Shared By the Cowboys by Cassie Cole

34

Rebecca

We packed up camp and mounted up to finish our surveying. We rode to the northern property line, then wrote down the tree numbers on each of our counters.

“You were right, Mason—they underestimated the lumber on our property,” Cody said excitedly as we rode back to the ranch. “We might have a twenty percent higher yield. Maybe thirty.”

“That’s what happens when you only look at satellite images,” Mason replied. “There’s no substitute for doing the work yourself.”

“Amen to that, brother.”

We returned to the ranch around noon. Blake was cutting lengths of wood with a saw when we rode up.

“Have fun?” he asked.

Does he know? I wondered as I dismounted from Wildfire. Blake had a big smile on his face.

“Lots of fun,” Mason said. “Wildfire did well with the other horses. Oh, and Rebecca got bit by a snake.”

Blake dropped his saw and strode toward me like I was about to faint. “Where? What happened?”

“It was just a gopher snake,” I said, pulling up my jeans so he could see the red mark. “Not a big deal.”

Blake turned his scowl toward his brothers. “I told you to take care of my girl.”

“Our girl’s fine, trust me,” Cody said. He clapped his brother on the shoulder and said, “We took real good care of her.”

I felt my cheeks redden as we led the horses into the stable.

After lunch, the four of us went into the orchard to pick apples. We only had one ladder, so we created a bucket brigade type of system. I climbed the ladder and picked the apples, dropping them into a wicker basket held by Blake. When it was full, he carried the basket back to the storage barn while Mason took his place with a new basket. Cody kept the ladder steady to make sure I didn’t fall.

“Any sign of wolves while you were in the mountains?” Blake asked after a little while.

“No sir, no signs at all. Mason figures they must’ve migrated farther north in the valley.”

“Good,” Blake said simply.

I stretched to pick a red apple from a branch that was high above my head. “These look delicious,” I said.

The brothers were quiet for a few seconds. “You’re welcome to try one,” Cody said.

“Go on, give it a bite,” Blake urged me. “I bet they’re real juicy.”

Something was off about the way they said it, but I was hungry enough that I didn’t think about it. I rubbed the apple on my shirt until it was shiny and clean. All three Cassidy brothers watched as I raised the apple to my lips and bit into it.

The apple was tart and bitter, with a mushy consistency instead of crisp. “I don’t think these are good,” I said, making a face.

The laughter they had been trying to keep in finally spilled forth. Mason’s normally-stoic face twisted with humor as he doubled-over with laughter, dropping his empty basket in the process.

“These apples?” Cody said. “They’re not bred for eatin’. They’re only good for cider.”

“Hard cider,” Blake clarified.

Mason wiped tears from his eyes and got a hold of himself. “We’re gonna mash them up in the barn, add some yeast and sugar, and ferment them for a couple weeks. They’ll taste much better then, I promise.”

I glared at the three of them and pulled back my apple, pretending like I was going to chuck it at them. That only made them raise their hands to shield themselves, laughing harder.

“Don’t feel bad,” Cody told me. “I picked one the week you got here and damn near choked!”

The mood was lighthearted at dinner that night. Even Blake smiled and joked with his brothers. I never would have believed that a few weeks ago he wouldn’t even sit at the same table as the others.

“So y’all fucked, right?” Blake asked.

I almost spit out my beer.

“Awfully blunt, brother,” Cody said with a smile.

“I like blunt,” he replied. “You take her together?”

“They did,” I said. It felt deliciously naughty to talk about it out loud. “In the tent, at the same time.”

Blake nodded thoughtfully. “Nice. You like it like that?”

“She liked it a lot,” Cody replied. “You’re missin’ out, brother.”

Blake smiled wolfishly at me. “I’ll show her a good time tonight. Make her forget all about you two.” The way he said it sounded like a promise, not a boast. A tingle of excitement ran up my spine as I drank the rest of my beer.

“What can I help with next?” I asked. “Garden needs to be harvested, but that won’t take me more than a couple hours.”

“Could use some help with the fence,” Blake said while tearing a dinner roll in half. “Almost done, but it’ll go faster with two.”

“I can do that.”

“Once that’s done,” Mason said, “we ought to build the windbreak. The way the temperature’s dropping this week, the cattle will need it soon.”

