Page 82 of Bull Rush

I don’t want to lean on him any more than I already have—I can’t. Because if this does turn out to have to do with him or his family, the chances that he’ll run again are high. He can go back to the happy version of his life in Ohio, back with all his football friends, and all the laughter and money and fame. The better life—the better version of himself—the one not tangled up in all the misery this place represents.

And I’ll be the one still here. Left alone to run the inn and the ranch the same way I’ve been doing for the last five years—with a broken heart and a mean spirit. One that just won’t seem to let me quit.

THIRTY-NINE

Hazel

In the morningwhen I get up, I can tell Ramsey never came to bed last night. I peek into the guest room to see if he slept there instead, but the bed is already neatly made. If he did sleep there, he’s long gone now. I hoped to at least apologize. I was emotional last night, lost in how scared I was for the horses and my friends. I hadn’t been fair in how I treated him, even if I did think that his conspiracy theories about Curtis were wild allegations. The shower and the sleep has cleared a lot of the pain, and now I just want to clear the air too.

I make my coffee, pour it into a thermos, and stuff a donut from yesterday’s breakfast into my mouth before I make my way out to where Kell and Elliot are already working. My brother, Cade, and one of his friends are helping to get the horses situated in the other barn.

The vet is here, too, working with the two horses that were injured when they were startled by all the commotion. It couldhave been much worse, and frankly, we were lucky that it was just that. Not that we really have funds for more vet bills on top of the ones we are already paying for the rescue horses we took in last month. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.

As I step out onto the back porch, though, I’m met with shock.

“Curtis!” I nearly drop my thermos.

“When I got your text last night about the fire, I just got on the next flight I could and drove out from Denver this morning.”

I didn’t want to believe what Ramsey said last night, but I couldn’t write it off either. Standing here now in front of Curtis, my stomach turns.

“Oh. You didn’t have to do that.” I shake my head. “I’ve got things under control.”

That’s a lie, but I’m getting there. I’d at least managed to pull myself out of my anxiety death spiral and formulate a plan for how I’ll get this all under control. I’m fairly certain Curtis showing up out of the blue is going to ruin it all when Ramsey finds him.

“I just want to be here to help. To support you. However you need.” A sympathetic look crosses his face, and he takes a step forward and kisses my cheek. My heart swells with the fact that he raced up to the ranch from Vegas to be here for me. It’s the kind of guy Curtis is—always thinking about how he can help, asking what he can do instead of just making decisions on my behalf. Not conspiring with my brothers to outmaneuver me.

Amelia’s voice echoes in my head, and I’m starting to wonder if I’ve been letting myself get too caught up in Ramsey’s web to see things for what they really are. If I really have my head on as straight as I think I do.

The hairs on the back of my neck go up a moment later,though, as I feel the breeze whip at the damp spot on my cheek where Curtis kissed me. I glance around, hoping Ramsey wasn’t nearby to see it. It feels like I’m cheating on my husband, and I’m fairly certain Ramsey will have even stronger opinions than that.

“Thank you for doing that. That means so much.” My eyes drift over him, and I offer a small smile before I have to be practical. “But I’m not sure that’s going to work with Ramsey being here,” I say softly, looking down at the boards of the deck.

This isn’t an easy topic, and I don’t know that I have it in me to negotiate this kind of thing today. Not after the emotional and physical drain of yesterday, and especially not before I’ve had my coffee.

“Fuck Ramsey and his delusions. This is serious. The stables burned down. Horses are hurt. You’ve got threats against your life sprayed on the barn. I’m your fiancé. It’s gotten too serious for us to still be playing this stupid game he wants.”

“I appreciate your concern and that you showed up here for me. Truly. But… it’s not a game to him, and I don’t need the added stress. It’s his ranch—legally speaking. He has a vested interest,” I explain even though Curtis is smarter than this. He shouldn’t need this explanation.

“I don’t care. I’m here for you. He’ll just have to get used to it.”

“Don’t you need to be in Vegas?” I question. It’s a Sunday, but I assume he’ll need to be back for training on Monday.

“I don’t care about anything else but you, Hazel. If they want to fire me, they can.” Curtis shrugs like it’s nothing that he’ll lose his job. Like we don’t live in a small town, and he can just as easily pick up another one.

Although, if Ramsey’s suspicions are right, he might push for Curtis to lose his job anyway. I swallow hard. There’s really no might about it. If the Stocktons decide something, there’s nostopping them. They mete out their own justice, and the whole town just has to brace for the impact of it.

“They will fire you, and possibly worse, if we don’t hold up our end of the bargain, Curtis.” I shake my head. I could just imagine them beating him to a bloody pulp and all the guilt I’d feel for it.

“If you’re worried about them, then what if we leave for a bit? We could get you out of here and away from all of this?”

“Leave? I can’t leave. The stables just burned down. I have a million things I have to take care of.”

“You just said yourself it’s Ramsey’s ranch and not yours. Let him deal with the fallout.”

“Legally, not literally. Even still. I have the inn to take care of.”

“I’m sure Grace can handle it. She’s been wanting more responsibility, right? Here’s your chance to give it to her. You can get away and relax, escape all the stress from Ramsey and his drama. We can reconnect. Hell, maybe we can go to a beach, or you could come back to Vegas with me.” Apparently, I’m wrong about Curtis too. He might have come back, but it seems he wants to manage me the same way everyone else does—to his benefit.

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