Hidden Treasure(16)

“Yeah, we’ll do that,” Colt practically growled.

Hawk laughed with delight. “It was nice having you in the pack for as long as we did, brother.”

“I’m still in the pack, Hawk.”

“Doesn’t look like it to me.”

“What pack?” Brielle asked. She was grateful to have found her voice.

Before Colt could stop Hawk from speaking, the man opened his mouth. “The single men’s solidarity group,” he said with another chuckle. “I’d better grab my jeans and go.” He reached out, took Brielle’s hand, lifted it to his mouth, and he planted a kiss. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Brielle.”

Hawk headed to the counter and grabbed the package that was waiting for him, and then just as quickly as he had come in to the store, he was gone again.

“Yes, too bad,” Maggie said with a sigh as she watched the front door close. “I can’t wait for him to settle down.”

“We really need to pay for our things and get going,” Colt said grumpily.

“Of course, sweetie. We wouldn’t dream of holding you up,” Bethel said as she leaned in and kissed Brielle’s cheek. “It was so great to meet you, dear. I’ll be sure to have you over for lunch before too long.”

The two other women also kissed her, and they repeated the sentiment, then left the store without buying a single thing.

“Did they come over here just to meet me?” Brielle asked.

“Yeah, they did. We’d better get out of here before the entire town comes in,” Colt replied, and his tone indicated irritation.

Why was he was in such a foul mood all of a sudden? Brielle had no idea, but it wasn’t her place to ask. When they approached the register, Brielle pulled out her bank card — a mere gold card with a laughably low limit — except she wasn’t laughing. Yep, the purchase would hurt, but at least she now had boots and could ride a horse. Or could she? She still wasn’t going to admit that she’d never done it before.





Chapter Nine

The ride back to her ranch was filled with tension so thick that Brielle wondered how it was the windows didn’t shatter. Colt was in a less than perfect mood, and she thought back to what had happened during their time in the store.

Yes, they’d kissed, and yes, she’d run away from him afterward, but he’d seemed fine while she was speaking with the three surprisingly friendly women. It wasn’t until after his friend had arrived that he’d grown so grumpy and distant. Maybe Hawk wasn’t really a good friend and Colt didn’t like being around him. But she and Colt were hardly the best of friends themselves, so she couldn’t ask him about it.

So instead, she just sat there in the passenger seat and hoped for the ride to end as soon as possible. The quicker it was over, the less smothered she’d feel by the claustrophobic air inside his truck. When they finally arrived at the ranch, she bolted.

“Be ready to leave in thirty minutes,” Colt yelled after her as she scampered up her front steps.

She didn’t bother with a response, because his truck was already pulling away. Not looking back, she went inside the house and looked around critically for the hundredth time as she walked up the staircase toward her bedroom.

No one could call the house luxurious. Its bare walls were begging for a fresh coat of paint. The sparse furnishings that had come with the house were okay for this neck of the woods, she supposed, and some of them were probably considered antiques, but none of it lined up with her typical taste.

She liked modern furniture with clean, crisp edges and bold colors. This ranch house still had red-and-white-checked curtains that looked as if they’d been around since the house was built. The only saving grace was her bedroom.

At least her father had paid to have her furniture shipped in. She’d told him there was no way she was sleeping on some dead person’s old mattress. He’d laughed but agreed that he wouldn’t do that either.

So, as she stepped into her room, she felt a little cheered up looking at her four-poster bed with teal coverings and whimsical cloth hanging from the corners. The lines of her cherry wood furniture were beautiful, and she loved to sit on the comfortable stool in front of her matching vanity and see her perfumes all in a neat row, each one calling out to be the fragrance du jour.

She turned her shopping bags upside down on the bed and looked at her new purchases. They certainly didn’t constitute clothing she ever thought she’d own, but she wanted to see her property on horseback, so she’d do what she had to.

After changing quickly into a pair of snug-fitting Wranglers and a green cotton button-up shirt, she sat down and pulled on the uncomfortable boots. Peggy had assured her that they would form to her feet and that soon she wouldn’t want to wear anything else. Yeah, right.