Chapter 2
Chapter Two
B rooks Whitehead blinked at the luggage carousel, his eyes gritty and his body aching. Lord, that trip back from Australia was a shit one, and he’d had to cobble it together on the fly, so there had been some long-assed layovers in Paris and Atlanta…
Thank God the Albuquerque Sunport was a small airport, and at this time of night there was only one flight to deal with as far as luggage went.
He just hoped to hell they hadn’t mangled his damn saddle.
Forty-eight hours ago he’d been in New South Wales at a cutting horse competition. As head trainer for a wealthy horse and rodeo enthusiast, he’d been turning out and training cutting and reining horses in Australia for three years.
And then some Aussie bullrider had asked him, “So, are you related to that roper who just died? Andy Whitehead?”
And his whole damn world had crashed down.
Andy was dead. So was Nora. A trucker’d had a heart attack at the wheel and had veered into their lane. Their truck had flipped and killed them both in a heartbeat.
And their six damn kids had been alone for?—
His bag came up, so he grabbed it, trying not to think too much about all that. Not yet. First he had to go to oversize baggage to get his saddle. Then he had to rent a truck until he could buy one.
Then he had to get to Chama, which was the kids’ last known address. Benji had rented a space at some trailer park there.
And maybe get some damn food. And a freaking phone that worked in the States.
Almost two hours later he was finally on the road, and he waited until he was past the I-40 junction to hit a Blake’s and get a Lottaburger and some onion rings, along with a strawberry shake.
He grabbed a burner phone at a convenience store, and then called the one person he thought might know his nephew Benji’s number.
Wacey Bene would answer, even at this time of night. He’d been one of his and Andy’s rodeo buddies, and he was a good guy.
“Bene.” Wacey Bene always sounded like he was awake, no matter what time of day or night you called. “This better be important.”
“Wacey. Mate. It’s Brooks Whitehead.”
There was a moment of silence, then, “Well, I’ll be damned. Brooks. I ain’t heard from you in a month of Sundays. What the hell have you been up to?”
Living my life the way I wanted to . “I’ve been in Australia. I’ve been working there for quite a few years training for a few guys.”
“Nice, nice. You’re a good horseman. They’re lucky to have you.”
Coming from Wacey Bene, that meant something. Everybody in the know knew that Wacey Bene could whisper a horse down out of a tree. “I appreciate it. I just got into town. I just flew in, I mean.”
“In town like here in town, or in town like the States?”
“In town like Albuquerque. Seems like I might have some family business to take care of.” He’d never met Andy’s youngest two.
He’d stopped by to see them when little Mason had been born, and everyone had assumed they were done having babies.
That had been, what? Eight years ago? Ten? He wasn’t sure.
“Oh? Then you heard that Benji got hurt bad, I guess? He’s healing real good from what I understand.
He’s still got a few more months of physical therapy and such, but he’ll be back working by the springtime, they think.
Don’t know if the Chiaras will let him go to work for me again. Cooper Adams was pissed.”
Benji’d what? Brooks frowned and shook his head. “No, mate. I came because I heard about my brother.”
There was a sudden silence, then—“I’m real sorry for your loss.”
“Yeah, I just found out about that like two days ago.” Because no one could be arsed to let me know.
“What?” Wacey sounded confused, which sort of pissed him off.
“What are you talking about? I just learned about my brother and his wife. I came out to get the kids.”
“He didn’t know about Andy and them.” Wacey had to be talking to his man, because a deep voice answered.
“Tell him to come on. I’ll get the guest room ready.”
“Where are you, Brooks?”
“I’m heading out of Albuquerque. I stopped to get a bite to eat before I got on the road.”
“Oh, it’s a three-hour drive out to the Chiaras’. Just stop out here by the ranch. You can sleep here for sure. You’ve got to be exhausted. No reason to get into a wreck yourself. ”
“No, I got to get to Chama and take care of those kids.”
“It’s fixin’ to be the middle of the night, and it’ll be dead late by the time you get there.
” Wacey snorted in the way of wealthy men who were used to being listened to.
