Page 89 of Brother In Arms

Chapter 30

Bailey

I lay by Rush’s side, deeply depressed and discouraged. My mother was right. Blue Hills, whether I liked it or not, wasn’t going to survive if there were no client thoroughbreds to board or breed. I was better off letting the clients I had out of their contracts and selling the land. I wouldn’t be selling to the GDG though. They could go fuck themselves.

“Baby,” Rush said softly and I turned my head to look at him.

“Not the way any of us wanted this to go down, but I’d like to think you still scored in some ways, I mean, right?”

I couldn’t help but smile then, and pulled myself up to kiss him. He was right. There was more to life than money, property, and status. Plus, if I were being honest with myself, there was so much more I could be doing than living my father’s legacy through Blue Hills. Like I could be focusing on my own, I just didn’t know how…

“Tell me something good,” I murmured and he smiled.

“I love you,” he said and I smiled, too.

“And?”

“Oh, you need more than that?” I gave him a look and he chuckled. “You got some of your family back.” He pointed out and that was a double edged sword…

“I lost my brother, though.”

“No, your brother lost you.”

“Splitting hairs,” I said and huffed out a breath.

“True enough,” he admitted, then with a smile said, “but it doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Nice play on words,” I let out a sigh while he trailed fingertips along my cheek.

“What do you want, Bailey? I mean really, in your heart and in your head, what do you really want to come out of this?” His eyes had gone cold and distant, and I realized he was seriously asking me.

I swallowed hard and said, “I want them to hurt like I hurt. I don’t want anyone dead, but I want them scared. I want them to stand there and watch their world burn just like I had to.”

He hugged me close and kissed the side of my head, sighing out. “Consider it done, babe. Consider it done.”

I held myself close to Rush’s body under the sparkling summer sun and felt cold. Numb from the inside out. I didn’t know or care what would happen to my brother. I didn’t know or care what happened to Caleb, insofar that whatever did happen, I got my money out of it so I could start to figure out how to rebuild my life.

Rush plucked the thought right out of my head, or maybe just the worry that was likely on my face tipped him off to what I was thinking. He lay beside me and asked, “What did you want to be when you grew up, anyways?”

“Honestly?” I asked.

“No, lie to me. You know me and mine totally dig that,” he said and I could hear his eyes rolling. I laughed and he tickled me which only made me laugh harder, until suddenly he was on top of me, between my thighs and we were kissing and god, kissing Rush made so many things just not hurt anymore.

“You didn’t answer the question,” he murmured against my lips in a sing song voice.

“I always wanted to teach kids, you know? How to ride, how to care for horses, that sort of thing.”

“What, like have people pay to have their kids learn how to ride?”

“No, like a non-profit. Any kids, but yeah, maybe have people pay to fund that side of it somehow… Not super thrilled at the prospect, but maybe I could fund some of it with corporate retreats.”

“What, like a B&B?”

“Yeah, why not?”

He tapped the tip of my nose with a fingertip, “You have the property, the house needs rebuilt, and eventually, when the legal bullshit is all settled, you’ll have the money. Why don’t you see if you can find some investors or some shit to get it started while you wait for the rest to come through?”

I let my head fall back to the blanket and let the wheels turn, thinking about it. “I mean, I could keep the main house just ours, and build some cottages in one or two of the paddocks. I mean, we’ve never needed that many.”

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