She’d never seen this side of him and she didn’t like it. “Not interested. Now get out of my room.”
His shirt fell open. “Oh, so you can proposition me, like you did upstairs three hours ago? But I can’t proposition you?”
“Let’s f**k is not a proposition. It’s a demand, said in anger, just to be a dick.” She tossed the yarn winder aside. “Know what? I don’t have to put up with this shit. Get out.”
“Why? This approach has worked for you in the past. No pretty words, no foreplay, just ripping our clothes off and f**king on the floor like animals. What’s different now, Rielle?”
“You’re different now. And f**k you for coming in here and taking out your shitty day on me. And double f**k you for taking something that’s good between us and twisting it into something ugly.”
The stark realization of how asinine he’d acted hit him. “God. Rielle. I’m sorry—”
When he moved toward her, she recoiled. “Get out.”
“Can’t we talk…?”
She vehemently shook her head. “It’s best if we take a break. I’m leaving for Laramie tomorrow to see Rory anyway.”
“You are? Since when?”
When she didn’t respond, he sighed.
“All right. Please drive safe and I’ll see you when you get home.” He walked out and quietly shut the door.
After living in each other’s pockets for the last couple months, a cooling off period would do them both good.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Gavin hung over the top of the wooden corral, watching Quinn drive cows into a semi-truck as Dalton and Tell pushed the cattle into the loading chute. Ben was on horseback culling from the corralled herd, while Brandt—also on horseback—chased down the runaways and drove them back to the penned area.
He’d been surprised when Charlie had called, inviting him to watch them loading cattle to take to auction. He’d been curious about how the auction process worked differently than sending cattle to a feedlot.
With temps in the low teens and the gray skies spitting snow, he bundled up, figuring this weather wouldn’t faze hardcore ranchers like the McKays.
But Gavin also wondered if Charlie had issued the invite to chastise Gavin for the argument he’d had with Vi. An argument they hadn’t resolved.
During a lull in the action, Quinn wandered over to the corral. The man was sweating despite the frigid air temp. “Dad, I might need a hand in a bit.”
“No problem.”
Quinn flashed Gavin one of his rare grins. “Ever ridden in a fully loaded cattle truck?”
“No. Why?”
“Because I need someone to ride with me. And since the old man is retired, he’s no help, sitting at home with his feet propped on the coffee table having Mom wait on him.”
“I done my share of cattle sale runs, boy.”
“I’ll be back from the sale barn tonight?”
“Yep, but it’ll be late. And the weather and road conditions are flat out gonna suck.” Quinn crossed his arms over his chest as if expecting Gavin to refuse. “You up for it?”
“Sure. Do I have to help unload cattle?”
“Nope. Ben and Tell will be in the truck behind us.”
“Damn. I was hoping I’d get my own cattle prod.”
“Somehow I knew you’d say that.” Quinn wandered back to his post when Dalton yelled for him.
“So it looks like all the McKays help each other throughout the year?” Gavin asked Charlie.
“Carson has enough hands with his boys that he hasn’t needed much help. Same with Cal’s twins. None of them wanted to deal with Casper so he made his boys do everything on their own. Same with me’n Quinn and Ben and Chase if he was around. Brandt, Tell and Dalton increased the size of their herd and bought more land after Luke died so Quinn and Ben have been helping them and they help us.” He shrugged. “It works out.”
“Can I ask about the bad history between Casper and your brothers?”
Charlie remained quiet for so long Gavin suspected he was dodging the question. Then he scratched his chin with the back of his gloved hand. “I wish I could say there was some defining moment when it all fell apart, but it ain’t that simple. As twins, Carson and Calvin have always been two peas in a pod—no one was surprised when they married sisters.” A ghost of a smile appeared. “My dad wasn’t happy they were West sisters but that’s another story. Anyway, I think Casper had middle child syndrome. Dad had high expectations for his oldest boys and Mom doted on me as the youngest because I was a sickly kid. Casper got lost in the shuffle. He became a wild man and took hell raisin’ to a new level. Hard to look at him now and see it, but Casper had the type of good looks and charm the ladies loved.
“We were all shocked when he married Joan Tellman. I’ll admit I wasn’t a supportive brother to Casper then, because that was right around the time Vi moved away. I moped for a few months. Then I thought; screw it, I’m the last single McKay and I’m gonna cut loose. I screwed any woman who’d have me, figuring that’d erase Vi from my mind, but it never did.
“Then my dad had a heart attack. He recovered but couldn’t head up the ranch. He put my oldest brothers in charge, moved out of the ranch house, giving it to Carson and Carolyn—and we set him up in a trailer between Carson’s and Calvin’s place.”
“Wait a second. Were you living in the house with your dad when he had the heart attack?”
Charlie nodded. “I was the one who found him out in the yard. At first he refused to go to the hospital. Swore he’d rather die on McKay land. I called Casper and we got Dad loaded up and hauled to town.”
“He sounded like a tough old bird.”
“Oh, Jed McKay was an ass**le or an angel, depending on your point of view and the day. Anyway, we’d just bought this place, a couple thousand acres on the far south end of McKay land with two houses. Casper and Joan claimed one place and I took the other. Around that time, Casper had turned into a raging ass**le. Everything changed in the family dynamic because I felt that Dad and my brothers were punishing me, making me live by Casper.”
“Did Casper know you felt that way?”
“Probably. Another year passed and Dad had another heart attack. He couldn’t live by himself. Logically he should’ve moved in with Casper and Joan. But Dad refused and insisted on living with Cal and Kimi. Casper took it as Dad would rather live with a West family enemy than live with him. Made him even more bitter and I didn’t blame him. Meanwhile, we’re all workin’ the ranch and Carson is buying land up closer to where he lives. Ticked me and Casper off because we knew we’d never get to use those grazing areas and technically, the acreage belonged to us too. Then our neighbors the Burkes wanted out of Wyoming and didn’t offer the land to us first. Not only is that an unwritten western tradition, but the Burkes sold it to a couple from out of state.”