by Vivian Arend
All the air went out of Raphael as he leaned unhappily against the door. “You sure you don’t want to stay home and play cards with me for a couple hours? It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m headed to bed like a baby. Having you stick around would make it a whole lot better.”
“I’ve got plans.”
Rafe wouldn’t look him in the eye, and Gabe felt like the shit his brother had called him. It had to be miserable, but the reality was their dad still had the right to call the shots in the kid’s life.
Heck, in his life too, at least as it related to the ranch.
He’d been researching the best he could during downtimes from working. There was much to learn, and Gabe wasn’t about to bring up the idea of changes until he could make the benefits clear to their father.
So for now, they ran things the old-fashioned way. Which meant their father Ben was in charge, with no discussion, no arguments. Gabe, and Rafe when he was out of school, were the obedient labour.
Gabe sighed. “It’s a hell of a thing, but at least you know dad will be slaving just as hard as us all week. He’s just got…unusual timing.”
Rafe groaned and slouched harder.
Inspiration struck. “Hey, you want to crash out here tonight?”
Rafe looked up from under his bangs. “In your apartment?”
“Sure. I’ll be home late, but you can use the bedroom, and I’ll hit the couch when I get in. I don’t mind.”
Maybe a little space to himself would make up for some of his brother’s disappointment.
“Well, it’s not the party, but since I didn’t actually have a date…” Rafe straightened, his normal enthusiasm returning in a rush. “Can I have a few beers?”
Gabe resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “One, since part of the reason for you to stay home is so you’re not hungover in the morning. Go—grab your stuff, and I’ll call Mom and let her know what’s happening. I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. She can smooth it over with Dad. Just, for God’s sake, set the damn alarm and don’t bloody well sleep in.”
Rafe raced out the door and across the distance to the main house, without pulling on his abandoned winter coat, and Gabe shook his head. Oh, to be young and full of energy, bouncing back that quickly from disappointment.
A couple hours later Gabe was wishing he’d stayed at home with Rafe.
He stepped over another couple on the floor groping each other madly and wondered where the hell all the bodies had come from. Debauchery was alive and well at the turn of the year.
“Happy Fuckin’ New Year.”
The call echoed back from a dozen throats too inebriated to enunciate properly. Gabe shook his head and wondered why he’d even bothered coming.
Because a twenty-nine-year-old sitting alone at home with his kid brother on New Year’s Eve is beyond pathetic?
There were small pockets of sanity scattered throughout the room. Even though they both had a woman on their laps, the Six Pack twins were sober enough to be holding a verbal contest with a few other guys, including two of the Moonshine Colemans. Hell, everywhere he looked there were Colemans sprinkled in amidst the rest of the partiers. The notable absences were the Whiskey Creek girls, Blake, Daniel, and his own brother, Rafe.
Gabe eyed the room, feeling far wearier than he should. Maybe he would head home early.
A hand slapped on his shoulder, and he twirled to face Matt. Great, just what he needed. Not.
“You’ve become a bit of recluse, cousin.” Matt gave him a tired smile before turning his gaze back into the room behind them.
Awkwardness had settled between him and Matt ever since he’d seen Helen in Red Deer and kept it to himself. Maybe he’d been wrong in his suspicions, but the whole thing never sat right after.
“I was thinking about packing it in. Not in a partying mood tonight since the chores are gonna be there in the morning no matter what time I hit the sack.”
Matt grimaced. “I hear you. I’m on first shift too, in spite of Blake being snuggled up early with Jaxi.”
“Yeah, well, you’re assuming they’re going to sleep, and that’s probably bullshit.”
His cousin nodded. “Hey, before you go, help me find Helen, will you? She’d been putting the drinks back pretty hard before we even came out, and now she’s gone missing. I haven’t seen her for nearly an hour.”
“She didn’t go outside, did she?”
“Nahhh, her coat and boots are still here, but I’ve looked around the house once already. I wonder if I’m walking in a circle and missing her.”
