“So, are you excited about going to the ranch?” Mr. McCord asked as he drove the truck down the highway.
Ethan shrugged. “I guess so.” Inside, excitement poked around his stomach. His mouth was dry, his senses on alert. He hadn’t been this worked up since he got a baseball mitt for Christmas when he was twelve. Didn’t matter that it had been donated by the church ladies rather than a family who wanted him to be their son. It was his, all his, stuffed into the backpack that sat at his feet. Everything he owned.
“Okay, but it’s better than Juvenile Detention right?”
Ethan continued to stare out the window. One sign of weakness and adults always turned on him like a wild dog he saw once gnawing on some road kill. “Yeah, sure.” He’d had to apologize to that kid who’s stolen his coat and give it to him as a gift but it had been worth it.
Anything was better than juvie.
“Good, we’re almost there.”
In a few more minutes the judge turned the truck onto a twisty dirt road then he saw a bunch of trailers. Old trailers. “I thought this was a ranch.”
His lawyer stopped the truck, cut the engine and smiled. “It is, sort of. Hop out and I’ll introduce you to Kinley.”
Ethan grabbed his backpack and climbed from the truck. It was hot here and dusty but better than being locked up. He hefted the backpack on his shoulder and followed Mr. McCord to an enclosure where llamas wandered around. One lay in a kiddie pool. The others were in a kind of barn. A woman with wild, red hair came from beneath the llamas’ enclosure and walked toward them. Linc opened the gate and the llamas ambled in their direction making a funny humming noise. One of them lifted his lip and stuck it in his face. Ethan backed up.
“Don’t be afraid, that’s Smiley. He does that to everybody. He’s just saying hi,” the red haired woman said.
Ethan straightened and lifted his chin. “I’m not scared. I’m not scared of anything.” He’d never been around any animals this big before. His legs felt weak, his throbbing heart skidded into his throat.
The woman smiled. He’d seen plenty of those smiles before from adults. They smiled to gain your trust, to make you believe that everything would be okay. He’d believed those smiles in the beginning but they always let him down. This place might not be juvie, but he still had to be on his guard.
“Not being scared is good. Animals can always sense when you’re afraid,” the woman said. “The llamas are real friendly and they like being around people.”
They had crowded around him now with their ears pricked, humming their brains out. To prove he wasn’t afraid he lifted a hand and stroked one of them on the neck. The animal stood still and seemed to like it. His fear slid away under the feel of the fur.
“There you go,” the woman said. “I’m Kinley by the way. You must be Ethan. Welcome to Laid Back Ranch.”
“Hey.” Ethan jammed his shaking hands into his pockets.
“The trailer with the rainbows and llamas painted on it is where you’ll be staying. Mr. McCord said you liked baseball so I hung a couple of posters. Go ahead up and take a look. Doors open. When you get settled, head back here and we’ll talk about what you’ll be doing.”
When Ethan stepped inside the trailer, the cool air rushed over him. He glanced at the clean kitchen and floor. The room off the kitchen was filled with a bunch of goo-gahs, trophies and old furniture. A jar of purple flowers sat on the coffee table and beside it a copy of Barrel Horse News magazine.
He continued down a short hallway past a bathroom until he came to a room with the posters that Kinley mentioned hanging on the wall. The place was clean and it didn’t smell and he didn’t have to share it with anyone. There was a bed, a chair and a desk. He still had to worry about people going through his stuff though. They always did. He propped the back of the chair under the knob. In the middle of last night, a kid tried to steal his baseball mitt. He’d saved his mitt, but Ethan had been awake for the rest of the night afraid the kid might try to steal it again or get even. He yawned barely able to hold his eyes open.
Ethan plopped on the bed, pulled the backpack to his chest and closed his eyes.
***
Kinley shut the gate and walked with Linc. “You were right about Ethan.”
Linc nodded. “Yeah, he puts on a big show but deep inside he’s every bit a scared fourteen year old boy.”
