Heartbreak's Reward (Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight Book 2) (36 page)

It took another ten minutes before she could get control. Once the memories and emotions let loose, they wouldn’t stop. “Chloe needs me.” She left the stall and went to the sink, taking a paper towel to dab at the corners of her eyes. She willed herself to stop crying. Gripping the sink, she closed her eyes, picturing Jase and his smile, and if she thought about it hard enough she could feel his arms around her.
Yes. Hold me, Jase.

The door opened, bringing her out of her muse and she blinked, trying to dry her tears before heading back to her sister. When she entered the gym, Chloe glanced at her and her eyes were misted. Brenna took a seat beside her, ready to lose it again. Without saying a word, Chloe got the black belts’ attention and he came over.

Chloe handed her bag over to him. “I’d like to donate my protective gear to anyone who could use it.” She turned and went out the door.

Brenna followed after her, unlocked the car and they both got in. They hooked their seatbelts and turned toward each other, neither saying a word. Brenna started her car and pulled out of there.

“Can we go to Jase’s ranch,” asked Chloe. “Davy will be there before they go to Judy’s.”

“Of course.” Brenna turned right onto the 60 and headed toward the Double Dutch.

***

When Brenna pulled up at Jase’s, he came out the barn door and waved them over. She’d never seen him that dirty and rugged looking before. His jeans had small tears in them and were filthy. His t-shirt was faded, but in no way took away from the hard body beneath. The scruff on his face was thicker, and she had the sudden urge to run her fingers over it. He pulled his hat low on his forehead and stood waiting. He was one sexy, dirty man, and she wanted to wrap herself up in him, sweaty body and all.

“Bren, I hate to say it, but your boyfriend is kinda hot for an old guy.”

She chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing. Trust me, he’s
not
old.”
Hot for sure!

Chloe opened her door and ran toward Jase and wrapped her arms around his waist. He glanced at Brenna when she stepped out of the car and encircled his arms around Chloe. Her petite, five foot six inch body looked so small wrapped in his arms.
He understands.

At that moment Davy pulled in beside her, said hi, and headed to the barn as soon as he saw her. Chloe left Jase’s arms, and wiped her cheeks. Brenna sniffled, holding back tears again. Chloe spoke to Jase before turning away. Davy put his arm around her and walked away to a side section shaded by the barn. “My God, where did these guys come from?”
Cowboys. Damn.

Jase came toward her. “I take it that went bad. Come here, baby.” He grabbed her into his arms, placed his hand against the back of her head, and held her tight. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against her hair. “I’m too dirty to be holding you.”

Dirty and sexy
. “You’re important to her. She needs you as much I do…almost. You’re correct, it didn’t go well. It’s over, no more of that. Neither of us could handle it.” Brenna hugged him tighter.

“I know what you need.” Jase took her arm and they walked into the barn. He put the bridle on Warrior and walked him outside to the step stand. “Can you hold the reins for a minute? I’ll be right back.”

“Ask him, not me. Will he stay?” Brenna hooked her finger in a belt loop and stretched to give him a kiss. She strummed her thumb across his jaw. “I love you.”

He ran his dirty hand through her hair and she didn’t care. “Honey, I love you, too.” He kissed her again. “He’ll stay with you. I need to run back to the tack room.” She and Warrior both watched him walk away.

“Warrior, he’ll be right back, boy.” Brenna smoothed her hand over his mane and across his warm back. As Jase said before, his mane was the color of her hair. She no sooner spoke to the horse and Jase returned with a cowboy hat and set it on her head. Maybe she’d have to look into buying a hat now that she had boots. Next time, she’d wear them over and surprise him.

“The sun is too hot this time of day. You need to wear this hat.” He backed away and gave her an appraising glance. “Perfect. No matter what time of day or night it is, you always seem to about knock me on my ass.” He motioned toward the horse. “Get on up there, hon.”

Brenna handed him the reins and pulled the hat lower on her head. “Thanks.” She stepped on the stand and threw her leg over Warrior’s back. “Bareback again, I see.”

“You might have a good idea. What do you say?” His lips tilted in a smirk.

“Is that your plan on this horse? Mr. Carlson, shall I be worried about being ravished by you?”

“Not this time, doll. Count on it one day. I want to prove it can be done.” He got on Warrior and walked over to where Davy and Chloe stood in the shade of the barn. “I guess you can see we’re going for a ride.”

