He closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. How could he ever hope to find a mate? Any woman in her right mind would run the other way when she saw him. And all of them did—except for Lainey. She was the kindness and the gentleness in his life. He and Spence were lucky to have such a sweet girl as a friend. Spence had told him that Lainey was theirs to protect, and Tim knew it to be true with every fiber of his being. No one was ever going to hurt their little one.
Tim’s heart thudded inside his chest as he realized that Lainey had been hurt because of him. He had failed to protect her. He would never forgive himself for allowing her even one moment of pain.
Shoving the small box inside the gym bag, he zipped it closed and surveyed his room one last time. There was nothing more in this room that belonged to him. He hadn’t really thought about it before. His parents had kept him sufficiently clothed but nothing more. There were no extras for him. They had convinced him that he wasn’t worthy of anything more. He would put all the blame on his father’s shoulders but that wouldn’t be completely true. His mother had stood by and had allowed the abuse to happen. She had never offered Tim any gentleness or protection. She had never shown him one ounce of love that only she could have given him as his mother.
The only people who accepted him and were truly loving and kind to him were the members of the McKade family, Lainey and her sister Becca, their friends Madison, Jesse, and Amber, and Gracie and her sister Melanie. Everyone else feared him or treated him as if he were a big, stupid lug because of his size. Shaking himself from his thoughts, he picked up his coat, gym bag, and backpack and made his way out of his room and down the stairs. He hesitated at the door to look at his mother, but she just stared back at him with cold eyes. Without another word, he opened the front door and walked out to stand before his father.
“Don’t ever come near me again, old man,” he warned him softly.
Before he could say another word, he found his hand taken by the incredibly sweet girl who had tried to put her small body between him and his father. He looked down at her and smiled gently.
“Come on, Timmy,” she whispered. “Let’s go. Don’t waste any more time on him. He’s not worth it.”
He nodded and walked with her toward Spence’s horse. He waited until Spence mounted before lifting Lainey and helping her to settle behind his best friend. She wrapped her arms around Spence’s waist and leaned forward to rest her cheek against his back, sighing audibly as the tension left her.
“Give me your things,” Deuce told him firmly, reaching out to take the bags and the coat that Tim immediately handed up to him as Deuce sat astride his horse.
Deuce was a big guy just like he was. Tim knew he couldn’t ride double with him. He was ready to walk the distance to the McKade ranch when John Blackstone urged his mount forward and reached down to offer his hand.
“Let’s go, Tim,” he said gently. “You’re with me, buddy.”
Tim smiled up at him, taking the offered hand and using John’s strength to help him swing up behind him. His body screamed in pain as the wounds on his back protested the move. It took all of his strength to remain silent, but he knew John could feel how he held his body straight because of the pain.
“You’ll be hearing from my parents and the county sheriff’s office by this afternoon, Mr. Hughes,” Deuce told him firmly, his deep voice echoing throughout the small clearing in front of the barn. “Stay away from Tim and stay off McKade land.”
With that final warning, Deuce turned his horse away from the Hughes home and clicked his tongue to get his horse moving. The others followed silently behind him, not one of them looking back.
* * * *
Tim sat quietly in the chair beside the bed in the room Mr. and Mrs. McKade had given him. The doctor was cleaning the injuries on his back. Lainey sat beside him, and Spence sat beside her. Spence was still shirtless from when the doctor had attended to the injuries on his chest and jaw. Lainey’s sleeve had been ripped away to reveal her injury as well. Tim had insisted that both of them be taken care of first before he would allow the doctor to see to his own injuries.
They certainly made a fierce trio. Tim smiled at the thought of his two friends risking their own safety for him. It had always been that way for the three of them. When Lainey reached out and held his hand, holding Spence’s as well as the doctor worked on Tim’s back, he realized that what Spence had said about Lainey being their bridge was completely accurate. Whenever she touched them both, a sense of peace settled over the three of them. Tim felt the connection that always gave him complete happiness. He loved his friends and didn’t know what he would ever do if they weren’t in his life.
“Well, Tim, your father certainly did a number on you today,” the doctor said, looking at the sheriff as he stood in front of the large picture window in the bedroom.
Lainey released Tim’s hand and started to gently pet his left shoulder, doing her best to soothe him. She traced the birthmark that was situated there, following the contours of the shape with the tip of her index finger. The reddish crescent shape had always fascinated her. Tim had told her that every child that was born into the Hughes family bore the birthmark in the exact same spot. It was amazing that such a mark graced every member of Tim’s family, and she was awed by it.
“Your birthmark is so cool, Timmy,” Lainey told him, her voice holding just a bit of amazement. “I want one.”
Tim smiled despite his pain as her fingers traced the edges of his birthmark over and over again. He looked at Spence and winked, seeing his best friend smiling back at him. They both felt settled with her between them. Watching her trace the birthmark gave them something to concentrate on as the doctor did his best to take care of the new set of wounds on Tim’s back.
