Reece (Stud Ranch)

I was glad for my oversized flannel and short, boyish haircut.

“I’m your neighbor to the east. Always good to make friends with the new neighbor, don’t you think?” He was still shaking hands with Jeremiah.

Jeremiah wasn’t smiling. He finally yanked his hand back from Trent. Jeremiah shrugged. “Got enough friends.”

I didn’t miss the tick in Trent’s jaw but his smile never wavered. My impulse was to take a step back from him. I had a feeling Ruth was right about the snake part. I liked that Reece’s brother didn’t seem taken in by him either.

Trent laughed, obviously aiming for good-natured. “Don’t know where you boys are from, but this here’s Texas. You need your friends in Texas. We look out for our own.”

“Oh please, Trent,” Ruth laughed. “You woulda begged, borrowed, or stole to get this piece of land. God knows you tried. But these boys swooped in and outbid you, thank God. I know your daddy’s been trying to get my land since the time I was in pigtails. But it’s over. He’s not getting it. The HB will never be y’alls. The end.”

Anger flashed in Trent’s eyes and he pointed his finger at Ruth. “You never did know your place or when to shut that mouth of yours. Your daddy was a loser and a gambler and a nobody, and the fact that you’re still trying to hold onto this farm when it was sold out from under you is pathetic, everybody thinks so.”

Yep, there it was. They never could keep it in for long. Narcissists had the most fragile egos of anyone on earth. You poked them and they lashed out, every time.

“Only one who looks pathetic here is you.” The words were outta my mouth before I could really think about what I was doing or saying.

Trent’s head swung my way, disbelief all over his features. “What’d you say, dyke?”

I laughed. Laughed in his face. It felt so good. Absolutely liberating, actually. “Bullies like you are all the same, aren’t you?” I shook my head at him.

Then I looked over at his truck. “Though guessing by the size of that truck, you’re overcompensating for a little something, aren’t you?” I let my eyes fall to his waist, just in case his thick head couldn’t follow my innuendo all the way through.

“You little bitch!” he snapped. I saw it in his eyes the second he lunged for me. The same way Jeff regularly snapped. It was that instinct for violence that insecure men had when you threatened their oh-so-fragile egos.

So no, I wasn’t surprised, but I still froze.

Except, unlike when Jeff came for me, this time there were two large protectors who leapt in front of me.

Reece and Jeremiah grabbed Trent and threw him backwards to the ground. He landed hard on his ass.

And Reece, gentle, calm Reece was suddenly on fire mad. “You think you can lay hands on a woman? Or even talk to a woman that way? Get the fuck off our ranch. You ever step foot on it again, we’ll call the authorities.”

Trent scrambled backwards, furious as he stumbled back to his feet. He pointed his finger at Jeremiah, then Reece. “You just made a mistake. A big mistake.”

“I’m quaking in my boots,” Jeremiah said, deadpan. “Now get the fuck off my property. This is Texas, right? I hear you can shoot trespassers on sight here.”

Trent didn’t say another word. He just climbed back in his truck—and I do mean climbed. He was so short, he had to grab onto the rung and heft himself up into the thing, it was so tall.

He spun around and spit dust and dirt our way but we were all already back on the porch and heading back inside.

I wasn’t sure what to expect once we got there.

I figured Ruth would be pissed at me again for stepping in when I was a stranger. I’d hoped for a cup of coffee before I hit the road, but I might have to make a quicker exit now.

Sixty miles wasn’t really that far. I could walk it. Maybe two or three days and I’d be there.

But as soon as we got in the house, Ruth threw her arms around my neck. “You’re a badass,” she said, squeezing me tight and giving me that hug I’d been longing for so badly only minutes before.

Startled, I hugged her back. She was wiry but sturdy, and a surprisingly good hugger.

When she pulled back, she was grinning at me. “I always wanted to say that to his face about that stupid truck of his.”

Then she linked her arm through mine and pulled me back into the kitchen. “So you were passing through? Hitchhiking? Oh honey, we girls gotta stick together. You’re good people. I’m sorry I was such a bitch this morning. I haven’t slept. I was up all night chasing cows that had escaped out onto the 284 back onto the property. Then we had to fix the damn fence so they didn’t wander right back out again.”