Gabe headed the direction Matt aimed him, unwilling to suggest that if Helen was shitfaced, her coat and boots being left behind were no indication of anything good. She’d be far more likely to go wandering outside without them while drunk.
Music shredded his eardrums. The driving pulse echoed off the walls and competed with raised voices. Lighting was low throughout the old house, the main residence for the oldest two cousins on the Moonshine side of the Coleman clan. They lived with a couple friends, and while he’d been offered a place with them, Gabe had easily turned down the invitation. His tiny apartment wasn’t fabulous, but it was better than living in this kind of raucous chaos on a regular basis.
He paused outside a closed bedroom door, suddenly awkward. The things he did for family…
Gabe knocked, got no answer, then pushed the door open to make sure Helen wasn’t passed out on the floor or something. The first room was empty, and he breathed a sigh of relief. All his Zen-like calm vanished a moment later when he swung open the master bedroom door and froze.
He’d found her.
There was a second music system playing in the room, the drums in the current song pulsing out a tempo echoed in the sexual display before him.
If it had been anyone other than Helen, he might have thought the scene was hot—maybe even stepped closer to get a better view. He had no issues with a woman taking control of her sexuality. No matter now dirty, rough or how many partners she wanted, it was her own damn business.
But this was Helen.
She stood on the far side of the room, hair hanging down. Her naked body undulated to the music as she displayed herself like some go-go dancer in a racy nightclub to the men seated in front of her. One of them pulled her forward, pushing her to her knees as he stood. Helen fumbled at his zipper, reaching in and exposing his cock. She pumped him hard a couple times before plunging her mouth over his dick and taking him deep.
Gabe had seen enough. His only remaining brain cells still working focused entirely on one thing.
Matt. What the hell was Matt going to do?
There was no question of hiding this—the concern was keeping murder from happening. Because Gabe felt ready to strangle someone, and she wasn’t even his woman.
Four steps brought him across the distance as he reacted without thinking, fist landing hard to the jaw of the man standing before Helen. The guy’s head snapped back and he spun off to lie stunned on the floor with his dick still hanging from his jeans.
“What the fuck you doing?” One of the strangers leaned over his fallen friend briefly before turning to face Gabe.
“Gabe?” Helen pushed herself upright, swaying drunkenly. “Hmm, you gonna have some fun tonight too?”
This wasn’t the sweet woman he’d cared for a few months ago with his cousin—this was some out-of-control creature. But for Matt’s sake, he had to get her dressed. Get her out here.
Gabe grabbed her under the arms and bodily lifted her, moving away from the impromptu stage. “I don’t give a damn who you guys are or who invited you. Get the hell out of here.”
“Fuck off.”
The remaining guys got up swinging. Trying to keep Helen behind him hindered Gabe from escaping completely. Not that he cared right then if she got tangled in the fight—don’t hang with the crows if you don’t want to get shot—but…
Matt.
What a bloody mess.
Gabe ducked another punch and got in
a couple solid blows of his own before everything went to shit and the room filled with people.
Including Matt.
It was like watching death overtake a person, the way the colour stripped from Matt’s face. There wasn’t much to see anymore—Gabe had no idea what Matt thought had gone down, and he wasn’t about to say anything until there were fewer people around to hear.
Matt scrambled past the few bodies between them and caught Helen against him. Someone grabbed a blanket to cover her, as she alternated between weeping and cussing.
“Okay, back to the party. There’s nothing to see, everything’s fine.” Steve and Trevor, the oldest Moonshine Colemans, cleared the room of the newcomers quick enough, but there was still hell to be paid if the expression on Matt’s face was anything to go on.
Helen wouldn’t stop crying, and Gabe wanted nothing better to slap some sense into her. There was no reason for her to make that kind of commotion.
Gabe tilted his head toward the three men and whispered quickly to Steve, “Get them out now.”
