Midnight Thunder(INCR)

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  “I know, but it’s only for a couple of days. You don’t have to decide now, but I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”

  “And I want to meet them, too. Eventually.” He thought some time should go by before he went charging over there. Maybe weeks, maybe months. The appropriate amount of time wasn’t clear in his mind, but mid-July might be too soon.

  “Okay.” She sounded a little deflated.

  “Look, do you want me to come with you? For moral support?”

  She hesitated. “Yes.”

  “In that case, I’ll go unless I have a job I can’t leave or something critical comes up. Like I said, the future’s kind of uncertain with the ranch in trouble.”

  “I understand. But it’ll be great if you can go.” Her voice had a happy little lilt to it.

  Apparently she really had wanted him to go over to Jackson Hole with her. Maybe the Chances intimidated her, too. Too? Damn it, was he intimidated? The tension in his gut told him the answer. Well, hell.

  Coming back to Thunder Mountain Ranch was turning out to be an educational experience. In less than two days he’d learned that he was prejudiced against riding with a woman driver and that being instantly related to a powerful family made his stomach hurt. Finding out these things wasn’t particularly pleasant, especially because he considered himself a guy who had his act together.

  On the plus side, Lexi wanted to have sex with him as much, and maybe more, than she had before he’d left. He was fairly sure she still loved him, although she hadn’t said it. He hadn’t said it, either, but it was the only word to describe how he felt.

  They were in early days. They’d get to the love talk, and then the marriage talk. He and Lexi needed to be married. He hadn’t been ready to make that commitment before, but now he was and it would happen. That was something to hold on to as he dealt with everything else, including whatever happened with the ranch.

  She glanced over at him. “You look as if you’re relaxing a bit, cowboy.”

  “I am.” Sure enough, he wasn’t gripping his knees. His hands rested on his thighs and the tension had left his stomach. He wondered if she’d want to get married in a church or at Thunder Mountain. Better not ask that yet, since he hadn’t even declared his love, let alone proposed.

  If the ranch no longer belonged to the Padgetts when they were ready to get married, that would suck. “I guess we should be brainstorming this crowdfunding plan some more.”

  “We should. Any ideas?”

  “Not specifically, but the whole thing is brilliant—first to think of raising money that way, and second to figure out what would appeal to people so they’d donate to the cause. Do you suppose Finn came up with all of that by himself?”

  “Maybe. He’s pretty smart.”

  “No doubt, but I didn’t hear him throwing out concepts right and left for how we could use the idea to save the ranch.” He pulled out his phone. “I’m going to ask him.”

  Finn answered immediately. “Let me guess. You’re just now leaving the ranch.”

  “Smart-ass. We might even beat you there. Listen, did you have anybody working with you on the crowdfunding campaign or was that all you?”

  “You mean Chelsea?”

  “Who’s Chelsea?”

  “Chelsea Trask. I met her in line at a coffee shop right after I got to Seattle.”

  “Hang on a minute. Let me put you on speaker so Lexi can hear this.” He looked over at Lexi. “Chelsea Trask. Met her in a coffee shop. This could be the answer to all our problems.” Then he pushed the speaker icon. “Okay, go ahead.”

  “Like I said, Chelsea suggested the crowdfunding idea and agreed to work with me for a percentage of the profits. She’s the one who told me to buy the old building and appeal to people’s nostalgia about saving it.”

  “So is she making money from O’Roarke’s, then?”

  “Oh, yeah. She gets a check every month.”

  “We need her.”

  “You mean here in Sheridan? I don’t know if that’s—”

  “She doesn’t have to come here in person, but maybe a conference call, or Skype, something so we can lay out our situation and see if she has any ideas. If she’ll take the same deal, a percentage of the profits, great. If she wants a fee, then we’ll have to see what we can do.”

  On the other end, Finn cleared his throat. “I guess she’d have to know I’m involved.”

  “Hell, yes, she’d have to know. I thought you’d be the one to contact her.”

  “Unfortunately, I’m not her favorite person.”

  Cade exchanged a look with Lexi. “Why not?”

  “Apparently she’s always had feelings for me, so after the divorce, she was hoping we’d get together. But I said I needed to concentrate on the business, and she...told me off.”

  “Oh.” Cade’s shining hopes began to sink.

  “That’s why I didn’t mention her before. You could try contacting her and pretend you’ve never heard of me, but she knows too much. That first meeting lasted a couple of hours, and I told her all about Thunder Mountain Ranch. I actually think that’s one of the reasons she wanted to help me.”

  Cade massaged the bridge of his nose. “Remind me how Alison fits into this scenario. I’m confused about the time frame.”

  “I met her later on. It was lust at first sight, and we flew to Vegas and got married within two months of our first date. Two years later, she asked for a divorce.”

  “I see this is complicated. We’ll have to come up with a strategy. See you at the hospital, bro. Oh, wait. What’s our story when we get there? Rosie knows that we know.”

  Damon’s voice came through the speaker. “We tell her that we promise not to put ourselves in jeopardy, but we’re working on a solution. Which we are.”

