Beau (Remington Ranch Book 4) (22 page)

She was quiet again before she said. “I know.”

That answer was the best gift she could have given him. She believed him!

“I need to get back to work. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay. See you later.”

“I do love you, Beau.”

“And I love you. More than you know.”

~ ~ ~

That evening they decided to grill out on the deck. It was a lovely evening and Corinne loved being outside here. It was so beautiful. The horses grazed in the pasture nearby. The mountains loomed above them, finally green, though some still had white peaks. Corinne smiled at Beau as he cut Ruby’s steak into little pieces for her. He almost caught her finger with the knife as she swiped a piece before he was finished.

“Ruby!” she admonished.

“Sorry.” Her bottom lip slid out and she looked close to tears.

Corinne felt bad. Ruby had been cranky since she’d come home. She was tired.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, sweetie.”

Ruby nodded, then she smiled up at Beau. “My Beau would never hurt me.”

Corinne had to swallow the lump in her throat as she nodded. She knew it was true now. She hadn’t forgotten what he’d said about building a house down here so he could still see Ruby even if they weren’t together. At one point she might have thought they were just words. But she knew that Beau and Ruby had their own thing. He really loved her, there was no doubting it as she watched them together.

Beau smiled. “You know it, pumpkin, but it’s still not a good idea to stick your fingers near a sharp knife.”

Ruby leaned against him and smiled up at him. “I love you.”

Corinne’s heart overflowed as she watched him wrap his arm around her daughter. “And I love you. More than you know.”

“This much?” Ruby held her hands up about six inches apart.

Beau shook his head. “More.”

“This much?” She held them a little wider.

“Nope. Much more than that.”

“How much?”

“Come here.”

She leaned in closer and he held his arms out wide as he said, “As much as the whole wide world.” And then he closed them around her and hugged her tight. “And back again.”

She giggled. “When are you going to marry my mommy?”

Beau looked up and met Corinne’s gaze. She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t expected to be put on the spot like that.

“Someday.” Beau saved her from having to say anything.

“When you do, will you be my daddy?”

Corinne didn’t understand the look on his face. She waited to see what he’d say.

“I’m your Beau. Beaus are better than daddies.”

Ruby nodded and snuggled against him. “You’re the best Beau in the world.”

He chuckled. “Thank you.”

“I hope you marry my mommy soon.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to. I don’t want to wait.”

Beau met Corinne’s gaze. “Neither do I.”

Corinne smiled back at him; she was starting to wonder why she had wanted to wait. She wasn’t sure she did any more.

She turned to Ruby who was giving her a meaningful look as she said, “Sometimes people say they’re going to do something then they don’t.”

“Not when it’s something important,” said Corinne.

Ruby didn’t look convinced. “Will you get married soon then, please?”

Corinne smiled, first at Ruby then at Beau. “I hope so.”

~ ~ ~

When they went to bed, Beau drew her to him and nuzzled his face into her neck. “Did you mean what you said earlier?”

“Yes.”

He raised his head to look into her eyes. She hadn’t hesitated. Hadn’t asked him what he meant.

He smiled, but it was his turn to feel hesitant. He wanted to understand what had changed. What had taken her from wanting to take their time to saying she hoped they would get married soon?

He raised an eyebrow.

She smiled and shrugged. “You’re dispelling all my fears. All the time. Every day you do something else that proves it to me. You’re in this for the long haul. We work well together, and even when things come up, we talk through them. I guess the only thing that bothers me now is that we haven’t had a fight.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

She smiled. “In a way it is. I mean, it’s good that we don’t, but we need to know that we can fight healthy.” She shrugged. “Some people fight mean.”

He nodded. He understood. “I don’t fight mean. I withdraw.”

“I thought as much, my concern is whether you come back.”

“I do. It takes me a while. Or at least it used to. I seem to have done a lot of changing lately.”

“All for the better from what I gather, too.”

“Oh, yeah? Have you heard that I was an asshole before you met me?”

She laughed. “Not exactly.”

He frowned. He wasn’t exactly surprised. He knew his own reputation, but he was curious as to what she’d heard.

She smiled. “Not an asshole, just that you had your head up your ass.”

He nodded with a rueful smile.

“You don’t have anything to say to that?”

He shook his head. “I guess all I can say is thank you for helping me get it out of there!”

She laughed. “You’re welcome.”

Ruby came to him the next morning and hugged his legs when he was trying to get out the door. He was running late.

“I’ve got to go, Ruby.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“I have to. And you have to go to school.”

“I don’t want to. I want to stay here with you.”

“I wish we could, pumpkin, but we both have to go.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “But I don’t
want
to.”

He scooped her up and hugged her to his chest. “I know, but it won’t be long until tonight and then we can all snuggle on the sofa. How about that?”

She nodded sadly.

“What have you got going on today?” asked Corinne.

He laughed. “I have to engage in a battle of conscience.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“With myself. Guy Preston wants to make an offer on a house. It’s a stupid offer and I think it’s an attempt to screw me over. I’m tempted to let him, because I know he’d only be screwing himself.” He shook his head. “But I’m not sure I can bring myself to do it.”

