Here For You, page 22
“Do you—” She had to pause when her throat tightened around her question. “Do you think she’ll listen?” She was tired and stressed and unable to hold back the tears that burned her eyes. “Do you think she cares about me enough to try?”
Andie’s voice was quiet. “I think she’s in love with you, too, Wil. She’s just having a hard time letting herself love anybody. She’s been taking baby steps, though. She let Joel and Maggie in. They’re her home. And it took a lot of careful work, but she’s opened up to a friendship with me and Sam. You’re the treacherous third barrel she’s afraid could tip over on her.”
“I have to see her. I’ll chase her all over Texas and beyond to prove what she means to me.”
“You’re so sweet and exactly what she needs…somebody who’ll be there for her.”
Chapter Twenty-two
A few people had Wil’s back as well. Ray and Jimmy had already hatched a plan “to rope Wil’s filly and bring her back to the ranch.” While their plan needed a new description, their intentions and strategy were all good.
Ray and Don had to drive to Lubbock for an appointment to make a deal on a couple of potential cutting horses, so it was decided that Jimmy would drive Wil down to the J&M Family Campground. Wil protested at first, but Ray pointed out that Jimmy had a camper that fit on the back of his pickup when he took off to go fishing. It would be good cover when they entered the campground, and if all went well, Wil could ride back to the ranch with Lacey. If Wil bombed and Lacey threw her out, then Jimmy would bring her back to the Double R without risking her being in a wreck because she was upset.
When they gathered in front of the ranch house at three that morning, the sun was hours from rising.
Ray pulled Wil into his arms and hugged her close. “I’m rooting for you, baby girl. And I feel like your mother is, too. Your girl might be a hurt puppy, but we’ve got all the love she and her horse need for them to heal right here.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Did you get any sleep after your shower?”
“I did drift off for an hour or two. Don’t bother with the mess in my room. I dumped out my suitcase to repack clean clothes.”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ve never done your laundry and don’t plan to start touching your girlie things now.” They laughed as he released her. “Now get in that truck, or Jimmy’s going to drive off without you. He’s all excited about the pond that website said had good fishing.”
* * *
“You nervous?” Jimmy asked.
“More like scared out of my skin. What if she refuses to listen? What if she doesn’t feel the same as I do?”
“Now, don’t go digging up more snakes than you can kill. If you want her to trust you, then you have to show some faith in her.”
They drove through the gate under the large sign that touted the J&M Family Campground and followed the gravel drive to a modest house painted dark brown with green shutters to blend with the surrounding woods. An older man of average height, a wiry build, and with a shock of wild gray hair escaping from under his ballcap met them on the porch and extended his hand to Jimmy first.
“Howdy. I’m Joel, and you must be Jimmy. I’ll show you down to your campsite after breakfast.” He took Wil’s hand in both of his rough ones. “And you have to be Wil. You’re way prettier in person than you are on the television.”
“You saw me on television?”
“Just a glimpse when the Cowboy Channel was showing the barrel racing yesterday. They showed you talking to that Brittney woman right before she got her turn at the barrels. Gave your ranch a pretty good plug for training the horse she was riding.” Joel might have looked like he’d never made it off the chicken farm, but he obviously wasn’t dumb. “Come on in. Maggie’s starting breakfast, and Andie has gone down to roust Lacey. She doesn’t always eat with us, and she’s been staying at her camper more and more every day. Maggie thinks she’s depressed.”
They wiped their feet and walked through the living room, which was set up as an office and lounge area with a desk, several sofas, and lots of pamphlets about things to do in the area. The large kitchen had lots of counter space and a big pine dining table with a long bench on one side and chairs on the other. A fat pit bull watched them from her bed by the back door. The aroma of bacon and muffins fresh from the oven completed the warm, welcoming room. A rather large woman, who stood at the six-burner gas stove in a flowery dress, tennis shoes, and permanently stained apron, turned to greet them.
