Sweet and Wild (27 page)

“Let me go,” she growled.

Craig whispered that he loved her and
that Robby didn’t know what he was talking about.

She should’ve listened to him, but
instead she focused on Robby, who took several steps forward, his fists balled
up again.

Quinn kicked harder, not meaning to hurt
Craig, but desperate to be free.

Jacob stepped out of the darkness and
took hold of Robby, grasping his arms in a tight hold.

The rest of the world came back into
focus. Not only Jacob stood there, but Thea as well, a hand pressed against her
mouth, plus two guests who looked shocked. And deeper in the dark, closer to
the tents another face. Quinn hoped it wasn’t Marisol, but couldn’t be sure
because when she looked again, the face was gone.

“What in God’s name is going on?” Jacob
demanded, but from the dark look on his face he knew. He didn’t release his
hold on Robby even though he had stopped his struggle to get loose.

Quinn relaxed against Craig’s chest as
he lowered her so she could stand on her own. His arms remained tight around
her in what must’ve looked like an intimate hold.

“Just having a word with my brother,”
Robby replied, his glare fixed on Craig and Quinn. A smile crossed his face,
but trouble lurked within the expression. “I interrupted a lover’s moment
apparently. What do you think, Jacob? I think Craig is a bit old for your baby
sister.”

Quinn nearly pulled free of Craig’s grip
again, but he was ready and managed to keep her restrained. She didn’t say
anything though and she looked from Robby to her brother to gauge his reaction.

No, he wasn’t happy. His dark brows
furrowed and he had a hint of a distasteful grimace on his mouth as if he’d
been told something he really didn’t want to hear. Like his little sister had
gotten involved with his best friend. Damn his big brother protectiveness.

Jacob let go of Robby so quickly that he
stumbled forward, but stood his ground once he was free.

“Get back to your tent now,” he ordered
Robby. “In the morning ride over to the Hightower ranch and use one of the
trailers to get back to Long Knife Creek. We’ll deal with this then, depending
on how many of my guests witnessed this little brawl.”

He returned his attention to Quinn and
Craig. Craig dropped his hands from Quinn so she stood free of him, but
remained close enough to feel the warmth of his body on her back. He would
support her, not deny Robby’s claims.

“Jacob—”

Jacob raised his hand and shook his
head. “No. This is not the place to discuss what my sister is doing out here
with whom and why. I don’t even want to talk about it. Just please remember
where we are. Remember there are other people around here who might be a little
concerned by what happened.”

He could’ve meant the guests, but Quinn
figured he referred to Marisol. Everyone else was an adult. They’d all deal
with it, but Marisol, if she’d seen it, would require a heck of a lot more
damage control.

The look of disappointment on Jacob’s
face was clear but he didn’t say anything else, just turned away from them,
storming off to his tent. Quinn followed him with her gaze then caught Thea’s
expression, a small regretful smile, barely visible in the dark, but aimed at
both Craig and Quinn. She turned and walked back to her tent in silence. The
other couple had already left.

Without a word, Robby rubbed his jaw and
left, but not before throwing his brother the look of death.

“You should go check on Marisol,” Quinn
suggested in a whisper. “I thought I saw her.”

“Damn. I’m sorry. I never meant to bring
this on.”

Quinn put her finger up to his lip.
“Shh. It’ll be okay. Not the way I wanted everyone to find out, but at least
now we don’t have to tell everyone. Except maybe your daughter.”

“You’re a hell of a fighter, you know
that?”

“Couldn’t let you have all the fun. Now
get going.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to get my blood pressure down
to normal. I want to make sure everyone is asleep before I go to bed.”

Craig leaned down and kissed her softly.
“Okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Everything will
look better in the morning,” Quinn muttered and looked out at the dark prairie
where lightning danced.

Shame filled her all night. Never before
had she acted that way around her brother’s guests. It made him look bad and
his reputation was everything.

When she joined everyone in the morning,
after changing her clothes, she could hardly look Jacob in the eyes. She sat by
herself at one of the long tables, feeling like she put herself in
self-appointed time out. Robby had gone so at least she didn’t have to face
him, but Lance and Becky avoided her and Craig sat with Marisol and Bonnie.
Quinn wondered again if the girl knew what had happened the night before. Time
would tell because she wasn’t going to go find out right now. Time alone,
that’s what she needed. Distance so she could avoid questions and comments.

Jacob seemed as happy to avoid her as
well. Thea was the only one willing to be a bridge between him and Quinn.

“He’ll come around,” she told Quinn as
they brought dishes to the chuck wagon.

“I honestly didn’t want him to find out
this way. We were going to ease everyone into this. I’m mortified, Thea. I’m so
sorry.”

Thea put a hand on her shoulder and
squeezed gently. “It’s a bit of a shock to him. And a little more than weird,
you know. He still sees you as a kid and Craig as a man. This came out of left
field, but he’ll get used to it. He loves you and he and Craig were always
close. Just give him time.”

How much time? When they were back on
the trail, Jacob rode with some of the guests. Thea had returned to the ranch
with the chuck wagon and other supplies. Despite lots of long looks that nearly
broke her heart, Craig kept his distance, sometimes riding with Marisol and
Bonnie and sometimes with another guest who wanted to talk books.

Marisol barely looked her way, which
confirmed Quinn’s belief she’d heard everything that happened. The girl kept
her chin up and, though she talked with Bonnie, there was a definite frown on
her face and on occasion she cast cold glances her way.

Then there were the comments thrown out
that Quinn knew she was meant to hear because of the lift in the girl’s voice
and the increase in volume.

“I really don’t think I like this long
riding stuff,” she told Bonnie once when Quinn was a few yards away. “I hope I
don’t get bow legs like Quinn.”