“The hat fits you, Bren,” said Chloe. “I do believe this here cowpoke has turned you into a cowgirl. Wait till he sees your boots.”

The secret was out. She peered over her shoulder. “Yeah, dude, she’s right. I bought boots, too.”

“Yeehaa, let’s go.” He pulled on the reins and turned Warrior toward the desert. Looking back, he yelled, “Behave yourselves!”

“You best get us out of here, cowboy, before you get it thrown right in your face from my litter sister.”

“Hold on.” He kicked his heels in and Warrior went into a cantor. “Let it all go, baby, while we ride. Be free like the wind. My horse will do his part if you let him. I should know. I have to do this often myself. He’s like my tranquilizer sometimes.” Jase slipped his arm around her and flapped the reins against Warrior’s neck. “Let’s go boy.” They went into a gallop.

“Don’t let me fall off,” shrieked Brenna. She leaned against his strong chest and held his arm as it was tight around her. Closing her eyes, she put her trust in him and his animal, and let the sadness blow off her like a dust storm.

Leaning into Brenna, he whispered. “We won’t be long. It’s too hot out here for animals and humankind.” Jase nuzzled his scruffy chin against her neck. “I gotcha, honey. Count on me always having your back.”

“Mmm, a pleasant thought.” They rode a ways farther and Warrior slowed to a walk. “It’s so incredible here. Hotter than hades though! I can’t believe I’m riding in the desert when it’s 115 degrees. We must be crazy.”

Jase chuckled. “I’ve been called that before. A monsoon thunderstorm could pop up any minute. Bet you never expected that in the desert. I guarantee you’ll be in one. And count on experiencing a dust storm. Either could happen right now.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “You’re coming to the party, right? My brother has to leave tomorrow. Every time he goes I pray I’ll see him again.”

Brenna squeezed his arm tighter. He hadn’t shown that kind of weakness before, except where his kids were concerned, and she felt his sorrow. “I’ll be at your party. Chloe, too. She likes being at your mom’s now. Maybe the horseback dream of mine for her will come true.”

Jase patted Warrior’s flank. “Horses have a way of growing on ya.” He turned the horse around. “We need to head back. I want to spend some time with Dane before he leaves again, and I have chores to finish.”

“Thank you for this. It’s what I needed.” Brenna leaned into him, removed her hat, and rested her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes and let it all go.

He squeezed her tight. “I need to make love to you, Brenna. Can you remember that?”

“Um hum. You mean right now?” She turned her head to look at him. His eyes held a look of longing, a sexy, heated stare. “How can we?”

“No, not now,” he whispered against her ear. He tapped his heels against Warrior’s side and they took off. “Maybe tomorrow you’ll get on your own horse. Not that I don’t like having you right here up against me, but I think you’ll enjoy it more. The palomino mare is ready for you.”

“Not sure about
more
, but I’ll enjoy her.”

“I trained her for ya, honey. I love you, and she’ll be a great horse for you.”

Brenna had a rush of emotion come over her and her eyes misted. The warm breeze helped to dry her tears, so he didn’t have to know. His caring words moved her.

***

Brenna waited at her car for Chloe to say farewell to Davy. He had planned on staying around to help Jase do some work on the ranch until it was time to go to Judy’s. Jase walked over to her after he got Warrior hosed off and in his stall. “I’ll come pick you up later.” He removed his hat and wiped sweat from his brow. “Davy told me he’s picking up your sister. They don’t plan on staying at the party long.”

“Hmm, I guess that’s normal. Chloe wasn’t sure he’d be at the party.”

“It’s not really a party. It’s family and the ranch hands, mine included. My hand, Max and Tristan’s ranch hand, Selva, have known Dane for a long time.”

Brenna opened her door and turned to him. “What time will you be around to get me?”

“Five-thirty. Maybe Dane will be with me. I’ll take you back home tonight.”

She sunk down into her seat and peered up at him until he knelt at the side of her car. “Drive safe. I’ll see you later.” He stepped back. “Rev your pony for me, baby.”

***

When it was time, Jase let Dane drive his truck to pick up Brenna. “Hey, listen, Jase. I gotta tell you this, but I don’t want the family knowing. You can tell Tristan later.” He pulled into a parking lot, found a spot shaded by a building, and turned the motor off. “Come on.” He went to the back and pulled the tailgate down, took a seat on it, and lit a cigarette he pulled from a pack.

