Fated for Love (30 page)

Tiffany leaned in and hugged Callie, but Callie was too shocked to reciprocate. She stood rigid beneath a cloud of shame for having judged Tiffany so hastily. And though she still didn’t want to believe what she’d heard Wes say back at the lodge, she didn’t know what to do with the worry—or how to escape it.

“Thank you,” she finally eked out.

Tiffany waved her hand in the air. “
Tsk
. You need someone to have your back around here. Ever since his brother Luke went off the market, Wes has had twice as many eyes on him. Keep your chin up, and the gossip will turn to how cute of a couple you are, and then eventually it’ll settle on someone else.”

How cute of a couple we are?

Callie needed to get a grip on her emotions. After Tiffany left, Callie went into the back office, where her purse was stowed in her desk, and she grabbed her cell phone before heading into the bathroom to call Wes.

She listened to her voice mails while she paced the bathroom floor. The first was from Bonnie.

Hey, Cal. I emailed you the pics this morning. Had a great time, and I’m so happy for you and Wes. Call or text me tonight.

She deleted the message and listened to the next one, which was from Wes.

Hey, babe. I miss you
. His warm, caring voice brought tears to her eyes again.
A group of twenty just registered for a day trip tomorrow. I need to stay for another night.
The pit of her stomach sank.
Call me at the lodge. I’ll be here until three. Love you, and I’m sorry.

She checked her watch. It was four o’clock. She called the lodge anyway.

Please be there. Please be there
.

“Good afternoon, The Woodlands,” a cheery voice greeted her.

“Hi, this is Callie Barnes. I’d like to speak with Wes Braden, please?” She slammed her eyes shut.
Please be there.

“Hi, Callie. He’s not here right now. Can I take a message for him?”

Yes. No. Oh crap
. “Um. Yes, please. Can you ask him to call me when he gets a chance?” She gave the receptionist the library’s phone number since she couldn’t exactly carry her cell phone around. After she ended the call, she tried to talk her mind out of going down a crazy path of piecing together him staying another night at the lodge with the
I love you
she’d heard him say while he was on the phone.

WES CROSSED THE property with Sweets trotting along beside him toward the barn. He wished he had heard back from Callie before leaving the lodge, but he didn’t want to waste any more time after having spent so many hours interviewing applicants who seemed neither trustworthy nor experienced enough to fill Ray’s position. None of them had the knowledge that Cutter had, and they were strangers. He had worked too hard to bring on a stranger who might take off right after they trained him. Then they’d be right back where they started. He pushed the thought away, stewing over the real issue that had the muscles in his neck and shoulders working overtime. He should have been leaving to go back home to Trusty, and instead he was hamstrung by the last-minute group that had scheduled an outing for the next day.

He walked by the barn office and saw Cutter working on the financial reports for the inventory. He went in search of Chip and was cursing under his breath about the inconvenience of the morning when Chip rode up on horseback, causing Sweets to run back and forth between the horse and Wes.

“Hey.” Chip brought his horse to a stop beside Wes. “How’d the interviews go?”

“They were all shit.” Wes ran his hand through his hair and looked off into the woods toward the boulder where he’d taken Callie the first night she was there. Damn, he wished he were on his way home to see her.

“Come on, Wes. You can’t knock down everyone.” Chip shook his head.

Sweets barked repeatedly.

“I’m not.”
When did Sweets become a barker?
He slapped his thigh. “Sweets. Here.”

Sweets came to his side and plopped down beside him. With her tail wagging and her butt wiggling, she looked like a spring ready to launch.

Wes continued. “Look, we got a few years out of Ray, and we knew him before we started. If we hire someone we don’t know, we could train them, then lose them in a year or two, or whatever. I think we need to reconsider Cutter.”

“Cutter?” Chip took off his hat and wiped his brow with his forearm. “You’re an ass. You dismissed him from the get-go, remember? You said he was too vital to the ranch’s everyday needs.”

“He is.” He clenched his jaw. “Damn it. This is a pain in the ass. Cutter handles the budgets, the inventory, and the barn. He manages the ranch hands and sees to the animals with meticulous care. I’m not sure how we’ll fill his position, but he’s reliable and respectful, and the guests love him. The truth is, he deserves this promotion. It was shortsighted of me not to see that. I think we’re better off trying him out and then filling his position.”

