by D. L. Roan
“Yeah but—”
Grey’s phone dinged with Gabby’s ringtone, and he fished it from his pocket, smiling when he saw her saucy, sweet reply. Love you, too, baby, he typed back. God, he couldn’t wait to get home.
“Is she okay?” Mason asked.
Grey laid his phone on the nightstand, pausing when he saw the worry in Mason’s eyes. “She’s fine. Why wouldn’t she be?”
Mason stared back at him, his jaw ticking in that way Grey knew meant he was holding something back.
“Mason, what the hell?”
“Nothing,” his brother insisted with a dismissive wave, pacing back to the door. “I just haven’t talked to her all day, is all.”
Grey scrutinized his response but didn’t see anything but the schitzo-reactive mess he’d been for the last six months. Satisfied, he settled back into the bed. “Well,” he said with another yawn, “the sooner we can get to sleep, the sooner we get back home to her.” Their return flight was scheduled for the next afternoon, but as enlightening as their trip had been, it couldn’t come soon enough. Texas might be home to some of the best ranches on the planet, but he wouldn’t trade a square inch of Falcon Ridge for a million acres of it.
Catching his yawn, Mason slumped down on the bed again, but then bolted back to his feet like he’d been stung by one of the Texas scorpions Dani’d warned them about.
“What is it?” Grey asked, flipping back the covers.
Mason stared at the bed in wide-eyed shock. “You don’t think Clay and Dani…you know…” He raised his eyebrows, glancing between him and the bed until Grey got his drift.
“Shit!” Grey shot out of the bed like it was on fire, spitting a string of grumbled curses, fighting the invading images of Clay and their daughter doing…that…on the bed…that bed. Sonofabitch!
“Why in the ever-loving fuck did you put that in my head?” He snatched up the pillow and flung it to the floor, then yanked the blankets from the mattress. “Now I’ll never get to sleep.”
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?” He shoved off his jeans and threw them in the general vicinity of his suitcase. “Get out before I fucking knock you out,” he ordered, spreading the sheet out before he crashed on the floor.
“Sleep in my room,” Mason insisted.
Grey flipped the comforter over his head and snapped his finger toward the door. “Out.”
“Fine.” Mason yanked the door open and it quietly clicked closed but not before giving him the finger when Grey asked him to turn out the light.
The dark minutes churned into hours. Dull pain radiated through his bones as the floor bit into his shoulder. He rolled over onto his back, then onto his other side, punching the pillow until it was bunched under his head enough to ignore the ache in his neck. He was almost asleep when he heard a muffled thump in the hallway outside his room. He raised his head, listening closer. When he heard nothing more, he closed his eyes with a frustrated sigh. The second his head hit the pillow he heard the sound again, this time accompanied by a rush of hushed whispers.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” What were his brothers up to now? He rolled to his feet and fumbled in the darkness until he found his jeans and pulled them on. When he inched open the bedroom door, Matt stood across the hall, mirroring his curious stance, peeking down the dark hall.
“Is that Mason?” he mouthed silently, and Matt shrugged.
Shit. Grey inched into the hall, toward the living room. Matt fell into step behind him, bumping into him when he stopped short at the sound of another thud.
“Shh, you’ll wake them,” a male voice whispered.
A feminine giggle echoed through the darkness but was quieted with the unmistakable sounds of two people kissing. “You’re not foolin’ me, cowboy,” the woman teased with a playful hum. “You want to get caught.”
As Grey approached the end of the hall, a faint light from the kitchen illuminated the couple’s shadows near the front door, groping at each other’s clothes. Embarrassed, yet relieved to not find his brother snooping, Grey turned around to leave whoever it was to their private moment, but came face to face with Mason, the murderous look in his eyes visible even in the darkness.
“I knew it,” Mason ground out as he charged past them.
“Mason!” Matt tried to stop him, but it was too late.
“What the—”
Before Grey could find a light switch, the muted sound of a fist connecting with flesh and bone preceded a high-pitched scream.
