay? What does that have to do with apologizing? So what you knew she was coming to open a business.”
He sighed again, but this time it was laced with a groan. “I knew she was going to do the coffee and tea thing, too.”
That little tendril of fury returned in his gut. It flickered to life and grew larger with each breath he took. It was as if the oxygen he’d taken in was feeding the flame and there was no stopping it. “Youwhat?”
Bo lifted his shoulders and dropped them. “I knew about it because Gabby gave her the idea. She’s an entrepreneur and she was tired of living in the city. Gabby told her about her favorite bookstore in Billings and Megan loved the idea. They’ve been planning it for a few months. She’s paid a few visits to the place in the city so she could get a good idea of how to run things and…” he shrugged again. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Daniel gripped the reins in his hands so tightly the leather creaked. He worked his jaw back and forth, his eyes narrowing as he glowered at his brother. Betrayal. That’s what this was. His brother had gone and let him do his thing for the past fewmonthswithout giving him a heads up. He knew how important this coffee shop was and yet he chose to say nothing.
