Grump’s City Girl (Boots and Heels #2)

21. Beau

Chapter 21

Beau

I was a plucked idiot… I knew it.

I’d gone into this thinking everything would be fine. We play estranged ex-boyfriend and girlfriend, fuck-up on the first challenge, and get kicked off so we could live in peace. But that had not happened.

Instead, I’d believed the lie I’d told myself and fallen in love with a fantasy. Well, not really. I’d believed the fantasy girlfriend and fallen head over my fool boots for the real woman, and she didn’t feel a lick the way I did.

What had started as a blessing now felt like a curse, but there was still no way to get out. Maybe this new challenge, some damned scavenger hunt, would finally do the trick. But before we were told what to do, the host called us to the backyard for a special screening—the fuck that meant.

“You okay, bossman?” Bran rode up to me as we stood on a hillock over the gilded cattle grazing. “You’ve been looking extra grim today.”

“It’s nothing,” I told him, grasping Sweetie’s reins, making sure the Stetson was down over my eyes. “Just had a bad night.”

“Really,” Bran nodded. “You know, Freddy was on stable duty last night, and he went to feed and water the horses when?—”

“Jesus Christ,” I grunted. “Can’t a man have some privacy around here?”

“He can, just not in a place where cowhands are supposed to dip in and out from,” Bran grinned. “So, forgive me for being confused when I heard you had a bad night. It’s the first time you've got some in a long while, so you should be on the moon.”

“No, it’s not,” I admitted.

His head snapped up, and his jaw dropped. “What? You’re telling me... there was a before?”

“Yes, and shut your mouth about it,” I checked my watch and knew it was time to go back and join the others. I turned to the trail behind me and headed back, only pausing to throw over my shoulder, “Keep these guys in line while I’m gone, okay?”

Riding back to the ranch house, I braced myself to face Cassie. I didn’t want her to feel bad for not feeling the same way I did, but goddamn, I’d thrown myself off a cliff with a very jagged bottom. I’d not hit the skewers yet, but I damn well felt close to them.

I got Sweetie inside, brushed her down, and headed to the house for a shower and change. Half an hour later, I joined the rest of the guys and gals in the mild afternoon.

Clenching one half of my jaw, I headed over to Cassie, who looked placid, dressed in plain jeans and an off-shoulder blouse. She smiled as I approached, and the tension in my gut eased a little.

“Hey,” she said. “You doing okay?”

“Aside from the long morning on the ranch, yeah,” I said when I was closer to her and tilted my hat up. “How was yours?”

“I—”

“Are we all here?” Liliana asked brusquely. “Good, the host will be up soon.”

“Tell me later,” I told her as Sutton and Ariana stepped into the middle, him in his swanky threads as usual and the little lady in her hometown casuals. Cassie nodded.

“Hello,” Sutton called out. “Welcome to a new week. I hope you’ve all been well. Amy, how are you feeling?”

My head, like most of the others, swung to the girl who, unlike last week, looked happier and less unburdened today. “I’m much better, thanks. Your professionalism helped. I mean, I’ve realized that I tend to trap myself in a circle of overthinking, and it doesn’t help my anxiety at all. I’m working on it.”

“That’s good to hear,” Ariana smiled. “But that got us thinking. You guys must be homesick by now, so we reached out to a few key people in all of your lives, and we want you all to watch and remind yourself why you’re here.”

The screen descended, and an 80’s-style black-and-white countdown flashed on the screen before a lady, gray-haired and green-eyed, like Rome, came on the screen. She was sitting on a rocking chair and smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners.

“Hey Rome, I guess you are missing your fields, animals, and boats you like tinkering with. The crops are doing fine, son. The men you hired are holding down the fort like you asked, and we know you’re out there, risking a lot to help us out. And while we appreciate it, Rome, we know we will never judge you if you came home without the prize?—”

A huge St. Bernard came to her side, and Rome’s lips twitched. “See, Henry is here. You know, wherever he hears your name, he comes a-running. We’re rooting for you, though, and while we hope to see you soon, we’re hoping not too soon.”

“Love you too, Ma,” he said.

