Roaring Fork Roughstock (Roaring Fork Ranch #2)

11. Porter

11

PORTER

W hen I woke and Cici was still asleep, I got out of bed and stood by the window, watching the sunrise paint Morris Ranch in colors only seen in Colorado. Without looking over my shoulder at her for fear I’d crawl in beside her and not leave until I’d made her mine again, I thought about how good she’d felt in my arms. Her trust in me made my chest ache with equal parts longing and guilt. She believed I was here to help, and I was—but not for the reasons she thought.

My phone felt heavy in my hand as I stepped out of the room, went downstairs, and scrolled until I found Decker Ashford’s number. He answered on the second ring despite the early hour.

“Porter Wheaton. Been a while.”

“Too long. Listen, Deck, I’m calling because I need your help.” I outlined the situation at Morris Ranch, keeping the details vague but emphasizing the urgency. “We need a full security upgrade. Yesterday.”

“Shots fired, mysterious accidents, and arson attempts?” His voice sharpened with interest. “Sounds personal.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. How fast can you get a team out here?”

“I’ll head out in a couple of hours.” He paused. “But, Porter, if this is as serious as it sounds, you might need more than just cameras and sensors.”

“I know it.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

“I’ll bring backup. I’ve got a couple of guys who can stay on after I leave.”

I thanked him, then called Buck.

My brother answered with his usual gruff. “What?”

“Need a favor.” I told him Decker was on his way, and with some of the repairs we needed to make, I figured he’d spot any weaknesses I might have missed. “This place needs help, Buck. Real help.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Give me a couple of hours to wrap up here. I’ll bring some guys who worked on the system Decker set up here. Less of a learning curve. Oh and, Port, when I get there, you can tell me the rest of whatever it is you’re leaving out.”

“Thanks.” I hesitated. “Have you, uh, heard from Holt?”

“He’s between tours. Want me to have him come along?”

“Yeah. We could use all the hands we can get.”

The next call was harder, but Cord had sent enough messages that I owed it to him to respond. He picked up immediately, like he’d been waiting.

“How are you, Port?”

Hearing his voice, the brother I was closest to, opened the dam of my emotions. “Not good, man. Someone’s trying to destroy Morris Ranch.” I lowered my voice and looked over my shoulder, making sure neither Cici nor Maverick were within earshot. “I think they killed Hank and Lillian to do it.”

The silence on the other end stretched. “You sure about that?”

“No, but too many things don’t add up.” I told him about the shell casings, the sabotage, the escalating threats.

“Fuck,” I heard him mutter in the background. “I wish I could be there, Port.”

“I appreciate it, brother, but if anyone gets why you can’t be, it’s me. Buck too.”

“I gotta say that even with all this shit you’re telling me, you still sound better than I’ve heard you in a damn long time. Are you and Cici?—”

“No,” I snapped too quickly.

“But you’re getting there.”

“What are you? Clairvoyant?”

He chuckled. “Nope, but I am a man in love, so I recognize the signs.”

“I’ve loved her for a long time, Cord.”

“I know, Port.”

“There are things I can’t—” I stopped talking when I heard her footsteps on the stairs. “I gotta run. We’ll talk more later.”

I turned around to face her, nearly gasping when the sight of her made my heart stutter. Fuck, if she didn’t make me want to carry her right back up those stairs and spend the day getting to know her naked body the way I used to.

“Good morning,” she said, her cheeks flushing as though she could read my mind. “Do I smell coffee?”

I chuckled. “Not yet, darlin’. I had some calls to make.”

“Dang it,” she said, walking toward the kitchen, but not without looking over her shoulder and winking. “So, you said calls?” She asked after handing me a steaming mug.

“Yeah.” I took a sip, buying time. “Got some more help coming. People I trust.”

Her eyebrows rose. “You sure that’s wise? Bringing in outsiders?”

“These aren’t outsiders. They’re family—Buck and Holt.” I set down my coffee when her brow furrowed. I knew it had nothing to do with my brothers. She knew them both, and they’d always gotten along. “Cici, the ranch is vulnerable, and there’s a lot of work that needs to get done in a hurry.”

She started to protest, then stopped, her expression shifting. “You’re right.” She moved to the window, staring out at the land her father had built into something special. “I’ve been trying to do everything myself for so long that I forgot what it was like to have help I could count on.”

The same trust I’d felt last night echoed in her voice, cutting deep. I set the cup down that I’d just picked up again and placed my hands on her shoulders. “I meant what I said about not letting them win.”

She turned in my arms, her face tilted up to mine. “I know you did.” Her fingers traced my jaw. “I just wish...”

“What?”

She shook her head.

