A Family With the Cowboy (The Westons of Montana #1)

Chapter One

S lightly lightheaded, Laura tried to take in everything around her. It was still so surreal, but she was actually here. In Marietta. In Grey’s Saloon, to be precise, one of the lovely old buildings on Main Street with a classic Western storefront, like most of the buildings in this part of town.

When she’d entered the bar minutes ago with Maria Baker, her new colleague, who’d met her on her arrival in town today, she had to blink a few times. It was the oldest building in town, Maria had explained. With scarred floorboards, tarnished mirrors, swinging doors, and a balustrade balcony running along the second story, she wouldn’t have been surprised if a line of chorus girls had appeared. It was like a scene straight out of a Wild West movie.

She’d read about Marietta’s history, of course. Reading had always been her escape, and she’d enjoyed researching everything she could find about the new town she was moving to.

When copper was found in the mountains around Marietta during the late 1800s by mining engineers, the place was flooded by prospectors, miners, and everyone else eager to get rich. Within ten years all mining had stopped, though. Turned out the copper had been more like fool’s gold. Many people left, but those who stayed put down roots, raised cattle, and worked the land. Today Marietta was a thriving community of ranchers with many shops and other commercial enterprises.

Smiling, Maria lifted her beer. “Welcome to Marietta. So, tell me, what made you decide to move here from Missoula? Don’t get me wrong, I love our small town, but it’s much smaller than what you’re used to.”

“Last October, my friend Maisy and I stopped here when we were on our way to Yellowstone National Park during school break and before she got married. For me, it was love at first sight. We stayed at Annie’s, the B it was also one of the few times he got to see his son. He would have to get creative and find another time to talk to Luke.

He should probably also go and see the teacher, but on a busy ranch there never seemed to be time.

Sighing, his eyes moved to the other grave and lingered over the words engraved on the cold marble. Walker Weston—you were loved , followed by the date of his brother’s birth and the date of the accident in which they’d lost him—February 11th, exactly five years ago.

And as always happened when he came here, the events of that fateful night flashed before his eyes. He’d been driving. Both of his other brothers, Becket and Cooper, as well as their sister, Willow, were in the car. Although they seldom talked about the accident, he knew his siblings were all blaming themselves for what happened too. The bottom line was, though, he was the one behind the wheel. He was responsible.

If only… Looking up toward the mountains, he swallowed against the lump in his throat. Of course, none of the if-onlys would bring back their brother, with his big laugh and kind eyes. Not one.

A soft footfall behind him had him turning his head. Willow was approaching and behind her, their faces grave, were Becket and Cooper. They’d also arrived on horseback; he’d been too preoccupied to hear them.

Wordlessly, they joined him and, for long minutes, the four of them stood quietly next to the grave, remembering their brother.

It was bitterly cold, the world around them robed in white, but none of them seemed to be aware of it.

Hayden finally cleared his throat. “From weather reports, the cold weather isn’t changing anytime soon. We still have enough surplus hay for the winter feeding?” It was easier to talk about things that needed to be done.

Becket nodded. “There should be more than enough. I’m on my way to check.” With a wave, he turned away.

“Have you seen Luke?” Hayden asked his sister and Cooper.

He caught the look between them. “No, I haven’t,” Willow said. She put a hand on Hayden’s arm. “Try talking to him instead of shouting, will you?” She cocked her head. “You okay? You seemed to be even grumpier than usual this week. Anything happened?”

“I’m fine,” he just about snarled.

Shrugging, she moved away to follow Becket. “See you later.” She stopped and turned. “By the way, Mom phoned. She said she’s texted everyone, but you haven’t responded. We’re all invited to dinner tomorrow evening. Or rather, late afternoon. Mom wants us there at six.”

Hayden frowned. “Whatever for? And what about Sunday?” Since their mom moved to the family house in town a year ago, Sunday lunch at her place was a standing, nonnegotiable date.

Willow smiled. “Sunday lunch is still on, sorry. Apparently, she’s getting a new neighbor and wants us to help welcome the person to Marietta.”

Hayden cussed and rubbed his face. He didn’t have time for a damn dinner in the middle of the week.

“I also haven’t seen Luke,” Cooper muttered as he waved and left.

Hayden grimaced. If his siblings’ reactions were anything to go by, Luke had again forgotten to do his chores. Something had obviously changed or happened in his son’s life over the past few days. The question was, what? And how did he persuade Luke to talk to him?

Damn it, on days like this, he wished he could ask Madeline how to handle the situation. Whatever he tried to do, he seemed to make matters worse.

It wasn’t as if Luke had many chores, but helping out, doing your bit on a big ranch, had been instilled in all of them since they could walk. And Luke had been helpful, even doing more than what he should until recently.

And okay, Willow was right. He had been shouting at his son. He didn’t mean to raise his voice, but he was at his wits’ end and didn’t know how to get through to Luke.

By the time he reached the homestead, it was nearly dark. Still muttering, he got off his horse. “Luke!” he called out. Their cook Isabella also looked after Luke, but his son was seldom in the house.

Silence.

“Jessie!” he tried. Usually, the border collie responded.

A bark from inside the barn confirmed where Jessie was. And, hopefully, Luke would be close by. Jessie’s water bowl was almost empty, he noticed, as he entered the barn.

Jessie saw Hayden and, barking joyously, she ran toward him. Luke was lying on hay in the loft, apparently still unaware of what was going on around him.

Hayden walked closer. “What are you doing?”

Luke quickly looked up, but it was clear he was still somewhere inside the pages of the book he’d been reading. Only after blinking a few times did he seem to realize where he was. Jumping up, he stashed the book in the front of his jacket. “Sorry, Dad. On my way.”

“Wait,” Hayden stopped him. “What the hell’s going on, Luke? Over the last week you haven’t been doing your chores.”

“’Cause I was reading,” Luke said.

“Reading?” Sighing, Hayden rubbed his face. “This is a ranch. Everyone has a job to do. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, but I...”

“No buts, Luke. I don’t want to talk about this again.”

With that stubborn pure Weston look, Luke glared at him. “My teacher says books are the most important thing in the world. They take you to places you can never otherwise go and I—”

“Your teacher?” Remembering Mrs. Denton, Hayden frowned. She was married to a rancher, so she should know how important ranch work was.

“Yes, she reads to us every day. It’s my favorite thing.” Just for a moment, something of the joy that had always been in his son’s eyes shone through, but then his shoulders dropped and he looked miserable again.

Hayden sighed. There was no getting through to the boy. “You remember what I always tell you about ranching?”

Luke nodded. “We are stewards of the land. It’s our ’sponsibility.”

“Exactly. And everyone must do their bit.”

“Yes, Dad,” he muttered, as he climbed down the stairs.

Hayden rubbed his face. Well, tomorrow first thing, he was going to see Mrs. Denton. He couldn’t remember her ever reading to them all those years ago, but maybe things had changed.

Muttering, he walked toward the homestead. He didn’t have time to go into town once, let alone twice in one day. Yes, it was winter and things were slower, but there was still a lot of work. With temperatures dropping, the cattle needed more feed to maintain their body heat. Then there was the problem they were having with elks, one that nobody seemed to be able to find a solution to. On top of that, they had to deal with the influx of people wanting to buy previously family-owned ranches because they’d watched a damn television show. They had money, but no idea what ranching meant. His blood started boiling at the mere thought.

But before he could solve other problems, he had to talk to Mrs. Denton.