Rough Stock (17 page)

***

Clay sat on the front porch. An icy glass of sweet tea and a plate of fresh-baked cookies the neighbor had brought over sat on the table next him, along with his very own little bell. A
bell.
In case he needed something while she was inside, his mother had told him. He sighed. Perhaps if it had been a big old cowbell instead of this delicate little tinkling thing it wouldn’t have been quite so humiliating. At least she’d left him alone for a few minutes, but just so she could go in and start cooking his favorite dinner.

He’d only been off the plane from Philly for a few hours so he hoped she’d lighten up after a little time had passed. She would have to, because as soon as Mason and April arrived from Philly with his trailer, he intended on moving back into his own home. No way was he sleeping in his parents’ house while April was back in town, not when he had his own place, complete with a king-sized bed and acres of privacy. Besides, he was in no shape to go crawling through April’s bedroom window to be with her, though with all the painkillers he was on, it probably wouldn’t hurt too much.

He heard the phone ringing inside the house, and his mama’s voice answering it before the screen door slammed.

“That was Mrs. Carson. April called them from the road and said they’d be there within the quarter hour. Mason wants to unload April Dawn first, then he said to tell you he’d be over with the trailer.”

“Can you drive me over to the Carson’s place?” Clay wiggled his butt forward in the chair and gripped the arms, ready to stand.

“What? You just got out of the hospital. You can’t be traipsing all over town.”

“I won’t be traipsing. You’ll be driving me.”

Clay’s mother opened her mouth to protest when his father came out onto the porch. “The boy can sit at the Carson’s just as well as he can sit here. I’ll drive you, Clay. We’ll be back by dinner, Marge. I promise. Come on, son. I’m sure you want to see that horse of yours.”

With a sly wink, Clay’s father told him he knew his son was just as anxious to see April as April Dawn.

He smiled. “Thanks, Pop.”

Clay’s heart beat faster the closer they got to the farm. When they pulled up the familiar drive and he saw Mason and April standing next to his trailer, his blood was absolutely pounding in his ears.

“Can you pull right over to the barn?”

“Sure thing, but don’t tell your mother.” His father grinned.

The closer they got, the more clear it became that the idea of getting April and Mason to make peace by trapping them in a vehicle together for a thousand miles hadn’t worked as he planned.

It looked like April’s father had taken April Dawn to the pasture to stretch her legs for a bit. Meanwhile, April’s mother was just coming out of the kitchen door. She saw him in the car and waved with a smile.

With the car window open, Clay could clearly hear April as she confronted Mason. “Maybe you should have brought your girlfriend, Kit, with you instead of me.”

Mason folded his arms across his chest. “She’d have been more helpful than you were in those ridiculous clothes. And not that it is any of your business, but she’s not my girlfriend.”

April mirrored his pose. “That’s not what it looked like when you kissed her goodbye.”

Looking amused, Mason shook his head. “
She
kissed
me
. And what do you care? Are you jealous of her?”

“Jealous? Of her? Ha! Honestly, why did she bother wearing a shirt at all? It was buttoned so low I could practically see her whole bra.”

Mason’s brows shot up. “At least she was wearing a bra, unlike you in that dress you were wearing the other night.”

“That dress is a designer original.”

“Yeah, so the designer told me himself. Figures a man would design a dress with no front.”

“He’s gay.”

“So he says.”

April drew in a huge breath, about to lay into Mason again when Clay had had enough. Besides his annoyance with them both for still fighting, April’s mama was now near enough to hear and he didn’t want her to witness their fight. With a quick glance at his father, who looked more than interested in the exchange between Mason and April, Clay hoisted himself out of the car and stumbled forward, purposefully looking helpless and more wobbly than he really was. It worked. They forgot about fighting and both leapt forward to grab him.

“Jeez, Clay. You shouldn’t be out.” Mason held him by both arms.

“And you shouldn’t be fighting.” Clay looked toward April’s mother and raised his voice. “Hello, Mrs. Carson. How are you?”

“How are you, is the more important question.” She stepped forward and squeezed his hand warmly.

“I’m good. I’ll be back in the saddle before you know it. I wanted to thank you for keeping April Dawn here for a bit.”

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Don’t be silly. She can stay as long as you need. And if there is anything else we can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Actually, there is something you can do for me.” Clay shot his father a meaningful glance. “Could you take my dad inside to call my mother and let her know we arrived all right? She’s been a little protective about me lately.”

Mrs. Carson let out a laugh. “I don’t blame her one bit, honey. I would be too. Come on, I’ll show you the phone.”

With one more interested glance, Clay’s father followed Mrs. Carson inside and Clay, Mason and April were alone, if only for a moment.

He turned to them both. “I take it you two didn’t talk about things during the trip.”

April crossed her arms again and glared at Mason. “Every time I tried, he sneered at me and turned the radio louder.”

Mason displayed that sneer now. “I told you. There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Fine. Then I’m going inside to shower and change. Hopefully, some of my old clothes are still here in my room. I’ve been in these, and in that truck with you, for far too long.”

Clay watched her stalk away. “Mason—”

“Don’t, Clay. You may be willing to forgive that she cut all ties with us in favor of her uppity New York friends, but I’m not.”

“That’s not how it was.” Clay noticed April’s father busy filling the water bucket in the far paddock for April Dawn and decided they still had a few minutes alone to work this out. “Mason—”

“Clay, I’m not gonna talk about it now. I have to go see my parents. Can I borrow the trailer?”

He stifled a sigh. “Of course. Will I see you again tonight?”

