“What else was it supposed to be? We had just met. I don’t even know you.” Wilder said, clicking his tongue at his sheep. He still had that smirk on his face that was driving Celia crazy. She couldn’t believe it. Could Conrad actually have been right?
“If I did know you I would have known that you have a wife.” She said, a little more calmly now. Wilder’s face changed instantly. The smirk disappeared and he lunged at her. The rope had dropped from his hand and he was holding her, his hands on both her arms. Squeezing tightly. She could feel the strength in his arms, how easy it would be for him to hurt her.
But Celia looked back at him boldly, meeting his eyes directly.
“What did you just say to me?” He asked, growled.
“That I know about your wife, now. I know you’re a married man. You drove your wife away. She left you.” Celia continued. Her voice was choking in her throat as she felt the pressure of his hands on her arms. It wasn’t painful yet but it would be if he kept holding her like that any longer.
Wilder’s teeth were gritted as he looked at her. Their faces were mere inches apart. She could see the small dark pupils in the center of his blue eyes, how his thin red lips curved on the sides, how his jaw was peppered with a soft dark beard that he hadn’t shaved today.
“Who told you this? Conrad?” Wilder growled again, his grip tightening on her arms. Celia was breathing heavily again. A few more seconds and she decided she would scream, scream at the top of her lungs and hope that someone might hear her.
“Let me go, you brute!” She said. And suddenly he did.
Wilder released his grip on her arms and Celia breathed in deeply. She used her hands to rub the spots where he had been holding her. Red spots marked her pale skin there as she looked at him with violent eyes.
“So it is true.” She said, her nostrils were flaring. Wilder stepped away from her, unwilling to look at her face any more.
“Just get out of my sight.” He said in a low haggard voice.
“So you hate women because your wife left you? What did you do to her?” Celia asked, unconcerned that her dress was now trailing the mud and was essentially ruined.
“I don’t want to talk about my wife with you. Just get out of here!” This time he had yelled, barked at her. She could see that his face had turned red and the veins on the sides of his neck had popped out. He was angry, enraged and now she could see how frightening Wilder could be when he was actually mad at someone.
“You don’t want to talk about her with me because I mean nothing to you!” She yelled back at him, her own throat beginning to grow hoarse now.
“That’s right. You mean nothing! Just leave!” He yelled again, and Celia turned on her heels and started wading back through the muddy pit towards dry land. She didn’t bother to hitch her dress up. She didn’t care about anything anymore. She was so ashamed of herself, so disappointed in thinking that the previous night had meant something to both of them. Conrad was right. His brother was a maniac.
“You’ve come here to look after your grandfather.” Wilder called out to her just as she stepped out of the pit. Celia turned to look at him once more, her breasts were rising and falling with every painful breath that she took.
“That is what you’re here for, and don’t forget that he just works for us. Remember your place here.” Wilder said and then turned around, tugging his sheep out of the pit on the other side.
She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. The things he had just told her. He wanted to remind her that she was beneath them. That he had slept with her only because he could, not because of any other reason. At least Conrad was asking permission, he wanted to make a deal, he wasn’t just seducing her and then flinging her to the side after it was done.
Celia started walking back to the house, leaving a trail of drying mud as she went. She wanted to cry, to scream, to punch a wall…anything to make this feeling of humiliation go away. Wilder had violently put her in her place. He had a wife. He hated women, he couldn’t stand her. What was she even thinking? That a man like him could want anything more than a one night stand in the dark?
Her grandfather was still sitting on the porch when Celia climbed the steps back.
“Where have you been? You’re all muddy. Were you in the pig sty?” He asked her, a humorous smile appearing on his face. She tried to smile back at him. He was the reason she was here. Wilder had reminded her of it, she needed to stick to her duties. But Celia couldn’t smile, she couldn’t forget the way he had gripped her arms, like he didn’t care if she got hurt or not.
“I was just talking to Wilder. I’m going to quickly wash up and then we can go for a walk out front. You can be in your wheelchair.” She said, wiping her soiled hands on her dress.
“I would like that very much. I’ll wait for you here.” Her grandfather said as she pushed open the screen door and stepped back in the house.
“Oh, Celia. How is your day coming along?” She had bumped into Conrad who had just climbed down the stairs. It had been at least an hour or more since breakfast. He had taken that much time to get ready, and he wasn’t even dressed for a day out in the fields with the animals. He looked like he was ready for a game of golf.
“I’m taking grandpa for a walk. Do you want to join us?” She found herself asking him.
“I’m sorry if I came across as mean to you and Jack last night.” Conrad said.
The three of them were walking at snail’s pace, with Celia pushing her grandfather’s wheelchair. Conrad was beside her, being his usual pleasant self.
“Apology accepted.” She said curtly. Celia still hadn’t quite forgotten about the things Wilder had said, and she still felt like her ego was bruised. However, Conrad’s politeness and the attention he was giving her was helping the situation. Her grandfather kept dozing off as they walked, giving Conrad and her enough freedom to talk.
He had been telling her about the ranch, how his grandfather had built it from scratch. The stories from his childhood sounded like a lot of fun, like the kind of childhood any kid would be envious of. He also spoke very little of his older brother which was good for her because Celia didn’t exactly want to talk about him.
“I’m glad because I felt very bad about it, and also how I behaved with you.” He continued, in a softer voice. He was being careful of how much her grandfather could hear, although the old man had fallen asleep again, enjoying the lulling motion of being walked in peace.