“He’s due here today. With the horses.”
“He wouldn’t want to arrive while I’m still here, that’s all I have to say.” He curled his lip and went to speak again. Thinking better of it, he turned and walked around to the back of the barn and stripped off his shirt, throwing it over the fence railing. The axe was stuck in a block of wood where he’d left it the last time he needed to think something through. Riley put his foot on the chopping block, pulled the blade from the wood, and picked up his first log.
The methodical sound of the axe splitting timber rang out over the sounds of the animals on the ranch. By the time sweat trickled down his back, Riley had cursed Finn in a dozen different ways. He didn’t want to be around when the suave Irishman arrived with horses for his sister. Nor did he want him to be at Sassie’s house, worming his way into her heart. That space was where Riley wanted to be. Convincing her of that with the Irishman around was going to be hard. Was Riley up to the task of convincing her he wanted more than the casual relationship they’d agreed on? Or was it too late?
Chapter 19
Riley put down the axe and grabbed his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face as a truck came down the road. It stopped at the ranch and turned in. Finn was here with Audrey’s new horses. Great. The last person he wanted to see.
He started stacking the firewood, intent on not having anything more to do with the man. Riley scooped up the split wood and shut out the voices that reached him at the back of the barn. With luck, Finn would be gone before the wood was all done.
An hour later, Riley surveyed his handiwork. Sometimes his bad moods paid off. Now there was enough firewood to keep the house warm for the next winter. Silence from the front of the barn meant that the horses were unloaded and the slimy Irishman had left. Riley slung his shirt over his shoulder and headed to the front. It was still too quiet—enough that he could hear the individual rustlings in the straw. Did they have an abnormal rodent problem in the barn? He kept a close eye the hay piles for stirrings. Out of the corner of his right eye, he caught a movement…and that wasn’t a mouse. Finn had Audrey in his arms pinned against the wall.
“Keep your filthy hands to yourself, you mongrel, two-timing bastard,” he yelled as he ran forward and pushed Finn away from his sister.
“Riley, stop just a minute and listen.” Audrey grabbed at his arm, trying to hold him back from Finn. He brushed her off.
“Don’t worry about him, Audrey. He’s not worth it. I thought Sassie had better taste than to get together with someone who treats her like this.” He turned back to Finn. “Get off our property. Now. Before I change my mind about taking off your head.”
Finn held his hands up, winked at Audrey, and sauntered out to the truck.
“How could you let him touch you? Don’t you know what a scumbag he is?” Riley ran his hands through his hair, lost for a reason not to kill Finn.
“Riley, he’s quite nice really. What’s happening between you and Sassie isn’t anything to do with me and Finn.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You and Finn. What the fuck are you doing, Audrey? I caught him coming out of her bed this morning when I was forced to go and apologize, and you think it’s okay for him to then come hit on you?” He shook his head. “I always hoped that when you got over Dylan it would be with someone who deserved you, not an Irishman who obviously can’t keep it in his pants. Not only am I getting shafted by him, but so are you, little sister. So are you.”
He stormed off to his truck, slamming the door harder than when he arrived.
Chapter 20
Riley headed back to town, calling into his office at the zoning board. The part-time job of building inspector kept him busy but not so pressed for time that he couldn’t manage to combine it with his own building business. His desk had a number of files waiting for his input, but nothing serious that had to be done today. He sat and rested his head in his hands. How was he going to get Sassie to believe him when he told her Finn was two-timing her with his sister? Perhaps it would be better to ignore it and let her find out for herself…but he wasn’t that kind of man.
He’d failed with Peter, but they all had, and now Emily suffered for it. She, out of all of them, had blamed herself more; he was her husband and being a doctor, she should have picked up on it. Riley’d had an inkling his brother was dabbling in drugs, but he chose not to stir things up. It really wasn’t his business, or so he thought. If only he had stepped in and taken more care, his brother might still be alive and Emily would have her husband, and perhaps a family. Now she had nothing but nightmares and an empty bed.
Riley opened a file and stared at it blankly. He couldn’t let the same thing happen to Sassie. He loved her more than he thought possible. So much for being the confirmed bachelor playing the field. He was totally smitten with her. She made him feel more of a man than he’d felt before. Sounded completely cliché, but it was true. She was all he wanted and more. Had he left it too late to tell her?
His cell phone rang and he took it out of his pocket. “Riley, the barn’s on fire. Get here fast. I need help.” The panic in his
