5. Reed

5

Reed

T he hammer clanged against the nail as I fitted the horseshoe on Nova’s hoof. Nova was Bailey’s horse that he kept here at the ranch. A beautiful black gelding, but his looks were deceiving. He truthfully was a pain in the ass.

He yanked his leg back after I got the last nail in, shifting to the side with his ears pinned.

“Yeah, be pissed all you want. It’s done,” I mumbled to him as I tossed the hammer in the bag on the tailgate of my truck. I had a separate trailer I used when I traveled to other ranches for shoeing, but I didn’t bother moving it around ours. My mom made sure I had a full stock of supplies if I was working on the horses here, whether they were rescues or personal horses. I always told her she didn’t need to do that, but she insisted.

“He being an asshole again?” Bailey asked as he came into view.

I grabbed the shoes I’d taken off and tossed them in a bucket. “I was starting to get the feeling you were hiding from me, Cooper.”

He picked at the finger of one of his gloves he was holding as he leaned a shoulder against the side of the barn. “Why’s that?”

I sucked on my teeth, staring at him. “Bein’ an airhead doesn’t look good on you.”

He shrugged. “It got me your sister.”

My stare turned into a glare as he smiled. Cocky Cooper.

“As you’ve reminded me time and time again,” I muttered, shoving the bag further into the bed so I could close the tailgate. After it was shut, I set the bucket beside the bag, then faced Bailey with my arms crossed.

“How’d your date go?” he asked.

My teeth ground together before I asked, “How did you think it was going to go, setting me up with her?”

“Well, you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere, so I’d say it went pretty well.”

“You and Callan are on my shit list.”

“Is that any different than before, or…”

My glare deepened as the sound of tires on dirt came rolling up the driveway to the right of us. I didn’t have to look to know it was Lettie with Brandy in her car. I’d known where she was going when she passed me on her way out and said, “If I’m not back in forty minutes, call a search party.”

Lettie might be scared of Brandy’s wrath, but I wasn’t. She was a force to be reckoned with, that much was certain, but I wasn’t afraid of her by any means. I was probably the only person on this planet that wouldn’t back down from a fight with her. That was our problem—we could battle it out all damn night if it got that far, but she always walked away before it escalated into something worse. I had the slightest idea of why.

“Where’s the Bronco?” Bailey asked as they got out of the car.

“Getting a pedicure,” Brandy said.

His brows pulled together. “Is that code for new tires or something?”

Lettie sidled up beside Bailey, smiling up at him as he wrapped a hand around her waist, still holding his gloves. “No, honey. She was joking.”

I leaned back against the tailgate of my truck, my arms still crossed, as I watched Brandy approach. My eyes didn’t fail to catch the glimpses of bright pink lace shining through the holes in her t-shirt, right where her breasts were. My jaw pulsed with the thought that any guy could see her fucking bra if they looked.

“Got a hole in the radiator. Wyatt is coming by tomorrow to fix it,” she said as she continued past us.

The thought of Wyatt being there, possibly seeing her in this shirt, made me blurt out, “I can fix it.”

“No, thanks,” Brandy called over her shoulder, not bothering to look back.

Bailey and Lettie looked back and forth between the two of us, then braced themselves when I shoved off the truck and followed after Brandy. A mumbled, “Uh oh,” came from my sister.

“Wyatt’s not fixing it,” I grumbled, quickly catching up to her.

She still didn’t spare me a glance as she headed into the med room. “Yes, he is.”

I filled the doorway, watching as she opened a lower cabinet. “And he’ll charge you for it. I won’t.”

She closed the cupboard door a little too hard, whirling on me.

There are those blazing eyes.

“And you will only make it worse.”

“I know how to work on a car.” I didn’t know everything, but I knew the basics, and if Wyatt had already ordered the part, I could pick it up and install it myself.

She snorted, grabbing the clipboard on the wall. My eyes caught on her hand where a long cut had begun to scab over from midway up her thumb to the base of her hand. She approached me to walk out of the room, but before she could slip past me, I grabbed the doorframe, blocking her in.

“What happened to your hand?”

Her nostrils flared slightly as she slowly moved her gaze to mine, her eyes narrowed. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would.”

“That’s too fucking bad. Last I checked, you didn’t have the privilege of knowing jack shit about me. So if you’d get the fuck out of my way so I can get to work, that’d be lovely.”

My fingers gripped the doorframe harder. I was half surprised the wood didn’t break under my hand. “Last I checked, I’m the one who knows the most about you.”

Hurt flashed across her face before she covered it up with the shield she donned the best—masking her emotions with anger. She raised a hand, shoving my arm away. I dropped it to my side as she shoulder-checked me on the way out. I stood there, not bothering to follow after her.

Not giving a shit where she went, I stormed back out of the barn, barely slowing as I said, “Nova’s done for the day. He can go back to the pasture.”

“Got it,” Bailey replied where he still stood with Lettie. No doubt they were trying to eavesdrop.

Instead of sticking around, I headed up to my parents’ house to let my mom know I was leaving for the day. Some days were busier than others, but all I had on my list were the personal horses here at the ranch. The rest of the chores could be taken care of by my family or the volunteers.

After entering the house and rounding the corner, I tapped a knuckle on the office door. “I’m heading out.”

My mom set her reading glasses on the desk, closing her laptop. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.” I walked farther into the room, taking a seat in the chair across from her.

“Have you talked to your brother since he’s been back in town?” she asked.

“Which one?”

She frowned. “Only one of your brothers leaves Bell Buckle on the regular.”

“I know, Mom. I’m just giving you a hard time. Yes, I’ve talked to him a couple times. Nothing serious, though. Why?”

Beckham was younger than me by three years. He’d been into rodeo for ages, him and his best friend getting into bronc riding as kids. They traveled a lot to different events, something about getting more points or some shit I didn’t care to follow, and in between the weekends, he’d stay at friends’ houses. He had essentially been a couch hopper for the last nine years, but as of a few weeks ago, he was back in town.

“He’s moving into that house he bought, and I’d like it if you helped him. You and your brothers.”

“Okay.” I had no problem showing up for anyone in my family, so I wasn’t sure why she was asking like I might say no. “Is everything okay?”

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. “You tell me after you go see him tomorrow.”

That didn’t sound very good. “Have you tried talking to him?”

“I have. He insists everything is fine, but I’m a mother, Reed. I know when things aren’t fine.”

I offered the barest smile, standing from the chair. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Don’t worry yourself sick, Mom. I’m sure everything is fine. He’s probably just moody being away from the rodeo and his friends.”

“I hope so. Your brothers should be there, too, and Bailey already said he would help.”

I dipped my chin. “Sounds good.”

I headed for the door, but paused before walking out, looking back at her. “I love you, Mom. We all do.”

The corner of her mouth ticked up, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know, sweetie. I love you, too.”

Whatever this was, with Beckham and everything else, it would pass.

Though, I wondered if the same would ever be true for me and Brandy.

A big part of me was convinced the feud between us would never end, especially if Brandy had anything to say about it.

But for now, I’d shove all of that aside and focus on my family.