“Oh, good. You’re here. I’m Maggie. Y’all just make yourself at home.” She grabbed a basket draped in cloth napkins and began to fill it with fresh blueberry muffins. “Joel, put these muffins on the table for people to munch on, and make sure everybody has something to drink.”
“I’m on it,” he said, moving quickly to place the basket, along with sugar and creamer containers, on the table. “Everybody want coffee? We’ve got a variety of teas if you’d rather have that, and orange juice and milk in the fridge.”
“Coffee’s good for both of us,” Wil said. She sat in a chair at the end of the table so she could face the back door she anticipated Lacey would enter. Jimmy slid onto the bench beside her and served muffins for himself, her, and Joel. She took hers but was too nervous to eat.
Maggie added a double-stick butter dish to the table and spoke to Wil. “Now, about when Lacey gets here. Joel set up a little table out on the deck for you two, if you want to talk in private. We butted in as much as we could when she first showed up here, then called Andie to come this weekend to see if she and Sam could cheer her up, but she’s been keeping to herself down by the pond the last couple of days.”
Joel picked up where Maggie left off. “She does like her space and a good bit of alone time, but we’re really worried—with her horse being hurt and all. She’s talking about quitting the rodeo.”
Wil nodded. “I’ve got an idea about that.” She fidgeted in her chair. “If Andie can’t get her to come up here, I’ll go find her.”
“Oh, she’ll come,” Joel said, grabbing Jimmy’s coffee cup and taking it to the coffee station to refill it from the huge commercial brewer on the sideboard. “Andie’s going to tell her something’s wrong with Pig, and we need her help.” The fat pit bull slapped her tail against the floor several times at the mention of her name.
“She’s on her bed in the kitchen,” Andie was saying as she came through the back door. And a second later, Lacey stood there, frozen as her gaze met Wil’s.
Wil stood. “Hi. You’re pretty hard to track down.”
Lacey finally found her tongue but ignored Wil. She looked at Andie. “There’s nothing wrong with Pig, is there?”
“No, but you need to hear Wil out.”
Lacey spun around to leave without answering, but Wil was quick. She pushed past Andie and caught up with Lacey before she was halfway across the deck. She wrapped her arms around Lacey from behind and held on while she struggled to break loose.
“Lacey, stop. Just talk to me. Please. I deserve at least that.” Pain shot up her leg when Lacey stomped her heel down onto Wil’s foot. “Ow. Fuck. That hurt.” She continued to struggle, but Wil was bigger and just as strong. “If you kick me in the knee, we’re going to both end up lying on this deck, because I’m not letting go.” Lacey stopped struggling, but Wil didn’t relax the hug she’d wrapped around her. “I’m not letting go until you hear me out.”
“Fine. Then will you leave me alone?”
“I can’t promise that. I love you, and I intend to keep pounding that fact into your head until you believe me.” Keeping her hold, she lifted Lacey and set her down next to the small bistro table with a red-checkered tablecloth tucked in a sunny corner of the deck. “Please sit.”
Andie appeared with Wil’s coffee and a second one for Lacey, and a plate with two muffins. She disappeared back into the house just as quickly.
Wil watched Lacey, in case she tried to make a break for the stairs, but she only glared at her.
“Say what you came to say.”
Wil took out her phone and pulled up the photo of her and Brittney. “Let’s clear this up first.”
Lacey glanced at the photo, then looked away, the muscle in her jaw working. “You’re going to claim it’s photoshopped.”
“I didn’t see it until yesterday when Brittney confessed she’d shown it to you, but no. It’s not photoshopped.”
Lacey’s head whipped around, her eyes blazing. “So, you were in bed with her? Did you climb into bed with her after we talked every night?”