Corinne frowned at him.

Shit! He shouldn’t be talking about screwing people over in front of Ruby. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. You do what you think best, but I should have warned you. I have very high ethical standards.”

Damn! So it wasn’t his language in front of Ruby that had bothered her.

“Okay. Good to know. I guess I’ll see you tonight, then.”

She nodded, but didn’t come to him for a kiss.

“I was only joking, you know. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, much as he has it coming.”

“I hope you were joking, but either way, I don’t find it funny.”

“Point taken.” He didn’t get why she needed to be like that about it. He put Ruby down and kissed the top of her head. “You have a good day. I’ll see you later.”

“For snuggles?”

He smiled. “Yep, for snuggles.” He looked at Corinne. “For snuggles?” He wanted to see her smile before he left.

He was relieved when she did. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I guess I’m just a bit crabby this morning.”

He went to hug her. “No problem. I look at it as a good thing. I just learned something else about you.”

She nodded. “Yep, I’m afraid I can be uptight about some things.”

He laughed. “We’re definitely two of a kind then.”

She finally relaxed. “I guess so.”

When he got to the office, Wanda was sitting at her desk sipping her coffee. “G’morning, boss.”

“Morning, Wanda. What have you got for me?”

She made a face. “Nothing much, other than a message from Guy Preston. He wants you to call him back. Wants to know if you’ve written up his offer yet. I can’t stand that man.”

Beau nodded. “I know how you feel. In fact, do you know what? You can call him back and tell him that I can’t do it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And the commission?”

He laughed. “I know you think I’m a tightwad, but some things are more important than money.”

She grinned. “That girl is so good for you. When are you going to pop the question?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Well, the Beau of old, wouldn’t have hesitated to take Guy’s money. Only one thing can make a man open up his eyes the way you have these last few weeks, and that’s love. You may as well just admit it and get on with it.”

“I have admitted it. It’s her who’s been taking her time, but I think we’re almost there.”

“Good. I hope I’m invited to the wedding?”

“Of course you are.”

“Okay. Well, in that case I’ll get right on the phone and tell Mr. Preston where he can stick it!”

Beau laughed and made his way into his office. “Thanks, Wanda.”

It was lunchtime before he lifted his head. He’d had a lot of paperwork to catch up on. He wandered out into the reception. “What do you say, do you want to come for lunch?”

She stared at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Are you buying?”

“I sure am.”

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m meeting Terry today.”

“So why ask if I was buying?”

She grinned. “So that you owe me one!”

He laughed. “You are a piece of work.”

She nodded happily. “That’d be me. Oh, and by the way, Guy Preston was well and truly pissed. I don’t know what his game is on that place, but he asked me to let you know that you’d be sorry.”

Beau nodded. It was hardly surprising. “I just don’t want to play his games. It’s not worth it.”

“I agree, but watch your back. He’s a vindictive bastard.”

“I will.” Beau knew he was, but he didn’t see any way Guy could get at him. The only way would be to cause trouble with Corinne, but they’d already talked about it and he was confident that she wouldn’t let Guy get to her. He smiled. They were too solid. As he walked down the street toward the coffee shop, he had no clue just how vindictive Guy could be, or any idea how soon he was about to find out.

Once he’d bought his sandwich he decided to go back to the office for his car. He wanted to run home and get some more clothes. He was slowly transferring his stuff to Corinne’s cabin. Everything he took there, he left. He still didn’t have everything he wanted yet though.

He noticed a man sitting in a beat-up old pickup truck as he turned into his driveway. He smiled to himself. There were plenty of those around here, he wasn’t worried. He realized that he wasn’t so anal anymore about locking doors and drawers and everything else. Corinne really had opened him up.

He let himself in and ran up to the bedroom to grab a couple more pairs of jeans and shirts. It’d be nice to maybe take them out riding this weekend. Have that picnic in the foothills. He knew Ruby would love that, though he hadn’t managed to get Corinne on a horse yet.

He thought about eating his sandwich while he was here, but decided against it. This house didn’t feel like home anymore. Home was with Corinne and Ruby. He smiled as he remembered this morning’s conversation about snuggles. He had that to look forward to at the end of the day, and hopefully more with Corinne come bedtime.

He locked the door and ran back down the steps. On a whim, he got into the Mercedes instead of his truck. Ruby loved it, she called it his
posh car.
Maybe a ride in it would cheer her up later if she was still cranky.

He started it up and pulled out into the street. It happened so fast and yet it felt like slow motion. The pickup that had been sitting there was gone, but as Beau looked to his left he saw it heading his way. He had time to think the guy driving it must be an idiot as he hit the gas. He started to think the driver might be crazy as the truck veered toward him. The grill of the truck filled his view. Then came the sound, the sickening noise of crumpling metal. The truck rammed into the driver’s door sending the car crashing into the wall. Beau was vaguely aware of pain in his leg; he looked down to see bent metal. He couldn’t process it and looked up again, only to see the grill of the truck backing away from him. Hopefully the driver would be able to disentangle the vehicles and he might be able to free his legs. Instead, the truck kept going, reversing away from him. Was the guy just going to leave?

