Chasing Liberty, page 2
The wildlands she referred to was the beloved untouched property full of hidden treasures and a jaw-dropping view of the mountains. Liberty and her sisters inherited the land from a maternal uncle. Liberty had only met him a few times and knew very little about him outside of his desire to be alone. He’d lived in a tiny, primitive cabin hidden in the woods all his life, only coming into town on rare occasions. He could have been a very rich man had he sold the vast fields to developers, but he refused, choosing to live in poverty. He’d been dead for a few years before a surveyor found him sitting in his chair. His story had seemed full of heartbreak and disappointment.
Now she’d given Wyler fifty acres of her portion for marrying her. At the time, it had seemed like a fair trade. With a hundred acres of property remaining, she had plenty of space to build a permanent home for Stellar Steeds, and a home for her. Now that Daddy had added her back into the will, she would also have her childhood home, shared with her sisters, of course.
Some of her sisters didn’t seem to be taking their father’s demands seriously though.
Liberty hadn’t been willing to give up Sagebrush Rose. The land was as much a part of her as her arms and legs. She’d worked right alongside the hands over the years, had put in blood, sweat, and tears in every inch of the dirt. This was where the last thread of memories of her mother existed—where she had been laid to rest on a small hill that overlooked the ranch. Liberty rode every evening and had a lot of private talks with nature and God, and her mother, on those lonely sunset rides.
“Sweetheart, some things can’t be measured by material things,” Wyler said.
She tried to read his expression but couldn’t “What are you asking for, Wyler?”
He shrugged and his muscles flexed under her fingertips. “Hell if I know, but something doesn’t feel right about this fabricated breakup.”
She swallowed hard. “Yet the marriage of convenience feels right?”
He shoved away from her, and she dropped her hand, watching him swallow the last drops of his coffee before he rinsed it out in the sink. When he turned back there was nothing left but a semi-frown and a blank stare. “Seems like you already have your mind made up. Why are you even discussing the plan with me?”
“We went in this together and we’re going out together.” The words were out, and unfortunately, she couldn’t reel them back in. They sounded inconsiderate. Like she was dissolving a business deal.
“Whatever you want, Liberty.” He distanced himself. She could practically feel the pull. “It’s getting late, and I need to head to Sagebrush. It’s branding day and you know how Sam is if we’re late.”
“Wyler?”
He stopped underneath the arched doorway, keeping his back to her. The only sign that he was listening was the slight tilt of his head.
“Dinner is at eight.”
With a grunt, he continued down the hallway. She could hear his footsteps on the stairs and a few seconds later the clicking of his bedroom door shutting.
Blowing out a long breath, she leaned over the counter, finding comfort in the grey-veined granite that cooled her heated skin. Her exhaustive state warned her that she should stay home and rest, but she had too much work to do. Too many items on her check list.
Her first task was calling the attorney and having him draw up the divorce papers and the deed transfer for Crescent Rose. She had to follow through with her promise.
She went into the living room to the antique desk and opened the leather-bound planner. She drew a line through the first item on the long list. Have the divorce talk with Wyler. At least it was over with. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but not his lack of enthusiasm for freedom. Liberty didn’t want to come off as heartless, but things had reached a Y in the road. A series of missteps had brought them to this, yet none of what they’d shared had seemed like blunders at the time. They’d agreed that behind closed doors they’d simply be roommates, but in public they’d pretend to have the best marriage. All of which included holding hands, hugs, and kisses when someone was watching. Unfortunately, they’d crossed the boundaries when they started ripping each other’s clothes off the second they walked inside the house.
Liberty had refused to even consider marriage at first. She was more than happy being single and sneaking around with Wyler. She had enjoyed the forbidden affair with no labels or pressure placed on it outside of finding a place where they could meet in private.
Any of Sagebrush’s hands would have fit the bill for a marriage of convenience, but Wyler had seemed like the only logical choice.
