Midnight Thunder(INCR)

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  At five they grouped around Herb’s computer. Lexi had persuaded Finn to handle the opening comments and the introductions.

  He didn’t look happy about it, and he’d chosen to wear the battered old cowboy hat, but he sat in Herb’s desk chair and smiled when Chelsea popped up on the screen. “Hey, Chels. We’re all here.”

  “I see that you’re there.” Chelsea turned out to be a brown-eyed blonde with purple streaks in her hair and an attitude. “So what, you’ve gone native already?”

  “It shades my eyes. There’s a lot of sun in Wyoming.”

  “Especially indoors. I’ll bet the sun’s brutal in the house.”

  Cade glanced down to hide a smile. He didn’t dare look at Lexi.

  Finn ignored the dig. “Let me introduce everybody.”

  “And while you’re at it, tell me what they do for a living.” Chelsea picked up a digital tablet. “I’ll make notes about that for later.”

  Finn went through the roster and each of them moved closer to the computer and waved at Chelsea.

  When they were finished, she consulted her tablet. “I take it this is the core group.”

  “Yes,” Finn said. “But we can recruit others, guys who were in the foster program with us.”

  “I hope for your sake one of them became a lawyer, because you’ll need one to keep tabs on the operation. If they’ll do it for free, so much the better.”

  Finn nodded. “There’s a lawyer in Cheyenne who was here for a while. We’ll get in touch with him.” He seemed mesmerized by the screen. “Your hair’s purple.”

  “Nice of you to notice.” She consulted her tablet. “Major resources are—a horse trainer, a riding instructor, a renovations expert and a business owner. Oh, and you mentioned that Rosie’s husband is a retired equine vet. You have a ranch in somewhat decent shape, three cabins, a washhouse behind the cabins and a barn. Does that about sum it up?”

  Finn glanced around, and everyone nodded. “That’s it. Oh, and Rosie’s a great cook and is used to working with teenagers, but we don’t want to overwork her.”

  Frowning, Chelsea stared at her tablet. “You need a residential program that makes use of your combined skills. Three of you know something about horses. One of you could help maintain the property, one of you can cook and understands teenagers and one of you has some experience running a successful business.” Then she fell silent.

  Cade heard the theme song from Jeopardy! in his head as they all waited for Chelsea to say something.

  Finally she did. “I don’t know a lot about this area, but presumably some of you do. Teenagers need help figuring out what they want to do with their lives and some of them may want to work with horses. With your personnel, you could offer a course of study that would help them decide if that’s what they want.”

  Cade spoke up. “Is that enough of a hook? Finn got people interested in saving a building. What’s our mass appeal?”

  “Horses, for one. You’re offering to help educate a new generation about their medical needs, their unique personalities and their use for both pleasure riding and competition.”

  “I can see that,” Lexi said. “In the digital age, people are connecting with animals as a way to balance their lives. Horses are seen as noble animals.”

  Chelsea nodded. “They are. Also, parents with means would love to find out if Susie and Johnny want a career involving horses or only think they do. If you start an academy with the potential to be a prestigious training ground, then the parents will want to be in on the ground floor. That would give them bragging rights.”

  “I like it,” Damon said. “What age are you thinking about?”

  “Kids who are only a year or two away from going to college, before they have to choose a major. I’d say sixteen to eighteen.”

  “Both boys and girls?” Cade could see problems with a coed academy.

  “I think you need to have both or risk a discrimination suit.” Chelsea put down her tablet. “Hate to run out on you, but I have a date. You can email me any more questions, or we can set up another Skype time.”

  “We have plenty to chew on for now,” Cade said. “Thanks for the session.”

  Everyone else added their thanks and Chelsea signed off.

  “A date,” Finn muttered. “I’ll bet she said that to get a rise out of me. She could be going to the movies with her sister.”

  “Or maybe she has a date.” Damon stood. “You shot her down, so she’s looking elsewhere. Let’s bring Ringo up here and have some dinner so we can discuss Chelsea’s idea. I think it has potential.”