“You sonofabitch!” Mason fisted his hands into the man’s shirt, the fabric ripping when he yanked him to his feet. “I told you what I’d do if—” Mason paused, his arm cocked back and ready to land another blow as he studied the man’s face. “You’re not Clay,” he finally said, letting him go with a shove.
“No shit.” The man stumbled backward.
“Jax? Baby?” The woman scurried to his side. “Are you okay?”
“What in Sam hell’s goin’ on in here?” Virgil rushed into the room, clothed only in his whitey-tighties, and a shot gun tucked under his arm. “Jackson?” His bushy white eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as he glanced between his son, the woman, and Mason.
One night. Grey closed his eyes, hanging his head in disgrace. All they had to do was keep their shit together for one night. How was he going to explain this to Gabby?
Clay’s youngest brother, who—in Mason’s defense—did look a lot like Clay, swiped the blood from his lip and turned to Mason. “Jackson Sterling,” he grunted, shrugging his shirt back into place. “This here’s Kathy.”
“Kaylee,” the young woman corrected with a pouty frown.
“Oh, shit.” Mason looked over at Grey, his eyes wide with stunned regret, and Grey shook his head. He had no words of advice for this kind of fuck-up. “Man, I’m sorry,” Mason said, offering Jackson his hand. “I thought you—”
“You thought I was Clay,” Jackson finished for him with a sneer. “Yeah, I got that part.”
The back door flew open and Clay rushed in with another shot gun raised and ready to fire. “Shit,” he breathed when he saw his brother, dropping the barrel of his gun. “I thought I heard a scream.”
“You did.” Kaylee glared at Mason. “Me and Jax were just havin’ a little fun when he attacked him. I thought he was tryin’ to kill us.”
“You—I,” Mason stammered to explain as he glanced between Jackson and Clay. “You look like each other. In the dark, I mean.”
“So what!” Jackson jerked away when Mason tried to examine him, jutting his chin at Matt. “You look just like your brother and you don’t see me throwin’ punches at you—shit, that stings.” He winced as he pressed on his split lip, glancing over his shoulder at Clay. “Whatever the fuck you did to deserve this, bro, I’d run.” He stumbled to the couch and collapsed onto the well-worn, leather cushions with a groan. “You owe me one—aw man!” He fingered the rip in his sleeve. “And you owe me a shirt!”
“Are you drunk?” Virgil barked at Jackson. “Never mind,” he scoffed before Jackson could answer. “Stupid question.” He set his shotgun against the wall and turned back to the kitchen. “I’ll get some damn ice.”
“This is bad,” Matt muttered beside Grey. “This is really bad.”
Speechless, Grey stared at Clay who was staring at Mason as the pieces fell into place.
“You thought he was me,” Clay finally said to Mason, his words laced with disappointment. “That I was cheatin’ on Dani with-with…” He snapped his fingers at the woman.
“Kaylee,” she supplied with a huff. “My name is Kaylee.”
“Kaylee,” Clay repeated. “Nice to meet you,” he added with a polite nod.
“Thanks.” Kaylee grinned, all offense forgotten. “You do look a lot like Jax,” she said, glancing between them. “Are you two twins or somethin’?”
“Or somethin’,” Clay replied dryly, his eyes snapping back to Mason. “Jackson is my kid brother
.”
“Clay, I’m…I’m sorry.” Mason gripped the back of his neck, looking to Grey once more for help.
Grey shook his head as he and Matt turned back toward his room. “You’re on your own with this one.”
Chapter Thirteen
“He did what?” Dani dropped the wedding gown she was trying on and it pooled around her ankles in a sea of satin and lace. “He punched Jackson?”
“Don’t freak out,” Clay insisted.
“Don’t freak—oh my God! Is he okay?” Her mom gathered up the gown, pulling it up and over her boobs. “Mason punched Jackson,” she repeated to Gabby, holding the gown in place with her free hand as Gabby began to fasten the hundred-plus ridiculously tiny buttons in the back. Gabby met her gaze in the mirror and Dani gasped. “You knew! And you didn’t tell me?”