Shock and hurt were like a cold slap.
First of all, she was
not
bow legged. Second, it was a low blow, but
after the initial sting wore off, Quinn realized what the girl was doing. Damn,
this was what she dreaded all along.

“And I’m beginning to hate the smell of
horses. I don’t think I ever want to smell horses again.”

Marisol chose this route to take in
dealing with Quinn’s association with her father. She planned to distance
herself from the very thing that had become so important to her, the things she
and Quinn bonded over.

Quinn dropped back to the rear. She
didn’t want to hear any more. She couldn’t help the girl’s hurt, not right now.
After the ride ended, she’d talk to Craig about it. Maybe he knew the way to
get around the girl’s reaction, to ease Marisol’s dislike of Quinn’s involvement.

She’d never been so happy to see Long
Knife Creek Ranch at the end of the day. She just wanted to get back to Emerald
and her normal life. What lay in store for her and Craig? Repair whatever damage
Robby had done and begin their relationship the proper way. Of course, this
depended on Marisol, if the girl would come around and accept her. She wouldn’t
force her, but she prayed, watching how the girl dismounted from Sunny and went
through the motions of taking care of the horse without any of her usual
fondness, that this would be a short lived reaction. Nothing in the world would
make Quinn want Marisol to lose all the progress she’d made over the last few
months.

“I’ll talk to her when we get home, but
give her some time.”

Craig’s voice came from behind her,
leaning in toward her ear.

Quinn didn’t even turn around to face
him, just nodded her head and continued on with her task of removing Piper’s
saddle. “Guess she heard the fight last night.”

“Guess so. It’ll be fine, Quinn.
Everyone will come to terms with it. I don’t see why our plans have to change.
We don’t have to break the news to everyone now. We just have to let them see
that—”

“I’m not some Lolita and you’re not a
dirty old man.”

He laughed low and quiet. “Not exactly
what I was going to say, but I guess that’s the gist of it. I’ll give you a
call, okay? Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Quinn heard him walk away, felt the
cooler air against her back where he’d been. She pulled the saddle off Piper’s
back and carried it to her truck but she kept her eyes on Craig who joined a
very bored looking Marisol. How different this girl acted from the one who’d
left the Long Knife Creek the day before. How long would this version stick
around? She already she missed the vivacious and fun-loving Marisol.

Before she left Long Knife Creek, Quinn
had to face her brother, if for nothing else, to apologize for the previous
night. She found him in his office and when she entered, he didn’t give her his
normal smile of welcome. His eyes met hers for a moment then dropped to the
papers on his desk, his jaw tightening visibly.

“I wanted to apologize for last night.”

Jacob nodded but still didn’t look at
her.

“Craig and I were going to let everyone
know about us, after we got back from the ride. We never wanted that scene. You
know I’d never do something like that in public.”

“How long has this thing between you and
Craig been going on?”

Quinn furrowed her brows. She didn’t
like the chill in his voice. “It’s been building a while. It’s not just ‘a
thing’, Jacob. We’re not just fooling around. I love him.”

Whoa.
That wasn’t meant to slip out.
It couldn’t be roped back in so she lifted her chin and met the look he finally
shot her. One eyebrow cocked as if he waited for her to either clarify or
retract the statement. No, she refused to pacify him. She was a grown woman and
didn’t need her brother’s permission to fall in love.

“You sure about that? I remember the way
you used to follow him around when you were a kid. Sure it isn’t remnants of
that crush?”

“Give me a break and some credit for
being relatively grown up, Jacob. No, I’m not reliving my idolization of him. I
can tell the difference.”

“Christ, Quinn, he’s eight years older
than you.”

“So? Why do you make it sound like it
might as well be fifty? Why should that make a difference? Eight years is not
that bad.”

“Not always.”

“And to let you know, I’m the one who
started this. Not Craig.”

“You know, Quinn, I think I need time to
digest all this, so why don’t you head on home and let me do it. I don’t know
if you’re making things better.”

Quinn shook her head. “Okay, whatever.
Honestly, Jacob, I thought you’d understand. I really hope you come around.”

Jacob narrowed his blue gaze at her and
frowned. “Well, I’d say I was the least of your worries. I’d concentrate your
efforts on Craig’s daughter. She’s the one who’s more likely to be hurt.”

Quinn whirled around and stormed out of
the office, shutting the door with a definitive slam. Did he think her stupid
or careless? Of course Marisol was a huge consideration. The girl’s feelings
were top priority in this mess.

***

“We need to talk.”

Craig stood outside Marisol’s closed
bedroom door. As soon as they’d arrived home, over an hour ago, and had the
horses and equipment put away, Marisol retreated to her room and hadn’t made a
sound since. So she knew. That was apparent by the cold shoulder he’d received
the entire day. Now time had come for damage control, for trying to make her
understand.

Silence greeted him.

“Come on, Marisol. Mrs. Strockmeyer has
some fresh brownies in the kitchen. Come on out and we can have a few and talk
about this.”

Brownies were her absolute favorite, but
even they didn’t draw a reaction. It had to be worse than he dreaded.

“Marisol?”

Worry poked a cold hard finger at his
belly. Though he usually respected her privacy, his concern overrode that and
he opened the door. Instead of finding her sulking on her bed, the room was
empty.

The window behind her dresser was wide
open, curtains blowing inward gently from the breeze that rolled in off the
prairie. A distant roll of thunder accompanied the breeze.

“Damn,” he muttered and left the room.
Where in the world would she have gone?

In the kitchen, Mrs. Strockmeyer, a
portly woman in her late sixties, prepared dinner, singing softly to herself.