Page 6 of Waiting for the Rancher
“Don’t talk to me.” Sterling jerked his arm free and tossed a contemptuous glance at Maverick—one containing the same hatred as moments ago, except more intense. As he stood and towered above Maverick, his gaze trailed after Violet.
Hazel made a move to follow Violet, but Sterling held out a hand to stop her. “I’ll go talk to her.”
Hazel nodded.
Already Violet’s sister and mother were racing after the runaway bride. Sterling started forward but halted and glowered at Maverick. “You’re an idiot, and I don’t want to talk to you or see you ever again.”
In the process of sitting up, Maverick felt Sterling’s words almost as powerfully as a punch. He flopped back to the ground, a strange emptiness and pain radiating through his chest. He was tempted to defend himself and explain what had happened in greater detail, but he clamped his jaw closed. Even if Violet had already tried to take the blame, maybe Sterling still needed a scapegoat.
With a final contemptuous glare, Sterling jogged away.
Maverick hoped his friend would turn around and tell him he didn’t really mean what he’d just said. But Sterling’s shoulders and back remained stiff and unyielding.
The other guests were watching Sterling too... except for Hazel. Her beautiful bronze eyes were trained upon Maverick. And they brimmed with disappointment.
With her hands on her hips and her head slightly cocked, she watched him for a moment longer, as though attempting to understand what had driven him to his foolishness. Then with a shake of her head, she turned and walked away.
With four years’ difference between his twenty-five years and her twenty-one, he’d been like another big brother in her life. He’d had a friendly and easy relationship with her, teasing and bantering like he did with his sisters.
The difference was that Hazel always had a sparkle in her eyes whenever she interacted with him—a sparkle that made him feel important, like he was her hero.
But here, now, he’d finally done something unforgivable. He’d proven to her that he wasn’t anyone special. He was nothing more than a fool. He’d tried to help Sterling, but all he’d done was make matters worse... just like he’d done with his pa.
With an inner curse of self-loathing, he pushed himself up so that he was sitting.
Hazel was already near her parents and other siblings and had her back to him. He wanted her to turn around so he could smooth things over with a smile.
As if sensing his silent plea, she glanced at him. Her gaze was hard and accusing.
He blew out a tense breath and hung his head.
“Come on with you now.” Clarabelle held out a hand to him. Clementine stood more stiffly, likely embarrassed by the turn of events.
While growing up, his twin sisters had been nearly impossible to tell apart in their appearances. At nineteen the two still looked very similar, with their pretty features, green eyes, and blond hair with hints of red.
But the differences were becoming more distinct. Clarabelle’s skin was pale and unblemished compared to Clementine’s, which had more freckles, especially sprinkled across her nose. Clementine also had a tiny scar on her chin from one of her many childhood mishaps.
While they were nearly the same outwardly, they were opposites in their personalities, with Clarabelle being quieter and more reserved, while Clementine was loud and outgoing. Clarabelle assisted at the school in Breckenridge but hoped someday to become a teacher. Clementine made candy and sold it at the general store but planned to have her own business eventually.
Course, over recent months, they’d both made many sacrifices to take care of Ma, neither one having all that much time to devote to their aspirations.
Maverick took Clarabelle’s outstretched hand. Even though he didn’t need the help in rising, he let Clarabelle drag him up to his feet.
“Let’s go home,” she said quietly as she eyed the other guests, who were now watching the three of them with decided hostility.
As he stood, Clementine slapped at his arm. “Sometimes I don’t know what to think of you, Maverick Oakley.”
Sometimes he didn’t know what to think of himself. But today, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Sterling had summed it up well by calling him an idiot.
Today, he’d not only hurt and alienated his best friend, but he’d probably also severed his family’s longstanding relationship with the Noble family. At the very least, the friendship between the two families would be even more strained than it had already become since Pa’s death.
Had he also lost having Hazel as his friend and broodmare manager?
No doubt she’d never want to speak with him or see him again either. And for a reason he couldn’t explain, that made everything that had happened even worse.
3
“You’re not working for the Oakleys anymore.”