“No. You know I didn’t. Just look at this and listen.” She positioned the photo so that it took up the entire screen, then enlarged it to focus on the time stamp. “This is the day I had that bad migraine. I don’t have them often…once or twice a year…usually when the ranch next to ours is cleaning their chicken houses and the wind is blowing that crap to wherever I’m working outside.”
“She said the migraine was one of your regular excuses when you dump a girl.”
“Not true. To begin with, I haven’t dated that many women, and the only one I’ve ever dumped is Brittney. She could definitely trigger a migraine in most people, but I never even used that as an excuse not to see her. The other women I briefly dated ditched me because I work too much, and they weren’t interested in ranch life.”
“Excuse or not, you were still in bed with her.”
Wil shifted the enlargement to her image and handed the phone to Lacey. “Have I ever worn clothes when we sleep together?”
Lacey stared at the photo. “No.” She bent to peer at Wil’s image. “That’s the collar of a T-shirt. The sleeve is pushed up to make you look like you’re naked, but you’re actually wearing a shirt.”
“Brittney probably posed me like that.”
Lacey dropped the phone to the table, sat back, and snorted. “Right. And you slept right through it. What about the locks that were on your door?”
“Look at my face in the photo, Lacey.”
Lacey appeared skeptical, but she picked up the phone again and studied the shot.
“When have you ever seen me sleep with my mouth open like that?”
Lacey seemed to think this question over, and then her face softened. “That time we played a trivia game where you had to drink if you guessed wrong. You suck at trivia and got pretty drunk and passed out when I managed to get you into bed. You snored half the night until I managed to shove a pillow up under your chin to keep your mouth closed.”
“Exactly. I was passed out the night Brittney took that selfie. Not from alcohol, but from pain pills. I don’t like to take them unless nothing else is working, because they knock me out for nearly twelve hours and leave me groggy for two days. I was wearing a shirt, and my door wasn’t locked because Dad likes to check on me every couple of hours when I have to take them. Brittney admitted to sneaking in after one of his checks, taking off her pajama shirt, and climbing into bed behind me to take that picture. She said I never stirred, and she didn’t try to wake me because she was afraid I’d yell for Dad or call the police or something.”
Lacey shoved the phone back at Wil and frowned. “Why would she tell you that now?”
“That’s another long story, but she’s facing her own personal reckoning, and I don’t want to talk about her right now. I want to talk about us.”
Lacey looked away again.
“I know about that Chandler guy. Whether he’s your biological father or not has no bearing on us or the ranch. The Double R’s reputation is solid. I’ve never flaunted my sexual orientation, but I’ve never, ever hidden it either. Wealthy Texans tend to put their personal judgments and religious leanings aside when it comes to securing a horse that’s going to beat their competition.”
“He was saying crude things about you to any cowboy in that bar who would listen.”
Wil wanted to kiss her when Lacey’s lips poked out in an indignant pout. Instead, she slowly reached for Lacey’s hand and held it in hers when she didn’t pull away. “He apparently made the mistake of saying things about Brittney, too. She told me that Mac sent a couple of his oil-rig roughnecks to help Mr. Chandler leave town. She said he woke up the next day in a crappy motel south of the border with a case of tequila on the table and no passport to get back into the country. She thinks they’re hoping he’ll drink himself to death.”
“You seem to have spent a lot of time talking with Brittney lately.”
“Again, we’ll discuss her later. All I’ll say now is that she and Pepper are a surprisingly good match. They’re going to be hard to beat, but I’m telling you that because we have one more thing to clear up.” She squeezed Lacey’s hand and held her gaze. “Before I get into that, are we okay? Do you believe me…about the photo?”
Lacey took a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Thank God.” Relief flooded Wil, and her eyes filled with tears. “Because I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t. I love you, Lacey Bishop. I’m in love with you. I’d kill myself before I knowingly hurt you.”
Lacey’s eyes filled, too. She looked down but didn’t try to brush her tears away. “Nobody’s ever loved me before. It scares me.”
