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He tipped his head. “For what?”
Obviously, he was a nice enough guy to go easy on her. But she didn’t deserve the easy way out. “I’m sorry for being so rude to you and acting like a jealous brat.”
“Hey, I wouldn’t be so thrilled either if my sister showed up with a saddle tramp like me.”
“From what Corbin tells me, you’re far from a saddle tramp.”
His eyes registered surprise. “What Corbin tells you? Have you and my brother become friendly?”
She felt her cheeks heat. “Umm . . . sort of. I’ve been helping him out at the ranch while my parents and Mimi have been visiting Hallie and Noelle.”
“Well, that’s real nice of you. But I hope you haven’t been helping him out too much. That’s not part of the plan.” Before she could ask what he meant, he continued. “And speaking of helping people out.” He glanced up at the second-story windows of the carriage house before looking back at her with sad eyes. “She’s missed you, Belle. She’s been real upset since y’all’s fight.”
“Upset or pissed off?”
He laughed. “Pissed off, but that’s how your sister deals with her pain.” He glanced at Gilley, who was exploring the yard with Buck. “Why don’t you let me keep an eye on Gilley while you go up and talk to her?” He winked. “I’ve always been good with horses.”
As she climbed the stairs to the office, Belle prepared herself for the worst. Jesse was right. Liberty usually showed her hurt through anger. It was likely she was going to explode as soon as she saw Belle. Good thing Belle had become extremely good at dealing with Liberty’s anger.
When she got to the top of the stairs, she found Liberty at the coffee bar fiddling with the coffee maker. Just seeing her sister made tears spring to her eyes. Liberty must have sensed her presence because she glanced up. Belle prepared herself for yelling. Instead Liberty merely lifted a hand at the coffee maker.
“I can’t get it to work.”
Belle bit back a smile. Liberty had never been good with anything mechanical. “Does it have water?”
“Of course it has water. I’m not that inept, Belly.”
“You aren’t inept.” Belle walked over and opened and closed the pod lid before pushing one of the brewing buttons. “You’re just too impatient and always put the pod in before the machine says ‘ready to brew.’” To prove her words, coffee poured down into the waiting cup.
Liberty sighed. “Well, damn.”
All the tension evaporated and they started laughing. Deep, stomach-clutching laughter like Mimi when she’d had too much elderberry wine. When they finally sobered, they spoke at the same time.
“I’m so sorry, Libby!”
“I’m so sorry, Belly!”
They came together in a tight hug and burst into tears. Since Liberty rarely cried, seeing her sister so upset made Belle cry even harder. They stood there sobbing until Liberty finally spoke in a nasally voice.
“Unless you want snot all over your shirt, Jelly Belly, I need a Kleenex.” She drew back. Her face was blotchy and her cheeks wet. Belle knew she looked just the same.
Belle grabbed one of the little napkins from the coffee bar and handed it to her before she took one for herself. They kept their arms linked as they moved over to the leather couch and sat down.
“Remember when I had a major crush on Timmy Myers,” Liberty said. “I invited him out to Cooper Springs to swim and he came up out of the water with that green booger hanging out of his nose.”
Belle laughed. “And that was the end of your crush.”
“I just couldn’t get that image out of my head.” Liberty took Belle’s hand and smiled. “I missed you, Belly.”
“I missed you too. I’m sorry I’ve been such a jealous brat. I knew one of us was bound to fall in love. I just didn’t think . . .”
“It would be me.”
She shrugged. “You always said you didn’t need a man to make you happy.”
Liberty leaned back on the couch and sighed. “I know. I thought I didn’t. But then I met Jesse.” She shook her head. “I didn’t ever want to be some silly woman who got all sappy over a man. But dammit, I’m a silly woman all sappy over a man. I don’t like it, but I can’t seem to help it. I know this entire thing”—she waved a hand around—“has taken you by surprise. It’s taken me by surprise too. But that doesn’t mean I had the right to push you into moving here. You’re right. I’m impatient, controlling, and used to getting my way.”
“Because I’ve always wanted you to make all the decisions. You were right too. I was too afraid to make decisions for myself because I was worried they’d be wrong.”
