River's End (River's End Series, #1) (11 page)

“I need the reins. Don’t move.”

He reached around her again and pulled the reins up. His arms stayed around her and rested just in front of the saddle horn as he inelegantly steered the horse.

“This isn’t going to work.”

“It’ll work. I told you; it’s just not going to be comfortable.”

“What if the horse bolts? You can barely control it.”

He exhaled and she could feel his chest deflating behind her. God, she was way too close to him. She should
not
be able to feel Jack’s body, any of his body, and especially not against her own. “The horse won’t bolt on me.”

“You don’t know that.”

He sighed even louder. “I do know that. Just close your eyes and I’ll get you off the damn mountain.”

She slammed her eyelids shut, gripping onto the horn until her hands cramped. She felt the horse starting forward at Jack’s soft clicking sound. Thank God the horses reacted to the slightest signals and pressure that Jack gave them. Then they were moving. The horse’s sway and gait made them bump and grind together as it moved. She tried to ignore it, and tried not to think about what the trail looked like, or the drop-off beside her.

Jack’s arms encircled her. That’s what finally overcame her panic. Jack’s arms were all around her, and nearly holding her. She could feel his muscles flex and sway as he guided the horse down the mountain, and his thighs cradling her, along with his hard chest, as she jolted against him.

It was strange, and such a different feeling. Every nerve ending hurt from how she was seated while trying to hold her body rigidly away from him. Yet, she was aware of every muscle he had and the way he moved. Then finally, he stopped and she opened her eyes. They were down. Now off the steep section of mountain, they were back on the rolling slope that brought them there.

She let out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank God.”

He chuckled behind her and his breath stirred her hair as he laughed. She was surprised he was so understanding about everything. He was being nicer than he ever had been to her.

He stood up in the stirrups, and released the pressure that kept her pushed into the horse’s neck. With a swing of his leg, he was off the horse and just below eye level to her. She had to look away and felt suddenly different with him.

He waited patiently as she finally, clumsily, got her foot into the stirrup and was able to stand up, swing her leg over the horse, and dismount. Her legs shook with cramps as the blood started flowing and the adrenaline dissipated.

She glanced up at him, licking her lips with raw nerves. “Thank you, Mr. Rydell.”

He nodded, and she stared, caught by the power of his gaze and the deep blue of his eyes.

“You’re welcome.”

She had to look away, feeling confused by the sudden embarrassment flowing through her. And the sudden rush of heat in her cheeks.

“Now, I walk. I’ll see you later.”

He grabbed her elbow as she started to turn. He was frowning. “I’m not going to leave you up here.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He looked at her oddly. “Why does that so surprise you? It’s strange country for you. You could get lost, or run into another snake, or God knows what else could happen to you.”

Why?
Because every man in her entire life would have easily left her up there and taken the easier horse to ride home. Because her brother would have left her in the middle of the mountain and laughed as he returned home alone.

She exhaled a lungful of pent-up air from her mouth. She was safe and Jack wouldn’t abandon her. “I’m sorry about all of this. I know you hate me staying on your ranch. You hate my brother. And it was really kind of you to come after me, and not leave me up there.”

He leaned down and grabbed the horse’s reins. Georgie was still loosely connected by a lead rope to the saddle and had followed as easily as Jack promised she would.

“No one could have faked that kind of fear. I don’t punish people for not knowing how to ride; and it was Joey’s fault for getting you stranded. So we can blame Joey. And really, Ms. Poletti, judging how people treat you shouldn’t be compared to the way your brother treats you. Because your brother is shit,” he said, his tone becoming fierce. He looked right at her. “But I don’t think you are.”

Her back straightened with surprise. He didn’t think she was like her brother? That was news to her. Jack didn’t wait for her response. He started leading his horse down the slope and she fell in step several feet behind Georgie. She followed Jack around the pines and sagebrush, until eventually, they hit the dirt road before finally arriving at the ranch.

Joey came running from the porch with Ben not far behind him. “Erin. What took so long? I was starting think something awful happened.”

She looked past Joey, toward Jack’s back. He turned his head, met her eyes, and glanced at Joey too. Jack just smirked, shook his head, and kept walking until he disappeared into the barn with the horses behind him. She turned back towards Joey, suddenly furious.

“I could have died up there! What were you thinking by taking me up there? Taking me anywhere, but in the arena to ride? I told you I didn’t know how to ride.”

Joey stepped back in obvious surprise. She’d never lost her temper with him. She’d never spoken to Joey in anger, but always in flirting and fun. But he put her in a dangerous situation, and with Jack as her only witness, she knew she might be hastening the date when she would get kicked off the ranch, but in that moment, her anger far outweighed her caution.