Wil left her chair and knelt next to Lacey’s, taking her face in her hands. “I know, sweetheart, and I’m trying not to do that, but we’re meant to be together. I feel it in my bones. Since the moment I met you, something that’s been missing in my life has clicked into place. If you feel the same, please don’t run from me again.”
“I might need some space sometimes—for a few hours or even a few days.”
“I don’t have a problem with that, as long as I know where you are and that you’re safe and not planning to stay away.”
Finally, Lacey reached for Wil’s face and brushed her lips against Wil’s. Their kiss deepened until they heard Sam in the kitchen exclaim, “They’re kissing, you guys. They’re kissing.”
They pulled back from each other and chuckled.
“I guess we don’t have to tell everyone we’ve made up,” Wil said. “The town crier has taken care of that.”
“I’m hungry,” Lacey said. “I sort of skipped a few meals yesterday.”
“Want to have Andie serve us out here, or go inside with the others?”
“Let’s go inside so you can get to know Joel and Maggie. They’re sort of family to me.”
“Great. I brought someone I want you to meet, too. Jimmy’s been a fixture on the ranch since I was a kid. He’s kind of like one of those men you grow up calling uncle but isn’t really related.”
* * *
Even though Wil and Lacey had mostly settled their misunderstanding and fears, their touches were tentative when they left their friends and retreated to Lacey’s camper for some well-needed privacy.
Wil undressed first, wanting to give Lacey a sense of control instead of being preyed on. Once she’d peeled down to her underwear and bra, Lacey stepped in and took over.
“I never thought I’d get to touch you again,” she said with quiet reverence.
“I’m yours, sweetheart, to touch anytime you need to…for reassurance, for passion, for belonging. You are my heart. I will always be here for you.”
Wil groaned as Lacey sucked at her taut nipple, then slid down to remove Wil’s briefs. She kissed along Wil’s legs and swiped her tongue along Wil’s sex on her way back up. Wil gasped. “I’m going to need to lie down. And I want you naked beside me. I need to feel your skin on mine, to know you’re truly here with me. I was so scared when I couldn’t find you.”
“Shush. I’m here with you now, Wil. I’m here, and I won’t run from you again.” She bit down on Wil’s shoulder as she began to undress. “I’m claiming you as mine. Those other women can gnash their teeth and bare their breasts at you all they want. You’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” Wil said.
They made love until both had climaxed several times, but the stress and lack of sleep over the past week finally demanded that they rest. Wil spooned her long body against Lacey’s, and Lacey tugged Wil’s arm forward to cradle it between her breasts.
“Wil?”
“Hmm.”
“You said we needed to discuss one more thing, but we never did.”
“Oh.” Wil blinked, trying to stave off sleep so she could explain. “I sold Pepper to Mac Abbott for sixty thousand and Dash.”
“You got Dash back?”
“Yes. Brittney never really matched up with him. He’s a better horse than she was getting out of him. The best Mac could do was use him as a ranch horse or sell him to someone lower in the ranks for much less than he paid for him.”
“Remind me to never negotiate anything with you. You’re pretty good at it.”
“The point is, I got Dash back because I think you could ride him better than Brittney…in the national finals.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. He’s waiting for you at the ranch. You already have the points to enter, and we have a month for you two to get acquainted. If you want, we can hit one of the rodeos in Lubbock or Amarillo before the nationals, but I don’t think Dash really needs the exposure. I don’t intend to resell him.”
Lacey sat up. “Really?”
“Yes. Dad also said for you to bring Denver to the ranch to rehab.” Wil felt suddenly shy. “If you aren’t comfortable staying with me, we have a guest room, or we can hook up your camper outside the barn.”
“You still have those double locks on your bedroom door?”
“Well, yeah, but I can take them off.”
Lacey smacked her hand down on Wil’s bare rump. “You better not. The last thing I want is Ray Rivers walking into your room while I’m molesting his daughter.”