Jase stood in front of him with his arms folded across his chest. “This isn’t going to be good news, right?” His jaw clenched and he expected a painful answer to his question.

Dane shoved his cowboy hat to the back of his head and blew out a puff of smoke. He lifted his booted foot to the tailgate, his knee up against his chest. “It could go either way.” Dane looked away and Jase followed his gaze to nothing in particular. “If it goes bad, I want you to know that my part of the Double Dutch goes to you and Tristan. I should’ve told you before. Make sure your kids and Destiny, and any other ones that come along, have a part of it. Got that? I ain’t got nobody else.” Dane stood and leaned against the edge of the tailgate. Jase remained standing. Stunned.

“Where you headed off to this time, Dane? I know you can only tell me so much, but tell me something.” He pulled his hat lower to shade his eyes and stuck his hands into his back pockets. This news would’ve killed his mother. She’d probably never come back from losing one of her sons.

“Yeah, well, it’s a big mission this time. Big. Not that they all aren’t, but command told us go home and say…well, you know. In case it
does
go bad.”

Jase gulped. This was his little brother talking.
Sonofabitch.
He gave up being a ranch owner to protect the country. Jase would rather have him protecting the ranch. “That seems like a harsh thing to tell a guy before they go out on a job.” His voice cracked and he didn’t care how noticeable it was this time.

Dane sighed and scuffed up the ground with his heel after stomping on his cigarette butt. “That’s the way it is. It’s not the first time they’ve told us that. Even if I knew
all
the details, you know I can’t tell you where.” He lifted his chin and nodded. “Hey, by the way. Save my Harley for Joey. It’ll be an oldie by time he gets to ride it. You know…if you have to.”

Jase didn’t know how much more he could take of hearing this. He stared at the ants on the ground and nodded. He had questions, but the words didn’t come out.

“Hey, I’m planning on coming back. Don’t get all soft on me.” Dane pushed Jase in the chest. “I bet I can still kick your ass.”

“I’m not trained to kill like you are. If you want to try, let’s go.” He cocked his head toward the back of the building and lowered his arms to his side. “It took ya almost thirty-two years to do it. Smart ass, want to prove it?” Jase winked. “Why do you think I’m building these muscles?”

“Well, it took about
twenty
-two years if you want to get technical.” Dane laughed. “Nah, I’d rather fight with you than against you, big bro. You know that. It’s all in fun.” He closed the tailgate and turned to Jase. “Speaking of fun…”

Jase peered at him, ready for anything to come out of his mouth. Dane tried to make light of the subject but Jase couldn’t shake the heavy heart. “What kind of fun you talking about?”

Dane’s eyebrows furrowed and then relaxed. “The blonde. You gonna marry her?” He tilted his head to the side. “It’s obvious how you feel about the woman.”

Jase shrugged. “Damn, Dane, I don’t know.” He shifted his stance and placed his hands behind his head. “I don’t know if it’d be right without my kids here. For them to come home to me with a wife—”

“Do you think you need their approval? You know as well as I do, Jae and Joey would be okay. Nothing else has changed here. You still have their horses and the ranch. They won’t have a problem.” Dane peeked at his watch. “You’ve been miserable long enough. Don’t put things off.”

He wasn’t ready and did need their approval
.
Now he had to deal with maybe never seeing his brother again.
Shit, I hate when life happens.
“Any idea how long this mission will last? When you’ll be able to let me know it went all right?”

“Well, if it don’t go right, it’ll be on the news.”

It wasn’t what Jase wanted to hear.

“Seriously, though, in and out as usual. Getting there and back is the longest part, besides the training we do all the time anyway. We’ve been training hard and long.” Dane balled up his fist and knocked it against the tailgate. “Let’s get the hell out of this heat.”

They got into Jase’s truck and Dane turned the air conditioning on high for a minute, sitting without saying anything. “When I head back tomorrow, we’ll get the rest of the information. It’s possible we’re heading out right away.” He lowered the fan speed. “I’ll let you know before leaving, if possible.” He placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “By the way. I’m being deployed to Afghanistan again.” He sighed and peered into the rear-view mirror. “It is what it is, Jase. This is what I do.” Dane shifted into first gear. “Let’s go get your blonde. Maybe she can find me one.”