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Chapter 46
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Cattenach Ranch Chapter 47
VOLUME TWO: BENEDICTIONRibs screaming in agony, blood dripping from her nose and lip, and her right eye swollen almost shut, Amy Tarcher stumbled through the Cattenach Ranch iron gate onto her best friend's property. Her legs cramped, barely holding her up, and the vertigo was screwing with her balance. Loose gravel over the brick-laid driveway grated under her shuffling flip-flops, but they were all she'd been able to manage when she'd fled home.Amy's own postage stamp of a house was in an older subdivision on the other side of Olivia's sprawling ranch. Which meant, somehow, she'd walked three miles to get here. Her car hadn't been an option. Before her husband had gone mental and put her in this current black and blue state, he'd slashed her tires, smashed her cell phone, and had taken a hammer to her photography equipment. That hurt almost worse than the beating he'd inflicted.An end in sight, she forced her feet to keep moving and headed up the driveway at a drunken snail's p
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 48
Quick as lightning, Nate strode forward, shoved his revolver in his waistband, and planted Chris face-first in the dirt. With a knee between his shoulders and a firm hand on the back of his neck, Nate toed the gun farther from them.He whipped his attention to Olivia. "Did he hurt you?" He scanned her for wounds as if he might expire on the spot if she had any.She shook her head repeatedly, tears leaving tracks on her cheeks. Her gaze dropped to Amy. "She's pretty bad, though."Amy opened her mouth to reassure her friend, but Nakos set his rifle behind him and squatted next to her. Familiar midnight eyes traced her face with frenetic concern in their depths. The dark skin of his Native American heritage grew ashen the longer he stared. Eyebrows wrenched in a frown and jaw tight, he reached for her with a shaking hand, but swiftly drew back. "You've looked better, Ames." The tension cracking his voice nearly felled her.She tried to smile, but it reopened her lip and sent blood t
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 49
Three months later...Today was going to suck. And not the good kind. Nope. The big, sweaty, hairy donkey balls variety. He thought he'd been prepared for this, but the shift in his gut said otherwise.Biting back a sigh, Nakos Hunt glanced from the two men standing beside him to the wide open expanse of Cattenach Ranch. Two-thousand acres of rolling grasslands and high plains. The Laramie Mountains just to the south were little more than a bluish mirage in the distance, but a slightly cool breeze wafted across the basin to provide some relief from the heat. A rare hot Wyoming sun beat down from a cloudless sky as prairie grass crackled in the wind. He shoved his index finger between his neck and the white collar of the button down shirt Olivia had forced him to wear, trying to get liberation from the upper eighties temperature. With his dark skin, courtesy of his native Arapaho tribe, he was roasting. At least she'd let him wear jeans and cowboy boots, but he felt naked without hi
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 50
Up went Nate's hands. "I didn't say a thing."Would this day never end? "Are you nervous?" Nakos side-glanced the groom, wishing the dude had at least a bead of perspiration from anxiety. But no. A pillar, this one."Hell no. I can't wait."Figured, not that Nakos could blame him.They assumed their positions based on the pithy rehearsal the day before and waited for the music to start. If anyone thought having the nuptials right outside the wrought iron gate of the Cattenach's private cemetery was odd, they didn't know the family very well. Olivia's parents, along with three generations of relatives before, were buried there. As was Justin, someone who had meant the world to both the bride and groom. It was only fitting they'd want to be closer to him on their day, if merely to have his spirit nearby.Situated off to the right, Meadowlark's high school band began to play, notes from guitar strings and flutes floating on the breeze. Moments later, Amy stepped into view at the base
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 51
From a seat in the corner of Olivia's wide open barn, Amy tried to ignore the uncomfortable silence of her tablemates and watched her best friend and Nate share their first dance as a married couple. They looked so perfect and right together that Amy's teeth hurt. If she weren't so dang happy for them, she'd yak.Longing tugged her midsection. No one had ever looked at her the way Nate did Olivia. Like she was his everything and nobody else existed. After thirty years of being the girl most guys skimmed past for a glance at her friend, Amy should be used to the shadows by now. Guess not, since her belly cramped.Because this was the working barn for shearing sheep and grooming horses, there were no stalls in the generous hundred-by-hundred space, but everything had been cleared out. Amy's brother Kyle was in the far corner, running the stereo in lieu of a DJ. Ten or so round tables were covered in white tablecloths and votives. Both the front and rear carriage doors were open, lettin
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 52
Attempting to regulate oxygen exchange, she stared at his throat as they swayed. Stubble had grown on his jaw since this morning, adding a ruggedness to his olive skin. He was such a gorgeous man. Tall and lean, he wasn't built with bulges like Nate, but he had clear definition. Languid. Fluid. High cheekbones and a defined chin. Wide shoulders and a narrow waist.She'd always had a bit of a crush on him. It had fizzled out over time, but being this close to him again made her hyperaware. Which was as stupid now as it had been back then. He'd only ever had eyes for Olivia. "We haven't danced together since prom." Nakos had gone to school on the reservation, but for events like dances or homecomings, Olivia or Amy had brought him along in a friendship capacity. He'd been her date for senior prom. She'd ridiculously held out hope going with him would suddenly make her visible to him as the opposite sex, complete with breasts. She'd spent hours picking out the right dress and shoes and
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 53
He was the best I was going to get.With that statement rolling around in his skull, irritation pounding his temples, Nakos stared at Amy, waiting for her to break. He knew her better than anyone. Too much tense silence, and she'd crack. It was just a matter of time. Shadows from the trees created havoc with the moonlight on her alabaster skin. Her dark cocoa hair swept past her shoulders, and he had the damnedest itch to shove his hands in the strands and force her to look at him. Since dancing with her inside, she'd yet to glance at him more than fleetingly and that, more than what she'd said, had concern sinking its claws deep.Arms crossed, he shook his head. This wasn't her. The defeat in her shoulders, the sad curve of her lips, the lack of spark in her mermaid eyes...Not his Ames. Where was her fire? Where was the woman who could argue him into a corner and make him heel? She exuded confidence like most people did pheromones.Except... No. Not lately. Ever since the inciden
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 54
Moonlight cast her skin in ethereal hues as she reclined on the tire, her slender fingers gripping the rope above it. The swell of her breasts and hips strained against the dress from her position, and damn if his heart didn't punch his ribs. Again. What the hell had she done to him three months ago? He hadn't been right since.Climbing the hill, he smiled and stared at her upside-down face as he loomed over her. "You look like a nymph under the moon and dangling from a tree.""Nah, nymphs get laid more than I do."He wasn't going near that comment. "Know a lot about nymphs, do you?""Can't say I know any, but lore describes them as intensely sexual creatures who prefer nature and have an irresistible allure."He wondered if she realized she'd just described herself. And, of course, she'd know something about mythical beings. Any topic at all, really. She had an intelligence about her that was neither condescending nor flaunting. A subtle quality that allowed her to carry on a con
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