Chapter Thirty-Two
EVERYONE WATCHED WITH cautious relief as Birdie stepped out of Dare’s arms, as if waiting for the moment to break.
Sasha had one hand on Gus’s shoulder, while Ezra talked quietly in his ear.
Crew hated that they’d made a scene, especially in front of Gus and Lucas, but at least now there were no more secrets.
Dare rolled his shoulders, eyeing Crew like he was trying to get used to the idea of not throwing a punch.
“You kids about done?” Tiny’s deep voice cut through the tension.
Dare shot him a look. “After all that, that’s all you’ve got to say?”
All eyes were on Tiny as he stepped forward. “Crew and I already talked about this. What happened here is all you.”
Birdie’s head whipped toward Crew. “You talked to my dad?”
“Yeah. I didn’t expect to tell you with an audience, but it’s just as well. I promised you I was going to do everything within my power to figure this out, and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your parents. It felt like the right thing to do. But your father already knew.”
“What?” Birdie exclaimed, her eyes whipping back to Tiny at the same time Doc and Cowboy said, “Oh shit,” and Dare said, “You knew they were lying to us, and you didn’t do anything about it?”
Tiny held Dare’s stare. “I know more about all of you than I want to. Be thankful I haven’t held your feet to the fire for all your indiscretions, and give your sister a break.
” Leaving no room for negotiation, he turned to Birdie and said, “Darlin’, do you really think your mother and I didn’t catch the way you two looked at each other the day Crew marched in here and Dare walloped him? ”
Birdie’s jaw dropped.
Tiny looked at Dare and said, “I don’t believe there’s anything more to be said about this other than welcoming Crew to the family.”
His words settled in the room, and for a beat nobody moved.
“I don’t know, Crew,” Hyde called out. “You sure you want to be part of this crazy mess?”
Laughter rang out.
Thankful for the break in the tension, Crew reached for Birdie’s hand, pulling her closer, and said, “I’d walk through hell for this woman.”
“I think you just did,” Doc said, earning more chuckles and lightening the moment enough for the rest of their family to make their way over.
“You got a good one with Birdie,” Juliette said, holding Hazel on her hip. “Hope you can keep up with her.”
Crew looked at Birdie, who was all smiles, and said, “That’s the plan.”
“He definitely keeps up,” Birdie said with a wink that made her brothers groan. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag…” She held up her arm, showing off her bracelet. “Look what my amazing boyfriend got me!”
“That’s from him?” Sasha exclaimed.
“Yes. I was dying to tell you guys last night! He gave it to me in Timber Crest.” She went on to tell them all about their trip.
“Welcome to the family, Crew,” Ezra said. “Better buckle up. Love is loud in this family.”
“It’s the best kind of loud,” Sully said.
Cowboy pulled her into his arms and said, “Whiskeys don’t love halfway.”
“Whiskeys don’t do anything halfway,” Lucas said.
They volleyed comments and chuckles, but even as the sharpness of the night softened, Crew noticed Dare stayed on the periphery, talking with Rebel.
“You know,” Wynnie said, drawing his attention back to the group. “For a family that claims to hate secrets, we sure do have a history of clandestine love affairs.”
Sasha tipped her head toward Birdie and said, “She has to do everything with high drama.”
“You should not be throwing stones, Little Miss Glass House,” Birdie said.
“If we start judging each other for those kinds of secrets, none of you are going to fare very well,” Billie said.
“It’s true,” Juliette said.
“That’s because love is complicated and never as easy as it should be,” Marie said.
“That’s okay. We don’t do easy in this family.” Birdie looked at Crew and said, “We do worth it.”
“You’ve got that right.” Crew leaned in to kiss her, earning a round of awws and Get a rooms.
“We about ready to eat?” Tiny asked, stirring movement.
Before Billie could walk away, Crew stepped closer and said, “Thank you for what you said to Dare.”
“You’re welcome. We’ve all lost enough people we love,” she said sorrowfully. “He’d never forgive himself if he lost Birdie.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he reassured her.
“It would’ve if he’d made the wrong choice,” Birdie said.
“Let’s not go there,” Crew said, hugging her against his side.
