Broken Trouble (Broken Storm #1) (4 page)

              A shadow falling over the door broke me out of my trance and I smirked, "I say no."

              Jayden growled and moved back away from me, "You'll change your mind sweetheart."

              I already wished I had said yes until I saw the shadow that had fallen over the door was Dylan. The look on his face had me rethinking my attraction to Jayden, as his eyes lowered, and he disappeared before I could say anything.

              Landon arrived at the doorway then, regarding the two of us before his expression darkened. "I'll take this from here Jayden. You can work on giving everyone hay with Dylan."

              Jayden grunted, clearly frustrated with being interrupted, "I've got her. You go back to what you were doing."

              "But brother," Landon, grasped his shoulder, “you’re so much stronger than me and I just can't handle lugging all the hay."

              "Bullshit."

              "So you admit that I'm stronger than you."

              "Shut up,” Jayden grumbled, shoving past him and out the door.

              "Come on, let's feed the horses their grain,” Landon grinned and grabbed some of the buckets, heading out the door with them.

              We gave the horses their grain, which consisted of almost getting bit or kicked on several different occasions. Regardless of how much they were pigs with their food, I still liked them, petting the ones that Landon said were okay.

              There was one bucket left and we headed to a round corral with extra tall fencing. When we entered I saw a gray horse pacing the other end, eyeing us warily. It was the same horse I had let free the night the barn caught on fire.

              So he hadn't escaped then.

              "You caught him,” I whispered and my heart tore a little bit.

He needed to be free. The first time I saw him I knew what he needed, but it seemed they were blind to it. They didn’t realize he should be uncaged.

              "You recognize him,” Landon observed, "We've been trying to rehabilitate Storm for months now with no luck. We can't get close to him unless we put a blanket over his face, and even then he's hard to handle. He's unrideable,” he paused with a smirk, "Remember, this isn't a Flicka movie, so don't go trying anything stupid."

              I knew he was just trying to make a joke, but I also knew in my heart I probably would end up doing just that.

              Storm needed to be free and I was going to help him with that.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

              When Chili, Wyatt, and Gavin arrived back from their fence work, I could feel Gavin's eyes on me before I spotted them. My muscles tensed just from his glare.

              They all rode in on their horses, tying them up at the fence before heading to the house. It took me a minute to realize what was missing.

              The truck.

              Had they left it out there in the field? Maybe it was a normal thing for them to do. How was I to know? I knew nothing of ranching.

              "Looks like they're having trouble with the truck again," Landon commented, "Gavin's not going to be happy."

              "Ah, it's his truck?" I asked, too curious to keep my mouth shut.

              "No, he just has a tendency to blame people for things that aren't their fault when he's angry, even if it's his own fault."

              Somehow I could tell he wasn't just talking about the truck. He was saying that Gavin blamed me for burning down the barn, but that was my fault, so he had the right to. But who would he blame for the truck breaking down? Chili? Wyatt? "So he'll blame Chili or Wyatt for the truck breaking down?"

              "No Sweetheart," Jayden appeared behind me, "he's going to blame you."

              Wait, what? "Why?"

              Landon frowned, "Because he hates you right now and will blame everything bad that happens on you."

              "So, I'm the scapegoat now?" Wow, things just kept getting better and better.

              "Don't worry Sweetheart, stick close to me and I'll keep you safe,” Jayden smirked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

              "You're the last person here that would keep her safe," Landon remarked, and proceeded to have a silent conversation with Jayden of glares, dark looks, and jaw clenching.

              What was that all about?

I had no time to think about it because Polly called us in for supper and we all headed to the house. I couldn't help but notice that they shoved each other as they walked. Maybe it was just a brotherly thing, but it felt like more than that. They were both mad about something, but they weren't voicing anything about it.

              Dylan lingered behind me, and I slowed down until we walked side by side. I knew it probably wasn't my business but I had to ask, "What are they fighting about?"

              He blushed and kept his eyes on the ground in front of him. "Don't trust Jayden too much," he mumbled, so low I could hardly hear him.

              "Why not? I've dealt with bad boys before."

              Dylan took a deep breath and glanced up, checking to see how far away Jayden and Landon were before responding, "Just be careful."

              We entered the ranch house, both of us falling silent. Dylan seemed to be the most innocent of all of them. He didn't seem like the kind of guy to give out a warning without a good reason. But then again, maybe he was just acting jealous because of what he saw between Jayden and me in the shed. We didn’t do anything, but maybe it appeared like we had.

Either way, I didn't know what to think.

              Not that it really mattered. I had stopped trusting anyone a long time ago. I had no doubt that before the barn was built, there would be a knife in my back.

              That was just the way my luck with people seemed to run.

              I sat across the table from Gavin and knew deep in my gut that dinner wasn't going to go well.

              As soon as everyone had begun to sit down, Gavin had shoved Landon out of the way so he could sit down directly in front of me. Polly and Chili were still in the kitchen and hadn't seen the by-play, so Landon added a few choice words while glaring at Gavin.

