Ranch Life

Chapter 9

Braxton's P.O.V.

I walk into the living room five minutes after my argument with Piper. I grunt the entire way in there. Candace laughs when she sees me.

"How'd things go in there?"

I glare at her and throw myself into the recliner.

"That bad huh? What happened?"

"I kissed her."

"You did? What'd she do?"

"She pushed me away. Then she said she won't have her life ruined again. What the hell does that mean?"

"She hasn't told you? I figured she might have told you something."

"What? What do you know that I don't?"

"Lots of things. I'm smarter than you."

"Candace, this isn't funny. What did Piper tell you?"

"If she didn't tell you, she doesn't want you to know. I will tell you one thing, though. She told me all about her past. It's not pretty. Things happened that have her scared. I'm not going to tell you what though. That's her business."

"And you respect her enough to keep it to yourself. I understand. I just want her to trust me."

"How can she trust you if all you ever do is fight with her? You're always trying to dictate what she does. Leave her alone. She needs to know that you respect her enough to do her work."

"I guess calling her a bitch didn't help either."

"You called her a bitch? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't. Plus, I didn't exactly call her a bitch. I said she didn't have to be a bitch about me wanting to help her. It's not the same thing."

"Yes it is. To a woman, if you say the word bitch in a sentence, she's going to think it's directed at her. Unless you specifically say it's not. You have to understand she's vulnerable. You need to be more careful with what you say to her and how you say it. One day she might have enough and leave. And that time she won't come back. You don't want her to leave, do you?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"Her. She's something special. I've never met anyone like her. She helped Tori when I thought all hope was lost. I'm pretty sure I'm in love with her."

"Then tell her."

"What if it doesn't work?"

"What if it does?"

She has a point. Things could work out if I only tried. I get up out of the recliner and kiss her cheek.

"Thank you, Candace. You're a genius."

"I know."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

I go down the hall to Piper's room. I hesitate before knocking. No answer. I slowly open the door. What I see is not what I was expecting. Piper and Tori are asleep on the bed. What a sight.

I go over and sit at the end of the bed. I watch them sleeping for a minute. Then Piper stirs and looks straight at me. She yawns.

"What do you want?"

"To talk to you."

"Why? Didn't you say what you needed to in the kitchen?"

"No. I have other things I need to say."

"Like what?"

Before I answer, Victoria wakes up.

"Daddy?"

"Hi, baby girl."

"Hi."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Can you either go in your room or in the living room? I need to talk to Piper."

"Yeah." She crawls over and gives Piper a hug. Then she gives me one. I pick her up and walk her to the door. I set her down and shut the door once she's taken off down the hall.

Going back over to the bed, I see that Piper's sitting up. I sit in the same spot I was in before.

"What else do you have to say?"

"First I want to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you a bitch. That was wrong and I'm sorry."

"You can't apologize your way out of everything. You do know that don't you?"

"Yeah. I just figured it was worth a shot. You may not believe it but I am sorry."

"I believe you."

"Great. There's something else I want to talk to you about."

"What?"

"I like you. A lot. You're special. I've never met another woman like you before. Every damn time I see you, I almost fall flat on my ass. You're absolutely gorgeous."

I don't think she was expecting me to say that. She looks a little confused.

"I don't know what to say."

"Do you like me?"

She sighs. "Yes. I do like you. I find you insanely attractive. I can't explain it. All I know is it really bugs me at times. Especially when you act like a jackass."

"I know. From now on I'm going to try my best to not be a jackass. Especially if I want to go out with you."

"What?"

"I want to go out with you, Piper. On a date. I've wanted to since the first moment I saw you."

"What about Hailey?"

"I was trying to make you jealous. It obviously didn't work. My plan had the opposite effect. She was the one who got jealous."

She scoffs.

"Anyways, I want to go out. I think we'd be good together. What do you say?"

She looks absolutely terrified. "I can't."

"Why?"

"I have reasons and-"

"You don't trust me."

"I do trust you. Things happened in my past that have me holding back from opening up to you. I don't like being touched by men. When I feel like I'm ready to tell you what happened, I will. Until then I can't get involved with you. No matter how attractive you are. I'm sorry if you don't understand. That's just how it has to be."

"That's okay. I respect your decision. I won't force you to do or say anything. I do want you to know that I will prove to you that I don't care about your past. Whatever happened is done with. I won't judge you."

"I appreciate that, but you don't understand. My past is nothing about what I've done. Things have happened to me that cause me to hesitate with relationships. Actually they're more recent, but that's all I'm saying for now."

"Okay. Just let me know when you're ready. I'll be here to listen when you are."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

I get up and leave the room. If I stay any longer, I'll end up missing her again. I don't want to scare her again. She looked terrified when I mentioned going out with her. Then her face had an expression I couldn't read when she said she didn't like men touching her. Whatever happened to her was truly horrible. It left her scarred. Hopefully we can get her past all of that. I plan on spending forever with her. Even if she doesn't know it yet.