“You got a hell of a drive, and you’ve been up for how long?
You’re only about half an hour away from us.
Come on. You can come have a rest, have some food and breathe.
There’s no reason going off half-cocked. ”
Shit. Going off half-cocked was his entire universe.
“I don’t want the kids alone.”
“They’re safe. I promise. You come on. Sleep. Catch up your inner clock. Eat some good food. Then you can gear up and go see the kids.”
“What are you not telling me?”
“Will you just come on?” Wacey snapped.
“Yeah.” He scrubbed a hand over his neck. “Sure. I appreciate it, man.”
“I’ll be waiting for you, buddy. I’ll drop you a pin.”
Yeah, like he couldn’t remember where Turquoise was. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Yep. Later.” Wacey hung up on him, and he looked at the bag of food he’d bought. Ugh. He would nibble the onion rings and the burger, but he wasn’t sure he could face the whole thing.
But he had a place to stay, and Wacey sounded like he knew what was what.
Brooks reckoned he needed to go in with his eyes wide open and full of knowledge, and if Wacey said the kids were safe for now, then he had to believe it.
Holy fuck, he was tired.
It was the smell of green chile that woke him up.
It wasn’t home, not exactly, because home was jalapenos.
But it was damn good, and he was there for it.
He loved Australia, he loved it to death, but God help them, they didn’t know Mexican food from a hole in the ground.
He did his business in the bathroom, loving the fact the guest room had an en suite. He got himself all dressed in clean clothes and feeling damn near human, then he made the bed and headed out in his stocking feet.
The kitchen was huge, this blue-tiled monstrosity of a thing, and it was filled to the brim with Benes.
He had somehow expected just to see Wacey, but there was Wacey and his man, the Bene sisters, five or six little ones, plus two teenage boys who were eating breakfast burritos with their backpacks on.
Wacey nodded to him, smiled. “Martin’s going to take y’all to school, have a good one. You staying at your momma’s tonight, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve got a football game tonight, Bean. Can you come?”
“Have I ever missed a game, Tommy?”
“Not one. Six o’clock. Momma says y’all can come to supper with us after.” The older boy grinned.
“Love you, Dad. Bean.”
“Love you, Aunties.”
“Love you.” Tank grinned at him. “Go.”
They both nodded to Brooks like they were the same kid, even though one was way taller than the other. “Have a good day. I was glad you got to spend the night. Bye.”
Then they were gone.
He stood there nodding to the ladies—Macey and Lacey Bene were forces of nature. “Morning. ”
“Good morning, we just stopped to get some breakfast tacos on our way.” Macey smiled at him. “I’m going to see the horses.”
“And I’ve got ten thousand errands to run.” Lacey waved to the kids. “You good with the kids, Dub?”
“Always. They love their Uncle Bean.” Wacey was handling breakfast tacos like a short-order cook.
“Cool,” she said. “You coming with me, chief?”
Wacey’s man shook his head, stood. He was wearing his uniform, and Brooks had to admit, he was aging well. “No, ma’am, you know me. I got to get to the diner.” He kissed Wacey on the top of the head. “Sorry to have to run, but I’m holding court.”
Then all of a sudden, the entire house emptied out, leaving them and a handful of little ones.
Wacey chuckled softly. “You want a breakfast burrito? There are two left.”
“Am I keeping you from being at the diner with your man?”
“You’re not. I’ve got a Zoom meeting with my brother about the rodeo company, and I’m watching these hooligans until noon or so.
The rodeo guys are fixin’ to come home for the winter, so I need to make sure that everybody’s ready for them to be here.
Have a sit. You want salsa or are you good?
It’s eggs, green chile, potatoes, bacon and cheese. ”
All those words were amazing together. “That’s perfect. Coffee?”
“Always.” Wacey handed him a cup full of goodness. “Need anything in it?”
“No. No, I like it black as my soul.” He sipped, watching Wacey move around his kitchen, putting a plate together for him.
Once he was eating, Wacey sat across from him with his coffee cup, and Brooks felt a kick in his gut, because Wacey looked damn serious.
