“Where did you two run off to?” She heard Conrad’s voice behind her. She whipped around with her hand on her heart.
“You scared me!” She cried, her nose twitching at the mere sight of him. He had his hands thrust into the pockets of his pants and he took a few steps in her direction.
“So, did you have a good chat with my respectable brother?” He asked menacingly, it was clear that Conrad had a point to make. Had he seen them? Had he guessed it?
“I haven’t seen Wilder. He must have lost me when I left the house.” Celia said, brushing past him as she tried to get away; but Conrad had caught her hand and yanked her close to him.
“Don’t be in a hurry to leave, Celia. We all love Jack and we love having you here. You are very welcome.” He said with the same smiling face, but this time his face was unnervingly close to hers. She could smell the whisky on his breath that she hadn’t detected earlier. She tugged at her hand, trying to get it free. He held on tightly, smiling at her with a shining face. After a few moments, he finally let her go.
“Jack has gone to bed, so you’re free to do what you want now.” He said as she rubbed her wrist where he had been violently clutching her. “If you’re bored you should come to me, I don’t sleep till the early hours of the morning.” He added.
“I’m very tired. Good night Conrad.” Celia said, before whipping around and rushing to her room. She closed the door behind her and locked it from the inside, silently thankful that he hadn’t followed her. She detested Conrad now more than ever, especially because she knew that she was falling in love with his brother.
When Celia woke up next morning, she took another shower and changed into a fresh floral dress before leaving her room. It was nine in the morning, but she wasn’t sure what time anybody else in the household woke up. The house looked empty, she couldn’t hear another soul move anywhere.
Eventually, walking around the rooms she caught sight of her grandfather sitting on a rocking chair at the back porch. She joined him outside, placing a hand on his weary shoulder.
“Good morning, sweet child. How did you sleep?” He asked her. She gave him her hand and he held it tightly.
“Very well thank you.” Celia said, smiling at him.
“Sorry I didn’t wait up for you, Mr. Moore, the younger one, he put me to bed.” He explained.
“Good. Sorry I ran out like that. I couldn’t bear to be in the room with them, with both of them there.” She told him, shielding her face against the sun with her hand again.
“I understand, but Celia child, I hope you didn’t mean it when you said that you want to take me away from here.” He continued, staring up at her like a child would look up at a parent.
Celia pressed her grandfather’s hand, unwilling to commit to a response this quickly. She wanted to take him away from here for his own good, and he didn’t seem to understand it.
“I’ve lived here, in this town all my life. This is where I had my family, this ranch is where I worked and what I dedicated my life to. I don’t want to die anywhere else.” He said, looking at her with his watery eyes.
She breathed in deeply and nodded her head.
“I understand grandpa, I just can’t stand that they talk to you like this. That Conrad talks to you like this.” She said, patting his frail hand. “And don’t talk about dying, you’ll be fine.” She added a weak smile. They both knew the truth; he wasn’t recovering from this.
“Tempers were flying last night. Trust me my dear, I’ve been very happy here. Those two boys are like my own grandchildren.” He said, smiling at her the best he could.
The sound of horse hooves distracted them both at that moment and Celia turned to find Wilder on a beautiful chestnut horse, riding towards them like he didn’t mean to stop. He was in a brown shirt, tough jeans, boots and the same hat. He looked like a pro, strong and brave on his horse; and even from this distance Celia could see that he had an actual smile on his face! She was so surprised to see him smiling that she nearly clapped.
He came closer, slowing down now that he saw them on the porch.
“Morning.” He said, tipping his hat at Celia and turning a smiling face at her grandfather.
“Where is my brother?” He asked, stroking the neck of his horse as he steadied himself in front of them. Celia noticed how he was still avoiding her eyes, while she couldn’t think of anything else other than how he had slid into her the previous night. How she had seen him naked, knew how his chest felt under her fingertips.
“He must be sleeping.” Her grandfather said, and Celia could see in his eyes how much he admired the younger man. Wilder clenched his jaws and looked up at one of the windows.
“Celia, pass me that pebble.” He said suddenly, and she nearly stumbled in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to even acknowledge her, leave alone ask her to do something. She saw the pebble he was talking about and she stepped down from the porch and handed it over to him.
Their hands touched when they exchanged the piece of rock. It reminded her in a flash how rough and course his hands were, how large they felt on her body, how he had used that very same finger to make her feel beautiful the previous night.
But Wilder didn’t seem to notice their touch, instead he aimed the pebble at the window he was looking at and threw it. It fell to the ground and he tipped his head to it again, Celia picked it up and handed it to him, a smile forming on her face. He threw it at the window again. It clattered against the pane. They did it all over again a third time till the pane was being lifted up; Conrad’s head stuck out. His dark hair was a mess, his face looked thin and sleepy and he rubbed his eyes as he looked down at them.
“What?” He snapped at his brother.
“You better put on some clothes, little brother. The cattle aren’t going to herd themselves.” Wilder looked up at Conrad, with a bored look on his face. Celia was biting down on her lip, staring at Wilder. He looked handsome in the sun, unrealistically good looking. She couldn’t believe that he had made love to her the previous night, that he had left a little part of himself inside her.
“You are such a pain in the…” Conrad was saying and then he waved at Celia. “Mornin