Chapter 2
BEAU
Does Trish not appreciate that I have a live rattlesnake in this container? There’s a lid, but I’d prefer to transport it using two hands. With the way she’s yanking on me, she’s not acting like the person who was screaming her head off twenty minutes ago.
I peel her off my arm and hold the reptile between us. “Thanks for the escort, but duty calls.”
She twirls her finger through her hair and gives me a nutty smile. “Is there any way I could thank you? Maybe make you dinner?”
“Thanks, but things are pretty busy right now.” My attention drifts to the door Honey just shut in my face, and for the millionth time, I kick myself for not having the right words. Literally everything I say around that woman pisses her off.
Fuck, she looked gorgeous today. Sitting on the table, calm and composed, while everyone else lost their shit.
Sometimes I wonder, if she wasn’t a McAllister and I wasn’t a Walker… and then I come to my senses.
My co-worker Melissa jogs up to me as I exit the high school. “Let’s go find a nice field for this guy.” She gives me a sideways glance. “Are you free for a thing later?”
I thought we agreed our situationship was over. “Sorry, Mel. I have a lot of stuff going on at the ranch.”
She glances around the parking lot, making sure no one can hear her. “Come on, Beau. What’s one more time? For old times’ sake.”
I don’t want to hurt her feelings. When we started sleeping together last year, we both wanted the same thing.
No-strings sex. That’s it. We weren’t supposed to have sleepovers or get chatty about our personal lives.
We agreed if either of us started feeling more, we’d break things off.
In fact, we were both free to date other people because this was not supposed to be serious.
And we agreed we wouldn’t tell anyone about this thing because it would cause too much drama at work.
Except she started making hints that I should stay the night at her place, which, to me, was a clear sign this was moving in the wrong direction. So I broke it off.
I unlock our utility fire truck, secure the snake in the back, and then slide into the driver’s seat while Mel hops in the passenger seat. “Where are Loving and Coop?”
She lifts her chin, and I watch our co-workers Frankie Loving and Jack Cooper cross the parking lot.
“This doesn’t have to be over, Beau,” she whispers.
I called it quits over a month ago, but I don’t want to get in an argument at work, so I hold my tongue.
When the guys join us, Frankie leans forward and pats my shoulder.
“Hey, Studly. Did you know that the firemen’s calendar from last year is still hanging in the copy room? Guess whose photo is featured?”
“It was for charity, McLovin,” I remind him. If anyone’s the stud around here, it’s Frankie. I can’t keep track of all his girlfriends. “We raised ten thousand dollars for families in need.”
After we release the snake, we get a call to do a wellness check on an elderly resident, Elaine Delgado.
Her neighbors said her mail is piling up and no one has seen her for a few days.
When we get there, I knock on the door and call her name, but no one answers.
I turn to my co-workers. “Coop and I will take the left side, and Mel and Loving, take the right. We’ll meet in the back.
Check to see if you can spot anyone through the windows. ”
As we trek over the tall grass and try to peek in, I make a mental note to see if I can get someone to help me mow her lawn. The woman has to be eighty, and as far as I know, she doesn’t have much family nearby. That has to be tough.
When we near the back, several dogs start barking from the bedroom. I’m tall enough to see in. The dogs are going crazy, scratching on the windows like they’re trying to escape. Beyond the animals, I spot what I think might be a head of white hair on the ground, on the other side of the bed.
“Mrs. Delgado! This is the fire department. Can you hear me?” I motion for Coop.
“She’s on the ground.” After I radio that we found her, I slide into the house through an unlocked window and open the door for my co-workers.
When we make it to that back bedroom, we’re rushed by dogs and several cats.
“Loving, get them some water.” Who knows how long they’ve all been locked back here.
I kneel down to check Mrs. Delgado’s pulse. “She’s alive.”
“The paramedics just pulled up,” Mel says.
“Great.” I pull an oxygen mask over our patient’s mouth. “Get these animals corralled so we can get her to the hospital.” Her eyes crack open. “Take it easy. Everything’s going to be okay. Can you tell me what happened?”