“So, what do you know, Dub?”
“Well, you know about Andy and Nora.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I got the news finally.” He scrubbed his hand over his unshaven chin. “So Benji took it all on?” God. Ben was just now turning nineteen. He’d been seventeen when?—
He sucked in a hard breath, trying not to double over with the pain of it. His brother. God, his brother was gone.
“Hey. You need anything stronger for your coffee, you just say.”
Brooks cleared his throat. “No. I’m pretty much a beer-only guy these days, mate.”
“I love how you’ve become like, exactly half Aussie, man.”
“Fuck off,” Brooks said without heat.
“Anyway, Andy had the kids up in Chama in a travel trailer. You remember that one Channing Krause had?”
His eyebrows shot up. “That fucking thing was tiny!”
“It still is.” Wacey sighed, turning his coffee mug in his hands.
“Where had they been living?”
“I think they called it being ‘digital nomads’? They were just sort of everywhere and nowhere, all at once.” Wacey sighed softly and shook his head.
“Benji took a hit, though. Broke his pelvis. He was on the job for me, so I covered most of his medical, and what I didn’t, rider relief did.
But the kids couldn’t be alone up there. ”
“So where are they?” Dammit, he needed to know!
“Up by the Chiaras. Coop has them, I think.”
“Cooper Adams.”
“Yeah. He’s retired now.”
“No shit.” Coop had always been…well, Brooks had only met the man twice to shake hands, but the guy was a freaking le gend at the national rodeo level, always getting voted in at the finals.
“I shit you not.” Wacey shrugged at him, rolled his eyes. “He bought himself this humongous house near the Chiara ranch—one of the cowboys who had lived there for generations wanted out, and Coop got it for a steal and gutted it.”
“Ah.” Like he cared where Cooper Adams was. “Why are my nieces and nephews there?”
“Well, Benji’s been training to be a bullfighter when he’s not riding. Coop had been teaching him the ropes, sort of mentoring him, so when Benji got hurt so bad, he called Coop. Coop ran down there and brought the kids home. He’s got them all settled, Benji’s there with them doing rehab.”
He didn’t understand. “So this stranger just took six kids in?”
“Yeah. That’s Coop. He’s a decent type.”
Still, he didn’t like it. Children needed to be with their family. He’d go up there, talk to Benji, and then find out what he needed to do to take care of these babies. A nineteen-year-old didn’t need to be raising his brothers and sisters. It wasn’t fair to any of them.
He was family. He was going to make this work for Andy. He wasn’t going to let them swing in the wind.
That way Cooper Adams could have his house back.
“Well, I appreciate his help and all, but I’ll get the kids and we’ll set up back down by Albuquerque or Santa Fe.”
“Mmmhmm.”
He glanced sideways at Wacey. “What’s that tone?”
“Oh, nothin’. Just, you know, once the Chiaras assimilate someone…”
He chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not all that.”
“Well, if you say so. Want that other burrito?”
Brooks was surprised to look down and see his plate was empty .
“I do. Thanks. I missed green chile, man. A lot.”
“I hear you. Although every now and again I want Tex-Mex. Don’t tell Mama.”
“All those years in Austin will do that to a man.”
“Yeppers.” Wacey hooked him up, and this time he was going to be able to slow down and taste it.
He would eat lunch in Chama or in whatever town was closest to the Chiaras, then go get the kids packed up and head back this direction in the morning.
“Thanks, man. I should get my shit together and get going.”
“Shower and shave.”
“I showered last night.”
“Yeah, do it again.” Wacey grinned. “I been on those thirty-hour travels.”
“Sure. Can you get me something to put in the GPS? I’ve never been to the Chiara place.”
“You bet.”
“Thanks, Wacey. I really appreciate all this.”
“Hey, they’re your family. Just—don’t be surprised if they’re wigged. They don’t know you.”
“But they will.” He headed for the bathroom to take that shower and shave. Wacey had washed his damn clothes. He was a good guy.
And Brooks was going to be the same kind of man. A stand-up guy.
For those kids.