Weston Ranch, Fisher's Story (11 page)

She just finished throwing the last of her clothing in her overnight bag when Asher strolled through her bed room door.

“Where are you going,” he asked, leaning up against the door frame.

“Arkansas for the weekend,” she answered.

“Is Lexie going with you?”

“
No
, it’s just me.” Claire glanced at Asher as she zipped up her case, hauling it off the bed. Asher straightened up and grabbed it from her hands.

“Where is Lexie going this weekend, do you know?
She told
me
that
she
was busy
,
and
I was hoping she was busy
with you,” he said as he followed her downstairs.

“
I thought she had to work this weekend. She usually does.
I haven’t seen her around
.
I’ll call her and tell
you
what I find
out
,”
she was
interrupted when Fisher opened the main door to the house
.
He
stopped mid-step as he saw them.

“Do you ever knock?” Claire demanded
,
making
Asher chuckled. Fisher ignored her comment and frowned at both of them, looking to them and her bag between them, that Asher still held.

“What the hell is going on?
” Fisher asked.
Ash
er
dropped her case by Fisher’s feet, l
eaned down and kissed her cheek. He n
odded to his brother and left her alone
.
Alone,
with an angry man glaring down at her
.

“I am spending a weekend in Arkansas, looking over some land and going over figures. I tried calling you earlier, but no luck,” she pushed
pas
t
him with case in hand and loaded everything she needed into her truck. She was aware of Fisher stalking her outside.

“Are you going alone or is Ash going with you?” He asked
,
she was sure she detected a hint of jealously.

“I called you earlier to see if you would go,” she said
,
cheerfully.

“I was busy. Bree hurt her ankle. This trip, you want me to go?”

“Bree?”

“My horse, now answer my question,” he gritted out.

“Yes.
I wanted to see if you could spare
the time
, but you are a busy man. I understand,” she said.

“Let me see if I can get Ash
to pick up some of my work load and see if
pa
would handle the office stuff. That will make the old man’s day. Can you wait a few hour
s
?”

“Sure,” she replied, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and got into his truck, she watched as he drove to his house. She now had a few hours to spare. What to do? She grabbed her phone and dialed her sister’s number. Maddie would know where Lexie was going this weekend. It wasn’t like Lexie to leave and not tell anyone, although she could be wrong. She’d been gone six years and here she was, maybe leaving again. If only she could come up with something else.

“She’s avoiding Ash. Apparently she caught in him a compromising position with some chick at a bar. He claims nothing happened. She took an assignment
at a petting zoo for the weekend,” Maddie informed her.

“Asher wouldn’t pick up a woman in
a
bar
.” At least she thought he
would
n’t.
However, s
he was wron
g
about which sister he wanted
.
She let Maddie go and then
she
left a voicemail on Lexie’s phone.
Having told both sisters that she was spending the weekend with Fisher, she was ready to go. Surprisingly Maddie didn’t say anything about her plans. She seemed to
o
wrapped up in Lexie and Asher’s business.
She was going to stay out of this for now, at least until she got her own personal problems dealt with.

Chapter Eight

“I think you
were supposed
to turn left back there,” Claire said quietly, aware of Fisher’s simmering irritation.

“Jesus, Claire!
You are the smartest woman I know. Give you a map and you turn into a lost idiot,” he snapped.

“Don’t call me names,”

“I’m sorry
sweetheart
. It’s just
late
. W
e
were supposed
to be there an hour ago
,
and
now we lost in the middle of nowhere,” Jake sighed, rubbing his eyes.

Claire looked down at her map again and then at the useless
GPS
that obviously doesn’t work. They left late in the afternoon
,
and
now it was well after midnight. They were both cranky and
extremel
y
tired. All this snapping at each other wasn’t doing any
good
. She gave up
driving
and let Fisher drive about two hours ago.

“We can stop for the night. There has to be a town coming up somewhere soon. In the mor
ning, we can ask for direction
s
,” she tried to boost his dismal mood.

“I haven’t seen a house, let alone a hotel for the last fifty miles. We are going to need gas too,” he glanced at her before returning his attention to the road.

They
drove
for another twenty minutes before they saw signs of life. They pulled into a small truck stop and got gas. Claire went inside and stocked up on drinks and snacks while Fisher asked the clerk for directions.

“We are an hour in the wrong direction. You made a wrong turn,” Fisher accused.

“Me! You were driving,” she said.