“Crew,” Billie said with a softer tone. “I heard you mention your brother when you were talking to your dad. I’m sorry for your loss.”
His throat tightened but not with grief. It was sheer relief that talking about his brother was no longer off-limits. “Thanks. It was a long time ago, but I miss Robbie every day.”
“I’m sure you do,” she said. “Dare loves hard. Give him time. He’ll come around.”
“I hope so,” Crew said.
As Billie headed for Dare, Crew brushed a kiss over Birdie’s temple and said, “I’ll see you after dinner.”
She caught his hand. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To my table.”
“That would be over there with me and my family.” She pointed across the room.
“I’ve got you covered, Crew,” Cowboy said, carrying a chair in that direction.
Crew looked at Dare. Their eyes connected, tension buzzing in the space between them. Crew was about to say he’d be fine at the other table, when Dare swept a hand toward the family’s table, as if clearing a path, and gave him a look that said, You heard the man. Let’s go.
DINNER CONVERSATIONS BEGAN in measured tones, with tentative questions and carefully considered answers.
But as the evening wore on, plates were passed, voices overlapped, and the spirit of the holiday asserted itself.
By the time the second round of turkey made it down the line, heckling and smiles came easier.
Even Dare was getting in on it. The tension he’d worn like armor wasn’t gone, but it no longer cut like a knife.
Lucas nudged Crew. “Would you mind passing me a biscuit, please?”
Crew picked up the basket and held it while Lucas snagged one.
“Me too!” Gus shouted from across the table.
“Sure thing, buddy.” Crew put a biscuit in his little hand.
“Thanks, Uncle Crew!” Gus exclaimed.
Everyone looked at him with amusement and shock.
“Gusto,” Sasha said carefully. “Crew and Birdie aren’t married.”
“I know,” Gus chirped. “I’m just practicing, because he looks at her like Dad looks at you.”
“Aw,” Birdie said. “I think he does, too, Gus.”
“Better keep an eye on that boy, Ezra,” Cowboy said. “If he’s noticing things like that, he’s going to be dangerous when he gets older.”
“I’m not dangerous,” Gus said. “I’d never hurt anyone.”
“He means you’re going to have lots of girlfriends,” Ezra explained.
“Well, if I can’t marry Sugar, I’m gonna need them,” Gus said, and bit into his biscuit, making everyone laugh.
“Hey, Crew, how did you and Birdie meet?” Cowboy asked.
“We were skiing, and she plowed into me,” Crew said, tossing a grin at Birdie.
“Sounds like Birdie,” Dare said.
“I did not plow into him!” Birdie insisted. “He came out of the sky like a flying monkey and knocked me over.”
Doc laughed. “A flying monkey?”
“There’s a lot of those on the slopes,” Cowboy said.
“A flying Viking, but still,” Birdie said.
“Who’d you go skiing with?” Billie asked.
“Quinn and Cutter,” she said. “Rebel was supposed to go, but he had to work.”
Dare leaned back in his chair, eyeing Rebel. “Dude, you were supposed to be keeping an eye on my sister.”
“Cut me some slack. I had an emergency,” Rebel said.
“Her wingman has to work, and she bags a Viking,” Cowboy said.
Chuckles rang out around the table.
“Smart girl,” Billie quipped, and the girls laughed.
“We never know what will happen when Birdie’s left unsupervised,” Doc called out.
“Birdie does not need supervision,” Juliette chimed in.
“Or permission,” Sully pointed out.
“Damn right I don’t,” Birdie said.
“I think we can all agree this is Rebel’s fault,” Dare said. “If he’d shown up, our sister’s virtue would still be intact.”
Birdie choked on her drink. “Ohmygod! Do not talk about my virtue!”
“Yeah, that’s been gone so long, she doesn’t even remember what it felt like,” Sasha said, earning laughter from the girls and dark stares from the guys.
“Sasha!” Birdie threw a biscuit at her.
Sasha ducked, cracking up.
“I think it’s Crew’s virtue you should worry about,” Simone added, and more heckling rang out.
“I hate you all,” Birdie said, but she was laughing right along with them.