They stepped inside the trailer. It was still and quiet. “Hope he didn’t run off somewhere,” Kinley said as she headed down the hallway. She stopped at the door of Ethan’s room and knocked quietly. No one answered. “Ethan,” she called. Still nothing. She tried the door, it was locked.
“What’s wrong,” Linc asked as he joined her.
“Door won’t open. He’s locked it.” She put her ear to the door. Concerned, she turned to Linc. “I think Ethan might be in trouble. He’s moaning and mumbling but I can’t understand what he’s saying. What if he took drugs? Let’s go outside to the window.”
Kinley followed Linc outside to the window of Ethan’s room. The curtains were open. Linc peered inside cupping his hand around his eyes against the glass. “He’s lying on the bed. I don’t know if he’s asleep or if he took something.” He removed the screen and raised the window. “I’ll boost you up. Climb in and remove the chair then try to wake him.”
He leaned down cupped his hand together. She climbed in through the window, removed the chair and went to Ethan’s side. His face was contorted in a grimace and he was mumbling but the words were indecipherable, his arms firmly clasped around his backpack. She sat on the side of the bed and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. “Ethan, wake up.”
The boy’s eyes popped open, his gaze full of anger and fear, his arms swinging. Kinley moved back holding her hands up. “It’s okay. It’s me. You’re safe.”
Linc rushed in. “You okay, buddy?”
Ethan straightened and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I’m not your buddy.”
“Fair enough. But you need to answer Kinley.”
He shifted on the edge of the bed and tightened his arms around the backpack.
“Now would be good,” Linc said.
“I’m fine,” Ethan said in a low voice.
“Bad dream?” Kinley asked.
Ethan looked straight ahead.
“Why did you block the door?”
He turned his head and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “You said this was my room.”
“It is but you don’t need to block the door. No one is going to hurt you here or steal your stuff.” She pointed to the backpack. “All of your things are still there exactly where you put them.”
Silence. Nothing. Kinley stood. “I could use some help feeding the llamas and the horses. See you at the barn?”
Ethan looked at her then away with a quick nod.
Once outside, Kinley said, “Poor kid.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be a challenge having him here. You sure you’re up for it?”
“I’m not the one afraid of taking a risk. The question is are you up for it?”
Chapter Four
Was he up for it?
Linc looked into Kinley’s green eyes ready to tell her this cowboy was up for anything.
He stopped. Insides quivering like a fence wire drawn too tight. Breath deadlocked in his throat.
Her hair curled wildly around her face, the sunlight picking out the copper strands in stark relief. One fell over her forehead and he almost brushed it back. He had to grab hold of the seam in his jeans to keep from doing it. Because if he did he would touch her again and he really wanted to touch her again and kiss her again and hold her in his arms. What was it about her particular lure of chaos that tempted him to let go of his control and just see what happened?
He already knew the answer. They would end up in bed and he would be sunk to his eyeballs in her world, tangled up like a calf at a roping contest and he was afraid he might not be able to untangle himself.
Her e
yes held an expression of innocence while she fought back a smile. Her apple scent wafted toward him making him want to curl up on a cozy sofa with her in his lap and see just who was up for what. “Yeah, I’m up for it.”
She let the smile peek out just a bit. “Okay, prove it.”
They weren’t talking about Ethan anymore. She was luring him with her chaotic siren song. “I don’t have to prove anything.” He was a judge who made other people prove things to the court.
She gave him a full blown grin and he nearly pounced. “You’re chicken. Proving it would mean taking a risk and you”—she stepped in close and laid her palm on his chest, her eyes gazing up into his, dipping to his mouth then back to his eyes—“are afraid.”
His gaze drank her in. He wanted to grab her, pull her into his arms and kiss her so he could taste her special cinnamon taste again. He wanted to inhale the strawberry scent of her shampoo and the teasing apple scent of her skin. He wanted to show her he wasn’t afraid. “I’m not afraid.”
