Most Eligible Cowboy (Peach Valley Romance Book 1) (11 page)

Quin acted like Jackson hadn’t even been in the room. “Maya. Maya. Maya.” Whenever he wanted her to do something or if he needed something, he would lay his Italian accent on extra thick. There was a time when she would’ve melted like butter at the way he said her name, but that was before she knew him to be nothing more than a liar and a cheat with only one desire—to get what he wanted.

“What are you doing here?” Maya asked, recovered. He smiled, coming forward to take her in his arms, but she stepped back. “How did you find me?” She put her hands up to keep him at a distance.

“It was Mrs. Deckland, our landlady. You remember her? I sweet talked your address from her.” He tried to get closer, but Maya took another step back, her legs pressed against the desk. “You aren’t happy to see me?” He frowned. “Perhaps it is because you’ve already moved on?” He clucked his tongue. “My sweet Maya, is that even possible?”

Anger welled up so strong that she literally saw red. “It is very possible, Quin.” She’d given Mrs. Deckland her forwarding address for mail with a promise from the woman that she wouldn’t share it. Obviously Maya wasn’t the only woman who’d been smitten by Quin. “If I never saw you again, that would’ve been too soon.” She’d slid against the table until she reached the end and then stepped further back. Quin followed step for step, like a fox after a hen. She moved to get away, but he took hold of her shoulders. “I’ve missed you,
bella
.”

“Don’t call me that.” She pulled from his grasp and ducked as she moved. “You lost the right to call me that.”

“But why?” He’d turned so that he still faced Maya and glanced in the direction of Patty. “Perhaps you can give us some space. I need to talk to my wife.”

“Ex! Ex wife. I have the paperwork to prove it. And I don’t want her to leave. This is her place. But you need to get out.” Maya was breathing heavily, her heart beating so hard she thought it might break her ribs.

“You can’t mean that.” He was still laying his accent on thick.

“Actually I can and I do.”

His soft, sensual features turned hard. She’d seen that look before too. When he took everything in the divorce and she was left in despair. “This is why I did what I did. You’re so cold. There is no feeling in you. Sleeping next to you was like sleeping beside a mountain of ice.”

“So, you’ve come all this way to insult me?”

Quin rolled his shoulders. “I guess so.” He pushed her away, and Maya tumbled back, falling onto her bum. “But I might stick around, let everyone know what kind of person you really are, see what country life is all about. It’s quaint and I’m sure there are plenty of country women I can cozy up to.” He looked back, grinning. “See you around, Maya.”

When he was gone, Maya gasped, as a strange sob-cry-emotional bomb exhaled from her lips.

“Up you go,” Patty said, holding out her hand.

“Thanks.” She sat, covering her face with her hands. “Please tell me that didn’t just happen.”

“I wish I could, honey, but sadly I saw him too.” Maya heard Patty sit in her chair and lean her elbows on the desk.

She glanced up. “He thought I would go back to him?” She said the words with incredulous wonder. Could he really be that arrogant?

“There are women who would. He’s a handsome man.” Aunt Patty reached out for Maya’s hand, patting it kindly. “Would you?”

Maya shook her head vehemently. “I’d rather sleep with a bed full of snakes then spend another second near that man.” Maya glared in the direction of the front door. “Plus, last I heard, he was getting married.” She remembered the look on Jackson’s face and shuddered. “Jackson?”

“I’m afraid he was here too. At least long enough to hear that man say you were his wife.” She patted Maya’s hand. “You’ve got yourself into a bit of a pickle.”

“Will he believe me if I tell him Quin isn’t my husband any longer?” She looked to her aunt for hope.

“Did he know you were married?” Maya noticed the reproach in her voice.

“No.” She sagged in on herself. She was in a pickle.

Aunt Patty leaned back, clapping her hands together. “Well, whenever I get in this much of a mess I find the best way out of it is by cooking. Come on. Let’s go bug my illustrious chef.”

J
ackson had heard
that guy call Maya his wife just as he walked in. Then Maya had said he was her ex. The revelation that Maya had gone from being married to divorced in the blink of an eye surprised him, especially since he hadn’t known either.

Shocked, he hadn’t known how to handle the situation. Leaving had been his first inclination, but before he reached the front door, he’d stopped. He wanted to fix things with Maya. He wanted to talk to her. Just before returning, he’d paused and listened to the exchange between Quin and Maya. It was obvious the guy was a sleaze ball. At one point he thought about going in and punching the guy, but when he heard Quin intended to make trouble for Maya, he came up with a better idea. It meant getting his brothers involved, which meant he needed to talk to them. So he left, knowing Maya’s aunt would protect her—for the moment. Jackson intended to make sure Maya felt loved and protected forever.

