Rustler's Heart (A Kinnison Legacy Novel) (18 page)

“I’ll be damned,” Wyatt said. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

***

She stood at the back door and stared up at the black velvet sky awash with stars. She knew what she must do and that Rein would think the worst of her. But what choice did she have? How many times in the past few weeks had she gazed up at the sparkling night sky, amazed by her fortune to have found this place? If such beauty could exist, surely it was by design and not merely by coincidence. That realization gave her a glimmer of hope. Hope that Providence had finally smiled down on her, given her the family she’d always dreamt of, given her security, purpose, and yes, someone to love.
Love
.

She’d been infatuated with Rein Mackenzie from the first time she laid eyes on him. And though he didn’t feel the same, she didn’t regret one moment they had together. When she realized her feelings ran deeper, she hoped that he’d discover something worth fighting to keep. Unfortunately, he hadn’t. Instead, he confronted her with the truth and ended whatever it was they had. Maybe she’d been a fool to think that working together, sharing similar ideas, and working on the cabins during the day, then going to his bed at night would evolve into something more.

The truth was, he’d been honest with her from the start, making it clear that she didn’t really belong here. But she’d let that earlier trait go by the wayside and hadn’t been honest with herself, allowing his perfect body to dominate her thoughts night and day. She’d crossed the line and now she’d pay the price.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and stuffed what few belongings she had in her duffle. Without a backward glance, she stepped out into the pitch-black night. A cool breeze touched her face, cooling the brief tears she’d cried as she packed. Her boots crunched the gravel beneath her feet as she walked up the lane, past the barn. For a moment, her gaze settled on the main house, where most of the windows were dark now. Inside, Wyatt, Aimee, and Dalton slept. They were a family—along with Rein and Michael Greyfeather and his kin. She pressed her lips together, holding back an onslaught of sadness. She’d never truly fit in.

She wondered if Wyatt’s warning to Rein had been out of concern for the two of them, or simply watching over Rein’s reputation regarding the future of the cabin project. After all, what would happen if word got out that the tawdry Vegas half-sister had slept around with Jed’s nephew? An owl hooted in one of the tall pines near the house, and she stumbled, catching her bag and clutching her heart at the same time. The array of wildlife wasn’t something she’d miss, but there was much that she would. It would take time to bounce back from this change, but she knew it was best for everyone that she go.

“Leaving without saying goodbye?”

A gasp tore from her throat and she whirled on her heel to face Rein. He emerged from the shadows of his workshop, wiping his hands on his jeans. As he stepped beneath the yard light, his features seemed sharper, focused. “It’s a long walk to town.”

“I didn’t think anyone else was awake.”

“Clearly. Guess that saves time on messy goodbyes?”

Her spine stiffened. Some nerve this cowboy had. He’d been the one to end things and in truth she should be grateful. While she had planned to leave to protect her family, he’d simply given her the green light not to tarry. “The cabins are nearly done, Aimee’s ready for the baby, and I have a plan to go back to school. I only said that I’d stay until the time came to move on.” She shrugged. “It’s time.”

“And what about us?” he asked taking a step closer. She could see the fire in his blue eyes and frankly, it puzzled her. She backed up until she smacked into the tailgate of Dalton’s truck.

“We’re over. You made that perfectly clear.”

He crossed his arms and regarded her. “How’d you plan to leave?” He sidestepped her comment.

“The main road’s not that far.” She volleyed. “Once there, I figure a friendly trucker will come along sooner or later.”

“Right. And in the meantime, how did you plan to stave off a wolf or bobcat?”

She hadn’t thought of that. “I have pepper spray…if necessary. Besides, Michael says that most wildlife is more afraid of us.”

“Tell that to a hungry mountain lion.”

She sighed and adjusted the bag over her shoulder. “Well, I’m leaving and if you’re that worried about it, you could offer to take me to Billings.”

“Does this have anything to do with the phone call you received earlier today?”

The less he knew the better off they’d all be. It had been almost two hours since she’d given Angelo her flight information. He’d be expecting her soon, telling her again what a bright girl she was in doing what’s best. Yes, best for him, best for Elaina, and more importantly, best for her newfound family. But “best” for her? Hardly, but she had little choice until she could meet Angelo face-to-face. “It’s none of your concern, Rein.” She shifted the bag and turned to leave, jerked back when he grabbed it from her. She stumbled, righting herself and then faced him. Fury seethed through her. “What the hell do you want from me?”

