2 #2
Ranch life only works for Ford if he can stay busy.
Since he left baseball, he’s been spinning his wheels, searching out any small job he can.
Ranch hand, bartender, car mechanic, adrenaline junkie.
That’s Ford. Any adventure, he’s game. It’s why we call him the wildcard of Runaway Ranch.
No one knows what Ford gets up to. Not even him.
His eyebrows lift. “Bad mornin’ already?”
“Tough mornin’.”
“You find the kid?”
“Yeah. She climbed into an empty fridge on the edge of the property. Keena sniffed her out.” I exhale the anger simmering in my gut. The reminder makes me want to punch something. “People and their fucking junk.”
Ford follows as I trek across the icy tundra. In the distance, our new barn stands tall and proud. It burned last year after an arson attempt. Thanks to the help of our tight-knit community, we got it rebuilt right in time for winter.
“You okay?” When I hesitate, Ford says,“You didn’t sleep last night.”
Not since I came home from the Marines. Most nights I’m lucky if I get four hours.
I scoff and shake my head. “Christ, Ford. You and that woo-woo shit.”
He flashes a bright white grin. “Maybe so, but I know your surly ass believes it.”
I grit my teeth and ignore him. I want to tell him to mind his own damn business, to knock it off with that in-sync shit, but I can’t. Because he’s right.
I believe it.
So many times, our twin senses have been synced up.
The summer I found him after a gnarly dirt bike accident. One broken ankle, still smiling even as I helped him limp back home.
Christmas, on leave from the Marines, he pulled me from the creek after my horse threw me.
Ford was the first in my family to know I got shot. Before anyone from the higher ups had called my parents, he sounded the alarm and rallied our family.
Somehow, we just know.
I stop, noticing the truck in the gravel drive. “We got company?”
Ford looks back at the lodge and then toward me. “Ruby and Charlie are back.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. I should have made a quicker getaway.
Ford smirks. “You gonna go hide in the gym or come say hi?”
I grit my teeth, hopes of taking out my restlessness on a punching bag dashed, and head for the lodge with Ford.
Currently, the lodge—or Main House—operates as the epicenter of the ranch.
Guest bookings. Chow hall. It’s also my place of residence.
I live in the annex that takes up the entire third floor.
Never needed a place to myself. I don’t sleep long enough.
So I keep a close watch on the guests when they’re there, mind my own business when they’re not.
The second I walk up the wide front porch and through the heavy double doors, I’m hit by a cacophony of noise. The brash laughter of my brothers intermixed with a bright feminine laugh.
Bellied up to Bar M are my brothers and Ruby.
Charlie and Ruby sit on heavy cowhide stools while Wyatt tends to them, pouring steaming cups of coffee.
There’s a box of gas station donuts on the counter, no doubt snagged by Wyatt on a trip into town.
Boots and jackets strewn precariously in the living room.
My lips twist into a grimace. It looks like a tornado swirled through the lodge. Leave it to my brothers to make a mess, then leave me with the pieces.
Exhaling a breath, I roll out my shoulders. That cleanliness ingrained into me in the military has been damn hard to shake. I try to focus on my family and ignore the clutter.
At least for now.
I clap Charlie on the shoulder, then pull him in for a tight hug. “Too early for a tan, brother.”
I haven’t seen my brother and his wife in six months, not since they eloped and took off for California where Ruby had surgery to fix her heart. After a detour down south to see family, they’re finally home.
Charlie, his dark beard unruly, a smile in his eyes, chuckles. “All that California sunshine.”
Speaking of sunshine…
Ruby bounces my way. I catch my sister-in-law up in a big hug, letting down my guard for a second. “How about you?” I hold her at arm’s length, sweeping my eyes over her pretty face. “You look good, Ruby.”
She beams. “I feel great.”
I allow myself a rare grin. I can’t help but love her.
This girl died for our ranch. Charlie will never get over it.
And I will never forget it.
Ruby grabs on tight to my arm when I release her. “I’ve never seen it like this, Davis.” Her wide-eyed gaze takes in the place. “The lodge. It’s so empty.”
I chuckle, leaning back and bracing my hands on the bar. “You’re back right in time. Get the ranch in shape before summer.”
Ruby flexes her fingers. “I’m ready to do my social media darndest.”
Ford wiggles his brows. “Fairy Tale gonna save the day again?”