              The scowl Gavin sent my way burned into my face. I tried not to look at him. I figured if I ignored him, then there was a chance he wouldn't bother me as much. I pretended he didn't exist, and that there was no one sitting in front of me at all.

              I could do this, I just had to ignore everything that came out of his mouth.

              Everyone got their food and said Grace, before digging into their food.

The table stayed in comfortable silence until Gavin finally spoke, unable to hold his words in any longer, "I'll need to borrow your car tomorrow to go get a part for the truck, Polly."

              Polly nodded and smiled, "Of course, Honey. I'll go with you; I need to pick up a few things from the store."

              "Hopefully your car won't break down too. She steps foot on the ranch and suddenly everything starts going up in flames and breaking down," Gavin griped and I could feel his stare intensify.

              "Gavin, the truck breaking down wasn't her fault. Stop being such a moron," Jayden snapped.

              "She's got you all wrapped around her finger and you're too blind to see what a fucking witch she is! Does no one else see what's going on here? She's going to fuck up everything we've worked so hard to build here and she won't stop until everything we have is gone!"

              "Gavin, calm down and don't speak to her like that," Chili ordered, his fiery attitude finally showing itself through his usual calm and relaxed personality, "We agreed to let her come here and help out, so that's what she's doing. The boys say she's doing a fine job too."

              "You all are so naive. Just because she looks and acts nice doesn't mean she's a good person!" The vein in Gavin's neck pulsed and his eyes were wide in anger.

I was pretty sure his comment about me looking nice wasn't a compliment. His eyes turned on me and he leaned over the table towards me, "I'm going to burn your world to ash just like you did ours and when I'm done with you, you'll just be a scared little girl crying for mommy."

              I resisted the urge to react. Comments about fire always prodded those deep wounds that still festered inside of me, but his comment about me calling for my mom? That was the last straw.

              Slowly, I raised my head to meet his eyes, my mouth twisting into a sneer, "You can try and try with all your might to burn down my world, but I think you'll quickly find that I don't have anything left to be destroyed. So go ahead and go up against me, because if you want a war then I'll give you one and trust me, you have a lot more to lose than I do."

              "Bring it bitch," Gavin growled, his eyes flashing dangerously.

              "Okay, that's enough! Gavin, go to your room. Now," Polly ordered, her smile gone and brows furrowed in anger.

              "I live here, I'll go to my room when I want," Gavin snapped at Polly, who raised her eyebrows and gave him a withering stare.

"To your room, now."

              Gavin shoved back his chair, knocking it backwards onto the floor as he stormed off, grumbling under his breath.

              After he was gone, everyone sat in uncomfortable silence.

              My stomach had twisted itself into knots, like it usually did when I got upset, and I was no longer hungry. I was disappointed in myself. I hadn't lost control over myself in years and it was embarrassing to have yelled at Gavin in front of strangers. The room seemed to close up around me and I knew I needed to get away from everyone. There were way too many people here, watching me and no doubt judging me.

"I think I'm going to go ahead to bed. I'm really tired," I said, not meeting anyone's eyes as I got up, grabbing my dishes.

              "I'll get those Honey, go on up. I'll save a plate in the fridge for ya in case ya get hungry later," Polly smiled.

              I hurried out of the room and rushed upstairs to my room. I was confused by their reaction:  why weren't they mad at me? Were they just pretending to be nice because I was their guest? I knew Gavin was wrong to say what he did, and his actions were out of line, but they appeared to be taking my side on things.

              He was their son. Their adopted son, but still their son. Shouldn't they be taking his side? I had never had someone take my side over a member of their family before, it just didn't seem natural.

              Regardless of what a jerk Gavin was, I didn't want to come between him and his family.

              For the first time since I got to the ranch, I considered leaving. It would be easy; they weren't likely to notice anything if I left in the middle of the night. They probably wouldn't notice until morning and I could be long gone by then.

              But did I want to leave this place?

              I was already getting attached to the people here, starting to relax around them after just one day. But was getting comfortable here really a good idea? Did I really want to stay here and chance ripping Gavin and his family apart?

              Pros and cons floated through my mind and I couldn't make a decision. So I decided to go for a walk, thinking maybe the night air would help clear my head enough to make a decision.

              I packed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder, just in case I decided to leave, and sneaked down the stairs to the front door. It was fairly easy, by that point everyone had already made their way to their rooms and the house was mostly dark.

              I paused, then turned to the kitchen, glancing inside the cabinets until I found what I was looking for.

              Whiskey.

              I sneaked out the front door and out into the night air. The moon cast light across the ranch. The stars scattered across the sky and seemed much bigger than in the city.

              I brought the bottle of whiskey to my lips and took a long drink, cringing as it burned its way down my throat. It didn't take long for me to start feeling tipsy, and though the alcohol wasn't helping me make a decision, it was making me feel better. I didn't care about my troubles as much when I was drunk.

              I lean against the fence and took another swig, realizing that I'm leaning against Storm's corral. Ah, how brilliant! I opened the corral and stumbled inside, leaning heavily on the fence to get the latch hooked without falling over.