“Wait.” Matt’s voice was soft and icy cold. “I want to know what the fuck was going on.”
Joel had slipped into the room and stood beside Matt, a frown creasing his forehead even as his fists tightened. Gabe shook his head and motioned for him to stay put.
One of the strangers answered. “Just a little fun, is all. She said she wanted to—”
“Helen?”
The weeping had finally stopped, and Matt stared at her, shock and hurt in his face. She wiped her eyes and swallowed, then shoved him from her sharply. She rocked on her feet unsteadily, the blanket falling from her shoulders to reveal her nakedness to the entire room. “My idea. Wanted some fun—”
“Fun?” The word tore from Matt’s lips like a knife slash. “You’re wasted. Where are your clothes? I’ll take you home.”
“Fuck you. I’m not going anywhere. Want to stay. Want to—” She teetered and Gabe grabbed her, snatching the blanket from the floor and forcing it around her shoulders.
“Matt, what’s going on?” Joel wasn’t the only one confused.
“My girlfriend is drunk.”
“Not drunk. Want to stay. Get some excitement in my life. Because you? Matt Coleman? You’re boring. No fun.”
A sharp hiss escaped Matt.
Trevor pushed the strangers from the room. Steve kept a close eye on them, motioning with his head from the doorway. “We’ve got them taken care of. Take your time—I’ll see that this stays as quiet as possible. Get everyone partying again.”
With one last sympathetic glance Matt’s direction, Steve closed the door.
“Matt…” Gabe wasn’t sure what to do. What to say.
Matt stared at Helen, something dark in his expression. “You fooling around on me, Helen?”
She stared back. No denial.
Oh God.
Joel wrapped an arm around Matt and pulled him away. “Leave it for now. She’s pissed to the gills, and you’re angry. Let me take her home and you can talk it out when she’s sober—”
“Screw you, Jesse Coleman. Or Joel, or whoever the hell you are. This is none of your damn business. We don’t need to leave anything for any time.” Helen struggled upright and stared at Matt, clinging to the blanket around her shoulders. She lifted her chin and glared him down, eyes glazed from too much drink. “I’m leaving town. I got a new job that starts in a week. I’m never coming back to this godforsaken hellhole that you’ve tried to convince me is the be-all and end-all of the universe. It’s not. It was a shitty place to grow up and a shitty place to live, and I’m not going to stay any longer. So you can take your Six Pack and your I love yous, and you can stick them up your ass. Because I’m getting out of here before I die of boredom.”
Gabe had never hit a woman in his life. Never wanted to, but in that moment, seeing the pain that rippled through Matt, he was sorely tempted.
Matt turned on his heel and left.
There was quiet for a moment before Joel stepped close enough to force Helen’s chin up so she had to look him in eye.
“You’re a selfish, spoiled bitch. I suggest you sober up real fast and get out of town. Far out of town, because there’s no way you’re going to ever be able to make this better.” Joel glanced over at Gabe. “Sorry for leaving you with the garbage to clean up. I’m going after Matt.”
Silence fell over the room as the door clicked shut behind him. Gabe moved as far away as possible as Helen quietly looked for her clothes.
If she said so much as one word wrong, he was liable to wring her neck.
He snuck her out the back door and drove her home, all without talking. He was caught up in wondering if he could have stopped the disaster from happening by speaking to Matt sooner, but he’d been blinded by his own plans. Guilt at his mistake made the situation worse, if anything could make this worse.
He stopped outside her apartment, the new one she’d recently moved into with her sister overtop the shop they were supposed to open come the spring. There was another thing she’d lied about. Gabe stared forward, willing her to leave before rage made him toss her on her ass.
She stepped out, the fresh snow and her drunken footing making her weave to the apartment door. He forced himself to wait until she’d disappeared from sight, because if he’d left before he knew she was safely inside and she froze to death, he’d find it hard to feel remorse.
