Page 55 of Rough
Glaring at me, her question is hissed and full of warning. “It was posted underyourname and that woman works for you, doesn’t she? So, it still falls under the umbrella of your responsibilities.”
Taking a deep breath, I bite my cheek to stop from digging a larger hole. She’s fucking burying us right now. I want to fucking argue with her, but she’s right. “I’m sorry about the video, Bets.”
“Sorry, Country,” Clyde finally murmurs. He’s never done well with confrontation, which makes this whole situation even more uncomfortable for him.
“Ya’ll sound like a broken record. Sorry, sorry, sorry. How about the three of you stop sayin’ sorry and start listenin’? I don’t need orwantyour apologies. What I needis to run this fence. And what Iwantis for this”—she waves her hand between herself and us—“to not be a thing that is happenin’ right now.”
“Fuck, Bets,” I growl, shoving my hand through my hair. “We wanna make things right with you.”
Fisting Frank’s reins in her hand, she shakes her head at me. “Pay your bill. Buy your farm back. Take care of your families. I’m done with the lot of you.” Then, with a soft click, she and Frank move away to finish their ride, leaving the three of us feeling like she’s punched us in the gut. Taking our time, we ride back to the barn in silence, all of us lost in our own thoughts. Finally, it’s Clyde that breaks it first.
“I got an idea, but it’s gonna piss her off.”
Wilder chuckles and grins at him. “I’m all ears. Not like we can fall much lower in her eyes at the moment. Also, Rem, I know we were gonna give her the check tomorrow, but let’s do it today, yeah?”
Betsy’s lab comes running over to us from the house and I see her screen door isn’t shut all the way. “Damn woman didn’t lock her doors. I’ll go set the check on her table right quick. Give us your idea when I get back, Clyde.”
Without waiting, I slip from the back of Zeus and jog over to the house. Nothing much has changed since the last time I was over here. Except signs of her Pap living here are missing. The whole house smells like her. Inhaling deeply, I close my eyes for a moment, memories of having Bets tucked in between us over the years overwhelming me.Fuck, we really screwed shit up.
Once I leave the money on her table, I stop to check over the door before pulling it shut behind me. Looks like her dog busted the latch from pushing against it, and I make a mental note to do something about that while heading back to the guys.
Their heads are together, speaking softly since the kids from the school are meandering around, obviously curious about what we’re doing, but acting like they’re giving us a bit of privacy.
“Gotta fix her door. Dog busted it all to hell.”
Clyde looks toward the house before jerking his head toward the horse barn. “Let’s take in the horses.”
“Tell us your idea,” I say once we’re out of earshot, busy getting our horses settled. “I’m desperate for anythin’ right about now.”
Grunting in agreement, Wilder starts unbuckling his saddle. “I’m desperate for Betsy…” His voice trails off and I pause in brushing down Zeus. The same thoughts have been trickling into my head recently, and I assume for the other two, but it’s the first time anyone has voiced it out loud.
He meets my eyes as he sets the saddle down, freezing from whatever he sees on my face. “What? Why are you lookin’ at me like that?”
I don’t like this feeling curling around inside my chest, but since I can’t identify what it is quite yet, I just shake my head and narrow my eyes. “We’re gonna come back to that.”
Clyde chooses not to respond to this new topic. “We already got those boys to stop comin’ here once. Why don’t we get them to disappear again, just for a bit, and take over their chores? Forces her to be around us while we try to fix this mess we’ve made.”
Turning my back on Wilder after giving him an extra-long warning glare, I brush Zeus with a bit more fervor. “We can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not?”
Sighing, I ease up when Zeus steps away from me and brush him more gently. “Becausethey’re here earnin’ cash and she’s helpin’ them learn. It wouldn’t be right if we kicked them out right now. She’d never accept it.”
“Damn fuckin’ right I wouldn’t.”
All three of us whip around at the sound of her voice. “You’re already done runnin’ the property?” As soon as I voice my question, I notice that she’s got a rag held up against her arm. “What happened to you?”
She doesn’t answer as she shoves the door open wider to pull Frank through, then shuts it behind him. “Nothin’ major. What’s important is that you all don’t run off my guys. Get it the fuck outta your heads right now.”
“Bets, you’re bleeding!” Wilder is slightly pale, but gulps to fortify himself before marching over to her. “The hell did you do to your arm?”
He’s reaching for the rag, but she moves away from him. “I’m. Fine.” Her teeth are bared and she circles around him in a wide berth. Clyde tries to intercept her next, but she’s quick and jogs toward the office where I know she keeps a first aid kit.
The two of them are yelling after her, so without thinking, I grab my rope and quickly tie a Honda knot. She’s about ten feet from me when I start spinning it and throw it toward her. The second it’s around her upper body, I yank back, not too hard because I don’t want her to fall, and stop her in her tracks.
As soon as her head drops to look at the rope, she’s reaching to tug it off as she spins back to face me. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me right now?” I pull a little harder on the end and tighten it further, preventing her from removing it.
“If you weren’t so stubborn, I wouldn’t have to stop ya. Now, hold still so we can look at your arm.” I’m talking softly as I walk up to her, but she’s absolutely furious. Tilting my head side to side, I can’t stop my mouth from running away from me. “Although maybe this would be a good time to get you to listen for a minute.”