Mary and Jake McKade, the patriarchs of the McKade family, stood by, silently waiting for the doctor to finish with him. Tim watched them quietly, smiling gently at them and sighing with relief when they returned his smile. The afternoon had been hectic to be sure. Sheriff Franklin Sturgess had arrived at the McKade ranch shortly after his friends had brought him there. Pictures had been taken of Tim’s back as well as Lainey’s and Spence’s injuries. All of them had given statements. John, Spence, Deuce, and Lainey explained the abuse they had witnessed being levied upon Tim by his father.
Child Protective Services had also been called at the insistence of Mary and Jake McKade. As a result, Tim was now in their care temporarily until the case came to court. The social worker said it would just be a formality since Tim would be eighteen within three months and therefore no longer under the auspices of their jurisdiction. Mr. and Mrs. McKade would act as temporary guardians until Tim graduated from high school and turned eighteen at the end of June.
“Tim, I’ll be serving a restraining order against your father to prevent him from coming near you again,” Sheriff Sturgess told him, his voice gruff. “Are you okay with the situation as it stands?”
“Yes,” Tim answered quietly. “Thank you for allowing me to stay with you until I graduate, Mr. and Mrs. McKade.”
“Timothy, you will not be staying with us until you graduate,” the elder Mr. McKade spoke up immediately.
Tim nodded, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “Yes, sir,” he said softly.
Mrs. McKade stepped forward and rested the palm of her hand lightly against Tim’s left cheek. “You’ll be staying here as part of our family, Tim,” she told him gently. “I know all of my boys intend to leave this ranch home eventually, but I would like it if you and my boys stayed here forever. This is your home now, Tim, just as it’s my boys’ home.”
“You’re part of the family, son,” Jake McKade told him, his voice cracking slightly as he looked down at him. He nodded at him then turned and took his wife’s hand in his, leading her to the door.
“Ma. Pa,” Spence called out, waiting until his parents turned to face him. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank us, son,” Jake McKade answered, nodding his head
once.
“It’s what families do, honey,” Mary McKade told him softly, looking up at her husband and smiling softly, the love for him evident in her blue eyes. “Thank you for giving me all of our boys.” She reached up and touched his face tenderly, leaning forward and kissing his lips lightly.
Lainey watched in complete awe. Mr. and Mrs. McKade were not only the nicest people she had ever known, they were the most loving. Even after all their years together, they held such love and affection for each other. She hoped someday she would find that with her husband.
“Get some rest, Tim,” the doctor told him as he packed up his medical bag. “You’re going to be sore for a while, but you should heal nicely. I’m afraid you’ll have some scarring though.”
Tim nodded, shrugging indifferently and wincing at the pain it caused his back. He was used to the pain, and he was used to the scars. He had several on his back, legs, and arms. He closed his eyes briefly as emotions filled him when he suddenly realized that he would never be subjected to such cruelty or abuse again.
Lainey squeezed Tim’s hand tightly, drawing it to her mouth and kissing his knuckles lightly before turning her head so she could rub her cheek across them soothingly. She drew Spence’s hand to her face and did the same thing to him.
“I’m sorry both of you were hurt,” Tim told them quietly as soon as they were left alone in the room that was now his. “You’re both going to have scars because of me.”
“No big deal, Tim,” Spence spoke up immediately. “Right, Lainey?”
Lainey smiled up at Spence, loving the sparkle in his beautiful, blue eyes. “Right,” she answered, turning to face Tim and smiling up at him as she saw his gentle, brown eyes filled with sorrow. “We’re a team. Now we match.”
“Geez, Lainey!” Tim sputtered. “I don’t want us to match!”
Lainey pulled back, hurt that he was refusing her innocent love. When she saw the agony in his eyes, she realized her mistake. Tim would never want to be the cause of any hurt to anyone—especially to her and Spence.
“Too bad,” Lainey told him, winking as she smiled up at him. “We’re joined by our scars, and I’m glad. You two belong to me even if you don’t want to be. Just deal with it.”
“Now, Lainey, what would ever make you think we wouldn’t want you as part of our trio?” Spence teased her. “You’re our bridge, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lainey answered, rolling her eyes. “Just what a girl wants to be compared to—a bridge!”
Tim smiled for the first time that afternoon, the deep dimple on his right cheek forming fully. He looked up at Spence and winked. All he could think about was how at peace he felt now that Lainey was between them, and they were a united trio of friends.
He was finally away from his father’s abuse. He had a safe home to live in. He had a loving family in the McKades, and he couldn’t imagine a more hopeful future.
Chapter 2
Eighteen Years Later
“Lainey, do you want me to bring out more desserts?” DelAnne Branson called out to her from behind the main counter of Diner for Two.
Lainey looked toward the front of the diner to the young woman who worked for her and her sister Becca. “Sure, DelAnne,” she called to her nodding. “That would be great, thanks.”
She smiled at DelAnne as she nodded and went to the back room to grab two cakes from the cooler. Lainey smirked as DelAnne pushed her pencil into the elastic that held her long, brown hair into the ponytail at the crown of her head. She enjoyed DelAnne’s quirky sense of humor. She appreciated her loyalty even more.
