“Should I be mad?”
“Yes,” he says, then places a kiss on my neck.
A feel a lump form in my throat. “Why should I be mad?”
“No one should question our getting married. It’s none of their business, but that’s small-town life for you. Worse, she shouldn’t have said that shit in front of you. If the situation had been reversed, I’d be in jail right now.” He growls the last part like he’s actually mad at the imaginary scenario of someone offering to marry me.
“Cash, I wanna see your face.”
In one quick move, Cash pulls us into a sitting position, him under me as I straddle him.
“Why didn’t you take this June up on her offer of marriage instead of getting a mail-order bride? She must have really hurt you for you to do that.”
His big hands come to my face, his thumb brushing over my lips, making me lick them.
“No, sweetheart, she never hurt me. Irritated the shit out of me? Yes.” He lets out a breath like he doesn’t really want to talk about it. “We grew up together. Kind of, but not really. I didn’t pay her much mind. I wasn’t girl crazy growing up. More horse crazy than anything. If I wasn’t in school or helping my pa, I was on my horse. I didn’t give anything much mind. A girl like June doesn’t like that much.”
“What about when you got older?” I push, wanting to know more.
“She’d still try to get my attention. I always just thought it was because I was indifferent towards her. More of her ego wanting me then her. When I did start thinking about maybe finding a girl of my own, I wanted something like my ma and pa had. Then they passed.”
I see the pain flash across his eyes. I lean forward, placing a kiss on his lips, wanting to be closer to him.
“It was fast. A car crash when they’d taken a road trip. It was a lot to deal with then. Throw in that, and now I had a farm to run. People depending on me. All other shit went out the window.”
“Why now?” I ask.
He brings a hand to the back of my head, pulling me to him and making me lay my head on his shoulder. He starts playing with my hair. The sensation makes me close my eyes.
“All I do is work. I have these men by my side, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get lonely at night. I still wish I had what my parents had. I didn’t think I could get that with a mail-order bride, but I wanted to try. I definitely knew I wouldn’t have that with June. Not to mention I can barely tolerate her voice. She’s always yapping.”
I smile at that, relief flooding my body.
“Never even kissed her?”
I feel him chuckle.
“No, sweetheart. Never even kissed her. Have to say, I hear men complain about jealous women driving them crazy, but I happen to like you getting jealous over me.”
“I’m not jealous,” I protest as a yawn leaves my mouth.
“I’ll make sure to stay away from her since you don’t like it. Seems like the right thing to do.”
I snort, not missing him taking another chance to remind me that I’m supposed to be staying away from Brandon.
I know one thing for sure. I’m going to make sure Cash isn’t so lonely anymore. I know what that feels like. I may not be cut out for farm life, but this is something I can do.
Chapter 8
Cash
Reluctantly, I leave Clare in the house to, as she said, “organize the kitchen,” while I go back outside and get to work. I made some calls before I left the house, watching Clare wiggle around the kitchen as she worked to put away everything she got at the store. God, I could sit and watch her all day, her little body moving like that. I had to go. I couldn’t keep watching her and not take her, so I left, locking the door behind me.
I climb onto my horse and head out to the west side of the farm to check on some of the guys and help out. They’re branding some of the cattle, and I just want to make sure it’s all going okay. When I get there, I see Earl on his horse and ride over.
“Any sign of Sammy?”
“Not yet. Did you talk to the Johnson farm?” Earl asks.
“Yeah. I talked to their new foreman, and he said he’d keep a look out.” I take a deep breath, shaking my head and looking out beyond the rolling green land. “Not sure I trust him. Old man Johnson hired a shady guy to run the place, and I’m not so sure this new guy has his best interests at heart. I’m starting to suspect Sammy going missing and the fences coming down at the same time is a little suspicious.”
“I’m afraid you might be right. I’ll put some of the guys on late-night watch. See if we can catch whoever it is that’s doing this.”
I look over at Earl and nod my head. It’s a shame it’s had to come to this. After all these years of running this farm, we’ve never had anything like this happen. Instead of dwelling on it, I get down and help the guys out, knowing that the faster we get this done, the faster we can go in for chow tonight. And the faster I can get my hands back on my woman.
* * *
We walk up to the big house, and I wash up with the guys like normal. But this time, I’ve got a smile on my face and an anticipation growing in my heart. I’ve never had something like this before. Something to look forward to. I get satisfaction from a hard day’s work and taking care of the land, but having someone to come home to at the end of it makes it all worthwhile.
“Something sure does smell good. I’m glad you’ve brought Mrs. McCallister out here, boss. I was getting real tired of Earl’s cooking.”