Page 18 of His to Keep

“Later. Sure I’ll be seeing you around,” my brother returns. I look over at Sutton, nod my head from her to the counter, letting her know what I’ve done. She gives me a wave in acknowledgement, and then I head out of the diner.

EIGHTEEN

SIENNA

“The cat is going to be out of the bag now.” The relief rolls off me in waves as I have a sense of déjà vu getting out of the truck after working with Genny all day. This morning, I dodged a bullet. I could tell it pissed Trey off that I didn’t respond. After a good long talk with Genevieve, I let her know I’d be talking to Trey and Amos, and with the way the two of them cackle like hens, everyone would know, and we should probably start getting the storefront up and running sooner rather than later.

I’m once again a mess, and there’s no way to sidestep Trey since he and Champ are sitting on the front porch. Trey has a beer in one hand and his other is petting the top of Champ’s head. Both look content and happy for good reason.

The minute my truck door slams shut, I’m moving up to my two guys. Champ is taking the porch steps two at a time to get to me. I’m kind of surprised because I haven’t seen him in quiet some time. So, either Tully is a miracle worker, or Trey is, or both of them. There’s a collar around his neck and two tags jingling together. I know Tallulah vaccinated him, which meant he received a county tag, but the other one looks to be in shape of a dog bone. Upon further investigation, I realize it has his name, phone number, and address engraved. I’m holding back the water works, barely. This has Trey written all over it.

“Look at you, big guy. You’re clean and happy, not like you were a few days ago.” I drop to my knees, abandoning my bag to give him all the attention he wants and deserves. Champ drops to his back, going belly up for me to keep on petting him. I continue to do his bidding. It’s not until my back starts to ache that I stand up and head for Trey.

“Hey, sugar, you want a beer?” Trey pretends like I’m not a filthy mess, I’m home later than normal, or that he hasn’t handed me everything on a silver platter.

“Not much of a beer drinker.” Champ follows me to where Trey is sitting. He’s got a small cooler packed full of beers like he and Amos usually have.

“Some things never change. You wanna tell me why you look like you’re caked in mud and like you’ve been wrestling?” Trey jumps right on in.

“Sure, after you tell me how much I owe you for everything for Champ, and I don’t mean the vet bill. I mean the collar, the tags, what I’m sure is dog food, dog treats, toys, and a bed.” I’m hoping I can deflect enough attention off myself and piss him off about money than me keeping a secret.

“Everything’s inside. Dog food is courtesy of Tully, so you’ll have to complain to her. The rest of the shit, I’m not worried about.” He takes a deep pull of his beer, downing what has to be most of the bottle in one go. “Don’t want to start an argument, but you not saying anything says it all. You’re hiding.”

His words should not piss me off, except they do. I didn’t want to be forced to tell him what Genevieve and I have going on. This was supposed to happen next week, not when Amos isn’t here, and what I really wanted was to tell the two men I love the most the dream I’ve created.

“I am hiding. I don’t want to hear I told you so. Okay!” I start pacing the front porch, staying out of reaching distance. His hands on me right now wouldn’t allow me to continue my snit. “The two of you jerk faces were right. Pushing me away from Arrowleaf, making it to where it seemed like I wasn’t wanted was the right thing to do. I found myself. I found my true calling, and admitting that has been the hardest damn thing ever.” I take a deep breath, stopping in my tracks near the front door.

“And now you’re scared to tell me what it is you’re doing after going to school and finding a passion that has you so riled up, you’re damn near yelling?” Trey’s octave goes up a notch.

“Yes, damn it, you should know what I’m talking about all too well. Look at you and Amos with the bison deal you two are pulling together. You’ve kept that close to the chest for how long now? Well, Genny’s and my intentions were to make this a success and then tell everyone.” Champ starts whining, prancing back and forth on his feet, nervous energy swirling all around him. It’s time we take this down a notch. All of us being upset is only going to make things worse.

“Sienna, I don’t care what you do, if it’s a success or not. Though, I’ve known you a hell of a long time. You and Amos both touch anything, and it’s a success. You’ve got the drive and sheer determination to do anything you put your mind to.” His hands go up in the air. Champ starts amping up, and the only thing I know to do is to walk away, at least until we’ve calmed down a little, especially for the dog.

“Sorry, buddy, we won’t do this in front of you again.” I bend over, giving Trey my back and Champ my full attention again. Trey remains silent, allowing me the time to calm him down. “Yeah, that’s a good boy. You’re alright.” He pops a squat on my foot, relentless in needing me. Dear god, whoever had this baby before really did a number on him, and it’s going to take a lot of reassurance for him to always feel safe when voices are raised.