Crew slid his arm around her, pulling her closer, and said, “They’re just jealous because you landed a flying Viking monkey, and I got the best kind of Trouble there is.”
“Aw, I love you so much,” she said, and then she kissed him.
Her brothers bitched and moaned, feigning being grossed out and cracking up as the girls swatted them for it. “Christ. Cut it out, you two.” Swat. Swat. “That’s our baby sister you’re making out with!” Smack.
Birdie and Crew laughed and kissed again.
“Is this what we’re in for from now on? You two playing constant tonsil hockey?” Doc teased, ducking Juliette’s slap and cracking up.
“Only if I’m lucky,” Crew said.
Dare looked between the two of them and said, “Birdie looks happy, so, Rebel, you’re off the hook. For now.”
That was more approval from Dare than Crew could have hoped for.
MUCH LATER, WHEN the plates were cleared, the girls brought out dessert, and Birdie set a pie down near Crew. It had a lattice crust and melted chocolate chips on top. His pulse kicked up. “Is that what I think it is?”
She smiled knowingly. “Only if you think it’s orange chocolate ricotta pie.”
He closed his hand around hers, unable to believe she’d remembered that from the first night they’d met.
“I thought it might be nice to have a little reminder of your mom and Robbie with us tonight.”
“Trouble…” He could do little more than stare at the woman who somehow knew what he needed better than he did.
“You gonna cut that pie, Bird?” Cowboy asked.
“Hold your horses,” Birdie said. “Don’t you see my man looking at me like I hung every star in the sky?”
“He is,” Sully agreed. “Give her a second, Callahan.”
Cowboy tossed Crew a deadpan look and said, “No offense, dude, but I liked it better when she was single and I got to eat.”
Crew touched Birdie’s hand, feigning seriousness. “I think you’d better cut the pie. I’ve seen him hangry, and it’s not pretty.”
As she cut the pie, Crew looked around the table at the people who had opened their sacred space to him, the men and women who hadn’t known what to make of him when he’d first arrived, who had bristled when he’d walked past and had every reason to.
He had been a walking reminder of one of the worst nights of their lives.
He’d seen them as wary, guarded, and justified in their anger.
And he’d seen himself as the villain in their story.
But sitting there now, watching them argue and laugh and pass pie plates across the table, he understood something he hadn’t before. This was a family that refused to let anger outlast love. Somewhere along the way, they had stopped seeing him as the villain.
The remarkable thing was, thanks to Birdie and Colleen and many of them, he had, too.
As Birdie sat beside Crew, he wanted to memorize all of it. The noise, the people, the feelings billowing inside him, and the way Birdie was shining like the sun. She was always radiant, but over the last couple of hours, as the tension fell away, she shined impossibly brighter.
She leaned against him and said, “Why so serious, Ragnar?”
“I was just thinking of everything I have to be grateful for.” He took her hand in his, gazing into those honey-brown eyes he loved, and said, “I came here hoping to make amends for what I’d done.
I didn’t expect to find a life that wasn’t defined by it, a woman I can’t live without, or a sense of family I didn’t realize I needed. ”
She leaned in and whispered, “That’s the magic of the ranch. I’ve waited my whole life for it to touch me, and—” She gasped and jumped to her feet. “Mom! Dad! You did it!”
“What’s that, honey?” Wynnie asked.
“Should I be worried?” Tiny asked.
“No! You found my soulmate! It took you a year and a half instead of six months, but you didn’t fail me after all! You met Crew and gave him a reason to stay!”
“What is she talking about?” Doc asked.
“At our wedding, she gave your parents six months to find her a soulmate,” Sully explained.
“Did you really do that?” Crew asked.
“Yes!” Birdie exclaimed. “Everyone in my family fell in love on this ranch, and I knew I would, too.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” Sasha said.
“It sure doesn’t,” Tiny agreed, but when Wynnie met his gaze, something unspoken passed between them that said otherwise.
As her brothers agreed with Sasha, Birdie plunked herself down beside Crew and crossed her arms. “They’re wrong,” she said emphatically. “It totally works like that.”
Man, he loved her refusal to let the world be anything but extraordinary. “Absolutely,” he agreed, earning another glorious smile. “I’d say we’re living proof of it.”