Page 1 of Rival Heart
ONE
Jace
I can’t believethat I’m back here, exactly where I didn’t want to be. I sigh and stare at the broken-down fences and the buildings that are half-falling down.
My father did a shitty job of running this place for most of his life. After my mom died, he just didn’t give a damn about anything. One of the many reasons that I decided a long time ago that women and romance weren’t worth risking your life for.
Hell, they weren’t worth risking anything for.
I grind my teeth as I watch the last man that my father hired get into his old beat-up truck and hit the dusty road, flipping me off as he goes.
Damn fucker! He didn’t do a damn thing he was supposed to do as far as upkeep on the place. I mean, he literally didn’t do a thing. When I showed up, he was in bed, snoring his fool head off. Old trash and crushed, empty beer cans littered the room. Of course, he claimed he’d been working his ass off for the longest time and wasn’t feeling well.
I call bullshit. And I’ve seen a lot of bullshit in my lifetime. Fresh or days-old. Doesn’t matter. Shit still stinks, no matter where it’s from. That’s one thing I learned a long time ago. Frommy own father as a matter of fact, since he was a good one for spinning a likely line of bullshit.
I shake my head and sigh. My career took me in a different direction and my dad never forgave me for it. I honestly thought he’d leave the ranch to one of my other brothers. Both of them took off as soon as they could too. Just like their older brother. I kinda regret that. I thought when I left that one of them would want it but none of us did apparently. Or maybe they just wanted to get the hell away from our father.
Now he’s gone and he left me the ranch and a peck of troubles. The place is falling apart at the seams and the only employees that were left were just using it as a convenient shelter while they used up as much of the place as they could. I’m pretty sure they’ve even been selling stuff off until I got home.
All that’s over now. I’m home and this is my legacy. I want to sell it, but my mother died here. She loved us and my dad and honest to God, I can’t do it.
This is my family’s land. Such as it is. I have to try and save it. But I swear to heaven I’m gonna make my damn brothers come home and deal with this shit too. Right now.
I turn and walk back towards the house, my heart heavy with old memories and new worries.
My head jerks up, stunned when I spot a cloud of dust heading my way.
I walk back towards the gate and groan when I see the russet curls that look like a flag flying behind the storm coming towards me.
“I’m not ready for this,” I mutter under my breath. But there’s no escape.
The huge palomino shudders to a halt right in front of me, quivering as her hand comes down to stroke his muscular neck. “Easy, Raphael.”
Cringing, I glare at her. “That poor horse. I assume that you named him.”
She smirks. “Of course. Because he’s as beautiful as a statue.”
“Right. What are you doing here, Reb?”
Her cinnamon eyes glare right through me. “Rebel. Or Miss Hawthorn. Either one. But you don’t get to call me that.”
Rolling my eyes, I walk up and grab the reins of her horse. “What the hell is wrong with you, Reb? I’ve known you for a long damn time. We’re friends.” Of a sort.
She huffs and taps her heels into the big golden animal. He pushes against my hold, and I let the reins drop. “We’re not remotely anything of the kind, Jace Henry. I had a friend once. That friend took off like his tail was on fire. Couldn’t wait to shake the dust of this ranch off his booted feet. And he didn’t bother telling me he was leaving either. Is that what you call a friend?”
Eyeing her warily, I back away. “You knew that I couldn’t stay here, Reb. You knew why too. Why are you so surprised that I did what I always said I was going to do?”
Her tiny figure swings down off the huge horse, elegant and controlled. My breath catches in my throat. Lord, she’s beautiful. Always was.
That’s one of the reasons I had to leave. I’m no good for her and she deserves a helluva lot better than me. She’s an angel. She always was.
My best friend when I was growing up even though her father and my father hated each other’s guts with a passion that wouldn’t die. That was another reason I had to leave. Her father would have disowned her for the things I wanted to do to her and with her. There was no way in hell I was going to mess her life up as much as mine already was.
She was Daddy’s little princess. The girl most likely to succeed and the girl who was destined to marry a much better man than me.
At least that’s what her father said when I talked to him. He had the guy all picked out. The kid whose father owned the property on the other side of theirs. Our properties came together on this side and there’d been some hope at one point that our families would merge with a wedding.
Until the groom, from our side of the fence, got cold feet and took off and left the bride, from their side of the fence. Not one word to her or her family. Just took off without leaving a trace.