“Fell. Hard.” She puts her frail hand on my wrist and mumbles something else, but I can’t make it out, so I lean closer. “The kittens. Help the kittens.”
“I’ll make sure your animals are safe while you recover.”
She pats my hand and closes her eyes again. After the paramedics transport her to the ambulance, I take an inventory of her pets. Three dogs, two cats, and four kittens.
Mel motions to the box of angry kittens. “Who do we call? Animal control?”
I wipe the sweat off the back of my neck.
“She’s allowed five pets, but the kittens might tip this over into a hoarding situation.
” Especially if anyone sees the filth in this bedroom.
The litter box is overflowing, and there’s crap everywhere.
“If we call animal control, she might lose them all. Why don’t we see if her neighbors can help?
I’ll put out a call to social services to check on her to make sure she can handle everything once she’s feeling better. ”
Fortunately, it’s a slow afternoon, so we have time to find volunteers to care for Mrs. Delgado’s pets. They all get homes except the kittens. She must’ve rescued them because the two adult cats are male.
I hold up the box to my colleagues. A little paw reaches up and swipes my hand. “This is who we have left.”
“Not it!” all three of those assholes shout at me.
Coop chuckles and slaps me on the back. “Guess you have some kittens to add to your collection.”
Glancing in the box at the three dark tabbies and the orange furball, I shake my head. “I don’t need more barn cats.”
He laughs again. “Keep telling yourself that.”
A few hours later, I get the kittens back to my cabin. It’s a simple three bedroom, two bath house I’ve busted my ass restoring for the last year and a half.
I set down the box of kittens and fold my arms. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but if y’all had only seen this place when the old tenants left.
It was a mess, but it beat living in the camper parked behind Rhett’s place.
” I shouldn’t complain about the Airstream.
That was better than bunking with my younger brother Jace.
“Personally, I’m proud of my refurbished hardwood floors and renovated kitchen. What do you think?”
I stare at their confused faces.
Why am I talking to cats?
I get them situated with food, water, and a litter box. “Be good,” I tell them as I grab my keys. “I’ll be back soon.”
I head over to my brother’s place, which is where we all grew up.
My oldest brother, Rhett, and his wife, Paige, live in the main house, about a mile away, whereas my cabin is on the southernmost edge of the ranch.
When Jace is around, he bunks down in their spare bedroom.
Our youngest brother Maverick recently bought the farm across the street and lives there with his fiancée Baylee and her toddler Leo.
And Isaiah’s off being a daredevil in some shithole in South America.
The moment I enter Rhett’s house, my stomach growls. “Something smells good. Please tell me there’s food involved.”
Paige waves me in from the kitchen as she bounces her baby Ella on her hip. “Dinner’s in ten. Beau, can you wrangle the boys for me and make sure they wash their hands?”
“Sure thing.”
Rhett nods at me and wraps his wife in a hug. “Heard you saved the high school from a rattler.”
News travels fast in a small town. “Not sure how that fella snuck in, but he was mighty pissed off.” My mind wanders back to Honey.
Did she tell Paige what happened? They’re friends.
Not sure how that works since Paige is now a Walker, but I don’t ask.
Paige coaches cheer after school, so it’s possible the news made it to her without any word from Honey.
Unfortunately, my mind is all wrapped up in that woman today. I need a good distraction.
I track down the boys. After I get them cleaned up, they climb me like a tree, and I do the zombie walk back to the kitchen.
Gabe is eight and Austin is five and a half.
I love them like they’re my own kids. I plunk Austin in his seat before I lift Gabe off my leg and drop him in his chair and scruff his head.
Leaning over Paige, I squeeze Ella’s pudgy hand. “Hey, baby girl. How you doing today?”
She gives me a toothless grin. “Hi, hi, hi, Buh.”
Ella can’t quite manage Beau, but I’ll take what I can get.
Paige smooths down her baby’s auburn hair. “Oh, so you say hi for your uncle Beau but not for Mommy when I came home? You little squirt.” She tickles her daughter, whose peal of laughter makes me grin.