“Looks like we’re back where we started.” The little minx stood on tip-toe and kissed him again. He felt the touch and cinnamon taste of her, power through his veins and rush through his body straight to his groin. “Proving it.”
Before he could think about it twice, he pulled her into his arms and soul-kissed her down to her toes. He lapped up her flavor, inhaled her scent until he was drunk with it. He barely gave her time to draw breath between one kiss and the next. The world around him seemed to slip away until all he was aware of was the woman in his arms. He punished her lips in a bruising kiss and didn’t let her come up for air until he was good and ready. When she started to melt into him and he knew he was sinking fast, the come-on-and-let-go lure of her wrapping around his senses like a lasso, he pulled back. Her eyes were hazy with arousal, her lips pink and swollen, her breath heaving. “How’s that for proof?”
He straightened his hat on his head, left her standing there and headed for his truck. His skin tingled with want and desire. He had a hard on that ached. He put the truck into gear and headed for the Rocking M. He had been 2a fine judge and he was up for anything. He handled situations all the time. He made decisions and they were the right ones. He made them after careful reflection and consideration of all angles. And he’d just blown his whole philosophy to hell and gone and he didn’t have a clue how he was going to get back on track again.
***
Kinley began filling a feed bucket while exhaustion pulled at her body. She’d been up since six and hadn’t stopped since her feet hit the floor. She swiped at a lock of hair hanging in her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh. All she wanted was a hot meal—which she was going to have to cook unfortunately because take-out wasn’t a part of her tight budget—and a soak in the tub with some iced tea. She fed Bear then glanced around for Ethan. This was his first introduction to feeding the animals. She saw him sitting on the ground with his legs bent, leaning against an old saddle and reading a comic book. “Ethan, this is important.”
He ignored her.
Kinley set down the bucket she was filling, walked over and jerked the comic book out of his hands.
He jumped from the ground. “Hey, give that back!”
She rolled the comic book up and shoved it into her back pocket. “No. I’m confiscating this until the animals are fed.”
He folded his arms over his chest and sneered. “I’m bored. You do it.”
Temper flared. “Excuse me?”
“Give it back and I’ll help. Otherwise, no deal.”
“I don’t make deals.”
“I don’t feed animals. I’m not your slave.”
She heard his stomach growl and knew he hadn’t had a bite since lunch. “Okay, you don’t help feed the animals, you don’t get dinner tonight.”
An expression crossed his face like a starving cur that sighted a juicy bone but couldn’t get to it. He lowered his gaze to the ground then back up to hers. “Fine, but I want my comic book back.”
“Not until we finish.”
He wrinkled his nose. “It stinks around here.”
“That’s perfume. You’ll get used to it.” She started toward the feed barrels. “Now, come and give me a hand,” she said over her shoulder.
When she picked up the half-full bucket and looked behind her, Ethan was kneeling with a piece of hay in his hand jabbing the end of the straw at a little bug. “Ethan, leave that poor bug alone and for the last time come and help me. Please.”
He rolled his eyes, tossed the straw into the air, squashed the bug beneath his shoe and headed toward her.
“Why did you do that? Those bugs help feed the barn swallows.”
He shrugged. “Whatever.”
Annoyance slammed through Kinley’s veins. She inhaled a breath in an attempt to soothe her anger. He’d had a rough time and was just pushing her buttons. “This is for Maddie’s horse, Astrid.” She handed him the bucket. “My aunt Maddie owned this place and she left it to me.”
Ethan curled his mouth in a smirk. “Lucky you.”
She ignored his sarcasm and nodded at two barrels. A can lay on top of the oats in one barrel and a can on top of the sweet feed in the other. She finished filling the bucket with oats, dumped one can of sweet feed on top of the oats and thrust the bucket into his hands. She picked up two slices of hay from a bale she’d cut the twine on. “Come on, I’ll open the stall door for you.”