Joey threw his hands up as if in surrender. “I didn’t know you were that bad. You should have said you were scared up there.”

“My eyes were closed. If you’d just once glanced back, you’d have known that.” She suddenly spun on her heel and stormed off to her trailer before slamming it shut on both of them.

****

Jack chuckled to himself. He couldn’t hear Joey’s words, but heard loud and clear what Erin said, repeating word for word some of what he told her. He busied himself unsaddling the horses and rubbing them down. Joey should have done it, but he guessed by now, poor Joey was confused by what he’d done to the usually flirtatious, mild-tempered Erin Poletti. Joey really had no idea how scared Erin was.

God, she was pretty little thing. It was hard not to notice when she was nearly pinned in front of him. Her head was just below his chin and her dark curls sprang off her head and flew into his face before sticking to his lips. Her hair smelled good. Like sunshine. And softness. Like anything but horses and the ranch. So he liked her in his arms. So what? He wasn’t dead. He was a healthy male and when she was pressed into his crotch, with her breasts near the inside of his arms, how could he not respond? So what? It meant nothing. He would have had the same reaction to any female in that position.

Jack sighed when he saw how woebegone his brother looked when he stared after Erin. Then at how interested his young son was in her ass when she walked away. He swore under his breath. Hadn’t he predicted she would be nothing but trouble for this ranch? For his son? For his brother? And therefore, for him?

But… she honestly thought that once out of danger, he’d leave her up there, all alone in the mountains, in what, to her, was godforsaken country. That didn’t sit well with him. She really didn’t think she deserved much from anyone. She really didn’t expect much from Joey, because it seemed no one ever gave her much. He wasn’t sure what to do with the woman Erin Poletti was turning out to be, compared to the woman he pegged her to be initially.

Erin hadn’t spent much time in the main house other than the few occasions when she’d gone into Joey’s room late at night. He didn’t invite her to dinner, and she never asked to come. They had sex, and she went back to Jack’s trailer. She had little interaction with Jack’s brothers or his younger son. She knew Ben because he was friendly to her every afternoon, coming to see if she wanted to hang out with the horses. He was a nice kid. Nicer than anyone else was to her at this point in her life.

One afternoon, she was crossing along the yard when she noticed Charlie Rydell, Jack’s eight-year-old son, sitting on the porch. He was crying. She stopped dead and looked around. There wasn’t another man in sight. Charlie held his head down and no one else was close by. She hesitated. She didn’t feel right even going up to the front door. That was for guests and she wasn’t even the hired help. So… she would what? See what was wrong with Charlie? But… how could she ignore the kid sitting there, heaving his guts out in tears? What if something was seriously wrong? What if he needed medical attention?

She jogged across the yard, went up the steps and sat down next to Charlie. He scooted away, and deliberately angled his body unnaturally just to stay away from her. He pushed a hand at his eyes and dirt mingled with the wet streaks.

“Are you okay, Charlie?”

He sniffled and turned closer to the porch railing. Where Ben was outgoing and talkative, Charlie seemed shy and reticent with both his emotions and thoughts. He was more like Jack.

“Something happen at school?” He had gotten off the bus just minutes before and his backpack was still behind him.

She waited awhile before stretching out her legs. “I went to fifteen schools in thirteen years. I know all about bad days.”

He glanced towards her and she took that as a sign to continue. “My mom moved a lot. She didn’t manage to stay in the same school boundaries very long. I even went back to the same school twice.”

Charlie looked at his feet. “I don’t have a mom.”

“I know you don’t. I didn’t have a dad. It really sucks, huh? At least, you have your uncles too. I had only my mom, and she was often distracted.”

“My dad’s busy too.”

“But not distracted. When he’s with you, he isn’t distracted, is he?”

Charlie shook his head no and rubbed his eyes again, seeming to size her up. Finally, he sighed and said, “My school has a Tea each year for Mother’s Day. If your mom can’t come, you’re supposed to bring your grandma or aunt or some other lady. There’s no one for me to bring.”

Erin paused. The kid was right, there seemed to not be one woman in his life. As Jack told her that night he walked her home: there was far too little female influence in the Rydell sphere.

“Isn’t there a family friend or something?”

Charlie shook his head no again. “There’s Lynnie. But everyone knows she’s our housekeeper, and I don’t want to bring our housekeeper.”