              I turned and peered through the darkness, spotting a shadow moving on the other side of the corral that had to be Storm.

Or I kept moving.

Actually I'm pretty sure everything was moving.

              I giggled and stumbled, landing in the sand flooring of the corral. I scooted backwards until I was sitting up against the fence, watching Storm pace nervously on the other side.

              "Hey boy, you enjoying yourself here?" I asked, then laughed as Storm seemed to stop and stare at me. It was like he was giving me a look that said, "what do you think?"

Or maybe that was just my foggy, twirly, drunk brain imagining it.

              I didn't really care either way.

              "Yeah, you're right. But some of the guys here aren't so bad right? They're smokin’," I giggled again.

              Storm didn't seem too impressed.

              "Yeah, you probably don't care about the guys here. Maybe I shouldn't either, it would be better that way," I took another swig.

"Do you think we should leave?" I asked, waiting for the horse to respond to me. He didn't, which was disappointing.

"Should we stay or go, stay or go, stay or go," I slurred.

              Storm snorted and swished his tail.

              "I don't know either boy. I just don't know," I mumbled. God, how did I suddenly get so freaking sleepy? My head dropped back and I stared up at the stars, hoping the answer was there or that there would at least be a shooting star to wish upon.

              I had no such luck though and the last thing I remember was singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,' before I passed out.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

              I awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. The sun was already up and blindingly radiant, the pounding in my head only increased as I groaned.

              Everything hurt.

              Why had I drank so much last night? I could never hold my liquor well and always ended in a hangover. Hangovers sucked.

              I knew everyone else was already up, since they got up before the sun and all. I opened my eyes into slits, sitting up slowly. Warm material brushed up against my body as I moved and I looked down, noticing a blanket covering my body.

              How did that get there?

              I had no memory of a blanket being around last night, let alone covering myself with it.

              Had Polly or one of the guys covered me up last night?

              I was still in the corral with Storm, who stood chilling at the opposite side. I stretched slightly, pressing the palm of my hand against my head and sat up completely, glancing around. Beside me sat a bottle of water and a bottle of aspirin.

              Well, that definitely hadn't been there last night.

              The bottle of whiskey and the cause of my discomfort this morning, was gone. I didn't see it anywhere.

              I quickly took some aspirin and stood up, folding up the blanket haphazardly and grabbing my stuff. Now to make the embarrassing walk back inside to face everyone.

              I walked back to the house and went inside, listening to the sounds inside the house.

              By the sounds of things, everyone was in the dining room eating breakfast. Good, I wasn't to late getting up then. I headed back upstairs, took a quick shower, and changed clothes to a Rob Zombie shirt and a sleeveless hoodie, skinny jeans and my boots. By this time the aspirin was kicking in and I felt less like someone had drilled into my skull.

              I went downstairs and paused outside of the dining room, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

              Whatever they had to say didn't matter, it wouldn't affect me. Everyone had got drunk every once in awhile, no biggy.

              Or at least that's what I told myself.

              I stepped into the dining room and headed for an empty seat next to Dylan, maybe he wouldn't judge me as much for getting drunk last night. Or maybe he'd judge me more, being more innocent than the rest. At least he seemed the least likely to voice his opinion.

              "Morning Honey, how was your night sleeping outside under the stars? You've only been here for a couple days and you're already settling in. It's this country air, good for the soul," Polly commented, motioning for the guys to pass me down food.

She seemed to either be completely avoiding the subject of me getting drunk or didn't know about it. Either way I was grateful, I just wondered who gave me the blanket and painkillers.

              "It was okay," I said cautiously, trying to judge everyone's expressions. No one seemed to be giving away anything until Polly said, "Dylan told me you fell asleep outside, but decided to let you sleep."

              Aha! So it was Dylan who had gave me the painkillers. Had he told Polly about the whiskey or was she just avoiding the subject?

              Dylan snatched a couple plates of food and slid them in front of me. Scrambled eggs, toast and bacon. It may seem like normal food, in fact it was normal food, but it was also hangover food.

              I managed to catch his eyes, which was surprisingly hard to do, and give him a small smile. He blushed and lowered his gaze back to his plate in response and I had the urge to hug the guy. He was so sweet. I'd have to remember to thank him later for everything.

              "Of course, because the city girl can't wake up as early as the rest of us," Gavin spoke and I tensed. He had been so quiet I almost forgot he was here. "Do you know why that is? It's because she doesn't belong here."

              Polly sighed heavily, it seemed she was getting tired of Gavin's constant griping too. "She seems to be fitting in well. They're already done with scraping the spot for the barn, now they just have to pour the concrete and do some building."

Polly smiled, "Nova, ya worked very hard yesterday, I'm proud of ya."

              Polly was proud of me? This was the first time anyone had ever said those words to me and I had no idea how to react or what to say. I could feel my eyes start to blur with tears and I struggled to hold them back. What was this place doing to me, turning me into a big softy?