Broken (Brody Brothers Book 4) Read online

  “If we’re going out on the town, you’re wearing those kind of shoes, because they make your legs look a mile long, and your ass a fuck-me-now masterpiece,” he announced, surprising her even as he slowed down to accommodate her much shorter steps. She hadn’t thought he’d noticed what those heels did for her posture. “But here at Green Rock, a ranch populated by a bunch of guys who haven’t seen anything but ugly-ass cattle for days on end, you’re going to wear dowdy shit unless you’re by my side. If you’re with me, you can be sexy as fuck, like you are now, and every horny cowhand from here to the Rio Grande can eat their damn hearts out.”

  “The things you say,” she marveled, shaking her head while everything girly inside her went all aflutter. “I want to be mad at you for announcing what I can and cannot wear, but I’m too busy squeeing over how you think I’m sexy as fuck. How am I supposed to keep you in check when you’re so charming I can’t even breathe around you?”

  “My advice? Just roll with it and forget all about that crazy talk of keeping me in check. That shit’s never going to happen. Now,” he went on as he at last brought them to a halt outside a barn door, “tell me what’s wrong.”

  She blinked. “Wrong?”

  “When I came into the kitchen, you looked like you needed saving. Did Dallas and the others bother you? I know they can be kind of a lot—”

  “No, no, they’re fine. They’re great, actually. I’m the one who’s the problem.”

  That earned her a scowl. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re fucking perfect. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, not even my sister.”

  “She didn’t,” Winnie hastened to say, while a part of her brain lingered over that one comment she’d often thought about him. You’re fucking perfect… “She and the others were so great—welcoming and friendly and fun. I was the one who was a total bitch.”

  “You?” The shock in his expression was weirdly comforting, like he couldn’t imagine her being bitchy. “What’d you do?”

  “Nothing,” she assured him, then grimaced. “I mean, at least outwardly I didn’t do anything. Outwardly I was nice to everyone there. But in my head, I wasn’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I discovered they’d all gathered there at the main house, I sort of jumped to the worst possible conclusion.”

  “Which was?”

  “That they’d shown up at the main house to let me know I didn’t belong there, like they were an older version of the mean girls I had to deal with back in school.”

  “But they weren’t.”

  “No, of course they weren’t.” She blew out a breath and tried to find the words to explain. “The thing is, it never occurred to me that they were there just to enjoy each other’s company. That’s what’s bothering me.”

  “You’re upset that that they forgot to tell you about busting in on the house where you’re staying?”

  “No, though I’ll admit a heads-up on that would’ve been nice.” Again she grimaced and looked down at the spangles on her sandals. “My point is that I did the same thing with them that I did with you. I assumed the worst of them without even considering there might be another, totally innocent explanation. And that says one hell of a lot about who I really am deep down, and I can’t tell you how much that upsets me. My father always believed the worst in people—never thought anything good about anyone his whole life. I guess that means I’m more like him than I ever imagined.”

  “You’re nothing like that shitheel, woman, so stop that kind of crazy talk.” He pulled her into his arms and squeezed her so hard it was almost like he was trying to crush that thought out of her. “Listen to me. You were raised on cruelty, and I understand what that’s like. Because of that, part of you thinks cruelty’s the only thing the world is ever going to offer you. So yeah, your first instinct is to suspect someone’s out to get you, and it might take you a while to figure people out. But you always try to figure people out, Winsome,” he added, his lips brushing the top of her head. “That’s what I find so fucking impressive about you. You still believe there’s goodness in the world, so you’re constantly looking for it in the people around you. In the end, you never give up on looking for goodness, and that’s fucking beautiful, baby.”

  She tried shaking her head, but she was held so tightly against his chest it was almost impossible to move. “You don’t know that about me. I don’t even know that about me.”

  “I know you wanted to go out with me, even when you believed all I wanted from you was Smiley Lake,” came the surprising reply. “I know you were willing to get to know me even though you’d been raised to think the Brodys were rattlesnakes. You gave me the benefit of the doubt, even when you knew trusting the wrong person can destroy you.”

  “Des—”

  “And just now with Dallas and the others, you gave them a chance, even when you believed they’d gathered there to hassle you. That’s a huge risk you took joining them like you did, but you did it. You took that risk because you’re nothing like your father. In your heart you believe there’s goodness in people. And you believe in it because deep down, you know you’re a good person. That shitbird, Able Smiley, was never able to take that from you. He tried, but he couldn’t kill your goodness. He couldn’t kill your hope. I fucking love that about you.”

  At last she was able to tilt her head up so she could look at him, all the while hating that he could see the tears in her eyes. “How do you know so much?”

  For a moment, his eyes reflected an ocean of pain she instinctively knew he never shared with anyone. “Because I know what it’s like to have someone try to kill not just your body, but your soul. I know how hard it is to believe in anything like goodness when there’s nothing but evil in your world. I know what it is to be helpless and hopeless. And I know how hard it is to leave that darkness behind when it’s the only damn thing you’ve ever known. But you’ve got the strength to do it, baby girl,” he added, giving her another squeeze. “I know you don’t think you do, but I’m here now. Whenever you push past that darkness because you believe there’s good in the world, I’m going to point that shit out to you. Eventually you’re going to see what a miracle you are.”