  Finn gave him a dark look. “I’ll go get the cat.”

  Moments later, they sat around the kitchen table debating Chelsea’s proposal. This time, though, Cade made sure he wasn’t across from Lexi. He wanted to be within touching distance.

  They’d taken some chicken off the bone and given it to Ringo in his bowl, and he was merrily chomping away. Cade doubted the cat had ever had it so good.

  “I like the concept.” Damon dished himself some coleslaw. “Herb has a ton of veterinary knowledge to pass on, and he loves teaching kids. Gallagher’s excellent at working with horses, and—”

  “Assuming he’s not too distracted.” Finn chuckled and picked up his beer.

  “Hey.” Cade skewered him with a glance. “Knock it off.”

  “Sorry.” Finn sighed. “I’m just jealous. My love life stinks.”

  “It doesn’t have to,” Lexi said. “She still likes you.”

  “Chelsea? Are you kidding?”

  “Nope. I watched her expression while you were talking. If you asked her out, she’d say yes.”

  Finn shook his head. “She’s too intense. I need to focus on the business. If I could play the field like Harrison, that would be okay, but I’m not good at that.”

  “I could give you some pointers,” Damon said. “I—”

  “Thanks, but no thanks.” Finn looked over at Lexi. “I’m happy for you guys, so ignore my dumb remarks. You belong together.”

  Lexi blushed. “Well, we, uh... We’re not exactly—”

  “Yeah, we do.” Cade reached for her hand and squeezed it. “We always have, and I finally wised up to the fact.” She didn’t squeeze back, but then, she was probably busy thinking about Finn and Chelsea.

  “Good,” Damon said. “And this time around I’m sure you’ll do the right thing. It’s working out great, in fact, because we have a real ace in the hole if Lexi’s teaching riding skills to these kids.” He glanced at her. “Rosie says you’re becoming really well-known as an instructor.”

  “That brings up an important point.” Lexi slipped her hand from Cade’s. “Are we talking about a program that would run continuously year-round? Because my clinics keep me very busy. I’m scheduled through December. You know I want to support this, but I can’t teach here full-time.”

  “But it’d be a paying job,” Damon said. “It’s not like you’d be doing it for free.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Cade said. “It’d be like us asking you to give up flipping houses and be a full-time maintenance man at the ranch.”

  “Good analogy.” Lexi sent him a grateful smile. “I’m not saying I won’t teach here at all. But I love setting my own schedule and traveling to different venues.”

  “And Rosie wouldn’t want her to give that up.” Cade felt proud of himself for adding that, especially when Lexi rewarded him with another warm glance.

  “No, she wouldn’t,” Lexi said. “This is a promising idea, but she was very clear that none of us should sacrifice what we’re doing to make it happen. If we want a full-time instructor on-site, I’ll find a good one and help design the program.”

  Damon nodded. “Fair enough. That means three of us will be off handling our businesses and functioning as
consultants mostly.” He looked over at Cade. “We can’t very well hatch this plan and then dump the daily routine on Rosie and Herb, so that leaves you to stay here and supervise. Are you okay with that?”

  “Well, yeah, I guess so.” He hadn’t thought of his contribution in that way, but if it meant saving the ranch, he’d do whatever was necessary, especially since he’d stayed away so long. It was true that he had no business to run, while the rest of them did.

  “That’s good,” Finn said, “because I think one of us needs to be on-site. We’re talking about a residential program for older teens. There could be drama.”

  “Oh, you know there will be,” Damon said. “And we can’t expect Rosie and Herb to climb out of bed in the middle of the night to deal with it. They’ve done their share of that already.”

  The reality of the situation finally dawned on Cade. “Then you’re saying I should live on the ranch.”

  Damon met his gaze. “Yes.”

  “Then I need a little time to think about that.”

  “I thought you might. But we don’t have a lot of wiggle room. We have to get everything settled before Finn and I leave.”