Wil laughed and pulled her back down to spoon again. “Good point.”
Lacey snuggled against her. “I love you, Wil Rivers.”
Andie’s voice was quiet. “I think she’s in love with you, too, Wil. She’s just having a hard time letting herself love anybody. She’s been taking baby steps, though. She let Joel and Maggie in. They’re her home. And it took a lot of careful work, but she’s opened up to a friendship with me and Sam. You’re the treacherous third barrel she’s afraid could tip over on her.”
“I have to see her. I’ll chase her all over Texas and beyond to prove what she means to me.”
“You’re so sweet and exactly what she needs…somebody who’ll be there for her.”
Chapter Twenty-two
A few people had Wil’s back as well. Ray and Jimmy had already hatched a plan “to rope Wil’s filly and bring her back to the ranch.” While their plan needed a new description, their intentions and strategy were all good.
Ray and Don had to drive to Lubbock for an appointment to make a deal on a couple of potential cutting horses, so it was decided that Jimmy would drive Wil down to the J&M Family Campground. Wil protested at first, but Ray pointed out that Jimmy had a camper that fit on the back of his pickup when he took off to go fishing. It would be good cover when they entered the campground, and if all went well, Wil could ride back to the ranch with Lacey. If Wil bombed and Lacey threw her out, then Jimmy would bring her back to the Double R without risking her being in a wreck because she was upset.
When they gathered in front of the ranch house at three that morning, the sun was hours from rising.
Ray pulled Wil into his arms and hugged her close. “I’m rooting for you, baby girl. And I feel like your mother is, too. Your girl might be a hurt puppy, but we’ve got all the love she and her horse need for them to heal right here.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Did you get any sleep after your shower?”
“I did drift off for an hour or two. Don’t bother with the mess in my room. I dumped out my suitcase to repack clean clothes.”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ve never done your laundry and don’t plan to start touching your girlie things now.” They laughed as he released her. “Now get in that truck, or Jimmy’s going to drive off without you. He’s all excited about the pond that website said had good fishing.”
* * *
“You nervous?” Jimmy asked.
“More like scared out of my skin. What if she refuses to listen? What if she doesn’t feel the same as I do?”
“Now, don’t go digging up more snakes than you can kill. If you want her to trust you, then you have to show some faith in her.”
They drove through the gate under the large sign that touted the J&M Family Campground and followed the gravel drive to a modest house painted dark brown with green shutters to blend with the surrounding woods. An older man of average height, a wiry build, and with a shock of wild gray hair escaping from under his ballcap met them on the porch and extended his hand to Jimmy first.
“Howdy. I’m Joel, and you must be Jimmy. I’ll show you down to your campsite after breakfast.” He took Wil’s hand in both of his rough ones. “And you have to be Wil. You’re way prettier in person than you are on the television.”
“You saw me on television?”
“Just a glimpse when the Cowboy Channel was showing the barrel racing yesterday. They showed you talking to that Brittney woman right before she got her turn at the barrels. Gave your ranch a pretty good plug for training the horse she was riding.” Joel might have looked like he’d never made it off the chicken farm, but he obviously wasn’t dumb. “Come on in. Maggie’s starting breakfast, and Andie has gone down to roust Lacey. She doesn’t always eat with us, and she’s been staying at her camper more and more every day. Maggie thinks she’s depressed.”
They wiped their feet and walked through the living room, which was set up as an office and lounge area with a desk, several sofas, and lots of pamphlets about things to do in the area. The large kitchen had lots of counter space and a big pine dining table with a long bench on one side and chairs on the other. A fat pit bull watched them from her bed by the back door. The aroma of bacon and muffins fresh from the oven completed the warm, welcoming room. A rather large woman, who stood at the six-burner gas stove in a flowery dress, tennis shoes, and permanently stained apron, turned to greet them.