As we sit down for dinner, I motion to my brother. “Think I could steal the boys for half an hour after dinner? I have some kittens who need cuddling.”
“Kittens?” Austin’s eyes widen with delight. “We love kittens!”
Rhett nods. “As long as they head straight for the tub when they return. They were rolling around in the barn this afternoon.”
I take the casserole from Paige and dump some on my plate and then the boys’ plates, since she has her hands full with the baby.
Rhett will do it when the dish reaches him, but why bother when I can do it now?
My phone rings in my back pocket, and I pull it out.
Melissa. I turn off the ringer and put it face down.
“I can re-shoe a few horses this weekend if you need. Don’t have another shift till next week.” We have a farrier who comes out, but I’d rather save the money.
Rhett pushes food around his plate for a minute before he lifts his head.
“We’re doing better financially, Beau. You don’t gotta work so much now if you want to take a break.
You’ve been busting your ass for the last few years.
Between what you do for me, your cabin rehab, and all the time you spend at the firehouse, I’m not sure when you sleep. ”
“I’m good.” Doesn’t Rhett remember going hungry when our father was too drunk to go to the grocery store?
When we were so broke we begged for odd jobs at nearby farms so we could get some baloney to make sandwiches?
I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point where I feel like I’ve saved enough.
Besides, my cabin is a damn money pit, and I’ll need every penny I make for the next few years to make it a place where I’d actually bring a woman.
As I consider how far we’ve come from those starving boys, I realize I still have a ways to go if I ever hope to have what Rhett has. If I ever hope to have a family.
And I think I want that. At least what he has with Paige, not with his ex-wife, who cheated on him and made him miserable.
But first I have to finish renovating my cabin so I can cut back on my hours at the firehouse. Because as a rancher and firefighter, I barely have time to sleep. I definitely don’t have time to date. There’s not a woman in town who would understand my schedule and responsibilities.
Austin pushes the curse jar toward his dad. “Daddy, you said ass.”
Rhett glares at his wife, and she laughs. “Don’t give me that look, Rhett Walker. You told me you wanted to curb your language around the kids.”
With a beleaguered sigh, he reaches into his back pocket, pulls out a buck, and jams it in the already stuffed jar. I point at it. “Should we label this the kids’ college fund? We might have enough in there by then.”
Gabe turns to me. “Do I have to go to college?”
I shrug. “Not if you don’t want to. Depending on what you want to do, you can still make good money without college.
But don’t count it out yet. College is a fun four years for a lot of people.
” I’m pretty sure Maverick would still be a college kid if he could, though he’s enjoying coaching the high school football team now.
“If you wanna work on the ranch, there’s a lot you can learn from your dad. ”
“Did you go to college, Uncle Beau?”
“Just took a few community college courses.” Then life happened, and Rhett needed my help, so I never finished my associate’s degree.
Rhett points his fork at me. “But Beau graduated from the Fire Academy and has EMT certification. Plus, he had to pass a bunch of fitness tests.”
I flex my biceps at my nephew, and he chuckles. “Let’s not forget I’m the sucker who takes in all the rescue animals in town.”
Rhett smiles. “Bet you could give Liberty a run for her money.” She’s our brother’s ex, who runs an animal rescue on her property.
“Speaking of Liberty, have you heard from Isaiah? Is he coming home for Mav’s wedding this winter?”
“Zey says he is, but I’m not holding my breath.”
“We’d better make sure Jace has that wedding on his calendar so he doesn’t get double-booked.” Our brother is in an indie rock band, and since he’s gone more and more these days for gigs, I suspect people are starting to realize how good they are.
After dinner, the boys and I ride out to my cabin on our old ATVs. Austin rides with me, and Gabe drives himself. We find the kittens sprawled on my couch, looking right at home.
The little orange one hisses at the boys, so I pick her up and rub behind her ears. “Why the fuss, Fireball?” She curls up on my shoulder and purrs.
If only all women were this easy to please.
As I think back to the way Honey glared at me this afternoon, I resign myself to the fact that she’ll probably always hate me.