Page 74 of Bull Rush

I’m not leaving this ranch until I get to the bottom of what’s happening. No way am I letting Hazel stay here alone or, worse yet, with Curtis until I had answers. And my brothers are going to cooperate with my investigation, whether they like it or not.

THIRTY-FOUR

Hazel

“I’m sosorry it’s taken me this long to get some time in with you,” I apologize as I sit down in the dining room with Amelia.

“No worries at all, sweetheart. I’ve been having a lovely time. Grace has kept me busy with all the different excursions to antique markets and visiting with the horses. It’s been lovely just to sit and read in the library too.” Amelia gives me a soft smile as she places her napkin on her lap.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve been having a good time. It’s just been a wild few weeks around here, and I’m barely able to keep up.”

“It does seem busy around here. Like you might need to start thinking about hiring some more help.” Amelia gives me a pointed look before she sips her water.

“Oh, yes…” I feel a bit of shame at the fact we don’t have as many people on staff as I’d like, but we need to cut any corners that we can afford to. “I’m hoping next season. It’s so late in this one that it didn’t make a lot of sense. It’s pretty quiet here in the winter.”

“Still focused more on the horses, then?” She nods out the window to where Kell is bringing a couple of riders and their horses into the stables.

“They’re still a big focus, yes.” Amelia, who’d run her own real estate business when she was younger, always likes to give me a little bit of unsolicited business advice when she visits.

“It doesn’t seem like many people from the inn are riding though?” Her brows raise in curiosity.

“No, lately it’s been mostly older folks who’d rather feed them some sugar cubes or carrots than ride. A few folks come up from the city for lessons though.”

“That’s too bad. Have you considered closing down the ranch?” Amelia’s blunt with a side of sweetness. She has the ability to laser-focus in on the questions that cut to the heart of something that’s been bothering me, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve always liked her. There’s no beating around the bush with her or time for gentle hand-holding and discussions about the weather. It’s just raw and unfiltered thoughts and questions that make me feel like she could run an excellent interrogation ring.

“It’s crossed my mind, but we have boarded horses and rescues here, so it’d involve a lot more than just me changing my mind on a whim. I have commitments. People and horses that I care about deeply.”

“Well, if it’s the right business decision, it’s not a whim. If you closed down the ranch, I’d imagine you could sell off a lot of this property. Focus more on your inn.”

“I’ve thought of it. My fiancé and I talked about it at one point.” Curtis had a similar opinion. Sell the ranch, keep the money and use it on the inn, reduce the costs of the ranch staff and upkeep, and focus on excursions at local public parks andforest preserves rather than trying to be a one-stop shop for everything. It isn’t a bad idea, but it means making choices about the Stockton family land and legacy that I’m not ready to make. Ones that I couldn’t now on my own, even if I wanted to.

“Yes, I’ve been wondering where your fiancé is. I haven’t seen him around. You said you were on a break? Something about your ex-husband?” Amelia looks at me thoughtfully, her brow slightly furrowed.

“Oh well… about that… we’re on a bit of a hiatus, I guess you could say. Or, at least, I think it’s just a hiatus. I’m really not sure at this point.”

“Oh dear. What happened? You seemed so happy!” She reaches over to me, and her face clouds with concern.

One of the waiters sets down Kit’s famous breadbasket in front of us and fills our water glasses, letting us know that they’ll be out with the first course soon before I can answer.

“Well… like I mentioned a bit before, it turns out I’m still married. Fluke thing with the paperwork, and we’ve just figured it out. We have a waiting period before they’ll let the divorce go through, and in the meantime, I’m stuck with my ex. He’s going through some legal trouble, and he needs some stability. This is his family ranch, and most of his family and friends still live around here, so he came home while we wait for all of that to go through.” Trying to explain this whole predicament makes me feel like I’m living a soap opera, and I cross my legs nervously under the table. I imagine to someone like Amelia, who oozes so much money and class, I look like a mess in her presence, that this whole thing seems like some backwoods drama.

“Curtis was just okay with all of that?” Amelia’s frown deepens.

“No, but he’s practical. He was called away for workanyway, so being on hiatus kind of works for us really.” It seems easier to just tell her what we’ve been telling everyone else.

“It doesn’t sound like it’s working for you. It must be killing you to be separated from someone you love so much.” Amelia looks at me sympathetically.

“Yes, it’s hard.” I swallow because, if I’m honest with myself, I’ve been so caught up in Ramsey lately that I’ve barely thought about Curtis. We’ve barely kept up with texting each other, and I’ve only spoken to him twice on the phone since the incident with Ramsey. Things are as distant between us as they’ve ever been. He’s grown increasingly cold whenever he talks to me, and I can tell he’s not as content with the Ramsey situation as he claimed to be.

“Have you tried calling him to talk through it? Maybe see if he could rearrange his work plans and come back early? Or are you not hoping to make things work?” Leave it to Amelia to ask the questions I don’t know how to answer.

“I…” I don’t even have a good boilerplate response, let alone a real answer. Not when I really listen to my gut. I’m torn. “I’m not sure what I am right now, to be honest. Having my husband back has been a change... And while he’s got a lot of flaws, there’s a lot about him that I’d forgotten how much I’ve missed. You know?” I regret the words almost as soon as I say them when I look up and see the disappointment in her face. I’m sure I sound like someone who wants to have their cake and eat it too.

“I can’t say I do. My ex, the one I was married to before my dear sweet Louis.” She looks thoughtfully into the distance as she thinks about her second husband, who passed away a few years ago, and then blinks before she resumes. “That man was a nightmare. He was cruel and unthinking. He always put himself first. Never taking care of his family. Running off to do God knows what God knows where instead of having hispriorities straight. He always brought his work home with him. I’m grateful for my children, but that’s the only good that ever came out of that man.”

I nod along my understanding as our first course is brought to the table, and she looks livid just thinking about her ex. I never felt quite that kind of blind animosity for Ramsey. There was mostly just a gaping hole of misery that turned into bitterness over time.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I can’t imagine.”

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