“Oh, good. You’re here. I’m Maggie. Y’all just make yourself at home.” She grabbed a basket draped in cloth napkins and began to fill it with fresh blueberry muffins. “Joel, put these muffins on the table for people to munch on, and make sure everybody has something to drink.”
“I’m on it,” he said, moving quickly to place the basket, along with sugar and creamer containers, on the table. “Everybody want coffee? We’ve got a variety of teas if you’d rather have that, and orange juice and milk in the fridge.”
“Coffee’s good for both of us,” Wil said. She sat in a chair at the end of the table so she could face the back door she anticipated Lacey would enter. Jimmy slid onto the bench beside her and served muffins for himself, her, and Joel. She took hers but was too nervous to eat.
Maggie added a double-stick butter dish to the table and spoke to Wil. “Now, about when Lacey gets here. Joel set up a little table out on the deck for you two, if you want to talk in private. We butted in as much as we could when she first showed up here, then called Andie to come this weekend to see if she and Sam could cheer her up, but she’s been keeping to herself down by the pond the last couple of days.”
Joel picked up where Maggie left off. “She does like her space and a good bit of alone time, but we’re really worried—with her horse being hurt and all. She’s talking about quitting the rodeo.”
Wil nodded. “I’ve got an idea about that.” She fidgeted in her chair. “If Andie can’t get her to come up here, I’ll go find her.”
“Oh, she’ll come,” Joel said, grabbing Jimmy’s coffee cup and taking it to the coffee station to refill it from the huge commercial brewer on the sideboard. “Andie’s going to tell her something’s wrong with Pig, and we need her help.” The fat pit bull slapped her tail against the floor several times at the mention of her name.
“She’s on her bed in the kitchen,” Andie was saying as she came through the back door. And a second later, Lacey stood there, frozen as her gaze met Wil’s.
Wil stood. “Hi. You’re pretty hard to track down.”
Lacey finally found her tongue but ignored Wil. She looked at Andie. “There’s nothing wrong with Pig, is there?”
“No, but you need to hear Wil out.”
Lacey spun around to leave without answering, but Wil was quick. She pushed past Andie and caught up with Lacey before she was halfway across the deck. She wrapped her arms around Lacey from behind and held on while she struggled to break loose.
“Lacey, stop. Just talk to me. Please. I deserve at least that.” Pain shot up her leg when Lacey stomped her heel down onto Wil’s foot. “Ow. Fuck. That hurt.” She continued to struggle, but Wil was bigger and just as strong. “If you kick me in the knee, we’re going to both end up lying on this deck, because I’m not letting go.” Lacey stopped struggling, but Wil didn’t relax the hug she’d wrapped around her. “I’m not letting go until you hear me out.”
“Fine. Then will you leave me alone?”
“I can’t promise that. I love you, and I intend to keep pounding that fact into your head until you believe me.” Keeping her hold, she lifted Lacey and set her down next to the small bistro table with a red-checkered tablecloth tucked in a sunny corner of the deck. “Please sit.”
Andie appeared with Wil’s coffee and a second one for Lacey, and a plate with two muffins. She disappeared back into the house just as quickly.
Wil watched Lacey, in case she tried to make a break for the stairs, but she only glared at her.
“Say what you came to say.”
Wil took out her phone and pulled up the photo of her and Brittney. “Let’s clear this up first.”
Lacey glanced at the photo, then looked away, the muscle in her jaw working. “You’re going to claim it’s photoshopped.”
“I didn’t see it until yesterday when Brittney confessed she’d shown it to you, but no. It’s not photoshopped.”
Lacey’s head whipped around, her eyes blazing. “So, you were in bed with her? Did you climb into bed with her after we talked every night?”
“No. You know I didn’t. Just look at this and listen.” She positioned the photo so that it took up the entire screen, then enlarged it to focus on the time stamp. “This is the day I had that bad migraine. I don’t have them often…once or twice a year…usually when the ranch next to ours is cleaning their chicken houses and the wind is blowing that crap to wherever I’m working outside.”
