by Myla Jackson
Angus sighed. “Fine. Stand. But this might take a while to tell.”
Colin broke in. “Mom’s going to sell the ranch.”
“What?” Brody looked from Colin back to Angus.
“Thanks, Colin.” Angus shook his head. “Mom isn’t selling the ranch; she’s threatening to sell the ranch.”
“Threatening?” Brody shook his head. “And you’re sure she’s not sick?”
“Cancer-free her last checkup. She’s healthier than a horse.”
Some of the tension Brody had carried with him from Seattle released. But this conversation was far from over. “Good. I’m glad she’s doing better. But what did she mean by ‘remember what I said’?”
Angus shoved a hand through his hair, standing it on end. “A couple weeks ago she told us that if the McFarlan men didn’t show an interest in their inheritance, she was going to sell the Rafter M Ranch and everything on it.”
“You and Colin have been here. I haven’t. What’s been going on to think you two aren’t interested in the ranch?” Brody nodded toward Angus. “Aren’t you raising horses and making a good go of it?”
Angus nodded. “Yeah, but that’s not what she was talking about. She thinks there won’t be any little McFarlans to pass the ranch down to.”
“She wants us all married and having kids within two months. We’re already down two weeks and have only six more to make it happen.”
“What in the hell is he talking about?” Brody asked the oldest McFarlan brother.
“Just what Colin said—Mom wants us settled down, married or engaged by the end of the two months or she’ll sell.”
“Mrs. Reinhardt has been bragging about her grandbabies, and Mom is afraid she’ll miss out unless she takes drastic measures,” Colin inserted.
Angus nodded.
Brody stared at Angus. “Is that what Gwen and her boy are all about? Mom forced you into a relationship to save the ranch?”
“Yes…no…ah hell.” Angus paced the length of the kitchen and back. “It started out that way.”
Again, Colin jumped in with “Mom put my and Angus’s name in the hat at the annual Ugly Stick Saloon bachelor auction. Gwen bought Angus for four dates and the rest is history.”
Angus frowned at Colin. “Gwen and I knew each other seven years ago. I loved her then, but things didn’t work out. The auction brought us back together.” He smiled as he spoke. “I love Gwen and Dalton.”
Brody was happy his brother had found a woman to share his life.
When Angus glanced up, his smile faded. “But we stand to lose the ranch if Mom’s demands aren’t met.”
Brody crossed his arms. “And what does that have to do with me?”
“She wants all three of us married or on our way to being married within her two-month time frame. And she wants you home.”
“Well, you got me home. But I’m not here to stay or to get married. I came because I thought Mom was sick.” Again he threw another glare at Colin.
Colin pushed back his shoulders. “Would you have come if I’d asked?”
“Hell no.”
“Would you have come if Angus had told you what was going on?” Colin continued.
Angus and Colin both stared at him, waiting for his answer.
“No,” Brody said.
Colin’s lips thinned and Angus’s twisted in disappointment.
“This might not be home to you,” Angus said, “but it’s my home and I want to keep it.”
“Mom is bluffing.” Brody waved his hand at the kitchen with the copper-bottom pans his father had bought for their mother. She kept the copper polished and shiny. “She’d never sell the Rafter M. It has too many good memories of her life with Dad and us as kids growing up here. Hell, the place has been in our family for over a hundred years.”
“One hundred fifty,” Colin offered.
“I don’t want to see it split up and sold, any more than Colin does,” Angus said. “I’m not sure what your job situation is—”
Brody held up his hand. “Don’t even go there. I’m not staying.”
Angus went on, “And I’m not asking you to stay forever, just stay long enough to get Mom to retract her ultimatum.”
“I have a life in Seattle,” he lied. He lived in Seattle, but he didn’t know many more people in the big city than when he’d landed there eight years ago and found a temporary job as a bartender that he still worked part time while he pursued his second job, his real passion. “I can’t hang around here until Mom changes her mind.”
“At least stay until the end of the two months. Give Mom that. She loves you and wants to see you more often.”
“She can come to Seattle. The road goes both ways.”
“She wants you to come home,” Angus insisted.
“What he means is Mom wants the two of us to kiss and make up,” Colin finished.
Brody narrowed his eyes and stared at his younger brother. Because of Colin, he’d left home in the first place. Because his own brother betrayed him with the woman he was about to marry. He shook his head. “Not happening.”
“Eight years is a long time to hold a grudge,” Colin said. “I told you then I was sorry. What happened between me and Fancy shouldn’t have, and I’ve regretted it ever since.”