My phone rang in my pocket. I quickly silenced it and looked at the screen. It was Terry.

I shoved it back in my pocket and said, “I can help build the windbreak.”

“After that, we’ve got lots of little stuff on our list,” Mason said. “Fixing the sag in the porch. Sealing and painting the exterior of the house. Replacing the rotten board in the bathroom…”

He trailed off as my phone rang again. I quickly switched it to vibrate.

“Someone tryin’ to get in touch with you?” Cody asked. “You don’t have another trio of boyfriends on a different ranch, do you?”

I laughed and said, “The three of you are plenty, trust me. I think it was a telemarketer.”

The moment the word was out of my mouth, my phone vibrated audibly in my pocket.

“Three calls? Might want to answer it, just to be safe,” Mason said.

Their curiosity was obvious, and I didn’t want it to turn to suspicion, so I pulled out my phone and held it to my ear. “Hello, this is Rebecca.”

“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Terry demanded. “Been calling for days. I have your voicemail message memorized now.”

The guys might have heard that, so I said, “Oh hey, mom! I was up in the mountains last night, so signal was spotty. One second.” I smiled at the men around the table and walked out the back door to the porch.

“I’ve been called a lot of things in my career, but mom is a first.”

“Sorry, I was at the dinner table. I’m outside now. What’s up?”

“What do you mean, what’s up? I’m calling for an update. The thing you were supposed to give me days ago.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, I’ve been busy.”

“Well? How many pages do you have?”

I hesitated before answering. I was tempted to lie and give her an inflated number. But I quickly shook away the thought. There had been too many lies and lies of omission lately. Another one would only make things worse.

I stepped into the barn, closed the door, and said, “I’ve written thirty-seven pages.”

I heard her groan on the other end. “Thirty-seven? That’s it from my superstar writer? I thought you said the ranch was giving you inspiration.”

“It is…”

“Well I certainly hope the reason you’re writing slowly is because you’re having lots of sexy fun.”

“Oh I am,” I said, seizing on the excuse. “The guys are keeping me busy in that regard.”

“Wait a minute. Guys?”

Crap.

“I…”

“You said guys. Plural.”

I was sick of not telling the truth. To the Cassidy brothers, to Terry. I didn’t want to juggle another lie. So I sighed and told her.

“Here’s the thing, Terry…”

I explained how I had been sleeping with Cody, then Blake.

I explained about their relationship with their ex, how she was shared between the three of them.

And I explained the offer they had given me. Asking me to stay on the ranch long-term and continue to be shared by them.

Once I had told her everything, it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

“Rebecca. This. Is. AMAZING.”

“Yeah,” I said with a laugh, “I’m having a lot of fun and—”

“This is going to make an incredible story for your book.”

“I… what?”

“Your book. You can’t leave this out. It’s too juicy!”

“Terry, I don’t know…”

“What don’t you know? What’s wrong?”

“I’m just not sure if this is the kind of story people want to read about,” I said.

“Rebecca. Listen to me. Have I ever steered you wrong in your career?”

“No, you haven’t…”

“Remember the New Orleans book you wrote four years ago? You wanted to cut the twist ending, but I told you to keep it. And what happened?”

“Everyone loved the twist, and it became a bestseller.”

“That’s right it did. I know what sells, Rebecca. It’s my job. And I’m telling you that this story needs to be written. One woman shared by three cowboys? It’ll fly off the shelves!”

“It’s not about the book,” I argued. “It’s about Mason, Cody, and Blake. It’s not fair to them to write a book like this without their knowledge.”

“Then tell them,” Terry insisted. “You’ve gotten all the inspiration you need. You can come clean and get their permission.”

I sighed. “I think it’s too late for that. If they learn I had a secret motive for coming to the ranch…”

“Better to rip off the band aid now.”

I leaned my forehead against the barn door. “I should have told them from the beginning.”

“Nonsense! Then they wouldn’t have told you about their polyamorous relationship. Rebecca, listen to me. Stop worrying about the past. Focus on what you can do next. Sit the guys down, preferably after a few shots of whiskey, and tell them. They’ll probably love the idea of being the inspiration for a future bestseller. Then sit down and write this book! Okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

“I’ll call back in a week to get another update. And this time you had better pick up! Three men. I can’t believe how lucky you are…”

She hung up.

I turned to Bessie. “What am I going to do?”