“She said the migraine was one of your regular excuses when you dump a girl.”
“Not true. To begin with, I haven’t dated that many women, and the only one I’ve ever dumped is Brittney. She could definitely trigger a migraine in most people, but I never even used that as an excuse not to see her. The other women I briefly dated ditched me because I work too much, and they weren’t interested in ranch life.”
“Excuse or not, you were still in bed with her.”
Wil shifted the enlargement to her image and handed the phone to Lacey. “Have I ever worn clothes when we sleep together?”
Lacey stared at the photo. “No.” She bent to peer at Wil’s image. “That’s the collar of a T-shirt. The sleeve is pushed up to make you look like you’re naked, but you’re actually wearing a shirt.”
“Brittney probably posed me like that.”
Lacey dropped the phone to the table, sat back, and snorted. “Right. And you slept right through it. What about the locks that were on your door?”
“Look at my face in the photo, Lacey.”
Lacey appeared skeptical, but she picked up the phone again and studied the shot.
“When have you ever seen me sleep with my mouth open like that?”
Lacey seemed to think this question over, and then her face softened. “That time we played a trivia game where you had to drink if you guessed wrong. You suck at trivia and got pretty drunk and passed out when I managed to get you into bed. You snored half the night until I managed to shove a pillow up under your chin to keep your mouth closed.”
“Exactly. I was passed out the night Brittney took that selfie. Not from alcohol, but from pain pills. I don’t like to take them unless nothing else is working, because they knock me out for nearly twelve hours and leave me groggy for two days. I was wearing a shirt, and my door wasn’t locked because Dad likes to check on me every couple of hours when I have to take them. Brittney admitted to sneaking in after one of his checks, taking off her pajama shirt, and climbing into bed behind me to take that picture. She said I never stirred, and she didn’t try to wake me because she was afraid I’d yell for Dad or call the police or something.”
Lacey shoved the phone back at Wil and frowned. “Why would she tell you that now?”
“That’s another long story, but she’s facing her own personal reckoning, and I don’t want to talk about her right now. I want to talk about us.”
Lacey looked away again.
“I know about that Chandler guy. Whether he’s your biological father or not has no bearing on us or the ranch. The Double R’s reputation is solid. I’ve never flaunted my sexual orientation, but I’ve never, ever hidden it either. Wealthy Texans tend to put their personal judgments and religious leanings aside when it comes to securing a horse that’s going to beat their competition.”
“He was saying crude things about you to any cowboy in that bar who would listen.”
Wil wanted to kiss her when Lacey’s lips poked out in an indignant pout. Instead, she slowly reached for Lacey’s hand and held it in hers when she didn’t pull away. “He apparently made the mistake of saying things about Brittney, too. She told me that Mac sent a couple of his oil-rig roughnecks to help Mr. Chandler leave town. She said he woke up the next day in a crappy motel south of the border with a case of tequila on the table and no passport to get back into the country. She thinks they’re hoping he’ll drink himself to death.”
“You seem to have spent a lot of time talking with Brittney lately.”
“Again, we’ll discuss her later. All I’ll say now is that she and Pepper are a surprisingly good match. They’re going to be hard to beat, but I’m telling you that because we have one more thing to clear up.” She squeezed Lacey’s hand and held her gaze. “Before I get into that, are we okay? Do you believe me…about the photo?”
Lacey took a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Thank God.” Relief flooded Wil, and her eyes filled with tears. “Because I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t. I love you, Lacey Bishop. I’m in love with you. I’d kill myself before I knowingly hurt you.”
Lacey’s eyes filled, too. She looked down but didn’t try to brush her tears away. “Nobody’s ever loved me before. It scares me.”
Wil left her chair and knelt next to Lacey’s, taking her face in her hands. “I know, sweetheart, and I’m trying not to do that, but we’re meant to be together. I feel it in my bones. Since the moment I met you, something that’s been missing in my life has clicked into place. If you feel the same, please don’t run from me again.”