Well, shit.
It wasn’t like she could volunteer to take him. The girl who was having casual, meaningless sex with his uncle wasn’t exactly whom she pictured Charlie’s teacher wanting to be invited to a Mother’s Day Tea.

“What about that girl, Jocelyn?”

“She’s a stupid friend of Ben’s.”

“Hmm. So that’s a no?”

He shook his head, and turned towards her. “Who are you?”

Erin was taken aback. She was barely introduced to Charlie, but really, she’d been on the ranch for more than a month. “I’m Chance’s sister.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “I know that. I mean, aren’t you Uncle Joe’s girlfriend?”

Erin wanted to roll her eyes at that question. And how did Charlie pick up on it? “I’m… yes, I guess I’m Joey’s friend.”
No. No, she so wasn’t.

“Couldn’t you come with me?”

Erin’s mouth opened.
Shit. No.
Jack would kill her if she consented to that. Not to mention the complete inappropriateness of the situation; she was screwing the boy’s uncle for crissake. She couldn’t pretend to be his mother at a school tea party.

“I don’t think that would work.”

Charlie stood up and fisted his hands. “Look around, you’re the only girl here. Who am I supposed to take? There isn’t anyone. It’s not like you’re doing anything else. You’re always just here, doing nothing. Why couldn’t you do this for me?”

Erin stood up. “Charlie, you don’t even know me.”

“So what? You’re a girl.”

“It’s not appropriate.”

“And going alone is? Or to be the only kid there with a man instead of a lady? I’ll look stupid. I don’t want to look stupid. Like I can’t even find any girl to go with me.”

Erin’s heart pinched. Stupid. She knew exactly what it was like to be called stupid in school. There was no worse hell than being known as the stupid one in class.

“I don’t think your father would allow it.”

“What won’t his father allow?”

Erin whipped around when Jack’s voice came from behind her. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He raised an eyebrow at her and then at Charlie, and his eyes narrowed when he saw Charlie’s tears. He came up the stairs, his boots clattering on the wooden steps with each heavy footfall. Erin moved back to give them more room. Jack leaned down on his knees to his son’s height.

“What’s the matter, bud?”

Jack’s voice was different, gentle and kind. The normal, surly briskness was gone. The glacial edge with which he usually laced his tone around her was softer. She blinked. He sounded so different and so kind. Exactly what a father should be to his child. What no man had ever been to her.

Charlie pushed off his dad’s hand on his arm. “Nuthin’.”

Jack glanced up at her. “I heard yelling. Did you do something to him? What’s wrong?”

“She’s bothering me!” Charlie suddenly said, pointing a finger at Erin. Tears gathered in his eyes. “She-she wants to live here and she was bothering me about it! She wants to be Uncle Joey’s girlfriend, but I don’t like her.”

Then Charlie turned and fled into the house. Erin’s mouth dropped opened in shock. Her compassion towards Charlie froze as soon as the little shit blamed it all on her. He sold her out. Like Jack would ever believe her instead of his own son. She shook her head when she felt Jack’s gaze settling on her. He rose to his feet, now looming a foot above her.

“That is not what happened. I was crossing the yard, and I saw him crying up here on the porch. I came up and asked him what the matter was. His school is having a Mother’s Day Tea, and he said he had no one to take. He was crying because he didn’t want to look stupid by bringing you. Then he asked me to take him. I told him it wasn’t appropriate, and that’s when you walked up. I did not come up here to weasel my way in with him. It had nothing to do with Joey.”

Jack’s face didn’t change during her entire tirade. He didn’t believe her.

She kicked the bottom stair in frustration. Wearing her tennis shoes, all it accomplished was to make her toes vibrate in pain. “Why would I use your son? If I’m really plotting to take over the Rydell River Ranch, as you seem so convinced I’m trying to do, why would I approach your younger son? I wouldn’t. I would approach your older son. And that’s beside the fact that it wouldn’t get me anywhere. God, it’s not like I’m after you.”

His eyebrows lifted and his expression seemed strange. She swallowed and quickly snapped her mouth shut.
Shit
. She really said way too much. She dropped her eyes to her feet.

“I actually hadn’t thought you were doing any of that. But it’s good to know you’re not after me.”

She raised her eyes to his. He was smiling.
Jack Rydell was smiling at her.
He was amused by her. How dare he? He obviously suspected she was trying to take his ranch through his brother, and now his son accused her of the same thing. What was she supposed to do? Not react?

“Nor did I think you were trying to use my eight-year-old son.”