  Her throat tightened so much it made her nose tingle and her eyes burn. “I’m nowhere near as good as you think I am.”

  “And you’re nowhere near as bad as you think you are. You’re sure as hell nothing like that piece of shit father you got saddled with. Now,” he pushed the barn door open in invitation, “it’s time for you to turn that frown upside down. I’m about to make your day.”

  She immediately balked. “Uh, you want me to go into a barn? Like, with animals in it?”

  “Yeah, but I’m not going to take you to see the bulls, I promise. Trust me?”

  She loosed a low breath, and let go of the last of her defenses. “I do.”

  His smile was more than worth it. “Then let’s go.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The powerful scent of hay greeted Winnie as she went from bright sunshine to the relative cool interior of the barn, and she blinked several times to get her eyes adjusted. Once they did, she was surprised to find that instead of the basic wide aisle most barns had that separated large animal stalls, she found they were in a type of commercial reception space that looked very little like a typical barn.

  A rough-hewn, wooden modular wall greeted them, with the top of the wall graced with a metal arch identical to the arch over the dirt road welcoming people to Green Rock Ranch. In addition to that sign, a trio of large photographic portraits of Black Angus bulls hung on the wall illuminated by pin spotlights. The names of the bulls were engraved on little gold plates under each portrait—Magnus, Dominus and Invictus—with the rolling, oak-studded hills of Green Rock Ranch as a majestic backdrop for each. The polished frames themselves were made up of the green malachite for which the ranch was named, and small cardholders holding information were bolted onto the wall beside each portrait.

>   “Welcome to the Stud Barn, though we like to call it the Bachelor Pad.” Des came up behind her and nodded to the portraits. “Magnus, Invictus and Dominus are basically Green Rock Ranch, and who we Brodys are. They’re all former champion bulls, of course, but more than that they’re famous within the cattle world for siring the next generation of world champions. We send out millions of dollars’ worth of straws—frozen Angus seed—all around the world, and every time another one of their progeny ultimately shows itself to be a record-breaking monster, we get orders from people clamoring for more.”

  She looked to the portraits. “Impressive. Nothing lives forever, though. How long can these guys go until you retire them?”

  He pointed to the first portrait. “Magnus just turned twelve and his motility rates are starting to drop, so he’s getting ready for the retirement home—which will be right here, where he can live out his life as a gentleman of leisure,” he added with a wry grin. “The Brody name was put on the international map thanks to Magnus around the time that Kill took over operation of the ranch, so we all love the big guy.”

  “So, no Magnus hamburgers?” She was glad to hear it.

  “Selling that old boy off to a slaughterhouse would be like murder, as far and my brothers and I see it. Dominus and Invictus are young yet, so no worries for them for at least five or six more years, and we’ve got a line on a yearling outside Colorado Springs that could be a winner. Good bloodlines and unrelated to our boys here, though I wouldn’t mind having an offspring of Magnus’s, in addition to the yearling. That’s why I’m happy with turning ol’ Magnus loose once we’ve got his replacement up and running,” he added with a grin. “I say just let nature take its course and see what happens once Magnus is sharing a nice, open pasture with a bunch of lovely lady cows and heifers to keep him company.”

  “That’s some retirement.”

  “We’ve got his harem all picked out, but we’re still working on pastureland big enough for him and his soon-to-be girlfriends, with a sustainable water source and shade to get everyone through this hellish drought.”

  “Is that what all that water tower talk was about?”

  He grimaced. “We’ve got several ideas cooking when it comes to water sources, and the water tower project is one of them. We’ve got hopes we’ll figure out how to keep all our livestock watered and cool until this damn drought breaks, so we’re already starting construction on a fourth wing of the Bachelor Pad, just in case Magnus manages to hit one more out of the park. And that’s the part of the Bachelor Pad I wanted to show you.”

  “The new construction area?” That brought her gaze to his, her head tilting quizzically. “You want me to see your expansion?”

  “Not exactly. I want you to see what’s taken up residence inside the expansion.”

  That didn’t sound good. “Inside?”

  “Come on.” With a grin that just didn’t seem to want to fade, he caught her hand and laced her fingers through his. “It’ll make sense in a minute.”

  “Just so you know,” she felt obligated to say as they walked past the display of Angus portraits and entered what seemed to be a kind of hub within the enormous building that had several offshoots, “I might have been raised in the rural countryside, but I’m really girly. Like, intensely so.”

  “Yeah, your shoes are a dead giveaway.” He shot her a glance over his shoulder as he took a left from the hub area and headed down a well-lit, concrete-floored hallway that smelled strongly of sawdust. “Why are you telling me this now?”

  “Because I’ve got this weird feeling you want to show me some super-cool snake or an opossum that’s crawled into the construction site while no one was looking, and you want to share this super-cool thing with me. And while I think that’s sweet of you, I want to go on record by stating unequivocally that I hate snakes, and opossums. And most bugs, now that I think about it, though ladybugs are okay. They’re too adorable to hate.”