  “Sounds good. See you there.” Cade disconnected the call. “Damn. I thought we had a good resource. Why the hell didn’t O’Roarke marry her?”

  “Because he was thinking with his—”

  “Don’t say it.” Cade held up a hand. “We all do that. I do that. Who do you think’s been in charge ever since I showed up at the ranch the other night? Not my logical brain, I can tell you that.”

  She laughed. “Then you know why Finn married Alison instead of Chelsea.”

  “Yes, but he had a second chance, and he blew that one, too!”

  “Finn doesn’t know what he wants.”

  “That’s obvious, but somehow we have to get Chelsea to help us, regardless of how O’Roarke has screwed up the dynamic.”

  “I think she will,” Lexi said softly.

  “You do?” Cade decided there were advantages to being the passenger. He didn’t have to pay attention to the road, which left him free to admire the cute tilt of her nose and the graceful curve of her throat. “Why?”

  “She loves him.”

  “I’m not getting that. I think she’s gone from loving to loathing without passing Go or collecting two hundred dollars.”

  Lexi smiled, which created the small dimple he loved so much and which he didn’t often get a chance to observe so well. He would kiss that dimple, but she might drive right off the road. “What’s so funny?”

  “Loving and loathing are two sides of the same coin,” she said. “If she cared enough to tell him off, she might still love him. And Finn desperately needs someone to love him.”

  “Don’t we all.”

  She swallowed. “Yes, we do.”

  His chest grew warm, and the words rose up, ready to be said. “Lexi, I—”

  “Not now. Not when I’m driving in traffic and I can’t look into your eyes.”

  He was stunned into silence. His heart thumped heavily in his chest as he bit back what he’d been about to say. She was right, once again. This was not the time or place.


  Even reaching for her hand was dicey because her truck was a stick shift, and the last thing he wanted was to distract her and cause a problem. But he’d get another chance. Unlike O’Roarke, he knew what he wanted.

  They rode the rest of the way without talking, but her color was high and he had fun imagining her thoughts. He wondered what kind of ring she’d want. Unlike some guys, he didn’t have an heirloom to pass down. He’d have to get something from a store or online.

  He wasn’t crazy about the online option, but if she wanted an antique, that might be the only way to find it. They’d never talked about rings because the minute he’d realized she wanted a proposal, he’d bolted. He was damned lucky that she hadn’t ended up with some other guy.

  His truck was in the hospital parking lot, and Lexi let out with a very unladylike swear word when she spotted it. “I was speeding, but Damon must have been really speeding.”

  Cade widened his eyes in mock surprise. “You think?”

  “I would have beaten him if I hadn’t been worried about scaring you, this being your first trip with a lady driver and all.”

  “Thanks for being gentle with me.” The charged moment when he’d been about to say the right thing at the wrong time had been replaced with their usual irreverent banter, which was fine with him.

  “Oh, stuff it, Gallagher. Let’s go see Rosie.”

  Smiling, he walked beside her into the hospital. Life with Lexi would be a constant adventure. He was impatient to make their connection official, but that probably should wait until Rosie was home again and healthy. Then again, Rosie had always wanted them to end up together, and knowing they were engaged might very well speed her recovery.

  The hallway outside Rosie’s room was empty. Cade guessed that Herb had already let everyone know that Rosie hadn’t had a heart attack. The only people in the room were Herb, Damon and Finn.

  Herb looked a thousand times better. He’d shaved and changed clothes, plus the terror had faded from his eyes. Cade was glad of that. He wasn’t ready for either one of these excellent people to go into a decline.

  Rosie seemed much perkier, although he still didn’t like seeing her lying in a hospital bed surrounded by machines. She beamed when Cade walked in with Lexi. “There you are! Damon and Finn seem to think you two are back together. Is that right?”

  Lexi went over to the bed and perched on the edge while she leaned down and gave Rosie a kiss on the cheek. “I don’t hate him, if that’s what you mean.”

  “And I consider that progress.” Cade hung back so Lexi could have her time with Rosie.

  “Oh, it’s progress, all right!” Rosie grinned at him. “You should have heard her curse your name five years ago. With the help of her girlfriends she cursed you in three languages.”

  “Impressive.” After hearing Lexi say that love and hate were two sides of the same coin, that didn’t bother him a bit. If she’d gone to all that trouble, deep love was there along with her understandable fury when he’d walked away.

  “It was.” Rosie was quiet for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and surveyed the group. “I guess you all know about our financial issues.”

  “We do,” Cade said gently. “Lexi explained it.”

  “And I’m grateful for that. I wasn’t looking forward to telling you. The thing is, Herb and I had a chance to talk last night, and we’re agreed that it might be time to hang it up. We had a good run, and if that’s all she wrote, so be it.”

  Cade exchanged a look with Damon and Finn. “Maybe so, but we want to see if we can come up with some options. We might as well try, right?”

  “That’s my feeling,” Damon said. “We just need to check out a few things.”

  Rosie’s expression was stern. “But no heroics. Is that understood?”

  Damon nodded. “Understood. We—” He stopped talking and glanced toward the doorway where Molly had appeared, a package clutched to her chest. “Hey, Molly. What’s up?”