“You’re damn right it shouldn’t have happened.” Brody crossed to stand in front of Colin. “Who can you trust if you can’t trust your own brother?”
Angus stared at Colin, a frown drawing his brows together. “You slept with Brody’s fiancé?”
Colin’s gaze never waivered from Brody’s. “We didn’t mean for it to happen. She was upset…one thing led to another...” He shook his head. “We shouldn’t have done it, and we haven’t seen each other since.”
A long silence stretched between the brothers.
“Eight years, Brody,” Angus finally said. “That’s a long time. We’re family.”
Brody snorted. “That’s what I thought, until my brother betrayed me.”
Colin shook his head. “I told you it wouldn’t do any good.”
“Colin…” Angus pinned the youngest McFarlan with the same stern stare their father used on them when they were in trouble as children, “…would you go help the women.”
Colin stood still for a moment longer, and then he turned and left the kitchen without another word.
“Whatever you have to say, I’m not listening. As soon as I’ve had a decent dinner and ten hours’ sleep, I’m on the road back to Seattle.”
Angus crossed the room and stood in front of Brody. “Fair enough.” Then he hugged Brody hard. “I’ve missed you, brother.”
When he stood back, the moisture in Angus’s eyes could not be mistaken. That alone tugged hard at Brody’s heart. “Two weeks. I’ll stay for two weeks.”
Angus nodded. “Thanks. Hopefully, within two weeks we can talk Mom out of selling the ranch, and we can all get back to living our lives, drama-free.”
That settled, Brody’s stomach grumbled. “What I’ve missed is Mom’s fried chicken. Do you think she’ll cook that for dinner?”
Angus grimaced. “Oh, one other thing. As part of Mom’s move-on-or-move-out ultimatum, she’s on strike. She’s not cooking, cleaning or buying groceries. We’re on our own for food and laundry.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I wish I were.” His face brightened. “I don’t suppose you’ve picked up some cooking skills in your eight years on the West Coast?”
“I eat out all the time. I even burn toast.” His stomach growled. “What do you do for dinner around here?”
“We eat at the diner in Temptation for the most part, but the Ugly Stick Saloon is having a barbeque tonight on account of the rodeo being in town. Gwen and Dalton are headed back to Dallas this afternoon. Mom’s having dinner at Mrs. Reinhardt’s. Colin and I were headed to the Ugly Stick. You’re welcome to join us.”
“I’m beat after being on the road.”
“Man, there is noth
ing in the refrigerator.”
His stomach grumbled again, making the decision for him. “The Ugly Stick Saloon it is.”
“You’re gonna love what the new owner has done to the place.”
“Yeah?”
“She’s a retired stripper married to Jackson Gray Wolf. They’re about to have their first kid.”
Brody’s chest tightened. So much had changed at home. The Ugly Stick was under new ownership. His friend Jackson Gray Wolf had succumbed to the institution of marriage and his mother had gone off her rocker with crazy threats. He should have stayed in Seattle and forgotten Temptation, Texas, ever existed.
About the Author
Twenty years of livin’ and lovin’ on a South Texas ranch raising horses, cattle, goats, ostriches and emus left an indelible impression on Myla Jackson, one she likes to instill in her red-hot stories. Myla pens wildly sexy, fun adventures of all genres including historical westerns, medieval tales, romantic suspense, contemporary romance and paranormal beasties of all shapes and sexy sizes. She lives in the tree-covered hills of Northwest Arkansas with her husband of more than 20 years and her muses—the human-wanna-be canines—Chewy and Sweetpea.
To learn more about Myla Jackson and her alter ego Elle James visit:
www.mylajackson.com
[email protected]
Also by Myla Jackson
Tomb Raider Trouble
Trouble with Harry
Trouble with Will
Trouble with Mitch
Bound and Tied
Honor Bound
Duty Bound
River Bound
Paranormal
Shewolf
Thorn’s Kiss
Sex, Lies & Vampire Hunters
Ugly Stick Saloon Series
Boots & Chaps (#1)
Boots & Sex Ed (#2)
Boots & Leather (#3)
Boots & Promises (#4)
Boots & Bareback (#5)
Boots & Dirty Tricks (#6)
Boots & Lace (#7)
Boots & Roses (#8)
Boots & Buckles (#9)
Boots & the Wishes (#10)
Boots & Twisters (#11)
Boots & the Bachelor (#12)
Boots & The Rogue (#13)
Boots & The Heartbreaker (#14)
Boots & Wings (#15)
