The Sheriff's Mail-Order Bride (The Watson Brothers #2)(28)
She thumped him on the arm, her knuckles digging into his skin. “You have an ego the size of a house, Rory Watson. If you knew my past, you’d know that money means nothing, especially when I grew up with less than nothing. Funny how you learn to get by when you don’t have any. How much is it going to take to get it through your thick skull? I might be poor but I’m not mercenary.”
Her lips thinned and he reached for her, trying to stave off the rising temper. Brave would be the man who crossed Gina when she was in a mood. “I’m sorry, I did that all wrong. Please forgive me.”
Gina leaned against his chest and he could feel her breathing slow down as the anger subsided. Way to go, Rory. He looked up as a truck pulled into the yard beside his and his shoulder sagged. Right now this was a bad time for Tyson to show up.
“Hey.” He kissed the top of her head and leaned down to look into her eyes. “We have a visitor. My younger brother Tyson is here. Don’t let anything he says get to you, okay? His big mouth can sometimes be his downfall, although he usually means well. We’ll talk about the renovations later.”
Rory turned as the truck door slammed and boots sounded on the gravel then the porch. The look of surprise on his brother’s face as he spied Fisher nestled in his arms would have been hilarious if Rory didn’t know there would be an interrogation to follow; he was all too aware of how Tyson worked. The reason he was shunned by the brothers as a kid was because he was always telling on them to their father. Nothing was a secret with him around and it hadn’t changed over the years as he’d grown older.
Rory walked over and opened the door, breaking his brother’s trance-like stare. “Hey, what’s up?”
Tyson looked at Fisher and then peered over at Gina. “Uh, just thought I’d come up and see if Chance is interested in a couple of stock horses I’ve come across. Not really what I want because they’re broken in and I need bucking broncos.” He scratched his head and pulled his gaze back to Rory. “Yeah, I don’t need them but they’re cheap and it would be a shame to see them go to the glue factory.”
“How much are we looking at here, Tyson?” Rory relaxed when Gina slipped her arm through his and inwardly grinned when his brother’s eyes bugged out of his head.
“Ah, um…sorry what was that?”
“I said, how much do they want for them and do you think they’re worth it?”
“Yeah, I do otherwise I wouldn’t be up here.” Tyson named a price that bordered on being ridiculously cheap. “Going to introduce me to your girlfriend here? Heard you had one.”
“Gina, this is my brother Tyson. Tyson, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancée Gina and her son Fisher.”
“Your what? You never told me when you came back home that you were getting married. Like I have to hear there was a lady here from someone else in town. Thanks for nothing.” He glared at Rory. “What the hell changed in the last few weeks that I don’t know about?” Rory could see the cogs working in his head.
“Back off, brother. Don’t you dare go letting loose your uppity attitude on me. Nobody said you had to be involved in my decision-making process.”
“I take it then that you’ve done the same fool thing that Chance did—signed up on one of those damned dating sites for a wife, otherwise I would have known about this. You two will never learn, will you? And a woman with a kid, only after one thing if you ask me: money.”
Rory turned and handed Fisher to Gina before turning back and decking his brother with a decent right hook to the jaw. Tyson landed on his butt on the porch, shock the expression on his face. He looked up and scowled before wiping his hand across his mouth. Blood pooled in the corner of his lips and he spat it out and reached for his hat.
“Take your damned attitude back where you came from. If you can’t be respectful, stay the heck away from us.”
Tyson crawled to his feet, glaring at Gina. “You’ll regret this, mark my words, brother. Just you wait and see. Soon as you buy yourself a nice little plot of land, she’ll dig her claws in and take you for everything you have.”
*
Gina shook inside and stepped back, shielding her son. Another bout of violence wasn’t what she wanted to see, the type of behavior she wanted her baby around. It made her feel queasy and doubt the position she was in, ring on her finger or not. She heard the intake of Rory’s breath, and so did Tyson.
“You’re kidding me, right? You’ve gone and bought the little lady a place already, haven’t you?”
They didn’t notice Callie walking up toward the house. “Making an ass of yourself again, Tyson? You’ll never learn will you?” She strode up to him and slapped him on the back, none too gentle, making him stumble and struggle to regain his already unsteady footing. “So, what’re you after this time, apart from being a nosy little turd?”
“I’m not here for gossip. I thought you might be interested in a couple of horses I was offered before they go to the glue factory. I didn’t expect to walk into a punch in the face.” He banged his hat against his leg and jammed it back on his head.
“Well, you should learn to mind your manners then. Chance is down at the barn; come and talk to him about it.” Callie winked at Gina and hooked her arm through Tyson’s, giving him no option but to go with her. They watched as she dragged him down to the barn, gripping his arm so he couldn’t get away.