Page 9 of Wrangling Hearts
I squinted. “Horse deal?”
“Yeah, some big shot breeder looking for a partner. Brittany texted me and told me to ask you about it.”
“How the hell did she hear about that?”
“Well, apparently, Louise and Kelly were talking about Claire applying when they got their hair done earlier. Guess she came here to talk to them about it before their appointment.”
I knew she’d apply, but somehow having it confirmed lit a competitive fire inside me. “It doesn’t matter if she applied or not. Joseph said I could mention him in my application, so Circle M is a shoo-in.”
I did have to give credit when it was due and commend Claire for even trying with how things were at the Golden Bridle.Claire was a fearsome contender at the rodeos, even went pro for a short time, and I knew she brought that same intensity to everything else in her life. I respected it, I really did. But that didn’t mean I planned to lose, and I wouldn’t with Joseph in my back pocket.
“She’s got heart, that’s for sure,” Colt said as if he could read my mind.
“Yeah, well, so does my pickup, but you don’t see me entering her into a race.”
An amused scoff shot out of him. “Jesus, you’re smug.”
We stopped talking when Louise dropped our plates at the table, our orders just as we liked. “Don’t stop gabbing on my account,” she said.
I leaned back in the booth, draping my arm across the back. “We were just talkin’ about the Cavendish Academy. Colt here says Claire is applying.”
“Sure is,” she said with a hint of pride. “Are you?”
I pretended to mull it over. “Thinking about it. Just so busy at Circle M, you know?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You might be cute as a button, Beau McLeod, but I’ve known you since you were in your mama’s belly, and I see right through you. We all know you’re applying, so you might as well fess up.”
“He’s applying,” Colt confirmed. Now the whole town, including Claire, would know by the time the sun rose tomorrow.
He gave me an innocent look when I shot him a glare. “What? You are.”
Louise left now that she had gotten the information she wanted, and I had a feeling I had just been played.
Colt dug into his burger. “Dad’s gonna disown you when he finds out,” he said between mouthfuls.
I sucked my teeth, my knee bouncing under the table. Plastering a smirk on my face, I leaned forward. “Might as well go big then, right?”
3
Claire
The feed store’s bell jingled sharply as I walked inside, and I braced myself to put a couple hundred dollars on my credit card…again. There wasn’t any way around it; the horses needed to eat, and I needed healthy-looking horses for when Cavendish Academy came for their tour of the ranch in two weeks.
“Morning, Claire.” Abby, the college-aged girl who worked the counter, smiled at me. And while she was usually the happy-go-lucky bubbly type, something about her smile today was too eager, almost forced, like she was waiting for something to happen.
I brushed it off and grabbed a cart. “Hey,” I replied, and pushed my cart towards the back where the horse feed was.
As I walked down the aisles, the hair on the back of my neck stood. It was that same unsettling tickling feeling that came with being watched. When I turned around, a trio of women by the salt licks jolted like I’d caught them stealing and turned abruptly, poorly pretending to be interested in the blocks of salt like they were the fountain of youth.
I didn’t have time to wonder why they were watching me and loaded my cart up with bags of feed, ignoring the unintelligiblewhispers that traveled down the aisle. People gave me lingering, wary looks as I passed, but I chalked it up to everyone knowing about Mama’s worsening condition and feeling sorry for me.
By the time I made it back up front to check out, though, I was over it. I wasn’t a fan of being talked about or watched like some animal at the zoo.
“Want to fill me in on why y’all are watching me?” I asked, and Abby gasped, her eyes wide.
Cynthia, a middle-aged pre-K teacher with no life of her own, handed me the latest copy of the local newspaper,Wild Creek Gazette. “I take it you haven’t seen today’sWhispersyet.”
My stomach dropped. I ripped open the paper to the gossip column,Wild Creek Whispers. The anonymous author somehow managed to find out everything about everyone and then published it in the paper for everyone to see. It was juvenile, and I had always refused to read it, no matter how much Savannah tried to get me to.