“I might need some space sometimes—for a few hours or even a few days.”
“I don’t have a problem with that, as long as I know where you are and that you’re safe and not planning to stay away.”
Finally, Lacey reached for Wil’s face and brushed her lips against Wil’s. Their kiss deepened until they heard Sam in the kitchen exclaim, “They’re kissing, you guys. They’re kissing.”
They pulled back from each other and chuckled.
“I guess we don’t have to tell everyone we’ve made up,” Wil said. “The town crier has taken care of that.”
“I’m hungry,” Lacey said. “I sort of skipped a few meals yesterday.”
“Want to have Andie serve us out here, or go inside with the others?”
“Let’s go inside so you can get to know Joel and Maggie. They’re sort of family to me.”
“Great. I brought someone I want you to meet, too. Jimmy’s been a fixture on the ranch since I was a kid. He’s kind of like one of those men you grow up calling uncle but isn’t really related.”
* * *
Even though Wil and Lacey had mostly settled their misunderstanding and fears, their touches were tentative when they left their friends and retreated to Lacey’s camper for some well-needed privacy.
Wil undressed first, wanting to give Lacey a sense of control instead of being preyed on. Once she’d peeled down to her underwear and bra, Lacey stepped in and took over.
“I never thought I’d get to touch you again,” she said with quiet reverence.
“I’m yours, sweetheart, to touch anytime you need to…for reassurance, for passion, for belonging. You are my heart. I will always be here for you.”
Wil groaned as Lacey sucked at her taut nipple, then slid down to remove Wil’s briefs. She kissed along Wil’s legs and swiped her tongue along Wil’s sex on her way back up. Wil gasped. “I’m going to need to lie down. And I want you naked beside me. I need to feel your skin on mine, to know you’re truly here with me. I was so scared when I couldn’t find you.”
“Shush. I’m here with you now, Wil. I’m here, and I won’t run from you again.” She bit down on Wil’s shoulder as she began to undress. “I’m claiming you as mine. Those other women can gnash their teeth and bare their breasts at you all they want. You’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” Wil said.
They made love until both had climaxed several times, but the stress and lack of sleep over the past week finally demanded that they rest. Wil spooned her long body against Lacey’s, and Lacey tugged Wil’s arm forward to cradle it between her breasts.
“Wil?”
“Hmm.”
“You said we needed to discuss one more thing, but we never did.”
“Oh.” Wil blinked, trying to stave off sleep so she could explain. “I sold Pepper to Mac Abbott for sixty thousand and Dash.”
“You got Dash back?”
“Yes. Brittney never really matched up with him. He’s a better horse than she was getting out of him. The best Mac could do was use him as a ranch horse or sell him to someone lower in the ranks for much less than he paid for him.”
“Remind me to never negotiate anything with you. You’re pretty good at it.”
“The point is, I got Dash back because I think you could ride him better than Brittney…in the national finals.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. He’s waiting for you at the ranch. You already have the points to enter, and we have a month for you two to get acquainted. If you want, we can hit one of the rodeos in Lubbock or Amarillo before the nationals, but I don’t think Dash really needs the exposure. I don’t intend to resell him.”
Lacey sat up. “Really?”
“Yes. Dad also said for you to bring Denver to the ranch to rehab.” Wil felt suddenly shy. “If you aren’t comfortable staying with me, we have a guest room, or we can hook up your camper outside the barn.”
“You still have those double locks on your bedroom door?”
“Well, yeah, but I can take them off.”
Lacey smacked her hand down on Wil’s bare rump. “You better not. The last thing I want is Ray Rivers walking into your room while I’m molesting his daughter.”
Wil laughed and pulled her back down to spoon again. “Good point.”
Lacey snuggled against her. “I love you, Wil Rivers.”