DelAnne had a crazy college schedule that made her work availability disjointed, but Lainey and Becca would accommodate her in any way that they could. She was a great employee, and was wonderful with their clientele. When Zoey Branson had suggested that Lainey might hire her baby sister, Lainey hadn’t hesitated. Zoey had been a good friend to her and Becca. She had done a lot to help them when they were growing up, just as the McKade family had.
Lainey watched as DelAnne brought out two cakes, one chocolate and one carrot, and placed them onto the counter. She opened the revolving glass display container and carefully placed the cakes inside the cool interior then turned and smiled at Lainey, winking at her.
“I just sampled these cakes,” DelAnne admitted.
“How are they?” Lainey asked, laughing softly as she turned and picked up her small pad to jot down some more ideas she had about expanding their diner.
“Excellent.”
“I’m glad. I may have to try some myself.”
“I told Becca she did a great job baking them. I think adding on to the diner to give Becca a place to create her world of deliciousness is a really good idea,” she told Lainey, her attention drawn to the front door of the diner as it opened and Spence McKade and Tim Hughes entered. The two men raised their cowboy hats to her in greeting before turning their attention toward Lainey who had her back to the men.
DelAnne chuckled lightly to herself. She didn’t know how her boss could be so oblivious to the raw desire these men showed every time they looked at Lainey. It was completely obvious to her. No man looks at a woman in that way if they were just friends as Lainey insisted that they were. For a smart woman, Lainey was proving to be totally ignorant in this despite the many times DelAnne had tried to explain what she saw.
She watched silently as the two men made their way over to the counter and carefully settled their large frames on the stools there. They remained silent as Lainey looked down at the pad in her hand, carefully making notes to herself as she stood with her hip against the counter.
“Hello, Lainey girl,” Spence greeted her, reaching out to steady her when she jumped and lost her balance at the sudden sound of his voice.
Lainey spun around and grabbed for his hands as they settled on her shoulders. “Spence, you scared the life out of me,” she chastised him softly. “What the heck is wrong with you, cowboy? Your mother taught you better than that.”
“Sorry, kitten.”
“You look like you were concentrating pretty hard,” Tim told her, reaching out to gently run his index finger down her cheek before taking one of her hands in his and squeezing it lightly.
The connection the three of them felt was instant. It had been the same for many years. Whenever Lainey touched both of them at the same time, the sense of peace and happiness that filled them washed them in a warmth that they didn’t feel at any other time.
“I’m just thinking through the idea Becca and I had of expanding the diner,” she explained, stepping back so that she stood just outside of their range of touch.
“Do you have some time to sit down and talk with us?” Tim asked her quietly, feeling the loss of her as she released their hands and moved away from them.
“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately, putting the pad down on the counter and looking at both men.
“Nothing, Lainey,” Spence assured her. “We just wanted to talk to you.”
Lainey looked at both of them, drinking in the sight of them. She worried for her friends and would do anything to help them.
“Go ahead and take a seat in your booth,” she told them. “I’ll be with you as soon as I serve my two customers.” She indicated the two older women who sat at the end of the counter and wrinkled her nose. Spence and Tim smiled, understanding her reluctance to go over to the two women who had to be the meanest and cruelest women in their small town.
Both men nodded and spun around on the stools. Lainey watched them as they stood and walked over to the booth that she had made sure to expand to accommodate their size—even though she would never tell them that she had done so. She smiled softly as they folded their tall, muscular bodies into the bench seats on opposite sides of the table. Goodness, they were beautiful.
The sadness that she knew had to be evident on her face as she watched them made her turn around quickly. She couldn’t take the chance that they might see how much it hurt to be around them. S
he had been keeping her distance from them for the past week, unable to be around them as she realized that she was barely holding it together. She knew how difficult it was to keep secret just how much she cared for them. She wasn’t about to jeopardize their friendship by having her romantic feelings for them put the men in an awkward position. She closed her eyes and took a breath to try to center herself. The fact that she loved and desired both of them caused her no small amount of guilt and anxiety.
Opening her eyes, she looked at both men one last time, drinking in their goodness. All she could think about was how right she felt when they held her between them. She wanted to melt in their arms.
What is wrong with me?
Turning, she walked toward the kitchen, rubbing her left side as the ache she was experiencing intensified. Picking up the two plates filled with chicken, rice, and corn, she turned toward the long counter and walked over to the two elderly women who were sitting there and placed the plates in front of them.
“Enjoy,” she told them, smiling, hoping they would just eat their food and leave.
She had never liked either Gracie and Melanie’s mother or Mrs. Emery’s best friend Charlotte Majors. The two women had caused many moments of anguish for her friends. She was so thankful that both Gracie and Melanie had escaped their parents’ cruelty and had found happiness within the McKade family.
Melanie was happily mated to Luke McKade, and they had an adorable little boy and had just had a beautiful baby girl. Gracie was mated to Deuce McKade and had recently revealed to the rest of the family that she was pregnant.
All of the McKade brothers were amazing men. So was John Blackstone who was mated to the McKades’ cousin Jamie who was also lucky enough to find that she was pregnant. Jamie’s pregnancy made all of them realize just how blessed they were. The Great Spirit had healed her from a horrible injury she had received during an attack and had blessed her with the ability to conceive.
Claiming Lainey [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 2