“Don’t need to,” I say pointedly. “Business is good.”
According to our projections, the lodge is booked for the next two years.
And we only have Ruby to thank. After a social media scandal rocked the ranch last year, it was dumb luck that Charlie met Ruby, a social media influencer, and enlisted her help.
With Ruby’s connections, the ranch took off like a rocket and never looked back.
But it almost didn’t happen.
When Declan Valiante, a ruthless developer turned politician, set fire to our barn in an attempt to take down our ranch, Ruby was hurt.
She almost didn’t make it.
And it would have ended our brother.
I’ll never forget the sound he made when Ruby wouldn’t wake up. That primal, keening wail haunts my memories.
“Left hand still getting used to that ring?” Ford asks Charlie, dipping behind the bar to pull out a bottle of Irish Whiskey.
Charlie lifts his hand, flashing silver, and a big grin. “Day I put it on.”
“You want breakfast?” Wyatt asks, shoving a donut in front of my face.
I knock his hand away. “Donuts aren’t breakfast.” Reckless, loud and smart mouthed, Wyatt’s sole purpose in life is to try my damn sanity.
“Same ole protein shake every day of the week, Davis, ain’t no way to live.”
“My way,” I grunt. Dependable. Healthy.
I sit down on a barstool, content to take in my brothers.
“How was Georgia? You survive Mama Belle?” I ask Ruby, temporarily forgetting about the itch to move, to get to the gym.
“I survived,” she says, giving her husband a look. She giggles. “I’m not sure Charlie did.”
My brother groans and drags a hand down his beard. “Dealin’ with Mama is a damn exercise in patience.”
Ruby laughs and shoves at his arm as Charlie pulls her in close. “It wasn’t so bad.” She smiles at the room. “But I’m glad to be back where we belong.”
I glance at Charlie and study the dopey grin on his face. Watch the way he follows around the delicate girl who stole his heart last summer.
Fuck, but I’m glad for him. He deserves it.
He’s finally back. Whole. Sober. Alive.
A memory of Wyatt calling me at the Marine bunkhouse pops into my mind. “Charlie ain’t gonna make it, D,” he had said tearfully. “He’s putting whiskey on his goddamn corn flakes.”
Real fear had hit me then. My brother was going to fall drunk off a roof before he got over Maggie. Because I wasn’t fucking there. I was overseas, recuperating after a special-ops mission with my team had gone to shit. Emergency leave was non-negotiable. I was stuck.
So, I took a bullet on purpose.
Charlie was my mission.
I wasn’t putting my brother in the fucking ground. Not another one. Not my blood.
If I couldn’t protect my brothers overseas, I damn sure planned to protect my brother at home.
A responsibility my father passed to me. A responsibility I take as seriously as my life.
“Friends are family, but family is forever,” he said to me the day our youngest brother, Grady, was born. “Protect those babies.”
I took my father’s words to heart.
Especially last year.
I thought we settled the mess with Valiante. But early last fall, he came back to the ranch. I caught him at Charlie’s cabin, looking for Ruby.
Valiante wasn’t getting another chance to hurt someone I loved.
I put a bullet in his brain. Buried him on the far side of the property near Crybaby Falls.
Unlike dogs, black and white doesn’t work in Montana. And it doesn’t fly on the ranch. We do what we need to do to survive. That includes attacking first.
Men like Valiante can never be trusted. They always come back.
And when they come for my family, they don’t get a second chance.
Answering to the man upstairs for what I’ve done doesn’t worry me. What worries me is answering to myself for what I don’t do. No sympathy. No remorse. Not for anyone who touches my family.
“Who says we can’t charge extra to take ’em out to see the Grunkle?” Wyatt’s languid drawl pulls me from my daze.
It takes me a second to realize he’s talking about the endangered bird Stede McGraw invented to give the ranch protected status.
I rub my temple. “Can’t charge guests for a bird that doesn’t exist.”
Wyatt rolls his eyes. “I don’t know how you can take the most exciting subject and make it boring.”
“Idiot,” Ford says affectionately, cuffing Wyatt on the head. I smirk, watching a scowl darken Wyatt’s face. A big brother’s job is to give our little brothers shit at every opportunity.
Ford gets Wyatt in a headlock. Pinned, Wyatt takes a swing at him, causing Ruby to squeak and jump out of the way.
