“What does that entail?” she asked simply because she knew Leah wanted to share more.
“You can only get so far in life without an education,” Leah explained, her perfect nose tilted up in that prissy pose she had perfected. “Stone’s good at manual labor, but I don’t see him running a ranch.”
“He doesn’t have the education,” Reilly supplied, realizing where Leah was going with this.
“No offense, but there’s a big difference between brains and brawn.”
“You don’t say.”
“He’s got the brawn, but he needs someone with brains to back him up. He needs me. We’ll make a good team.”
“So he’ll work for you?”
“Eventually, yeah. Daddy says Stone’s good with the ranch hands, so I’ll let him manage them.”
“You’lllet him. Interesting.”
For all the book smarts this bitch had, she was clueless. Her mouth continued to run, and she didn’t realize Reilly was baiting her at every turn.
“You know what youshoulddo?” Reilly said when Leah stopped talking.
“What’s that?”
She leaned in, lowered her voice. “You should make him your house boy. He’d like that.”
Leah laughed, her eyes glittering. “That could be fun.”
“I know, right? Put a collar and leash on him, parade him around for the whole ranch to see.”
Leah’s eyebrows lowered.
“Or maybe put one of those things on him. You know.” She motioned to her face. “What’s it called? That thing that goes over a horse’s face? They bite down on that thing. What’s it called?” She opened her mouth and mimicked putting her finger sideways. “Anyway. You know what I’m talkin’ about. It’s used to guide them.”
“A bridle?”
Reilly snapped her fingers. “Yes! Exactly. Put a bridle on him. Make him your pet because”—she widened her eyes and thickened her drawl for dramatic effect—“he’s uneducated and all.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yeah. You did.” Reilly stepped toward the island. “And you know what? You’re an idiot for thinkin’ my brother’s an idiot because he doesn’t have a degree. He knows what he wants, and he goes after it. He’s one of the good ones. He doesn’t mind startin’ at the bottom and workin’ his way up. And the shit he’s learned in life doesn’t come from a book.”
And there it was. The spark she’d been working to ignite. It backlit Leah’s eyes and caused her cheeks to turn rosy. Reilly imagined her growing bigger, turning green, and morphing into the Hulk. Unfortunately, she didn’t, but she did dial her haughtiness up to twelve.
“I’ll have you know that Stone won’t ever run my Daddy’s ranch. Or any ranch, for that matter. Not without me. He’s an outsider. A nobody. If he expects to make it in the cattle business, he needs a name backing him. I’m his best shot at ever makin’ somethin’ of himself.”
“And what exactly do you get out of it?”
Leah’s lips pulled back. “I’ll have a man who’ll do exactly what I tell him to do.”
Reilly pretended to be too stupid to live. “That’s a thing? Havin’ a man for a pet? Ineedone of those. Can I Google man-pet and find one? Or would you call him a show pony?That’sa thing, right?”
“Call it what you want, but I can give Stone the life he wants.”
Reilly twisted her lips and smiled, cutting her eyes toward the door where her brother had been standing for the past few minutes.
Leah slowly turned her head, her eyes widening. “Stone?” Her Hulk impersonation disappeared, and sweet Leah returned. “Hey. You’re back. I ... uh … didn’t hear you come in.”
Stone looked at Reilly. “You’re a T-rex, you know that?”