“Come on, tell me. You just wish what?”

“I could be sure this is real.”

She meant between her and me, and as much as she needed my reassurance, I couldn’t give it to her. There were too many other things at play here. Things that, once she learned the truth, she might never forgive me for.

“I’m here, Cici. Believe in that.”

“I want to…”

The sound of breaking glass from the other room shattered the moment. We both knew what it meant—Maverick was awake and probably already drinking, if not still drunk.

Cici pulled away, conflict clear on her face, but I wrapped my arm around her waist.

“Let me,” I said. “I need to head into town anyway. I’m meeting Kaleb.” And my AA group, but I didn’t say that part, even though I had every intention of inviting her brother to come with me.

“You don’t have to take on Mav, Porter. I understand you feel responsible, but his drinking started before, um, the accident.”

I knew it had, far better than she’d ever know. “Let me do this, okay?”

She leaned up, kissed my cheek, and I watched her walk up the stairs instead of into the room where we’d heard her brother.

“Come with me,” I said when I found him leaning against the counter, then walked out and hoped he followed. Since he was on crutches, I couldn’t very well drag him like I wanted to.

“Where are we going?” he asked after climbing into the passenger seat of my truck.

“There are some people I want you to meet.”

The AA meeting was already in progress when we slipped in. Kaleb nodded from his usual spot, eyes widening when he looked behind me and saw Mav. Rather than disrupt the person speaking more than I already had, I motioned to two seats in the back. After Maverick sat down, I took the seat beside him.

We listened as the man at the front of the room talked about making amends, about how sometimes the hardest person to forgive was yourself.

I’d taken a huge damn risk, bringing Mav in here, and I sure as hell hoped I didn’t live to regret it. However, instead of storming out, he sat quietly, head hung, a tear rolling down his cheek.

I thought about some of the last words his father had said to me. “Sometimes, protecting people means making hard choices, son. Remember that.” At the time, I was sure he was alluding to me breaking up with his daughter. And he would’ve been right that I’d done it to protect her.

Being at the ranch, sitting on the ticking time bomb of secrets I kept from her now, bringing Mav here with me, every single choice I was making was hard as hell. I just prayed they were the right ones.

After the meeting ended and we walked outside, Mav went straight to the truck and leaned against it until I unlocked it so he could get in while I waited for Kaleb.

“Hey,” he said, glancing around me.

“Mav’s waiting in the truck.”

“Did he come of his own free will?”

I shrugged. “As far as the town at least. Gotta admit I didn’t expect him to stick around.”

Kaleb nodded. “On another subject, I feel as though we’re missing something obvious with the shit happening at Morris Ranch. Something that’s right in front of us.”

“I agree. I mean, why that place specifically? There are other ranches for sale in the valley.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Either way, there are easier ways to force a sale if that’s what the person doing this is after.” I didn’t think it was, but I had no idea what else it could be.

“This feels different.”

“Like someone’s enjoying watching Cici and Mav suffer,” I added.

“You think it’s about revenge?”

“Nothing else makes sense.”

Kaleb put his hand on my shoulder. “How are you doing?”

“One day at a time, my friend.”

Back at the ranch, I found Cici in the barn with Thunder Cloud. The stallion nickered at my approach, and she turned, her eyes searching my face.

“How’s Maverick?” she asked softly.

“Better. For now.” Neither he nor I spoke on the ride home, which I hoped meant he was processing his feelings about the meeting.

She looked over at the house. “Is he inside?”

“Yeah.”

“Porter?” She stepped closer. “Whatever’s coming, whatever you’re not telling me, just promise me one thing.”

“Anything.” The word came too quickly, and I regretted it.

“Promise you won’t disappear. Not like you did before. Promise me that, if you have to leave, you’ll tell me.”

She was right about how I’d just vanished. I’d walked out of her life, wanting to hide my dependency on alcohol, one I hadn’t been ready to admit even to myself. The excuse I’d told myself then was that we were too young, not ready for something so serious. Cici was nineteen at the time, and I was twenty-three, except she hadn’t been the one too young to handle it; that was all on me.

I pulled her into my arms, knowing I might regret it as much as I did my last word. “I’m not going anywhere, Cici.”

Not until the ranch was safe. Not until I’d kept my promise to her father. Not until I’d protected her brother’s secret, even if it cost me any chance at a future with her. Not until so many other things, like discovering the truth about her parents’ accident.

The wind picked up, carrying the scent of snow. Another storm was headed our way, another test of our resolve.

“Porter, I?—”

“Shh,” I said, kissing her before she could say more. If Cici Morris said the words I feared she was about to and I said them back, I’d never be able to keep my promise to her brother.