“I’m done,” she told Joe, wiping her brow with the back of her hand as she lay the pitchfork down and moved toward the door of the barn. Guilt followed her outside, but this wasn’t the life for her. She couldn’t do this. Who in their right mind would choose to live like this, work so hard for so little money?
Her arms felt as if they were on fire, and her lower back ached in a way it had never ached before. She had to get away from this place. In addition to the pain radiating through her body, she was sweating buckets. Reaching up, she pushed back her hair and was disgusted when her hand came away wet.
“That’s it.”
She should go take a hot shower to ease the aches, but she was close to tears and needed to be far away from the house, from the barns, from any chance of running into anyone. That meant she was going to the lake for a swim.
Marching out to the shed, she found a quad bike that already had the key in it. Luckily, she knew how to ride one because her last boyfriend, whom she’d dated while working at the mall in D.C., had found great pleasure in the things. At first she hadn’t been interested in riding, but the freedom of cruising on roads that standard vehicles couldn’t handle, plus the sensation of the wind rushing through her hair, had quickly gotten her addicted to the sport.
Not even pausing to see if Colt was around, she fired up the ATV and took off through her fields. She knew the way to the lake, and she also knew that the men were occupied mending fences on the other side of the property. She knew this only because she’d overheard them talking with Tony — no, no one had actually told her. But it meant she had at least two hours before anyone would even miss her.
Upon arriving at the lake, she stripped off her clothes without hesitation, then walked out on the short dock and dove into the water, its coldness cramping her muscles for only a few seconds before a welcome sense of relief spread through her.
This was exactly what she’d needed, a day away from Tony and Colt, and from all the other little boys who were so willing to do Tony’s bidding, but not hers. At some point she would learn to assert her authority, but it wasn’t going to happen today.
She was just fine with that, she thought as she lay back in the water and let herself float on its surface with her eyes shut and the sun beating down on her.
She wouldn’t even mind when she woke up the next day with a sunburn, because this was close to pure bliss. To hell with the wrinkles in her fair-skinned future. Before moving to Montana, she would have been terrified to swim in a real live lake, much preferring the clean but chlorinated pools owned by her family and friends. Those pools had no chance of snakes, fish, or who knew what else lurking below the surface. But, since she was in this place — did the people of Sterling have any idea what an in-ground pool was? — she had to adapt.
Her hair spread out behind her atop the water, the sweat of the day was washed away, and her limbs were already feeling better from just drifting in the pristine lake. Best of all, it was private, and she didn’t have to worry about a swimsuit.
Not that she minded the tiny bikinis she owned. They were showpieces for her best assets. When she put one on, she knew she looked good, and that was a feeling any woman enjoyed having. Still, there was nothing like being in the water without even a trace of fabric blocking her from the cool goodness.
“I see you didn’t really want to learn a damn thing!”
Brielle sank below the surface of the water when Colt’s furious voice startled her from her “happy place.”
She came back up, coughing and sputtering water. Then she turned and glared toward the dock where Colt was standing, hands on his h*ps and breathing fire and brimstone.
“What are you doing here, Colt? I thought you were off with the guys, that you were too busy to mess with me,” she said, when she was able to speak again. Her own fury easily matched his. He had no right to be mad at her for leaving when the task he’d given her taught her nothing!
“I didn’t tell you what I was doing, but when I came back to check on you, I found Joe working alone. Had I known you were going to take off at the first sign of real work, he would have had another hand to help him so he didn’t have to do all those stalls by himself.”
“Oh, boo-hoo. Joe is just fine! He was moving much quicker than I was. And, I didn’t ask to clean up horse dung. I asked to learn how the ranch ran. We both know you gave me that task because you thought it would be funny to have the little princess shoveling shit. Well, you know what? I started to play your game, and then real quickly I decided you’re just an arrogant ass who enjoys power trips. So I stopped.” Brielle dogpaddled to stay afloat. There was no way she was swimming back toward him, not when she was naked.
“That’s part of running a ranch, Brielle.”
“That’s crap and we both know it. Yes, it may be part of running a ranch, but I’m the owner, Colt, and there are plenty of men. That was teaching me nothing!” It was unfortunate that she couldn’t face him down more effectively. Kind of hard to do when she was in the water.
“Really, Brielle? You know this because you’ve worked so many ranches? My dad mucked stalls his entire life, and I still muck them myself every once in a while. It’s therapeutic. I figured you’d learn something and gain a deeper appreciation for how things run.”
“Now who’s lying, Colt? You didn’t do it to teach me anything but a lesson,” she contended. “And of course you muck stalls. You work for me. That’s part of your job!”
He stopped what he was about to say, then blew out his breath in frustration before shutting his mouth. Well, too freaking bad for him. She didn’t care if he didn’t like her pointing out that he was a ranch hand. He could deal with it. The man acted like such a pompous jerk all the time, and someone needed to put him firmly in his place, because he was sure having fun trying to belittle her.
“You know what, Brielle? Why don’t you just give this up? We both know you don’t want to be here, that you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your daddy pulling your purse strings. I’m sure if you beg him hard enough, he’ll let you out of this deal you’re locked into with him, and then you can go back to the city…where you belong. This isn’t the life for you, and we both know it, so just give up and save yourself a lot of grief.”
The end of his words came out more like a sigh than as a put-down, and that hurt more than the insult. Was that what they all thought of her? That she was just a spoiled heiress with no chance of making this work? Was that why no one would talk to her, no one would teach her? They knew it was just a waste of their time.