“About fucking time. Why the change of heart?” Chip set his eyes on Wes’s.

“Truth?”

“No. Lie to me.” Chip shook his head.

“I trust him explicitly. He’s the best damn barn manager we could have. He’s organized as shit. He’s in the barn office right now, going over inventory spreadsheets and all sorts of shit that I can’t even think about. Moving him up means getting new blood in that position, and that sucks.”

Chip laughed. “Your fear of paperwork never ceases to amaze me.”

He wasn’t about to admit to Chip that in addition to his aversion to paperwork, he’d been jealous of Cutter and he had let that jealousy cloud his decision these last few days. Nor did he tell him that with a single look, Cutter had understood that his sights were set on Callie, and without question, Cutter had respected Wes enough to back off. That was more than the mark of a smart employee. It was a mark of a good friend. What kind of a friend doesn’t promote a guy who more than deserves it?

“You’re not just doing this so you can take off tonight and see Callie, are you?”

“Nope. I’m taking off and seeing Callie whether we promote him or not. I’ll send Cutter
and
Butch on the trip if I have to.” Wes hadn’t made a conscious decision until that very second, and now he felt as though a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

“When were you going to clue me in on that change?” Chip asked.

Wes smiled at the prospect of leaving tonight. “I didn’t even realize I was thinking about it until just now. You have a problem with it?”

“No, man. I don’t. It’s about time you did something besides work.” Chip lifted his chin toward Wes’s cabin. “I’m glad Em made it up for a few days.”

“Yeah. She needed a break. I’ll go talk to Cutter after I touch base with her; then I’m out of here.” Wes patted the horse, which brought Sweets to her feet again. She trotted back and forth beside them before following Wes up the hill toward the cabin.

He found Emily reading on the deck. She crouched to pet and love up Sweets, who wiggled with delight and lavished her face with kisses.

“She’s so adorable. She almost makes me want one.” Emily rose to her feet, and Sweets tried to climb up her legs. She was about as big around as a sapling, and in her shorts and sweatshirt, she looked more like she was twenty-five than thirty-one.

“Sweets.” Wes patted his thigh again, and Sweets hesitated, looking up at Emily with her big, sad eyes one last time before coming to his side.

“I don’t know why you ever come back to Trusty. If I worked here, I’d stay twenty-four seven.” Emily set her book down on the chair and hooked her thumbs in her pockets.

“Are you sure you don’t mind if I take off soon?” Wes asked. He hadn’t bothered to tell Emily about the last-minute booking and the trip he was supposed to go on, and now he was glad he hadn’t. It alleviated the need for a complicated explanation.

“Oh God, no. Go see your precious new girlfriend. I love it out here with no phone or Internet. It’s the only way for me to get away from work.” She lowered herself into a chair, and Wes did the same.

“You can get both Internet and phone in the lodge.”

Emily narrowed her eyes. “Shh. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. I like not being available for a whole forty-eight hours. Don’t you?”

Sweets sat between his legs and he reached down and stroked her head. “I used to, but now? Not really.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “You know, out of all of my brothers, I was sure Ross would be the first to fall in love, and I always thought I would before any of you.” She sighed. “But here you are creating fairy tales and dying to get home to see your girlfriend, and here I am, the same single girl as always.” She flopped back in her chair and groaned.

“Well, you may be the same single girl as always, but…” Wes withdrew an envelope from his back pocket. “Now you can be the single girl who has seen the Poppi Castle.”

Emily gasped and snagged the envelope from his hands. “What?” She tore it open. Emily was a year younger than Wes, and they’d always been close. Seeing her jaw agape as she read the confirmation paperwork for the trip he’d arranged made him smile. “Wes. My God, I can’t accept this.”

“You can, and you will.”

She shook her head, as if clearing her vision. “You have to be kidding. I arranged for a day of pampering and some dresses, for God’s sake. You’re sending me to Italy? That’s huge.”

“What you did for me was huge.” He rose to his feet, and Sweets followed. She ran to Emily for a quick head pet and snout kiss, then returned to Wes’s side.

