Page 28 of Wrangling Hearts
“The hell I am. ‘Specially when it’s a Hollis making the offer.” Mount always told me to never make a deal with a Hollis because they were “slimy bastards,” and it was one of the rare pieces of advice from him that I followed.
We got in Colt’s squad car, and I slammed my door shut. “You’re just pissed about Claire.”
He was right, I was pissed at him for interrupting, but was more pissed at myself for wanting Claire to stay, for letting myself blur a line I wasn’t sure I was capable of clarifying again. “Just take me home,” I grumbled, done talking.
9
Claire
Summer Isn’t the Only Thing Heating Up in Wild Creek
Last night’s fundraiser to restore the town park may have been for the children, but the real show was strictly adults-only. Our local former rodeo queen, Claire Hayes, found herself in the arms of none other than Beau McLeod, our handsome Circle M cowboy—and her rival.
Yes, the same Claire and Beau whose families have been known for screaming matches over their fence line for the last fifty years. One can’t help but wonder, could Wild Creek’s top ranching families finally merge once and for all? The pair sure looked pretty close to it last night, if you know what I mean.
I don’t make wagers, but if I did? I’d bet the park isn’t the only thing getting a full restoration this summer.
Like always, if it’s worth whispering, it’s worth writing down.
- WCW
I let outa sound of disgust and tossed the newspaper on the rolling tray next to Mama’s bed. The nurse had slipped it underthe serving tray when she brought in Mama’s lunch, looking all coy.
I first saw it the morning after the fundraiser two days ago. Even though I had told Beau it would be there, seeing it written in black ink for all to see made it all the more real.
We danced. We nearly kissed. It wasn’t in my imagination. It had actually happened. And I was an idiot for allowing it.
It had been all I could think about all weekend. Even now, when I should’ve been focusing on Mama, who got admitted to the hospital this morning for low oxygen levels, my mind kept drifting to the way he held me. The low rumble of his voice when he told me I looked beautiful.
“You gotta admit, whoever’s behind that is a damn good writer,” Delilah said next to me, eyeing the paper. “Makes Wild Creek seemwaymore scandalous than it is.”
“It’s childish,” I mumbled. “But it doesn’t matter, we need to focus.”
Since Mama was in the hospital, I was forced to send Delilah in my place to the Cavendish presentation this afternoon. She offered to stay here with her, but I knew my mother wouldn’t want to wake up and see anyone other than me; she didn’t like people knowing just how sick she was. Even her other children.
Delilah had officially joined me as my partner in the proposal. Not that I had given her much of a choice after my Hail Mary pitch to use her. But just like Gran had said, she wasn’t upset at all when I had told her about it last week. She was thrilled to have a reason to go against a McLeod again—especially something that went beyond the pranks we pulled as kids.
“Have you heard from him?” Delilah murmured while looking at reports on PTSD and the benefits of equine therapy.
“Of course not.” And I wasn’t sure if I was more relieved or hurt by it. I fiddled with the pen in my hand, chewing on my lip. “Don’t imagine he has my number,” I added, quieter than before.
She pursed her lips, reading me like she read everyone. “Want me to give it to him today? Anna isn’t the only one who can play matchmaker.”
The thought of putting myself out there like that felt humiliating. I knew when I wasn’t wanted. “Absolutely not.” If Beau wanted it, he could’ve walked the fifty yards to my house and asked me for it himself. He clearly wasn’t interested, and I had more pride than to force it.
“Suit yourself,” Delilah said, getting back to work, but my mind wandered.
Radiant. He said I was radiant. He said he had been looking all night. He said I was all he could focus on. I wrenched my jaw, sighing. Leave it to Beau McLeod to be all talk. To play the mind games he said he didn’t need.
But it hadn’t felt like he was blowing smoke then. Not with the way he held me or the way he looked at me. Not with how mad he was when Colt interrupted with a call or how disappointed he looked when I bolted like a coward.
I found out what that phone call was about the next morning when I got the same one. That disgusting kiss-ass Preston Hollis thinking that I, a sixth-generation rancher, would sell out to his money-hoarding family was borderline hysterical. I had told him where he could shove it, hung up on him, and then spent the rest of the day randomly giggling to myself about it. Emmett thought I was having some kind of meltdown.
I forced myself to focus and started going over the pitch with Delilah before she had to leave. We had completely pivoted in the last week, redoing the entire proposal to align with the equine therapy center idea and spinning it as a focused satellite location, like Oliver said.
We’d have lodging for the veterans and any interested civilians, Delilah as a therapist on site for focus groups, and, of course, the horses. The more I had thought about the concept over the last week, the more frustrated I got that I hadn’t come up with the idea sooner—it was genius.
A couple of hours later,Delilah left for the presentation. She was dressed to kill in a trendy pantsuit and asked me at least ten times if I was sure I wanted her to go in my place. She even went as far as offering to swap clothes so I could go. Funny how she thought I wouldn’t snap my ankles in the heels she had on. But if she was going to be my partner, my true partner, then I had to learn to trust her. To let go of the reins from time to time.
