Page 125 of Dust Storm

Claire smiled. “He just nodded and said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ And that was that. Or so I thought. The next day I showed up to work and he had a tablecloth over my desk. You know—the one you and Christian use now. It’s the same one. There were candles and flowers. He said we’d have a business meeting instead, then grilled me a steak.” She cut her eyes to me. “Steak is the way to my heart, and I was a broke college graduate. I didn’t say no. Slowly but surely, he wore me down. Popping with flowers he picked in the fields. Teaching me how to ride. Taking me on horseback rides when the day was done. Leaving me little notes on my desk.”

“That’s sweet.”

“I thought so too. We kept things professional. Never crossed any lines. That was, until I had been here a year and it was time for a performance review. I was gonna ask for a raise. So, I sat down with Silas’s daddy—the Griffith brother in charge at the time—and made my case.”

I was hanging on her every word. “Did you get it?”

“Well, not exactly.” Claire clasped her hands together. “He told me I’d have to talk to Silas, since my paycheck was coming out of his.”

I gasped. “No…”

“You can imagine how angry I was. I thought I had a legitimate job. I was putting away money so I could move away. But I had been here a whole year and fell in love with this land and a goddamn cowboy, whether I liked it or not.”

My throat tightened. “He convinced you to stay.”

“No, his momma did,” she said. “There weren’t other women around here, so she and I got to know each other real well. Oneday I asked her how she put up with the boys being gone all day long, barely coming in to eat dinner and sleep. You know—being the good wife when she didn’t get much out of it.”

Claire’s eyes locked on mine and I could feel the shift. We weren’t talking about her and Silas anymore.

“This life isn’t for weak women, Cassandra. When Silas was running things, I carried half the load. I raised the boys, took care of the house, kept the books and tried to keep us out of bankruptcy, while he was building onto the legacy of the Griffiths that came before him. I found that I liked the solace of living away from the city. The quiet was exactly what I needed after long days. It takes a strong woman to carry that load, and Silas knew that. It’s why he smiled at me when I told him off the first day he showed up in my office.”

I swallowed the rock that lodged in my throat.

She reached over the rocking chair arms and squeezed my hand. “It’s not for everyone. That’s for damn sure. But I see the women that my boys set their sights on, and know they learned from their daddy.” She patted my hand before letting go. “It takes a strong cowboy to put up with a bull, and a strong woman to put up with a cowboy.”

26

CHRISTIAN

Two weeks.

She ignored me for two goddamn weeks.

I was about to lose my fucking mind if I walked into that office one more time to find she had already done whatever I needed to do, just so I didn’t have a reason to be around her.

I wasn’t sure when she had learned how to handle all the administrative tasks I was in charge of, but I sure as hell didn’t like it.

Two weeks of her disappearing between five o’ clock and nine o’clock, then slipping into her room like a thief, taking little pieces of me with each burglary.

I wiped the grease off my hands with a stained shop towel and let out a breath as I laid on my back and stared up at the conglomerate of metal tractor parts.

I shouldn’t have pushed her like that.

I shouldn’t have let my temper get the best of me.

I lost my shit, and I lost her.

But did I really have her to begin with?

It didn’t matter now.

I eased out from under the tractor and sat up, resting my forearms on my knees. It had been quiet around the front of the property today. Ray had gone back to Houston and had made it through three rounds of the bull riding competition. The girls were at school. Cassandra was avoiding me. CJ and the boys were working to move the herd to the far side of the land so they were out of range of the groundbreaking ceremony.

Of course, construction on the lodge and restaurant wouldn’t start for half a year. But Cassandra insisted that, for it to be a success with the locals, we needed a celebration that brought them in from the start, not just when they had to battle tourists for a table.

So, we were throwing a damn party. The quiet wouldn’t last for long.

I cleaned up my shit and put it away, taking the time to sort the tools back onto the wall hooks, rather than leaving it for tomorrow. Glancing at the time, I realized it was almost five.

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