“Yeah. I can be back after dinner.”

“Good. Um, I wanted to ask you something.”

Glancing in the direction April had gone, Mason shook his head and laughed. “After I just unloaded this last favor, you’re pushing your luck asking for another.”

“It’s not like the last one. I wanna sleep in my own house tonight. I’m there little enough as it is with all the travel, and I know my mother will never let me stay there alone. I’ve got a nice open-up sofa bed…”

Mason raised a brow. “You’re asking me to stay there with you?”

Clay nodded.

“And you think staying there instead of sleeping in the too-short twin-sized bed in my old room with the cowboy wallpaper will be a favor for you?” Mason laughed.

Clay grinned at the image. “I sure would appreciate it. Besides, I want you to see my place. It’s not much, just a small old farmhouse, but the barn is big and solid and once I have the time to rebuild the stalls and fence in a few more paddocks, it’ll be perfect for me to retire.”

Mason laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You. Talking about retiring already.”

“You see many riders over forty?”

“Yeah, in the senior rodeo.” Mason grinned.

“Exactly.” Clay leaned on the fence post as his pain medication began to wear off and the aches in his back and neck made him feel more like seventy than twenty-something. “I figure I’ve got fifteen years left max, and that’s barring a career-ending injury. When the farm went up for sale, I thought it was best to grab it. The down payment emptied out my savings account pretty good but I didn’t know if such a good opportunity would ever come up again. I think I can make a go of training rough stock there.”

“You sure do have a knack for it. The stock contractor couldn’t say enough about April Dawn.”

“Yeah. I know.” Clay kicked at the dirt. “So, will you stay with me and save me from having my mother tuck me into my old twin-sized bed tonight?”

“Yeah, no problem. Besides, I’ve been wanting to see your place ever since you wrote me about buying it.”

Clay slapped him on the back, wincing as his sore muscles protested the motion. “Great.”

One down, one to go.

As Mason drove away with a promise to meet Clay at his place later, Clay made his way slowly to the house, hoping the entire achy way that some of the clothes still left in April’s old room included her tiny cut-off denim shorts and her old cowboy boots. With that tempting image fueling his progress, he almost forgot he needed his painkillers.

Chapter Eighteen

A short while after eating dinner with his parents, Mason made his excuses and headed for Clay’s farm. He loved his mother and father, but years spent living away from home meant that a little teary-eyed fawning by them went a long way. Besides, he’d be there for a month. They had plenty of time to spend together.

More than ready to kick back in peace and quiet with his friend and a beer, Mason drove up Clay’s drive, glad it was still just light enough that he could get his first glimpse of the property and the outside of the house.

Clay had done well. The place needed a bit of work, but it had some good bones to build upon.

Mason sprinted up the front steps and through the screen door, not bothering to knock since he didn’t want Clay to try and get up to answer the door, then he came to a halt.

April sat on the couch next to Clay. The couch where Clay had said he could sleep tonight. As Mason realized that was probably Clay’s plan all along, his eyes narrowed in on his supposed friend.

“Clay—” Mason’s voice was almost a low growl.

“April didn’t want me to be all alone until you arrived. Besides, I thought we could all talk.” Clay interrupted his protest.

“We’ve done all the talking we need to.”

Mason watched April cross her arms defiantly. “He’s right, Clay. Let it go.”

At least he and April agreed on one thing.

Clay, however, didn’t. “No. I won’t. And if you won’t tell him, April, I will.”

Mason watched April’s eyes open wide. “Clay, no.”

Clay’s gaze moved from April to Mason. “I’m sorry, darlin’, but it has to be said.”

Her voice came out in a whisper. “Clay, please.”

Wasn’t this interesting.
There was something April didn’t want him to know. Now Mason was intrigued. Crossing his arms, he waited. He didn’t have to wait long.

Clay took April’s hand in his but his eyes were trained on Mason, where he still stood by the door. “She got pregnant that summer.”

The blood rushing through his ears at that revelation made it nearly impossible for him to hear what Clay said next.

“And before you get angry that she kept it to herself all that time, she didn’t know about it ’til after she got to New York and by then it was too late.”

Ignoring the tears in April’s eyes, Mason swallowed and glanced at Clay. “What do you mean
too late
?”

“She lost the baby and that freaked her out pretty bad.” Clay squeezed her hand. “That’s why she stopped writing and calling us.”

Mason looked between the two of them. “How long have you known?” he accused Clay.

April finally spoke, answering his question. “I told Clay in the hospital. I tried to tell you a ton of times, but…”

“I wouldn’t let you.” Mason took a deep breath. “I need some air.”

They didn’t try to stop him when he stalked out the door and into the cool night. He didn’t stop himself until he’d reached the barn, where he slumped against the wall and covered his face with his hands.

There’d almost been a baby.
His
baby most likely. He was fairly sure of that as he remembered the night in the lake, their first time together when he’d barely pulled out in time.

He let out a laugh. Obviously he
hadn’t
pulled out in time at all.

Soft footsteps told him he was no longer alone.

“You okay?”

Imagine that, April asking him if he was all right when she was the one who’d been pregnant. Was he okay? Good question. After a moment, he let out a shaky breath. “Yeah.”

April stood before him looking so young and unsure. With a sigh, Mason looped one forearm around her neck and pulled her to him. She sighed against him.

“April. What would you have done? If you didn’t lose it, I mean.”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“I would have married you, you know.”

He felt her laugh reverberate through his chest where her head rested against him. It scared him how good it felt to have her there again.