Amy was next, and her sister and nephew poured out their hearts to her in the same way Rome’s mother had; they stressed that they loved her over and over again and assured her that nothing she was doing was wrong.

Quentin’s aunt came and told him how proud of him she was. Ryker’s two bandmates came on, both of them heavily tattooed and pierced, but told him while he was away, they were still working on the notes he left them and were writing new songs for an album.

One of them lifted an acid-green electronic guitar and said, “Medusa misses you, man, but don’t worry, we’ve not touched your baby.”

I couldn’t help but snort. “He named his guitar.”

“And you named your dog,” Ryker shot back. “Glass houses, cowboy.”

Cassie snickered, but when a new face popped up on the screen, her giggle dried up, and she went white. “ Coucou Cassie,” the man said smoothly, his French accent pronounced, gray eyes as liquid as quicksilver.

“I was honestly shocked when this crew reached out to me. Well, they reached out to your family, but I don’t think they got the memo in time. I believe your papa was in Dubai last week. Anyhow, I digress. We are so surprised to see you here… we never thought you had a wild streak.”

“It’s so far removed from your normal. When you want a break, you go to Seychelles, Ibiza, or Jamaica, but a ranch? Your sorority sisters would be shocked and appalled, but I have no doubt they would envy you for the cowboys. As your previous petit ami, oh my, I do have a bad habit of slipping into my native French, do I?

His gaze turned sly. “As your precious boyfriend , I do wish you the happiness and joy I knew you never found with me, and as much as we parted ways on bad terms, my grand-mère's chalet in Val d’Isere is still open for you. You know she liked you more than she did me.”

What. The. Fuck was that ?

I looked at Cassie, and she looked as pale as a sheet. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. I didn’t know what was going through her head, but I knew it could not be good. A second later, her face was serene. She ignored the cameras, turned to me, and rubbed her thumb over the back of my hands. “That was Vigo. I know I haven’t told you about him, but I’ll explain later.”

A new video dropped Alice’s uncle on, and then—I braced myself. Who the hell had they gotten for me? My mother wouldn’t be so bad—but then my brother’s face popped up on the screen, and fuck my life, he was holding a two-year-old kid. How the hell did I have a nephew and didn’t know about it?

“Hey there, Beau,” Weston said. “Long time, huh? I know we haven’t spoken in a while, and I am sorry that I was not the best brother I should have been. I’ll admit, I lost faith in that place. I thought it was a trap, a sinkhole, just sucking in everything and never giving back, but from what I’m told, you’re dead set on making Grandpop’s place the destination ranch for Wyoming, to have bulls roaming the hills for as far as one can see.”

“I hope you forgive me for leaving, but my life was never the ranch, nor was it Mom’s, and I know it looks bad for us to have gone like that, but be truthful, Beau, we would have withered away and died there, but… we know you’ll make it something too. I hope you’ll accept our hope in you and my apologies. One day, I hope you will come out here to Georgia to see me and your nephew, Luke, or who knows, maybe we’ll be sure to get up on your doorstep first.”

The clip flickered off, and I sat still like a stone.

I felt sick, hollow, nostalgic, and angry in one swoop. I hunched over and covered my head with both hands, trying to figure out if Weston was being real or if he was trying to look good and cover his ass. No one wanted to look like a backstabbing deserter on TV.

Graciously, Sutton gave me a few moments before he asked, “Where’s your head at, Beau?”

Peeling my hands away, I raked my fingers through my hair and said, “Confused mostly. I was under the impression my brother wanted nothing to do with me… and then you showed me that. I-I know if I was the petty one here, the stubborn bastard who decided that him running away from me, from the ranch, meant he didn’t want me in his life, so… I may have jumped the gun on that one.”

“And now?” Sutton asked calmly.

“I-I know he’s right.” My eyes stared into space as my thoughts spun like a tornado. “He would have never survived here. He didn’t have the hunger for it like I did. His head was filled with numbers, computers, and books. I breathed horse-saddles and fresh air and sweat. I suppose I can forgive him for wanting a different life, but it didn’t feel so simple way back then.”

Sucking in a breath, I added, “We never went about it the right way, but I suppose we can make go at repairing our relationship when this is done.”

