Page 29 of Aisle Be The Groom
Matty grunted what sounded like an apology without the words and walked away.
“I swear that boy gets worse by the day.” Gertie patted my shoulder. “Don’t pay him any mind, Ozzie. He must have been kicked in the head one time too many. Or he’s spent too much time around those horses of his.”
I gave her a wobbly smile. Why had I come? Nothing was working out. Even Gray was avoiding me now. I might as well pack my things and leave. No one would miss me. Carter probably wouldn’t even know I’d left until he arrived for the wedding to find himself without a groom.
“Hey, I’m going into town,” the man next to me said. “You can ride with me.” His voice was gruff, but his eyes held a kindness that was far more than I’d received from my fiancé’s brother.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”
He nodded. “I’ve got some stuff to pack in the truck, but I should be ready to leave in fifteen.”
“That’s taken care of, then, love,” Gertie said.
Well, Gertie was the sweetest ever. If she approved, I would be fine. “Thank you so much. By the way, my name’s Ozzie.”
“Hudson.”
10
GRAY
The low mooing of a bull about to be vaccinated cut through the scorching afternoon sun, mingling with the clinking of metal gates and the soft thuds of hooves against the dirt. From a distance, I watched, arms crossed, as one of the ranch hands skillfully maneuvered the large animal into the squeeze chute. The bull, a magnificent Charolais with a coat that shimmered like the snow-capped peaks in winter, flicked his large head back to view the ranch hand who approached him. The animal’s frustrated huffs of breath reminded me of the way Ozzie had looked at me this morning when I bailed on him. All wary, like I had some hidden motive for abandoning him.
Surely, he had understood how awkward it would have been to walk back to the house side by side with the lingering taste of his cum on my tongue. But even more awkward was the need to know what the rest of him tasted and felt like.
I’d had no choice but to leave at that very moment before I made everything worse. He shouldn’t take it personally.
You’d have felt some type of way too. He’s new to the ranch, and you just left him there.
I let out a groan and lowered my head, kicking a stone with the toe of my boot. Leaving him alone hadn’t been a smart move, but no surprise there. I’d been making stupid decisions one after the other since collecting Ozzie from the airport.
This was Carter’s damn fault. Had he picked up his fiancé like he was supposed to, none of this would have happened. Ozzie wouldn’t have been wandering on the outside with me. We wouldn’t have been trapped in the barn together. I wouldn’t have known he liked to wear lacy underwear.
Sweet mercy, but that had been a pleasant surprise…and not something I should be thinking about while overseeing the vaccinations. But the imagery of Ozzie’s naked body played in my mind anyway, as stubborn as the Charolais who’d refused the squeeze chute.
“Dad!”
I snapped my spine straight. Shit. How would I survive this guilt if the sound of my son’s voice sent my heart into overdrive?
Matty tramped across the dusty divide with his long, confident gait. My chest swelled with pride. Every inch of him from his dust-covered boots to the worn Stetson that hung at an angle over sharp, blue eyes screamed of a seasoned rancher. If I died tomorrow, I had every faith Matty could run this place. It was what Carter did with his half that bothered me. No matter how I wanted him to pitch in and help Matty, I couldn’t force him to have the same love for this ranch we did.
“What’s up?”
Matty halted a couple of steps away from me. “I’ve been trying to reach you. Travis is running late. Says there’s an emergency at Lawson’s ranch that he has to take care of first.”
“It’s not serious, is it?”
“He didn’t say.”
I furrowed my brows. An outbreak of brucellosis had recently affected two smaller ranches, one of which had been too lateto contain. Our priority was being vigilant and immediately isolating any animal that showed symptoms. With our large herd, an outbreak could spell trouble. While outbreaks of diseases and natural disasters came with the territory of ranching, no one wanted to wake up one day to find their livelihood decimated.
Ranching was hard work. Sometimes it was a fight against nature that we couldn’t win, yet we kept on fighting. But I would be lying if I said the thrill of the unexpectedness didn’t drive me.
“I’ll check in with Lawson later and see if he could do with some extra hands.” After years of struggling to keep his ranch when his ex-husband robbed him blind, Lawson had finally gotten back on his feet. If he lost everything again, he would be devastated.
“While you’re at it, why not bring Carter’s fiancé back to the airport?”
I frowned, balling my hands into fists. Matty’s treatment of Ozzie got on my nerves. He wouldn’t even try to get to know Ozzie a little. “Why are you giving him a hard time, Matty?”