“Wes…”

“Hey, I’m your older brother. You can’t win. Stand up and give me a hug and say thank you.” He opened his arms and she walked into them.

“Thank you so much. I could have booked my own trip.” Emily, as well as each of their siblings, had large trust funds that had been passed down for generations. But like Wes and their other siblings, Emily wasn’t one to dip into it for whimsical purposes. He’d noticed that Emily had been a little down lately, which wasn’t like her, and even so, she was always willing to pitch in for Wes or any of their siblings. The extravagant trip paled in comparison to years and years of her doing whatever anyone ever asked of her.

“Yes, but you haven’t, and you won’t, so just enjoy it. Besides, how long have you been talking about that villa you want to see?”

She ran her hand through her straight hair and pushed it over her shoulder with a dreamy sigh. “The one Gabriela Bocelli built. It’s a dream come true. Thank you.”

He pointed at her. “I don’t want to hear that you can’t take off work to go.”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” She hugged him again. “What time are you leaving?”

“Ten minutes. I’m going to talk to Cutter; then I’m heading back to Trusty. You sure you’re okay here alone?” Emily was tough as nails despite her slight figure. He knew she’d be fine.

She waved him off and settled into her chair, reading over the confirmation document again. “You know I’m fine. Besides, if I need anything, Cutter’s here.”

Cutter
. Wes felt like an ass for waiting so long before seeing the light where Cutter was concerned. “Hey, there’s a guy for you.” He was only half kidding.

“He’s like a brother to me, not a real guy.” Emily put the paper back in the envelope and pressed it to her chest.

“Not a real guy? I’ll have to remember that when the guests are drooling all over him. Make yourself at home and just lock up when you leave. Hey, Em, I really appreciate all of your help.”

“I know you do. It was fun for me, believe it or not. I can’t wait to meet Callie this weekend at Luke’s.”

“You’ll love her.” He gave Emily another hug; then he and Sweets headed down to the barn to talk to Cutter.

BY THE TIME Callie left work, she felt like she had a devil on one shoulder whispering,
He’s staying another night. Who’s he with?
And an angel on the other side screaming,
It’s Wes, for heaven’s sake. What are you thinking?
She was exhausted, confused, and so in love with Wes that she wanted to drive up the mountain to The Woodlands and fall into his arms so he could dispel her worries. Of course, if her worries were valid, then she’d be driving right back down the mountain with even more tears.

She pulled over in front of the diner with the intention of picking up an entire chocolate pie to consume by herself. Her cell phone rang, and Bonnie’s name flashed on the screen. Callie glanced through the diner window and saw Margie talking with a customer at the counter. If she went inside, Margie would probably ask about Wes, and Callie wasn’t sure she could talk about him without bawling—so she threw the car into drive, pulled back onto Main Street, and answered Bonnie’s call on speakerphone.

“Hi, Bon.”

“Hey. You sound awful. Are you okay?”

Fricking dandy.
“Yeah, just tired.”

“Oh, well, with a guy like Wes, it’s worth every sleepy moment, I’m sure. Hey, did you see the pics?” Bonnie sounded happy, and for some stupid reason, that made Callie even sadder.

“I couldn’t look at work. I’ll see them when I get home.” She pulled around the corner and down the street, then turned into the parking lot of her apartment complex with a heavy heart.

“Are you seeing Wes tonight? Kath told me how upset you were on the way home. She said you didn’t say two words.”

How could she answer? Kathie was right. She’d remained silent the whole way home for fear of sobbing so hard she’d flood the truck.

“Cal? Why aren’t you gushing over seeing him?”

She parked and turned off her car and headed upstairs to her apartment with the phone against her ear.

“Callie Jo Barnes, if you don’t answer me, I’ll climb through this phone and I’ll drag it out of you.”

She pictured Bonnie’s brows furrowed and her lips pinched tightly together. She stepped inside her apartment, and when she saw her still-packed bag on the couch to her right and the yellow gown lying over her reading chair, she couldn’t stifle the sharp inhalation that followed.

“Cal? Come on, hon. Tell me what’s wrong.”

The compassion in Bonnie’s voice pulled Callie from her stupor. “Oh, Bonnie. I’m so messed up.”