  “You and Celia are going to be the best of friends, I can see that right now.” He shook his head before slowing down to help her over a stack of two-by-fours. “There are no snakes or opossums, or cougars or llamas, or whatever the hell else you might be worried about. Can’t swear about the bugs, though. But if there are any, we can have Lilah take care of that with whatever medication she deems necessary.”

  “Lilah?” Baffled, she shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

  “What I’m talking about is right over here.” Sun streamed in through a section of wall that hadn’t yet been built beyond a closed stable half-door at the end of the hall. Des leaned a forearm on the stable door and pulled her over to stand beside him. “There, over by those haybales. Do you see her?”

  Winnie looked toward the stacked bales of hay, dust motes dancing in the sunbeams slanting in through the open space in the wall, and for a moment she saw nothing. Then there was movement, an alert head popping up, and she caught her breath when she found herself staring into one brown eye, one blue.

  “Her name’s Opal.” Des’s voice was close to her ear, and he put an arm around her shoulders as together they watched the black, white, and reddish-mottled dog prick ears their way, one pointed straight up and one flopping over. “She belonged to a cowhand we fired for being a total dipshit slacker a couple months ago, but he obviously neglected to take Opal with him. Unfortunately we didn’t know she’d been abandoned until Fin almost fell over her, hiding herself and her pups up in this area that we’ve been using as extra feed storage.”

  That got her attention. “Puppies?”

  “Four of them, and they’ve all got those gorgeous heterochromia eyes. She’s mostly Australian shepherd, with maybe some border collie thrown in, and her babies look a lot like her. Want to take a closer look?”

  “Is it okay?” She just managed to stop herself from reaching for the stable door’s latch, so eager to see Opal and her puppies she all but danced in place. “I wouldn’t want to stress her out, after everything she’s been through.”

  “Opal’s used to just about anyone and everyone trooping in here now that she’s been found out. We’re all a bunch of candy-ass pushovers,” he chuckled when she shot him a quizzical glance. “Like I said, she was abandoned on the property, and no one knew about her. By the time Fin found her, she was rail thin and basically letting her pups nurse her to death.”

  “Oh, poor baby,” Winnie’s heart contracted, and she looked back to Opal, who had come to a sitting position. A little squirmy potato, with a mottled coat just like its mother, fumbled around her front paws, and her heart melted. “Oh my gosh, I’m in love.”

  “We all are. Everyone’s been bringing in extra food for her, from hot dogs and ham sandwiches, to somebody’s leftover chili. That didn’t agree with her, by the way, so don’t ever feed her chili. You’ll regret it.”

  “I only regret that no one’s thought to give her some actual dog food. I’ll bet there’s some great nutritious stuff on the market for nursing moms.”

  “Oh, we’ve got a bowl of the best dog food money can buy over there with her water dish, but apparently we all think she needs extra treats. For instance, last week I came in here to give her some leftover meatloaf, only to find Ry and his three-year-old daughter Hannah feeding Opal a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Hannah had made just for her.”

  “What a sweet thing to do.” Unable to stand it any longer, she reached for the door latch. “Are you sure Opal won’t mind a stranger getting close to her and her babies?”

  He shook his head. “There’s been a veritable parade coming in and out of here to make sure she’s okay. Hell, at this point, she probably equates people with getting extra snackies.”

  “Too bad I didn’t bring along a donut.” She kept her eyes on the dog, who was now looking hopefully from her to Des, her plume of a tail wagging. “Hey there, little mama. Do you have your babies with you?”

  “She should have four of them there, but there’s one that looks like a baby panda that’
s got a bad case of wanderlust. If there are only three pups in the nest, it’s probably the little panda pup that’s gone walkabout.”

  “I see four, so we’re good. Hi,” she whispered, cautiously holding out a hand for the dog to sniff. “Aren’t you gorgeous? And so sweet. How could anyone just leave this baby behind?” she demanded quietly, glancing back at Des, who’d hung back to lean a shoulder against the wall to watch. “I want to beat the crap out of the idiot who abandoned this poor baby.”

  “As much as he sucked at being a ranch hand, he was obviously worse when it came to being a responsible pet owner. Though Opal isn’t really a pet,” he added. “Unlike her former owner, Opal is excellent at working cattle. As soon as the pups are fully weaned and Lilah gives the okay, Opal’s going to be heading back to work. Green Rock Ranch is lucky to have her on the payroll.”

  “Work?” Winnie went to her knees and cooed when Opal put her head down and scooted closer, her tail a blur and clearly announcing that not only was it okay to give her pets, it was downright necessary. “This baby should get all the beds and all the couches and all the snacks she could ever want.” At that moment Opal rolled over, put her head on Winnie’s lap and sighed, her tail whapping the hay and sending a couple of her puppies flying in her excitement. “Oh, Des, look. Isn’t she perfect?”

  “I’ve never seen her do that with anyone before. Obviously she likes women better than men.” He hunkered down as well, moving the puppies out of harm’s way. “As for beds and couches, that’s not Opal’s world, Winsome. Once you see her outside with the cattle, you’ll understand there’s a big difference between a dog that was trained to be an indoor family pet, and a dog that’s trained to work cattle.”