A part inside him had gone colder than the temperature outside. It was stupid the way his brain leapt from point to point, connecting lines that maybe shouldn’t be there, but still insistently depressing. All his wonderful plans for the ranch, all his striving to find a better future for his family—doubts racked him. His cousin Matt had done everything he could to make Helen happy, and this was the result?
On the dashboard clock, the digital display had clicked over to midnight sometime in the past few minutes, and it was as if a knife turned in his heart.
Happy fucking New Year.
19
“Go fish.”
Beth shook her head and pulled over another pile of marking, thankful that for once it wasn’t her having to play the game for the twenty-millionth time.
Only when the delighted squealing died away for long enough, she got suspicious. She rose from her desk and snuck her head around the corner to find out what her guys were up to.
Her guys. The words made her smile.
They were all seated around the table, crayons scattered everywhere. Nathan had his tongue hanging out a little, all his focus and concentration on whatever it was in front of him.
Robbie spotted her and covered his paper with his arms. “Moo—oom. No peeking.”
Daniel winked as she held up her hands and retreated around the corner. “Sorry, didn’t mean to pry. I’ll get back to work.”
“Kitchen is off limits for a while, Beth. I’ve got things under control.” Daniel stepped around the corner. “How much marking you got left?”
“An hour or so.” Beth looked him up and down in admiration. He was wearing new jeans, the dark colour crisp and sharp. His cotton overshirt was neatly tucked in at the waist, and she wanted to tug it free. Wanted to slip her fingers under the soft fabric of his T-shirt and dip under the waistband to caress the firm ridge of muscle that separated his groin from his thigh.
She loved that muscle on him.
“When you’re done, why don’t you sneak upstairs and have a bath. We’ll give you a heads-up for supper.” Daniel grinned as her smile got wider.
A bath? “Well, aren’t you just spoiling me to pieces?”
He glanced over his shoulder before stepping all the way to her side and cupping her face for a quick kiss. The warmth of his body crossed the short distance between them, and she had to refrain from rubbing against him like a lovesick cat.
He pulled back then brushed her lower lip with his thumb. “I think if you look beside your bed there might be something you could use during your spa getaway.”
The quietly spoken words made her more curious than ever. “Now I’m going to rush my marking and someone out there is going to be eternally grateful that they didn’t get the D minus they deserve.”
Daniel backed away one step at a time, his gaze never leaving hers, his teasing grin that warmed her inside promising more mischief later.
The sounds from the kitchen, little-boy whispers loud enough to hear clearly from a room away, kept the grin on her own face firmly in place. Luckily the schoolwork she had to complete wasn’t difficult, because her concentration was shot to hell.
When she finally tucked her paperwork away and snuck upstairs, the kitchen noises had changed to include banging pots and giggles. Daniel’s occasional deep rumble of laughter reassured her, and she headed into her room to change and discover her surprise.
There was a red gift bag waiting on the dresser. She held off her curiosity long enough to strip and put on her robe, walk across the landing to the bath and lock herself in. With the water running, she dug into the bag and one-at-a-time pulled out treasures obviously wrapped by her sons. Bath beads, an oversized loofah brush with the head of a surprised giraffe—had to be from Nathan. A bottle of bright blue nail polish. Beth laughed with delight.
A plethora of Valentine’s love poured out for her. She tossed a bead into the filling tub and eased herself into the water, relaxing back and wondering at how much difference a year had made in her life. The boys were her joy, her reason for getting up every morning. But now there was more to look forward to than just their shining eyes.
There was Daniel. All the wickedly wonderful ways he made her feel in bed, and the solid caring things she felt outside the bedroom.
She still had some healing to do, but Daniel seemed determined to take his time and give her space when needed. And crowd her at all the right moments, making sure she didn’t retreat from moving forward.
Pink-cheeked and relaxed from her bath, she dressed a little fancier than her usual around-the-house getup before making her way downstairs.