Closing her planner, she scurried upstairs to change. She paused outside Wyler’s closed bedroom door, but what could she say to him? Sorry didn’t seem to fit the bill, so she headed to her own room. After tonight, they’d go their separate ways.
The decision was for the best.
Chapter Two
Resituating his Stetson for the tenth time since he’d slapped it on his head, Wyler strolled into the restaurant and was greeted by the blonde host standing at the podium. “Good evening, Mr. Ranks. Mr. Rose is waiting for you. Right this way.”
No matter how often it happened these days, he still wasn’t used to being greeted by name. Hell, everyone in Sagebrush Pine always greeted him warmly, but he never would have believed he could walk into some fancy restaurant and be recognized. Of course, that came with the territory when one married a Rose. People seemed to have a second job around these parts making sure they treated the reputable family with extra consideration. Sam owned the largest cattle ranch within a two-hundred-mile radius and an extensive portfolio of investment properties. Anything he touched regarding land turned to gold.
When Wyler first started working at Sagebrush Rose, he thought Sam and his daughters were a knock-off version of the Kardashians, but boy-oh-boy had Wyler learned a lot in the last year—especially the last four months since he’d married Liberty. His eyes had been opened wide to the hard work the family put into their legacy.
Sure, the family farmhouse had rugs and antiques that cost more than he made a year, but most everything in the farmhouse mansion had been handed down by generations of Roses. The first-generation of Roses had landed on the undeveloped Sagebrush Rose Ranch in eighteen-ninety-four. Each generation after poured blood, sweat and tears into making the beautiful ranch into what it was today.
The sisters were spoiled, no doubt, but they were also some of the toughest women he’d ever met. Talented. Business savvy. And could handle a horse better than most men.
The first week he worked as a hand, one of the horses had been spooked by a rattlesnake and jumped a fence. He was caught at the east pasture tangled in barbed wire and fought against it, only making things worse. Liberty had ridden up so fast that she’d lost her cowgirl hat in the wind and was pulling on her gloves before she even left the saddle. There had been an undeniable connection between her and the horse that calmed it enough that she could give him a shot of sedative so he wouldn’t hurt himself or one of the hands. Several of the hands had started cutting the wire away from the horse’s injured legs, but Liberty had demanded that everyone step aside and let her help her horse. After being freed, and the vet checking for life-threatening injuries, Liberty had begun belting out demands for the crew to immediately remove every single strand of barbed wire fence on the ranch and put-up cattle panel and pipe fences in the horse pastures. All the while she was covered in blood, some of her own and some of the horse’s.
Normally the expensive request would require Sam’s prior approval, but none of the hands had the courage to go behind Liberty’s back and get her father’s signature. She’d looked a bit like a warrior princess who’d gone to battle and shouldn’t be crossed. When Sam found out, he’d stayed silent too.
Wyler’s curiosity and interest had been tweaked then. He watched for Liberty, stealing glances every chance he could. There was something very different in her, unlike any woman he’d ever met. He admired the fact that she was the most ladylike tomboy. Not to mention the most beautiful. Eventually, stolen glances led to flirtation, mostly on her part. Wyler couldn’t have ignored the temptation if his life had depended upon it.
One night after the other hands had gone to the bunkhouse, Wyler was out by the river alone enjoying an evening by a fire under the stars when Liberty had unexpectedly come off the path, walked into the firelight, and stripped down to her itty-bitty bra and panties. She’d started for the water and got about halfway then looked back at him with a smile that could have easily knocked his boots off if he’d had a pair on. Her voice had sounded like liquid velvet when she said, “You coming, cowboy?”
Of course he was. He got hard right then and there like a schoolboy seeing tits for the first time.
In his defense, a man would have to be out of his mind to turn down an opportunity to be near a woman as beautiful as Liberty. From her tousled curls to her engaging eyes to hips that begged for a man’s grip, she was amazing.
He should have denied himself the temptation, walked away like an idiot, but the whiskey in his system had lent him enough bravery to deny all logic. He’d stripped down to his boxers and join her in the ice-cold water that didn’t even touch his hard-on.