“C’mon, little brother,” Ford drawls, tightening his hold. “You gotta stay on your toes with that big mouth of yours.”
“No groups near the falls,” I say, holding up my hands to rein in my brothers as they scuffle. Briefly, my hard gaze locks with Charlie’s. “I don’t want guests out in the backcountry unsupervised.”
That’s when I hear it. The slam of the front double doors. Instantly, the conversation hushes. Wyatt uses the distraction to elbow Ford in the stomach and untangle himself.
King of cowboys, Stede McGraw stands in the doorway. Stetson in his hands. Snow on his boots. His hair is scraped back into thin wisps of silver.
The man’s a former bull riding champ and stuntman. As a lifelong local of Resurrection, he was one of the first in town to show me the reins of the ranch before Charlie could take the reins himself.
Blue eyes burning bright, Stede lifts his hat in greeting. “Ruby, honey. Boys.”
I sip my coffee, try my best to keep a smile off my face. Though Ford and I both turned thirty-six in December, we’ll always be kids to Stede McGraw.
“Hey, old man.” I reach for the coffeepot and pour him a full cup. “Good to see you.”
“What’s going on?” Ford asks.
“I’d like to tell you I’m here to welcome these two back to town.” Stede nods at Ruby and Charlie, takes a step closer to the bar. “But hell, I’m afraid my intentions aren’t that noble.”
I frown. On closer inspection, the man looks like he’s aged overnight. Even though he’s been undergoing chemo for the last year, he looks beaten down. His knuckles are clenched white around his cowboy hat.
“You okay, Stede?” Charlie asks, brow furrowed.
“You remember my oldest daughter, Dakota, don’t you?”
Fuck.
My body tenses like it’s in battle. Still, I do my best to keep my face expressionless while my heart slams against my chest like a kick drum.
Remember . More like engraved onto my goddamn soul.
Although, I’d never tell Stede that. Dakota and I are water under the bridge. She came into my life as quick as she left. One year. But it felt like she blew up my entire world.
The memory of her comes in waves. Intelligent dark brown eyes, the color of roasted chestnuts. She always reminded me of the buzz of neon long after it flickered out. Always going. Energy in motion. That was Dakota McGraw.
“Sure, I remember her.” I place my hands on the counter to shake off the ache that’s already settled and study the defeated hunch of his shoulders.
Having spent half my life decoding facial expressions and nonverbal cues, I know without a doubt that he’s brought nothing good to the ranch. “What can we do for you, Stede?”
“I’m afraid I need your help,” he says grimly. “Koty’s in trouble.”
“Trouble?”
Fuck.
If Dakota’s in trouble, it means I’ll kill someone.
Again.
“Got a call from her early this morning,” Stede goes on. “She wouldn’t tell me what happened, but she’s hurt. Her car broke down. Sounds like she’s on the run. From what, she wouldn’t say.”
“On the run? What the fuck,” Ford says, looking bewildered.
“Tell us what we can do,” Charlie growls, his arm wrapped around Ruby.
Stede lets out a long, tired sigh. “I’m not too proud to ask…would you go get my daughter, Davis?”
All eyes pin to me. My throat tightens as my mind locks on the promise I made to Stede last year. To always protect Dakota and Fallon. The old man is like a second father to us all. Taking us in. Protecting the ranch by calling in a doozy of a favor when we needed help.
I make a promise, I keep it.
But before I can answer, Stede, shame in his voice, says, “With the cancer, I’m not strong enough to make the drive.” Ruby rests a hand on his arm. “And Fallon…”
Wyatt straightens up, blue eyes bright and intense. “Fallon needs help?” he asks over a mouthful of donut. Powdered sugar coats the front of his shirt.
“If Dakota’s in trouble”—Stede runs a hand through his wispy hair—“I don’t want Fallon tangling with whatever she’s got following her.”
“I’ll go,” I announce, feeling all three of my brother’s gazes on me. Fueled by anger and determination, I stomp across the floor and grab the keys to my truck. “Where is she?”
“A little town outside of Sioux Falls.‘Bout eleven hours away.”
I’ll make it in eight.
Ford’s eyes are cold. “You need backup, D?”
“No,” I grit out.
Only backup I’m taking is my twelve gauge.
I look at Stede. “I promised you I’d protect your daughters and I’ll do that. I’ll bring Dakota home safe.”
I just hope I’m not too late.