“Let’s go. I’ll drive for another hour before calling it quits,” he declared.
They drove another hour and found the town they were
looking
for.
She made a phone call to the bed and breakfast where she book
ed
a room for the weekend.
She apologized for the late arrival
,
and
they would be arriving in twenty minutes.

An elderly woman greeted them in her pajamas. Claire felt
terrible
about waking her up this late, but the woman was
exceptionall
y
nice
.

“Here is your room. There is a connecting bathroom with a shower.
Breakfast is at eight,” she started to leave them, when Claire broke in almost frantically,

“I
changed my booking for
two rooms
earlier today
. One for me and one for him,” she pointed towards Fisher, who was grinning ear to ear beside her.

“Oh, I’m sorry.
We don’t have any other rooms available.
I suppose I can sleep on the couch
,
and
he can have my room,” she stated
,
and
Claire felt even worse. She couldn’t allow this poor woman to sleep on a couch.

“No, it’s
fine
. I just wasn’t expecting this. We are
fine
. Go and get some sleep,” Claire said in defeat.

“
Are you sure dear?
”

“Yes, Ma’am. We will be
okay
. Thank you for your
hospitality
,” Fisher answered her and
bided
her a
good
night.

Claire watched as the elderly women walked down the hall and entered a room on the left.
She entered her own room, leaving Fisher in the hall, grinning like he won the lottery or something.
It was
his entire
fault that she was here in the first place.

Claire went
to the bathroom to change, too tired for a shower.
She just wanted to climb into a soft
,
comfortable bed and pass out.
She came to a stop as she exited out of
the
bathroom. Fisher was flipping
back
the covers on th
e bed wearing nothing but red
silk boxers.
Damn he looked
fabulous
naked.
He
was perfection defined
.
She avoided his gaze and slid under the covers on the other side. She presented his back to him and waited for him to join her. The dip in the bed and the covers being lifted told her, yes, he was going to slee
p in the same bed as her.

Fisher gathered her close. She
was dressed
in a thread bare tank top and boy cut shorts. She could feel the heat radiating off his
chest as he spooned behind her, his arms cocooning her. She felt at peace for the first time today and realized that she was actually drifting off to sleep, but she didn’t fight it. She snuggled back into Fisher and felt his erection pressing against her bottom. She smiled and let sleep claim her.

Fisher woke up knowing t
his was what he’d been missing these past six years. This felt right with Claire.
No other woman evoked these foreign emotions in him.
Tricia Glassman was the most recent of dating disasters he had gotten himself into.
She called him four times yesterday just on the trip here.
If she didn’t get the hint today after no call backs from him, he would have to do something.

Fisher pushed thoughts of Tricia aside and focused on the delightful woman snoring softly beside him.
She had her leg hitched over his thigh and her head buried in his shoulder and neck. She felt
good
plastered to him.
He glanced at the glowering red numbers of the clock.
Six in the morning
on his first Saturday off in forever
,
and
it
felt
good
.
H
e was usually up and doing chores around the ranch at this time of day.

He ran his fingertips over her back. He smiled when he felt goose bumps follow his trail.
He shifted her over, so he could lean over and leave a pa
th of gentle kisses to her face,
down to her chest.
She swatted him away. He chuckled. She still wasn’t a morning person.

“Wake up sleepy head,” he murmured.

She burrowed further under the covers. He
threw
the cover of them and got out of bed.

“I’ll start the shower for you,” he said.

Fisher joined Claire for a quick shower and threw on some clothes. It was going to be hot
,
and
they would be trekking around outside for the maturity of the day.
The drive to the forty five acre lot took ten minutes. Fisher drove while Claire looked over papers and satellite images for the area.

They pulled in an abandoned dirt drive. Overgrown weeds blanketed the surrounding area. Fisher gri
maced, imaging all the work
the place would need
just
ge
t
ting the
construction
started
. He looked around and found nothing to commend the lot. Surely, Claire could see this wasn’t what she wanted.
Claire was already out of the truck, making her way through the weeds. He cursed and jumped out after her.

“Watch where you are stepping.
God knows what is lurking around this dump,” Fisher bit out.
Claire just kept on going,
j
otting things in her
notepad here and there.
Two hours later, they returned to the truck
,
and
he thought they
were done
for the day.
But
no, Claire wanted to drive out further to inspect the areas
they haven’t gotten too on foot
.

After five hours of walking, digging and general exploring
,
Claire was finally ready to leave.
Fisher desperately needed a shower and something to eat. They were both covered in sweat and dirt. He cranked up the air as they climbed in the truck.

“
What a waste of time,”
he declared, backing out onto the road.