“And with that, I think we need a break,” Ariana stepped in. “We’ll be right back.”

As soon as the camera’s cut, Cassie was up like a shot, and I followed her, loping like a puppy as she ran into the house. When she spun around, clearly looking for somewhere to go, to run, I grabbed her arm and towed her up to my office before she imploded.

The moment I dropped the curtain, she screamed, “That fucking bastard!!”

“You mean Vigo?” I asked flatly. “Your ex? Is he the one you were running from when you came here? I told you before that I knew you were running… I just didn’t know from what, but now I know from who.”

Cassie was pacing now.

“What did he do to you, Cassie?” I asked. When she didn’t reply, I pushed, “Did he cheat on you? Did he attack you? Beat you? Cut you off your family? Did he try to?—”

“He had a sex tape of me, Beau!” She cracked, “He was going to sell it to the highest bidder, and I-I nearly got trapped in it. My dad—” she sunk to the nearest chair and, hunched over, wrapped her arms around herself. “He caught him before he could step into the biggest newspaper office in Helena. But who knows? He’s a diplomat, Beau, and he could be releasing that tape in Russia, France, or the Maldives, for all I know.”

“I trusted him… I thought he was different from the rest,” she swallowed. “But I was an idiot. I was a fool. From the time I was old enough to understand, my dad told me that no one in our status was safe. There is always someone out there to get you, to find you at your lowest state, to take from you…”

My heart sank for her. Crossing the room, I dropped to a knee and held her hips, “That’s a horrible way to live.”

“When you make fifty-thousand dollars profit every minute, it is,” she said hollowly. “Rich people are hated, Beau, not because we’re rich alone but because everyone else seems to think we use people as peons, that we consider them dirt. It’s the reason every tax bracket dates in their tax bracket. You wouldn’t see Paris Hilton dating average Joe from the coffee shop.”

“But this Vigo, isn’t he supposed to be rich?”

“He was,” she said. “As long as I knew him, he would flash those Zegna suits. He thinks Giorgia Armani is peasant wear. He didn’t drive anything else but the latest Ferrari or Lambo and bankrolled skyscraper parties. It was only when Dad found out about the sex tape and dug into his life we found out he was dry, dead broke. A picture of me in a sweater and getting coffee runs for ten grand. How much do you think a sex tape would bring him?”

I kept rubbing her thighs, hoping the motion would soothe her, but she didn’t seem to notice or feel the comfort.

“He sent me a note last night,” she said. “Teasing me about how he knew I was smarter than this.”

My hands stopped. “What? How did he know you were here?”

“Like hell if I know,” she swallowed. When Cassie looked at me again, her eyes were wide and dilated with fear. “I have to leave. I have to go home and sort this out, Beau. I am scared. I am so fucking scared of what he will do. I-I?—”

Getting to my feet, I pulled her into a hug. “I’m here for you, Cassie. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

I didn’t think she needed anything more than a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen to what she needed to say. I would have never imagined that she was carrying all this on her shoulders, but whatever help I could give her, it was hers.

“Could we tell the producers you have an emergency at home?” I suggested. “Maybe tell them you’re ill?”

She turned her head and nestled under my chin. “I called Dad earlier, and he said he would take care of it, but I don’t know, Beau. His diplomatic term is about to end, and I suspect he might be going back to France, which is dirt poor. Either that, or he might convince one of his friends to put him up somewhere. But until he’s stopped, and we get whatever copy or copies he has, I will never sleep in peace.”

“It will always be in the back of my mind if I go to shower or go get coffee… what if today is the day he releases it?” she swallowed. “I am betting on him being so cocky he only has one copy but who knows, he could have hedged his bets and given someone else a duplicate.”

“That friendly greeting out there,” she scoffed. “That was him taunting me, Beau, trying to get under my skin and get me worried because I know he is planning something.”

She suddenly felt so tiny and frail, even though I knew she was the furthest from a damsel in distress. I didn’t know what to do now—which clawed me from the inside out. I hated knowing she was in limbo, stuck here and forced to wait until her dad solved this for her or if she had to go out and fix it herself.

Whatever happens, I will be right by her side.