Rein held her bag captive. “Let’s start with the truth. Why are you sneaking off in the middle of the night?”

Despite her desire to keep her emotions in check, her eyes pooled.
Damn him
. She blinked away the tears. “Okay, you’re right. I didn’t want any messy goodbyes.” She reached for her duffle and he yanked it out of reach. “Are you enjoying this? You were right. Isn’t that what you wanted to hear?”

He shook his head. “No, Liberty. I want the truth. This isn’t about me ending things between us, or that the cabins are done. It’s not even about you wanting to move on. There is something else and we can stand here until sunrise, but I swear I’m going to get it out of you.”

She planted her fists on her hips and stared at him. “It’s my life. I can handle it.”

“What aren’t you telling me?” He continued to prod her, though for the love of all that’s holy, she couldn’t understand why.

“Look, when we started this,” she waved her hand in the air, “this, whatever we had, we both agreed not to discuss our past or the future. It was fun. I had a blast. Now give me the damn duffle bag.” An errant tear escaped and she swiped it from her cheek in haste.

He hesitated as though debating whether to relinquish her bag. “And this is what you want—to just leave?”

She released a weary sigh and nodded. Hopefully, he was done asking questions. “Yes, I do. I think it’s best for everyone…if I leave.” She held her hand out waiting for him to hand over the duffle.

“What about you? What’s best for you? Going back to the life you had? The one that you risked everything in order to seek out the half-brothers you hardly knew?” He shook his head. “You’re running scared, Liberty. Maybe it’s time you stopped trying to handle things alone and trust your family.”

“Family or you? Because from the first day you’ve made it clear that I don’t belong here.”

He at least had the decency to look at the ground. She’d nailed him to the tree.

“Guilty.” He raised his eyes to hers. “I admit being hard on you at first. I carried around some prejudices that I didn’t realize were there and I’m sorry about that. I was wrong. I’d never met anyone like you before, Liberty.”

She offered a quick laugh. “Until you wound up in my bed. Amazing how fast perspectives can change, right? Well at least you got the curiosity out of your system.” She saw the flash of hurt in his eyes, but she wouldn’t knuckle under. He’d gotten what he wanted hadn’t he?

“Stop it.” He demanded and took another step toward her.

“Aw come on, Rein. Admit, you were curious. I’m an unusual distraction. Look at me. I’m nothing at all like Aimee or…Sally.
That’s
the kind of woman a man like you is looking for. The kind that will settle down. Be happy to have the white picket fence and a fairytale ending.”

“That doesn’t speak highly of Aimee, or Sally, but I’ll let it go because you’re upset. And for the record, how the hell do you know what I need?” He dropped the bag to the ground with a thud and closed the gap between them.

“Because I know your type. You, Wyatt and Dalton—you’d sacrifice anything for the woman you love. You’re just built that way.” She closed her eyes and turned her face from his piercing look. She couldn’t look at him in the eye. She didn’t want him to see her vulnerability. She didn’t want him to see that she wanted to be the woman he’d sacrifice anything for.

He brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “Maybe you’re exactly the type of woman I need, Liberty. Have you given any thought to that?” His fingers lifted her chin, turning her gaze to his.

She blinked away new tears. “Please don’t do this.” Her warning lacked any punch. She couldn’t take much more. Especially since she’d convinced herself she had nothing left for her here at End of the Line. Her chin quivered.

“Don’t leave us, Liberty. Aimee’s going to need you after the baby comes. Wyatt and Dalton haven’t had near enough time yet to get to know you. You haven’t even experienced a Montana Christmas yet.” He softly touched her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, sending a familiar tingle up her spine.

“And what about you, Rein? You haven’t said why you don’t want me to leave.”

He searched her eyes. “I’d miss you, Liberty. I know what I want, and god-love them, it’s not anyone like Aimee or Sally. But there’s a lot to consider, Liberty. For starters, our difference in age. There are more than a few years between us. I’m settled here. This is my life. You’re just starting out, trying to find your place, what you want in your life. I can’t, no, I won’t ask you to give that up, just so you’ll stay here with me.”