* * *

T
hat night
, Jackson and his brothers came together and were sitting around the dining table at the main house. They may have stopped sooner, but their momma kept pumping them full of chocolate peanut butter cookies and milk. She kept quiet, letting the guys’ talk, but every once in a while Jackson noticed his momma smiling. It made him happy. His dad’s cancer had affected everyone, but he knew it had to be a whole lot worse on his momma. She held herself together, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed that she looked older. Where once she’d been spry and full of energy, now it took her a little longer to do things. His heart ached for what she would go through when his father died, because it wasn’t a matter of
if
but
when
. And when he went, his momma’s heart would break. He knew because it’d happened to him. Even after four years, there was still an ache in his heart for Diana. Sure he’d put the pieces back together. And while he was ready to move on and be happy again, he would never fill the space in his heart for Diana. She’d been his first love. Before he met Maya, he’d believed his heart incapable of loving again the way he’d loved Diana. But on the day he met Maya he’d felt the stirring. As though the cobwebs, chains, and rusty old box he’d sealed his heart in loosened. And each moment he spent with her had only enhanced those feelings. It surprised him to realize that the way he felt for Maya wasn’t like it’d been for Diana. It’d started out light, like a feather on the wind, and slowly, subtly it’d chinked away all his defenses.

It upset him that she hadn’t felt safe enough to share that she’d been married. He wouldn’t have judged her harshly. In fact, he believed the knowledge would’ve brought them closer together, faster. Or not. From what he’d heard Maya’s ex say, the man hadn’t loved her. Not even close, and certainly not the way she deserved. He sighed. It might’ve been worse, especially for her had they discussed their pasts. He would’ve talked about how much he’d loved Diana, and Maya would’ve resented that she’d never experienced that. In the end, he knew he couldn’t fault her for keeping her ex to herself, not when he’d been keeping his own secret. And she’d handled the revelation of Ava better than expected. He smiled as he thought of the way Ava and Maya had taken to each other.

Lance’s phone rang, interrupting Jackson’s thoughts. “Hey Ross, talk to me.”

Jackson sat up, intent on the conversation. They’d been waiting for any sort of gossip from around town as to the whereabouts of Quin Carone. Jackson had only slightly hoped the man had changed his mind and left town, but between the music and shouting on the other end of the phone, it was obvious that wasn’t the case. “You’re kidding. Scarlett?” Lance met Jackson’s gaze and shook his head. “All right, man. Thanks for the information.” Jackson hung up.

“He’s at Kilpeppers drinkin, and sayin stuff about Maya.”

“Figures,” Blaze said, his face disgusted.

Nearly every town had a sketchy underbelly. For Peach Valley that happened to be Kilpeppers.

“Saddle up, boys.” Everett stood.

“Be careful. Don’t fight. But make sure he knows we don’t take kindly to those who deliberately try to hurt our own.” Milly hugged each of the boys as they headed out to Jackson’s truck.

“Will do, momma,” Blaze said, kissing her cheek.

They drove over, but didn’t go in. It was known around town that the Bale boys didn’t frequent bars. Most said their momma would beat them senseless, but the truth was they didn’t like those kinds of places. They had their own personal reasons, each different. But they’d come to the same conclusions and steered clear. So instead of going in, they waited.

It wasn’t more than an hour before Quin came out. He had Scarlett on his arm. Jackson snorted. Not that he had feelings for Scarlett, other than that she was part of his town. Jackson had talked to Scarlett after he’d taken her to church. It’d been one of the most uncomfortable conversations of his life, but it clarified that the two of them weren’t a good fit. Now, she leaned into Quin as they walked to his car.

Jackson squeezed his steering wheel.

“Ease up, Jack. We’re going to talk to him and he’ll be gone before mornin.” Everett punched his brother less than lightly in the arm.

Jackson rubbed the spot, trying to work out the soreness. “I’m going to talk to him by myself first. No sense putting him on the defensive.”

“Yep, and when he doesn’t listen, then we’re all going to talk to him.” Lance added.

“No trouble though. By talking, I mean just talking. I don’t want there to be any fighting,” Jackson said.

“We know, brother. We’re just going to make sure he’s clear that Peach Valley is Team Maya. That’s all.” Blaze patted Jackson’s shoulders from the back seat.

“Nothing more,” Lance added.

Jackson shook his head. “Y’all aren’t going to make me regret spilling my guts to you, are you?” He turned facing Everett, who sat in the seat next to him and then glanced at Lance and Blaze.

“No way. We all hoped you’d find someone after Diana died.” Lance crossed his arms.