Ethan followed at her heels kicking little plumes of dust into the air. She opened the stall door and the mare turned her head and looked from where she stood in the corner, with one back leg in a relaxed position. “Hey, girl. Ready for your dinner?”
Kinley turned. Ethan stood outside the stall, his eyes slightly wide staring at the horse, his feet firmly planted. “Come on. It’s okay. She’s as gentle as a lamb.”
The boy stepped gingerly inside the stall. “Dump the grain in her feed bucket.”
He did as she told him and the mare swung her big body around and headed for her feed. Ethan scrambled out of the stall.
Kinley started to put the hay on the floor of the stall then thought better of it. “She needs hay too.” She held up the slices for him.
Ethan swallowed then stepped forward. She handed him the hay then stepped out of the stall. He dropped the hay. The mare lifted her head from the bucket, turned with her mouth working on the grain and blew in Ethan’s face.
A little smile spread over Ethan’s mouth before he caught Kinley watching him then he put on his sullen expression again. “I think she likes you. How would you like to be in charge of her care every day?”
“Maybe.”
“Good, that’s settled. You’ll need to muck out her stall, feed and groom her.”
He put his serious I’m-tough-as-nails face back on. “I said maybe.” He stepped out of the stall and started to walk away.
“Hey, get back over here. You forgot something.”
He stopped in his tracks and looked behind him. She gestured toward the open stall door.
Ethan gave a heavy sigh, stomped back and closed the door.
“Always close a gate or a stall door behind you. It’s as much for the animal’s safety as for yours. Now, for Midnight’s dinner. She is almost ready to foal so I’ve increased her feed a bit.”
She walked to the feed barrels. Ethan looked bored but followed. She handed him an empty bucket. “Now watch while I mix her feed.” Ethan got distracted and started kicking an empty bucket around. “Ethan, you need to pay attention. This is very important.”
He stopped with a sulky look on his face. “I thought I was in charge of Astrid.”
“You are but there may be a time when I need you to feed Midnight.”
He huffed a breath and walked over to her while she finished mixing the feed. Together they went to Midnight’s stall. The mare stood placidly with her belly round with her foal. Her ears pricked when she saw them. Her coat was shiny black and she had four white stockings and a white star on her face. Kinley
handed the bucket to Ethan. “Okay, go inside and feed her. I’ll get some hay while you’re doing that.”
When Kinley came back, Ethan was gently petting the horse while she munched on her food. Kinley rested her arms on top of the stall door. “Beautiful isn’t she?”
“She looks like a ball with four legs.”
Kinley chuckled. “Well, you would too if you were carrying one-hundred pounds around in your belly.”
“When is she due?”
“Soon, another week or so. Thought I’d make burgers for dinner. That okay with you?”
He shrugged. “Sure. We all done?”
“Almost, Cocoa Bean was favoring his right foot earlier. I want to make sure he isn’t hurt.” She turned to head for the llama enclosure.
She felt the comic book slide from her back pocket. With the comic in his hand, Ethan laughed at her over his shoulder and high-tailed it toward the river.
Kinley shook her head and fought back a smile. She remembered being his age, sulky and defiant, yanking against her parents’ discipline. But she was resolved to see this through because despite Ethan giving her a hard time, she cared about him and wanted his trust. And she was determined to earn it and determined to give him a real home, a home he deserved.
***
Linc sat in a chair on the patio by the pool. Kinley’s words came back to him. Was he up for it? Could he handle dealing with a troubled boy and Kinley at the same time? He hated chaos. It meant throwing his life to the whims of fate. The back door opened and he didn’t need to turn around to know it was his brother, Rafe.
His brother sat in a chair beside him, stretched out his legs crossed at the ankles and folded his hands on his chest. “You’ve been gnawing on something all evening. What is it?”
Linc turned to his brother a man who knew him better than he knew himself. He knew everything about Linc except for what had happened that day at the rodeo. He’d never told anyone. “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”
The Judge And The Heiress (A Salvation Texas Novel) Page 4