“Your dads called me early this morning,” Gabby confirmed with an exasperated sigh. “It was a misunderstanding. I didn’t want you to freak out and ruin today.”
“I’m not freaking out.” Dani jerked away from her mom’s reach and paced out of the dressing room. “I’m pissed and embarrassed, and-and not even completely shocked, but I’m not freaking out.”
“I can hear you pacing, beautiful,” Clay laughed.
“Yeah. So?” Dani snipped into the phone, pulling at the top of the heavy gown to keep it in place. The dress slipped again when she reached for her purse, nearly flashing everyone in the store. “Ugh!”
Chloe handed her the purse as Breezy stepped around behind her to hold up the yards of fabric while she searched for the mini bottle of Jack Daniels Molly’d slipped her earlier. Best maid-of-honor ever. When she didn’t find it, she glanced up at Molly, who held the empty bottle between her fingers.
“Sorry,” she mouthed with a wince.
“So…” Clay chuckled. “You pace when you freak out.”
Dani rolled her eyes. She’d known better than to let them go to Texas alone. “What happened?”
Clay told her about Jackson skipping dinner and coming in late with a random buckle bunny he’d picked up at his dad’s girlfriend’s bar on the way home. “Mason thought it was me, but don’t worry—“
“He thought you were making out with someone else right down the hall from where they were sleeping?” The boutique owner turned and gave her a curious look, and Dani cringed.
“Don’t worry, baby. We worked it out.”
“He accused you of cheating on me?”
“No, not after he figured it out.”
“Of course. He just thought you were.” And then punched his brother in the face, thinking it was him. She sank down onto the bench beside the dressing room, the gown tangling around her feet. She kicked at the heavy satin but it was no use. No matter how much her mom loved it, there was no way she’d ever wear the dress.
“I won’t lie.” Clay chuckled again. “I did get some twisted satisfaction this morning when Jackson stumbled into the kitchen with a busted lip.”
“This isn’t funny,” Dani snapped. She couldn’t believe Mason would lose it like that. Grey, maybe, but not Mason. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t sweat it,” he insisted. “Like I said, we talked through it. And, in a weird way, I think it helped settle things between us.”
“It did?” How the heck could punching Clay’s brother in the face have helped?
“Yep. He even bought me breakfast this morning.”
“Men are so weird,” Dani scoffed.
“And yet, you’re about to marry one.”
She looked down at the ring on her finger, Clay’s mother’s ring, and grinned.
“What are you wearing?” he asked with a flirty timbre that always made her stomach flutter.
The weight of the gown seemed to grow with the reminder, and she blew out a strangled breath as she looked down at the miles of frills and miniscule beads. “A wedding dress,” she grumbled and started to stand, but without someone holding the back, the dress slipped again.
“The dress?”
“God no,” she said without hesitation. She’d suffocate before she reached the alter. “Can’t we just wear jeans?” she asked with a huff.
“No!” Gabby objected from across the boutique as she browsed through a display of lacy veils.
Clay laughed. “Was that your mom?”
“Yes.”
“Who else is there?”
“Everyone,” she snipped. It was a good thing the small boutique was by appointment only, because they’d be breaking any number of fire codes if someone else came in.
“What are you wearing under the dress?” he asked huskily.
Breezy and Chloe grinned at her like two mules eating a cactus, and heat flooded her cheeks.
“C’mon,” he pleaded when she didn’t reply. “Just a hint.”
“Clay.” She clutched the front of the gown and paced back into the dressing room.
“Please?”
“No.” She couldn’t play this game in front of her family.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his tone equally concerned and confused. “You sound tired.”
I am tired. She stared at herself in the full-length mirror, the glamour lights above highlighting the very unglamorous dark circles beneath her eyes.