“You’re going to have to give me a better reason than that, Rein.”

He released a sigh. “Because if I do, I won’t know if you stayed because you wanted to or because you thought you might just give this a test run and then leave.”

“You really think I’m that flighty?”

His lips curved into a smile. “Darlin’, you’re taking off in the middle of the night.”

She placed her hand over his. “I didn’t think you’d care. We had an agreement. I tried to hold that up.”

He took her face in his hands. “To hell with the agreement. The truth is I thought I’d be able to keep you and my emotions at arm’s length. But I fell in love with you and the thought scares the hell out of me.”

“Why? Because you think that I’ll drag you along like Caroline did, then drop you for something better? I may be younger than you, Rein Mackenzie, but I’m not stupid.” She leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his mouth. “I’m just glad that Caroline’s not only a snob, but stupid.”

He brought his mouth to hers igniting the need in her as always. Catching her breath, she studied his fiery blue eyes and for the first time, saw her future. But if they were to have a future, she could no longer keep any secrets from him. She had to tell him about Angelo. Unfortunately, his mouth trailing kisses down her throat and his fingers busy with the buttons of her blouse distracted her. She wanted him with a reckless need. It was always that way between them. “Rein,” she spoke his name with a sigh as he caressed her, causing her mind to spin.

“Tell me I’m not imagining this, Liberty. Tell me that you feel the same.”

The cool metal of the truck pressed against the thin cotton of her shirt. He lowered his mouth to hers in a series of hot, relentless kisses. She could barely think, she didn’t want to. She wanted him, all of him. His was the face she wanted to wake up next to every day. “I do feel the same, but there’s something I need to tell you…it’s about my past.”

His hands dropped to her waist and leaned his forehead to hers. She heard his ragged breathing. “I want to strip off these clothes and make love to you right over there, under that tree with the moonlight shining down on your beautiful face.” He sighed heavily as he carefully refastened her blouse. “But we need to talk, you’re right.” He cupped her face and smiled. “But don’t think that this isn’t taking every ounce of willpower to achieve this.” He touched his lips to hers and groaned.

A bright light severed the kiss and Liberty had to blink a couple of times and shade her eyes.

Dalton hurried toward them. Wyatt close behind. “Rein? Thank God you’re still awake.” He flashed the beam toward Liberty, then back to Rein.

“God bless it, Dalton, Can you shine that damn thing elsewhere?”

“Sorry. Rebecca just called. They’ve taken Michael to the Billings ER. She thinks it’s a heart attack.”

“Jesus,” Rein muttered. His eyes darted to Liberty.

“You go. We can talk when you get back.”

“You won’t leave.” Wyatt trotted toward them, his hand came down on Liberty’s shoulder. Dalton was already in the truck. “I need a favor, Liberty. Aimee’s too tired to make the trip. I let her sleep. Can you stay with her?”

She nodded, relieved that it appeared no one else had seen her duffle bag and started asking a bunch of questions.

“You coming, Rein?” Dalton shouted from the cab.

“Go.” She placed a quick kiss on his mouth. “I’ll be here.”

***

Rein hated hospitals. They conjured up ghosts in his past, unpleasant ghosts of memories that up to now he’d kept tucked away in a dark corner of this mind. He tossed his empty coffee cup in the trash and glanced at Rebecca seated with Betty in the Emergency waiting room. More than an hour had passed since they arrived. It’d taken Betty less than twenty minutes to show up for one of her oldest friends. She’d made a beeline for the older woman, who in Rein’s eyes, had never looked as weary as she did at this moment. Rebecca had always appeared calm, strong in the face of adversity.

“Have you called the girls?” Betty asked. Rebecca nodded and collapsed into the purple and gray waiting chair. The hospital had touted the recent makeover provided for by private donations. The colors were result of a study done that showed that they could provide greater calm to those in traumatic situations. Rebecca sniffed and looked up at Betty, her eyes filled with concern.

“I can’t stand this.” Clearly, the color scheme hadn’t worked on his brother, Dalton. “I’m going to go see if I can find someone who knows what the hell’s going on.”