Last Second Chance

Chapter Thirty

He’d gone to the barn only to find a bunch of horses and no Stella. Jesse Ramirez was walking towards a red GMC truck. Van called out to get his attention.

“Hey, man. You seen Stella?”

The director’s son turned and faced him, a barrage of emotions warring plainly on his face. “She went home. To see her family and a doctor, I think.”

Do not act like a raging fucking lunatic.

“Ah. Okay.” He knew he shouldn’t push any further. Knew, but couldn’t stop himself. “Well, um, any word? I mean, is she okay?”

The younger man’s forehead creased as he removed his hat and scrubbed a hand over his head. “Haven’t heard.”

“Any idea when she’ll be back?”

Jesse sighed and folded his arms over his chest. Van suspected it looked like Stella would soon be needing a restraining order.

“Look, I’m sure you’re a good enough guy. Everybody has problems, issues they need help getting a handle on, and I get that. So please don’t take offense to what I’m about say.”

Van raised his eyebrows. Whatever the man had to say had to be prefaced with a disclaimer, so he figured it would probably induce his knee-jerk punch-a-fucker-in-the-face reflex. He believed he’d grown up a bit since his last brawl, or maybe he’d just learned a little about what was worth fighting for and what wasn’t. He remained out of reaching distance just to be on the safe side.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Van had a strict policy about not making promises he couldn’t keep.

Jesse bravely stepped closer, squared his shoulders, and looked Van directly in the eye. The man was braced for whatever came. Van respected that he felt whatever he was about to say was worth an ass-kicking should that be the direction this conversation took.

“Stella isn’t like other women, like the ones you probably have to deal with on a regular basis. She isn’t just taking what she can get so she can go brag to her friends that she hooked up with you. And she doesn’t strike me as the type that’s into casual sex.”

Van’s nerves pinched at hearing another man say Stella’s name and sex together, but nothing Jesse Ramirez had said so far was untrue. So he just nodded.

“I’m aware of this.”

“Are you?” Dark brows dipped. “In that case, I have to ask. Where do you see this going? I mean, you just going to check out and move on when you’re done here? Because you may not know it, but she’s risking a hell of a lot being with you. My dad likes her. He respects her. But there’s already talk of…rumors, I guess you could say, about the two of you. He asked me to keep an eye out.”

Van struggled to swallow. He had no clue where this was going, no idea how things were going to work with Stella once he was out of rehab. And he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t get her fired. She loved it here. He could still hear her begging, pleading for him to back off.

“This job is important to me. I’m happy here. I feel at home. Wanted. Needed. I never felt that way before. Not in my own home and not with college roommates. I belong here. I want to be here.”

He wanted to hit something. He’d pushed until he’d gotten his way. And now his beautiful cowgirl was the topic of rumors. Rumors that would hurt her in so many ways—taint and tarnish her like he’d known he would.

“So is this a warning?”

Disappointment laced the breath Jesse let out. “It’s whatever you think it is. It’s honesty. If you were in love with her, it’d be different. I’m sure my dad would give you two his blessing and you could transfer to a different facility.”

“What makes you think I’m not in love with her?” Was he? He wasn’t entirely sure. He was sure, however, that he wanted to be discussing this with her and not this guy.

“Missing riding crops, fucking her in secret, and your fiancée showing up repeatedly. People talk, Mr. Ransom. And this facility is a breeding ground for rumors and gossip. It’s one of the reasons I keep to myself and spend my time at the barn with the animals. They keep their mouths shut.”

“Lucky for me,” Van mumbled under his breath. He’d done some pretty unspeakable things with Stella in the presence of the horses.

“Look, I’m well aware that it’s none of my business. But she’s good for this place and I think it’s good for her. So I’d hate to see her jeopardize that over a fling with someone who’s just using her for a distraction from what he came here for.”

Van took two instinctual steps toward him.

Jesse’s hands came up in defense. “Not saying that’s what you’re doing. Let me be perfectly clear, I have no clue what you’re actually doing with her. I was just saying I’d hate to see her get hurt.”

“I don’t want that—to hurt her. To get her in trouble.”

Her. He just wanted her.

Not that he planned to tell this random dude that.

“Then you might want to ease up a little.” Jesse shrugged as if it were of no consequence to him. “Back it down on the watching her like a predator stalking prey at least. Because if I really was ‘keeping an eye out’ like my father asked me to, you would’ve just shown me plenty to get her fired.”

With that, the man got in his truck and left. Van watched his taillights disappear from view and placed his hands on his head.

Jesse Ramirez hadn’t told him anything. It was everything he already knew. She could do better, he was bad for her, and both of them would be decimated when this ended. She’d likely be jobless.

But hearing it from someone else, knowing people were talking about them— about her, really—in anything less than a positive light, gutted him.

He hoped that knowledge would be enough to keep him away from her, so he wouldn’t ruin her any further, whenever she returned.