“Did you give it any thought?” He interrupted her thoughts. Celia cleared her throat and crossed her brows at him.
“Give what any thought?”
“What I proposed to you this morning.” He said, and she immediately felt silent. He wasn’t being offensive this time, he was saying it more gently, like he was being earnest in his request.
“I can’t give it any thought till I fully understand what your intentions are.” Celia said, in a whisper. She too was now conscious of her grandfather overhearing their conversation. He was lightly snoring in the wheelchair now as they walked, but she couldn’t be too careful.
“Well, my intentions are to have you by my side. Spend time with you, much like we are doing now, except that of course…I would want more.” Conrad said and she interrupted him.
“I understand, but what I don’t get is why you’re asking me. I’m sure you have the money and the capacity to go to a different city, live elsewhere…if you’re this lonely, and if you need company.” Celia said, her brows still crossed. She was calming down now. It was nice being able to have a proper conversation with someone without being threatened or shooed away. Conrad was definitely much better behaved than his brother.
Conrad gave a short laugh, and he looked at Celia again, shrugging his shoulders.
“I have no other choice but to be here. If I leave the ranch now, my brother will take everything. He will work behind my back and make sure I don’t get what is rightfully mine. I can’t just leave all this behind. He hates me. He’s always detested me because my parents loved me more.” Conrad explained.
Celia licked her lips and looked ahead again. She didn’t know what to think. She knew what Conrad wanted from her, but what was it worth to her? Why would she do this? Wouldn’t she have to like him first? Be attracted to him if she was going to get into an arranged relationship with him?
He had noticed her thinking and he suddenly placed a hand on her waist. Celia looked up at him sharply, but she didn’t draw herself away.
“Look, Celia.” He said, ignoring the surprise in her eyes. He was comfortable touching her, and she forced herself to feel comfortable in it as well. If she was thinking about giving this relationship a shot, she had to try and coach herself to like him. What did she have to lose?
“I can take care of you, for as long as you want to stay here. I will take care of Jack, and I want to care for you too.” He continued, and she blinked at him.
“You mean, you want to pay me for my services?” She said sharply, and now tugged herself away from him so that his hands dropped to his sides. What was wrong with these two brothers? She thought, biting down on her lip, why did they both have the completely wrong impression of her?
“No, not like that. Not pay you. Just take care of your cost of living here, for as long as you need. Maybe you can start saving some money for later, if you want to go back to New York. And if you don’t want to go back, you can stay here for as long as you like.” Conrad reached for Celia’s hand and held it tightly in his. He squeezed it, looking kindly into her eyes. She stared back at him, her nose twitching with confusion.
“I’ll have to think about it.” She said, drawing her hand away sharply.
Conrad smiled at her and nodded his head.
“Of course. And in answer to your question about why I chose you, and not someone else…well, isn’t that easy to see? You’re beautiful. The most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I think I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. There’s no use in denying that.” He went on, and Celia felt her cheeks flush. She looked away from him, suppressing a smile as best she could.
“I can see you’re glad to hear that. You should be, because that is the truth.” Conrad continued and Celia pushed the wheelchair harder.
“Thank you for the compliment, Conrad. But I don’t want to make a decision in a hurry. It’s not something that comes to me naturally.” Celia replied, keeping her eyes on the road. They had made a turn in the direction of the house again. She wanted to get started on dinner. Wilder hadn’t asked her to, but she wanted to cook her family’s recipe of spicy sausage casserole for her grandfather.
“Of course, I didn’t think it did come to you naturally. I just wanted us both to benefit out of this. I don’t see any reason why not. Neither of us will have anything to lose.” He said hurriedly as they walked along. Celia pursed her lips and drew in a deep breath. He was right, she had nothing to lose. Especially now when Wilder had made it very clear to her that she needed to stay away from him.
When they reached the house, Wilder was standing on the porch with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs set apart.
Celia could see the fury in his eyes, just from the way he was glaring at them. Her grandfather had begun stirring in the wheelchair, slowly waking up from the deep peaceful sleep he just had.
“Where have you been?” Wilder snarled when they came into earshot. Celia’s muscles grew tight; her body was reacting to his presence again. More than afraid, she wanted to hate him. And Wilder was making it very easy for her to do so.
“We just took old Jack for a walk there, where have you been brother?” Conrad asked cheerily, ignoring Wilder’s obvious rage.
“That is what Celia was doing. What were you doing Conrad? When you should have been tending to the pigs? The horses needed to be groomed too. You’ve been missing since the morning. It’s past lunch now.” Wilder took a few steps down towards them, his arms still crossed, his chest heaving. He hadn’t looked at Celia once.
“Actually, I asked him to join us.” She said, and the two brothers turned to her. Conrad had a smile on his face, while Wilder’s nostrils were flared. He was looking at her with disgust, like she had just said something filthy.
“Why? He needs to be helping me with the running of the ranch.” Wilder said, taking a few steps in her direction. Celia felt the instant appearance of goosebumps on her arms, the hair at the back of her neck stood up. The moment Wil
der had looked at her directly, she felt like her knees would buckle. She clutched the handle bars of her grandfather’s wheelchair tightly for support.
“I didn’t know my way around, so I asked Conrad to show me. One day won’t make much of a difference, will it?” Celia looked past Wilder’s shoulder at Conrad who looked back at her with a pleased expression on his face. She raised her chin up at Wilder, who was glaring at her still.
“You had Jack with you. Jack knows these parts better than Conrad. My brother rarely leaves his room unless he wants something.” Wilder spat the words out, and without waiting for Celia to reply he whipped around at Conrad.