No. Beau started to panic when he heard the engine rev. It was coming again. He scrabbled at the door, but it was no use. The thing was crumpled, buckled inward, as his leg could vouch. The impact came and Beau saw stars. Then everything went dark.

~ ~ ~

“Hello?” Mason didn’t recognize the number on his cell phone display.

“Mason? It’s Luke Wallis.”

“Oh, hey Luke. What’s up?” Luke was with the sheriff’s department up in town. They’d been friends in high school, but didn’t get to catch up much these days.

“This isn’t a social call. It’s about Beau.”

“Beau? What’s up?”

“He was involved in an RTA. He’s in the hospital.”

“What?” Mason shook his head in disbelief. “What happened? Is he okay?”

“He’s going to be okay, but he was unconscious when we got to him. Maybe some broken bones.”

“What happened?”

“We don’t know. We had a report of a hit and run. Two kids walking down that end of Main said they saw a beat-up old pickup ram him as he came out of his driveway.”

“Ram him? What the fuck?”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. But it gets worse.”

“How?”

“They said after it hit him, the truck backed up and then rammed him a second time.”

“Jesus!” Mason didn’t know what to make of that.

“We’re talking to the kids to see what they can remember. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

“Damned straight we are. I’m on way up there.”

“Okay. If I’m not around, have the nurses call me.”

“Will do.” Mason hung up and strode out of the barn. He started to make his way up to the big house then thought better of it. His first thought had been to go get his folks and take them up to town. But the person he should be taking was Corinne. He changed tack and headed down to the guest lodge. He dialed his folks as he walked.

His dad answered. “Hey, son. What’s up?”

“I’m heading up to town. Apparently Beau had an accident in his car. He’s going to be okay, but he’s in the hospital.”

“We’re on our way.”

“See you there.”

Next he called Carter.

“Hi, Mase. Is everything okay?”

“For once, I can’t laugh at you for asking that. It’s not. Beau’s had an accident. He’s in the hospital.”

“Shit! What happened? I’m in town. I can be over there in five.”

“Apparently a truck hit him, that’s all I know. You’ll be the first there, so call me when you find anything out?”

“Will do.”

Mason was almost to the lodge now. He didn’t know if Shane would be there, but he called him anyway.

“Yo, bro!”

“Hey. Where are you?”

“I’m in town, why?”

“Can you get your ass to the hospital? Beau’s in there.”

“Oh, fuck! Why?”

“A truck ran into him. Luke Wallis said he was unconscious and maybe some broken bones.”

“Shit. Are you still at the ranch?”

“Yep.”

“Do you want to tell Corinne? Bring her up here?”

“Why do you think I’m not on my way already?”

“Yeah, I should’ve known. I’ll see you at the hospital.”

“Yup.”

Mason hung up and ran up the steps to the lodge. Corinne was standing at the reception desk. She smiled as she saw him approach, but her smile faded as he got closer. “What’s wrong?”

He tried to smile. He didn’t want to scare her. “Beau had a little car accident.” He took hold of her arm and started to lead her out. “We’re going up to the hospital to see him.”

“He’s in hospital? How bad is he?” She’d turned as white as a ghost.

“The deputy I talked to said it wasn’t serious. Maybe some broken bones.”

She visibly pulled herself together. Mason liked her. She was strong, not easily panicked. “What happened?”

“We don’t know yet. I’ll tell you the little I do know on the way.”

~ ~ ~

The ride up to town seemed to take forever. Corinne called Susie and asked her if she could keep Ruby for a while longer when she picked her up. She had no idea what time she’d get back. Of course Susie was as accommodating as ever, just told her to let her know how Beau was when she knew anything.

Mason called Gina. She would meet them at the hospital.

When the phone calls were done she turned to Mason. “What happened?”

“Apparently he was coming out of his driveway and some kids saw a truck drive into him and then drive away.”

“A hit and run? I didn’t think things like that happened here.”

“Neither did I. I can’t believe a local would do something like that.”

Corinne couldn’t imagine anyone ever doing something like that. She knew it happened, but she never would have thought it could happen here. And not to Beau.

Her cell phone rang and she fished it out of her purse. She recognized the number. It was Beau’s office.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Is this Corinne?”

“Yes. Hi, Wanda.”

“Hey. I’m sorry to bother you, hon. But Beau isn’t with you by any chance, is he? He’s got appointments this afternoon and I can’t find him. He went out for lunch and didn’t come back. He’s not answering his phone. I’m worried.”

“He had an accident, Wanda. Someone ran into him. They’re saying it’s not serious. I’m on my way to the hospital with Mason.”

“Oh my God! Please let me know how he’s doing when you get there? I’ll come straight over after work.”

“Okay, I’ll keep you posted.” She hung up.

Mason gave her a rueful smile. “Wanda loves him more than anyone.”