She nearly screeched as she turned on her heel to stomp down the steps. Then she spun back around. “Well, then maybe you can quit acting like I’m brainwashing your brother to steal your ranch. You can rest easy; he’s more than moved on from me. I saw him with a brunette and he was getting into her car last night. So now you can do it, Jack. You can fire Chance, and get rid of the white trash now ruining the perfection of your stupid horse farm.”

She spun around again and stomped away. Passing the trailer, she continued down the road and hit the trail that took her to the river. It was a trail she hiked down with her frequent daily trips there. And now, it would probably be her last trip.

****

Jack watched Erin leave. He was surprised flames didn’t ignite under her feet from the friction of her stomps. She was furious. He didn’t move for a moment as he’d never seen Erin lose her temper. She usually was pretty reticent with him, and all of the guys, actually. She kept a low profile and was excruciatingly polite. Jack frowned. He never realized, until then, just how polite she was. Why didn’t he notice how nice she was? How quiet? How respectful? How she managed to stay out of everyone’s way? He’d go days sometimes without actually speaking to her. He saw her, but only because any female would stick out on the place like a purple dinosaur. But really, Erin didn’t seek out any of them. Not even Joey. She… well, shit, he had no idea what she did all day. He knew she went to the river a lot. A freakish amount, in fact. He’d seen her from the pasture, although she didn’t realize it, of course.

She walked down the road each morning and left every few days in the car, but was back within a few hours. That was the extent of Erin’s life, at least, as he saw it. Jack rubbed a hand to his chin. She wasn’t exactly the party child, scheming to ruin his ranch, which he once suspected her of being.

He had work to do and was in the middle of training a new mare when he heard Charlie. And now there was Charlie to deal with. The stupid Tea. Every year, he and his son sat together with thirty women. He tried to sit on the tiny, child-sized chairs at the butcher paper-covered, small tables that his damn pinky didn’t fit under, let alone, his legs. He had to drink out of thimble-sized china cups and eat off flowered plates. He looked as ridiculous as he felt.

But until now, Charlie never minded so much. As long as he was there. Now, Charlie was in third grade, so of course, he cared this year. The pounding started in Jack’s temple as he thought there was always something. Something he didn’t get done, or do right, or someone he was failing, or not getting to fast enough or thoroughly enough. But it should not have been his son. His younger, quiet son, who rarely asked for much. Charlie wasn’t like Ben, who would, one day, run the ranch. Of that, Jack had no doubt. Despite Ben’s current teenage rebellion and limit breaking, Ben was a good kid. He was an outgoing, take-charge kind of kid and he worked hard. He would be tall, strong and very similar to Jack in that respect.

But not Charlie. Charlie was small for his age and had red hair and freckles that shamed him. He spent most of his spare time with his nose in books or off by himself. He didn’t take much interest in the ranch, the horses, the river, or the mountains; not like Ben did. Or the rest of the Rydell men. Charlie was different. Quiet. Shy. Sensitive.

He needed a mother. Jack lowered his head and rubbed his knuckles into his eyes. He could do many jobs, and work his fingers to the bone to accomplish many tasks, but manufacturing a mother for Charlie was something he couldn’t even begin to fake. However, he couldn’t pretend that Charlie wasn’t upset; so Jack turned around and headed inside to find his son.

****

Erin heard a noise. Still terrified of snakes, her eyes always instantly scanned the land around her, no matter where she was or what she was doing.
Jack.
It wasn’t a snake, but Jack, walking through the pine trees toward her.

She stood up, wiping the sand off her butt and kicking it off her shoes. She licked her lips. She should not have yelled at Jack. She should never have approached Jack’s son, and well deserved her eviction tomorrow, which would render her homeless.

Jack came closer to her, but his expression seemed devoid of feeling. She moved her weight from one foot to the other. She didn’t like feeling as though a predatory cat was just waiting to pounce on her. She hated being at Jack’s mercy.

He glanced around before his intense eyes landed on her. They were turquoise-blue, not like the river behind her, but more the color of the ocean in Hawaii.

She also couldn’t wait for him to speak to her. “I shouldn’t have upset Charlie. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t answer her, but came closer. “What is it you do down here?”

She blinked. “What?”

“You’re always down here. Why?”

“Why?” she repeated, somewhat stunned. He wanted to know what she did here? Why would he care? He hated her. She was leaving tomorrow. At the thought of her departure, her stomach churned. The unknown invariably left her nearly breathless.

“It’s safe.” She blurted out the first thing she thought to his question.

His eyebrow lifted. “Safe from what?”

“Not safe from what. It’s a safe feeling. It’s quiet and protected. And beautiful. Look at this. There isn’t another place like it.”