“I’ve learned to make pottery.” My chest rises and falls. I may as well spit this out. “Genevieve and I took a few elective classes at the college. We both chose pottery, though she was abysmal and dropped the class. The next one we took included painting. She rocked that, and because I’ve always loved to draw and design, I excelled at it, too. Though, I prefer working with pottery and painting on the side. We graduated and both took marketing and business classes. Genevieve had the harebrained idea we should try and make this a business venture. Two months ago, she built a website, worked on building social media, and we sold out within an hour. Our next move, we knew we had to offer a preorder and also have enough of a supply to avoid angry customers. My plan didn’t include telling you or Amos right away. I’m sure that wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I wanted to wait, show you how successful it is, to see we’re in the black and even offer custom pieces now.” The weight is officially lifted. There’s no more hiding. Two Chicks Designs is officially out there about the ownership. I look deep into Trey’s blue eyes and finish my statement, “The reason why I’m always dirty, working more hours than most, come home and am dead on my feet is because I’m doing something I genuinely love.” With those parting words, I open the front door and step inside. Champ darts in front of me, and sure as shit, there’s a new basket sitting next to Case’s, only this one is full of chew toys, stuffed animals, and ropes. In the other corner there’s a dog bed, and I’ll bet Trey got one for my bedroom, too. God, I love this man so damn much it hurts, and I really hope what I just word vomited doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass.

NINETEEN

TREY

Ain’t no goddamn way I’m going to let Sienna walk away without her hearing what I’ve got to say. I’m at the entrance to the house, hand on the latch for the screen door when the heavy wood shuts in my face. I turn the knob and see her standing there, stone-cold still, her back to me, an arm up, and I can tell she’s got her hand placed over her heart.

I take another step, close the door behind me, and then move straight to her. Champ is currently walking in a circle inside his dog bed, pawing at it like a blanket, which I guess the next time I’m at the store, I’ll pick up a couple. Sienna doesn’t take her eyes off the Border Collie, and I move in closer. My arm wraps around her middle, and I pull her into my chest, dipping my head and giving her the words she deserves.

“Proud of you, sugar, what you and Genevieve got going on. It takes a lot of courage to go out and do this on your own.” Sienna’s head tips backwards, head turning so we’re looking at one another, and I keep going. “I hated it, fuckin’ hated every damn minute of pushing you out my door that last time. It ate at my gut, sliced open my soul, and it took all I had not to chase after you. The pregnancy scare you had, part of me wished I’d have knocked you up to keep you tied to me. I know better to even think like that. Amos and my whole damn family would have skinned me alive. I’d have deserved it, too.” I slide my lips to the shell of her ear. “And while you were away, I threw myself into work. Stayed away as much as a man can, and when you came home, I knew it was only a matter of time until we’d be back together. But watching you leave, seeing the light dim in your eyes each and every time, that killed me, Sienna. Still, glad like hell you got out of Arrowleaf to find what you’re passionate about.”

I don’t go into detail on how I know how fucking scary it is to sink your life savings into a new venture. That’s a completely different type of animal. Your money could be gone in a matter of days if shit goes sideways. I get why she kept shit quiet. Hell, Amos and I should have done similar. I was pretty sure my last name was fucking us over until Amos sent a text early this evening and saying we’re good to fucking go. He was heading to Texas in the next week to pick up our herd. We could have very well gotten ours from somewhere local, but Amos has a friend down in Texas who just did some cross breed, and the stock looked too damn good to pass up. Before he took his much-needed vacation, Amos asked if I’d take over the farm while he went down there to transport them back. Who knows what will happen now? I’ve got no problem doing it again, this time for purely selfish reasons.

“Thank you, Trey. I had no idea how much I needed to hear those words until just now.” Sienna turns her curvy little body into mine, arm hooking around my neck and reaching for me.

“Don’t gotta thank me, sugar. I’d do anything for you and support you no matter what.” She’d do the same for me. Hell, she is now by not questioning why Amos and I would want to start a completely different type of herd when our families have been in the cow industry all along.

“That’s a good thing, because Genevieve thinks a storefront will be coming sooner than we thought.” A look of shock crosses Sienna’s face with her admission. “Shit, I just blabbed when I told Genny I’d keep that between us for the time being. Obviously, the storefront part needs to stay within these four walls for now, and if word gets around, I know it’ll be from you.” I quirk an eyebrow. “Genny holds a secret like no other.” Sienna uses her stern voice on me. One day, it’ll be our children she’ll be using that tone with.

“Your secret is safe with me. Now, how about I clean you up and then get you dirty in the shower?” I’ve been thinking about her naked all damn day. Getting to soap her body up has me feeling some type of way. Especially knowing what she has beneath her clothes.

“I’m not one to object when it comes to anything to do with you, Trey.” My hands grip her hips, and I walk her backward. Champ stays where he’s planted. Tully mentioned he’d probably sleep a lot the first couple of days till he adjusted to the quietness, then to be prepared because he’d do mischievous shit once he knew the lay of the land. The whole time we’re walking together, she’s got one hand going to the buttons on my shirt, undoing each snap button, then a shoe is kicked off from her foot, and even the overalls she wore today are now in a pile on the floor. By the time we make it to her room, half our clothes are off, and Sienna is leading me closer to the bathroom in only a tee and a pair of underwear that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. The damn things are completely see-through, front and back.

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