She must have liked it because over the next month, he’d found himself, and his heart, right where they shouldn’t be. Balls deep in sweet pussy and pleasured to near-stupidity. She simply said “hard” and his body reacted like a racehorse coming out of the gate. He was caught up in an invisible wire like that poor horse she’d saved.
He wasn’t schooled in how clandestine affairs worked, but he was willing to learn everything there was to know., with Liberty’s guidance. When she’d mentioned marriage, she could have easily said “be a dumbass” and he’d gone right along all too willingly. He’d fallen for her like a dumbass would. Lock, stock, and barrel.
What had he thought would happen?
When she’d mentioned divorce, he’d been unraveled—the rug pulled out from underneath him. He’d been at war within himself, wanting to fight for her, but pride had rendered him silent. There came a time when a man needed to remove the claws from his balls.
Yet, truth was, he didn’t want to lose her. He had one chance and he aimed to tell her exactly how he was feeling. He would lay it all on the line and let her decide. He didn’t want a divorce, and if that meant giving up his dreams of ever running his own ranch then so be it. What he wanted right now, more than his next breath, was his wife. He wanted to make their union real. To wake up with her each day.
He patted his shirt pocket to make sure the ring tucked in the velvet pouch hadn’t disappeared. The keepsake had belonged to his mother, the only thing of hers that he had left. It wasn’t much, not a big diamond, but it meant a lot to him.
Sweat beaded his brow.
Would she even like the ring? It wasn’t what some rich fellow could give her, but Wyler knew all the money in the world couldn’t make a person happy. He would gladly spend every day treating her with love, kindness, and respect, until he took his final breath. Unlike how his father had treated his mother. Even as a kid he’d tried to protect her—swearing he’d never be like his father. When he passed away, Wyler had gone to the graveyard, the only one in attendance, and said goodbye to the man who had never fit the bill as a dad. The only thing he’d done for Wyler was leave him a plot of land that was worth a million which Wyler refused to do anything with because it meant nothing to him. It was the moral of the situation. Even today, he couldn’t believe the old man hadn’t sold everything he had for a bottle of whiskey and a temporary high.
Wyler wasn’t his father. He wanted a family. And if God willing, he’d be blessed enough to have a house full of kids. He wanted this with Liberty. The perfect unification of her stubborn character and his patience. Her beauty and strength and his determination. He’d consider his life a success.
His cheeks burned as a smile took up residence on his lips. Imagining Liberty carrying their baby made his heart heavy and his chest puff out some. He knew she’d be a good mother. She came across as hard knocks, but he knew it was a defense mechanism. He’d seen the softer side of her. Saw how she cared for her family and went to bat for them
He wanted to plant his seed inside her and create the family that he’d always wanted.
“Have a wonderful dinner, Mr. Ranks.” The hostess offered him a lingering smile and he guessed most men would be flattered at the uninvited attention from the young woman. Yet, as beautiful as she was, Wyler didn’t have any desire for any woman but his Liberty. The woman who’d shown him what he wanted—needed.
“There he is,” Sam’s booming voice rattled the chandeliers as he marched toward Wyler, extending his gnarled, leathered hand. Wyler gripped his father-in-law’s roughened hand for a firm handshake. “Liberty isn’t with you?” Sam looked beyond Wyler’s shoulder.
“She must be running behind.”
“Every time I complain about my daughters’ punctuality difficulties I always get, ‘Daddy, we’re being fashionably late’.” He snorted. “Whatever that means. What’ll you have to drink, son? You tried their bourbon yet? Made and aged right here in the U.S. of A.” Sam waved over the bartender and flashed two fingers.
“Is Trinity here with you?” Wyler searched for the young woman that Sam had been spending a lot of his time with.