  “She has something for me.” Cade walked toward her, still unable to believe he had a cousin. No, several cousins.

  “Sorry to interrupt.” She held out the package. “But I wanted you to have these.”

  “Come on in, Molly,” Herb said.

  “Thanks, but I can’t.” She straightened her large tortoiseshell glasses. “I have an interview at the college. But thanks for calling with the good news this morning. I’m so glad you’re doing better, Rosie.”

  “You and me both.” Rosie smiled at her. “Good luck with your interview. They’d be nuts not to hire you.”

  “Fingers crossed. See you all later!” She whisked out the door and down the hall, heels tapping on the bare floor.

  Cade looked at the package wrapped in plain brown paper. It felt like a book, a fairly large one, the kind people put on coffee tables.

  Damon sauntered over. “Are you going to open it or drive us all crazy?”

  “He doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to,” Finn said.

  “No, it’s okay.” He took off the wrapping and handed it to Damon. “Hold this.”

  “As you wish, my liege.”

  “Bite me, Harrison.” Cade had opened it upside down, and all he could see was a plain black binding. The package turned out to be two books, and when he flipped them over, he sucked in a breath. Gallagher Family Tree was embossed in gold on the front of the first book. The second one was identical, except it was for the Chance family.

  “Wow, that’s cool.” Damon peered over his shoulder. “Do you suppose you’re in there?”

  “Guess so.” He opened the front cover and on the inside page Molly had written, “To Cade—Welcome to the family. Love, Molly.” His throat tightened and he was terrified that he might lose it. He hadn’t cried in fifteen years and damned if he’d do it now, especially in front of everybody.

  He shoved the books at Damon. “I left something in the truck. Be right back.” And he bolted out the door.

  When he got to the parking lot, his eyes were damp and he realized he couldn’t have come out here to grab something from either truck. Damon had his keys and Lexi had hers.

  Because she was smart enough to realize that, he wasn’t surprised to hear her voice.

  “You’ll need a key.”

  He swiped at his eyes before turning to face her. He didn’t know what to say, how to explain.

  Apparently he didn’t have to. Without a word, she came over and wrapped her arms around him.

  With a groan he pulled her close and rested his cheek against her soft curls.

  She hugged him tight. “It’s a lot to take in.”

  “Yeah.” And he held on to her until the knot in his chest loosened and he could breathe. “You know what I keep thinking?”

  “What?”

  “If my mom had let herself reconnect with her people, she’d be alive.”

  “Oh, Cade.” She hugged him tighter. “I don’t think she was strong enough to face them.”

  “Guess not.”

  “But you are.”

  “I hope so.” The prospect still made his stomach hurt. “I have to admit I’m real nervous about meeting all of them.”

  “But you will meet them, and it’ll be great.”

  “Yeah.” He knew she expected that of him, but he wasn’t sure if he could live up to those expectations. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head and looked around to see if anyone else had come out, like Damon, for instance, with the keys to Cade’s truck. He hadn’t, thank God.

  She gazed up at him. “Better?”

  “Yes. Thanks.” He hesitated. “I didn’t have anything to come out here for.”

  “I know. We all know.”

  “Damned embarrassing.”

  “I saw what she wrote. I would have been worried if you hadn’t
reacted like this. Why do you suppose she delivered it and hurried off?”

  “She had an interview.”

  “Nice timing, don’t you think?”

  He stared at her. “So she’s as jacked up about this discovery as I am?”

  “Maybe not quite as much or in the same way, but I can tell that meeting you has touched her deeply. She’s really big on family, which makes this discovery precious to her.”

  “I don’t know why. She’s knee-deep in relatives. What’s so special about one more?”

  Lexi smiled. “You were the boy who went missing, the little lamb who got lost, the calf who strayed from the herd, the—”

  “Okay, okay, I get it.” She’d made him laugh, which he’d sorely needed. He’d been taking himself way too seriously. “We’d better get back in there. We have work to do.”

  “Like what?”

  “We need to gang up on Finn so he’ll call Chelsea and grovel.”

  13

  “OKAY, BUT I’M NOT groveling in front of you guys.” Finn pushed back his chair. They’d all gathered in the hospital’s dining area for lunch, including Herb. They’d brought him in on the discussion at Lexi’s insistence. She’d seen no point in bothering Chelsea if Herb and Rosie would nix the idea.

  Herb, it turned out, thought crowdfunding was a brilliant concept. He’d understood the significance of Rosie’s broken heart syndrome and knew that selling the ranch wasn’t a good option. Herb’s excitement about getting Chelsea on board had sealed the deal for Finn.

  He pulled out his phone. “Just warning you, she might not answer my call.”

  “One way to find out,” Damon said.

  “See you guys in a few.” Finn walked away.

  “What if she doesn’t answer?” Herb asked the group at the table.

  “I could be wrong,” Lexi said, “but if she’s cared for him all this time, I think she’ll answer.”

  Cade leaned back in his chair and adjusted the tilt of his Stetson. “I hope he doesn’t louse it up.”

  “Me, too.” Damon polished off his coffee. “Sounds as if he flat out told her his business takes precedence over everything. That’s brutal.”