“Easy, man.” Blaze smacked him in the chest.

“I am.” Lance blinked several times. “We love you bro. That is all.”

“Exactly,” Everett added. “And if you care for Maya like you say you do, then we owe it to her, to the memory of Diana, and especially to you to make sure no one, including the schmuck in the Porsche hurts her.”

“Good. Thanks guys. Now, stay here.” Jackson jumped out of his truck to complaints, but Jackson had only asked his brothers to be back up. Just in case Quin wouldn’t listen to reason. He cleared his throat, pushed his hat more firmly down on his head, and headed over.

Quin had been saying something to Scarlett as he held open the car door. In the low light of the street lamps, he could see the car was red and the license plate said #1 Lover. Jackson rolled his eyes. What had Maya seen in the guy? Scarlett saw Jackson first. She whispered, “Trouble,” before moving out of the way.

“Scarlett you’d better get on home. I need to have some words with Mr. Carone and it might take me a while.”

Quin, who was several inches shorter than Jackson, turned. For a spilt second, fear crossed his features, but was gone the next. “Look, I don’t want any trouble.”

“Good. I don’t want any trouble either. I just came to ask you politely to leave town. There’s nothing for you here.” Jackson tucked his hands into his pockets, trying to make it seem like he was having a casual conversation.

Quin seemed to comprehend that Jackson wasn’t a threat because he smiled. “Now that’s not true. Look here, I’ve just met,” he glanced over, indicating Scarlett.

“Scumbag,” Scarlett huffed, moving off and getting into her own car.

Quin snorted. “Well, I’m sure there are plenty more like her.” He ran a hand though his thick, black hair.

Jackson ground down on his teeth, fighting the urge to punch the guy multiple times. The door’s to his truck opened and then slammed shut. Jackson groaned. His brothers were terrible at following directions.

“What, you’ve got like a gang or something. Planning on hurting me?” Quin eyes flicked between Jackson and his brothers, a wild look on his face. “This is a free country, you know. I can be wherever I want to be.”

Jackson lifted his arms in supplication. “That’s true. You can, but really how much inspiration are you going to find out here? I mean it’s too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and always windy. There are bugs, rattlesnakes, and animals bigger than anywhere else in the country. Why just last week, we had to fight off a grizzly that went after some cattle. Plucked them right off our land and ate them like they were his snacks. Two thousand pounds of beef, and he went after them like they stood still. This country is wild and unforgiving. You could get yourself in a world of hurt out here. So do yourself a favor and get out of town. The sooner the better.”

“Is that a threat? If I don’t leave, then you’re going to pound me or something?” Quin climbed into his car. The tiny, low to the ground vehicle seemed ridiculous out here, like it didn’t belong and neither did he.

“It’s a promise,” Blaze yelled.

Jackson held up a hand, telling him to chill. But Blaze was the youngest and tended to have a hot head. “No. Look, we aren’t like that. We aren’t going to fight. What we want is for Maya to feel safe. Peach Valley has already claimed her as one of its own. We care about her, and we don’t want anyone saying things about her that aren’t true.”

“You mean
you
care about
her
?” Quin slammed his door, and his car roared to life. He rolled down the window. “You’re wasting your time. She’s a cold, unfeeling—”

“Stop,” Jackson yelled, nearly losing his temper. “I’ve heard your opinion of her once already today and have no desire to hear it again.”

“Wait. You’ll see.”

“Let me just hurt him a little,” Blaze said.

“You’d better keep that guy in check. I’d hate to have to call the police.”

Lance and Everett laughed.

“Maybe we could call Sheriff Green. I know he’s been dyin to try his hand at driving a Porsche.”

“What a bunch of red necks. Get out of my way. I’m out of here.” Quin’s car lurched forward, his tires spinning in the gravel. “Hicks,” he shouted and tore off down the freeway.

“What did Maya see in that guy?” Everett asked.

“I mean seriously. He’s a weasel,” Blaze added.

“Haven’t you heard the term, love is blind?” Jackson crossed his arms, remembering he’d asked himself the same question more than once.

Lance clapped Jackson on the back. “Looks like he’s heading out of town. Are we going to stand here until he’s out of the state?”

“I want to, but—” Jackson’s phone rang. “It’s momma,” he whispered, even though no one else was around.

“Better answer it. She’ll just keep calling if you don’t,” Everett said, knowingly.

He answered. “Hi momma. What’s going on?”

“Are you still with your brothers?”

“Yes. They’re all here.”

“Did you handle Maya’s ex?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Get home. It’s your dad.” She hung up.

A feeling of dread drifted through Jackson’s body as he told his brother’s what he knew. They drove home in silence. No one had the heart to talk.