“Nah. She’s studying for her bar exam. Wouldn’t invite her anyway.” He paused while the bartender set two tumblers onto the slick, black bar top and poured a liberal amount of whiskey into each. “You’d think it’d kill my daughters to treat Trinity with some respect and kindness.” He scratched his temple. “They aren’t the ones dating her.”
“Have you factored in that Trinity is younger than Liberty and Honor?” Wyler appreciated that he could have a raw conversation with the other man. “They’re just looking out for their father’s interest.”
“Ain’t a man allowed to have some fun?” Then his hard frown softened some. “No one will ever replace their mother. She was my everything—my world— but until the day comes when the good Lord takes me home to see her, I have to live on this earth each day with only a memory.” He swallowed some of the whiskey as if to ease the sorrow. “Trinity makes me happy. She doesn’t expect too much.”
Wyler slapped Sam on the back, feeling a bit sorry for him. Wyler understood loss and pain. “Then there’s nothing else to explain. If you’re happy, your daughters should be happy. I know myself that’s what they want.”
Sam downed the rest of his whiskey in one gulp and smeared the back of his hand over his mouth. “How are things going with you and my daughter? She seems a bit frazzled lately. Has she been feeling okay?”
With an exaggerated pause, Wyler finally said, “She’s been busy.”
“With the business. Yeah, I get it, but is she pregnant?”
Wyler nearly choked on his whiskey. Once he managed to get his hacking under control, he shook his head. “No, sir, she’s not pregnant.”
“Better get to working fast there, young man.” Sam slapped Wyler on the shoulder. “You should know by now that Honor and Liberty are always in competition and can never do anything alone. I’m relying on babies being one of those.”
“Can I get you another?” the bartender asked.
“I’ll take a beer.” Wyler thought it best to go lighter and keep his wits about him.
Sam’s cell phone rang. He checked the screen and sighed. “Ah, shit. I better take this call. Can’t get one evening of peace,” he muttered as he left the bar for the balcony.
Wyler sipped on his expensive bottled beer. He was more of a simple man and preferred domestic.
He felt a bit out of sorts. Confidence had never been foreign to him, but in his defense, he’d never asked a woman to marry him.
Through the mirror behind the top shelf of bottles he saw Liberty making her way into the dining room.
He turned to get a better look as she sashayed his direction in a crème-colored dress that scooped low on her chest and stretched across her curves perfectly. She garnered multiple appreciative glances from men, and women. Pride grew in Wyler. Not because she was the most beautiful woman in the room, but because he remembered what they’d shared last night.
She swept up to him in a breeze of spiced vanilla and morning dew. He loved her scent. He inhaled it deeply into his lungs. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “I almost didn’t make it. One of the horses was limping and I had to call in Keller,” she said as she pulled away.
“I just got here. Sam is on the balcony taking a call.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Are you okay?” She set her purse on the bar and slid upon the stool.
“What do you mean?” Could she sense his tension?
“You just seem a little uptight.” Tendrils of hair had fallen from the neat style that showed off her long neck. She’d been outside working so much she had a scattering of freckles across her nose and on her shoulders.
“Liberty, I—”
“It’s okay, Wyler. Honestly, I’m a little nervous too. I’ve never done a staged breakup before. I feel like we have one chance to get this right.”
He rubbed the burden from his brow. “There’s something I need to speak to you about.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Hello, honey.” Sam swarmed in and gave her a hug, drawing her away from what Wyler had been about to ask.
“Daddy, you best put that phone away,” she chastised her father. “You’re supposed to be away from the office.”
“The ringer’s off. Come and have a seat at the table.”
She scooted off the stool and slipped her fingers around Sam’s bent elbow. He led her to the table, pulled out a chair for her, and said proudly, “I just sold the property over on Redneck’s Ridge for triple what I paid for it.”
“Congratulations, Daddy.” She kissed him on the cheek then took a seat.
“Congratulations,” Wyler said, a little upset that Sam had the worst timing.
Wyler sat down next to Liberty and looked at her profile. Damn. He had to get tonight right.