“You stayed up all night studying, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she admitted freely, stifling back a yawn. She’d stayed up late studying every night. “My tests are only two weeks away and I haven’t looked at half the material.”
Stuffing a year’s worth of courses into only a few weeks was a lot harder than she thought it would be. She was beginning to doubt her promise to her dads to finish school before the wedding. Pushing the wedding back was out of the question now that the invitations were mailed, and she didn’t want to do that anyway. Since his episode after dinner the previous week, Uncle Cade seemed to be going downhill fast and he had to be there.
“Babe—”
“I’m not overdoing it,” she rushed to cut him off.
“Yes, you are, but—”
“I’m fine.”
“I know,” he conceded, derailing her next argument. “You can do this.”
Dani’s brows dipped. “I can?” Was he agreeing with her?
Clay chuckled. “Damn straight, you can. You’re the smartest, strongest, most stubborn woman I know.”
Dani rolled her eyes despite her grin. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Only speakin’ the truth.”
Her stomach fluttered when she heard his flirty grin.
“You can do this, beautiful.”
The knots in Dani’s shoulders released their relentless grip and she leaned back against the dressing room wall with a sigh.
“Are you going to the airport to pick up your dads later?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She pushed to her feet and faced the mirror again. She turned and considered the low-cut back that dipped all the way to her hips. Clay would appreciate that. The dress was pretty, but it just wasn’t her. “We have two more appointments, and then we’ll pick them up after lunch.”
“Good,” Clay said. “I sent something I thought you’d like.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said, and she could almost see him wink.
“You know I hate surprises.”
“Oh, I think you’ll like this one.”
A flare of excitement bloomed in her chest. “Is it you?” Please say it’s you. She’d missed him so damn much since his last visit. Several times since he’d left she’d had to stop herself from getting in her truck and driving to the airport to catch the next flight to Texas.
“I’m not telling you.”
“Please?” She tried for the pouty effect, but it didn’t quite hit the mark thanks to the mile-wide smile on her face she couldn’t contain at the mere thought of seeing him.
“I love you,” he said, “but I have to go.”
She looked at her phone to check the time. Her dads woul
d be boarding their flight soon. She knew it wouldn’t happen, but she couldn’t help but imagine him walking through the gate with them. “I love you, too. I miss you.”
“Miss you, too,” he replied in a rush. “I’ll call you later.”
“Bye.”
Chapter Fourteen
Gabby peered through the fast-moving throng of passengers, searching for her three favorite cowboys. Grey was usually the tallest in any crowd, easily standing out with his wide black Stetson. She stood on her tiptoes hoping to spot him first, knowing Matt and Mason wouldn’t be far behind.
“Do you see them?” she asked Breezy, who was a good foot taller than her.
“Not yet.”
Gabby was humming with excitement. It had been years, since Cory was in Boy Scouts, that she’d gone a day without at least one of her husbands by her side. While the alone time had been nice, as well as getting a break from the constant hammering and sawing from Grey’s latest remodeling distraction, her bed had been dreadfully empty and cold. She hadn’t liked it one bit.
Dani hopped up onto the edge of the baggage claim conveyor. “There they are!” She waved her arms to get their attention. “They saw me,” she said as she hopped down, her attention snagged by her phone not a half second later.
“Can you put that away long enough to greet your fathers?”
“Sorry.” She finished typing whatever message she was sending, to Clay no doubt, and stuffed her phone into her back pocket. “He’s been in a meeting all afternoon with a potential new client and just got out.”
She smiled at her daughter as Dani looked out into the crowd for her dads, waiting to see the look on her face when she saw Clay with them. Keeping his surprise visit and the news about their new house a secret had taken a monumental effort.
There it is.
Her heart sang with happiness when Dani finally saw him. The love in her daughter’s eyes was undeniable; it was the same love she held for Grey, Matt, and Mason. She couldn’t have been happier than she was in that moment. Her daughter had found true love, such a rare and precious gift she knew would last a lifetime.