  “Understood.” He’d have to discuss this with Lexi later tonight when they were alone. Once he agreed to live on the ranch, he’d be locked in for the foreseeable future.

  He hadn’t meant to bring up the subject of marriage this soon, but it looked as if he had no choice. If Lexi accepted his proposal, he didn’t relish starting married life in one of Herb and Rosie’s guest rooms. A cozy cabin for newlyweds wasn’t in the budget, either.

  Lexi was smart. Maybe she’d have a solution. Assuming she was even remotely interested in marrying him. He wished he felt more confident about that.

  15

  A COUPLE OF hours later, they had a name for the project—Thunder Mountain Academy—and a tentative figure for the crowdfunding campaign, an amount that would cover the equity loan and their initial operating expenses.

  Lexi found a pad of paper in a kitchen drawer and began sketching logo ideas. “Let’s start with a horseshoe.”

  “With the open end at the top, don’t forget,” Finn said. “Otherwise the luck drains out.”

  “Spoken like a true Irishman.” Damon had coaxed Ringo onto his lap, and the gray tabby purred loudly as Damon found the sweet spot behind his ears.

  Lexi drew the horseshoe and arranged the initials TMA above it. “I’m no artist, but how about making the M part look like mountain peaks?”

  Cade looked at her drawing. “I can see that. Good idea.” He’d been fairly quiet during the discussion, as if something might be weighing on his mind.

  She figured he was mulling over the prospect of living at the ranch. He’d balked a little at that idea, and she was afraid that might have something to do with her, especially considering Damon’s remark about “doing the right thing” this time around.

  She hoped to hell Cade wasn’t going to propose. They’d been having a great time getting reacquainted, but that didn’t mean she wanted to marry him.

  She filled in the letters so they looked bolder. “And I know exactly who we can ask to create this logo, too. Ben Radcliffe.”

  “The saddle maker?” Finn looked surprised.

  “Yep.” Lexi glanced at the kitchen clock. “If it wasn’t so late, I’d call him right now. You should see the designs he creates to embellish his saddles. He’d be perfect. We could offer to pay him, but I know he won’t take it.”

  Damon grinned. “There’s a plus. Speaking of how late it’s getting, Ringo and I are about ready to call it a night.”

  Finn pushed back his chair. “Good idea. Do we know when Rosie’s coming home tomorrow?”

  Lexi tore off the sheet of paper, folded it and tucked it in her pocket. “She said if nothing unexpected happens tonight, then she can leave after her doctor shows up to release her tomorrow morning. If the doctor gets delayed, Rosie has to sit and wait, but she doesn’t want us wasting gas coming to see her.”

  “So we’ll make the place look nice for when she gets here,” Cade said. “And by the way, we’re not inviting a bunch of former Thunder Mountain guys to a party this week, are we? I know we talked about it, but I don’t think it makes sense now.”

  “Nope. Not anymore.” Damon scooped up the cat and stood. “But once we get our act together on Thunder Mountain Academy, we should contact them all. They might be able to donate money or services.”

  A cell phone chimed with a text message. “That’s mine.” Finn pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s Chelsea. She came up with some T-shirt slogans.”

  “Already?” Damon walked around behind Finn and peered over his shoulder.

  “She gets excited about this stuff,” Finn said.

  Lexi thought Chelsea was also excited about working with Finn again, but she decided against saying anything.

  Damon grinned. “These are good slogans. ‘Equinimity—Definition: Good old-fashioned horse sense.’ ‘Raise Your EQ—Equine Quotient.’ ‘Never mind, it’s an equine thing.’ Now all we need is to get somebody to turn them into a graphic.”

  Lexi fished her drawing out of her pocket. “Want to text a picture of this and see what she thinks? And ask about Thunder Mountain Academy, if that name sounds good to her.”

  “Sure.” Finn took a shot of the drawing and started typing.

  “And tell her we like the slogans,” Damon said. “I figured she’d be a huge asset to this campaign, but I didn’t expect she’d jump right in.”

  “That’s Chels, a bundle of energy.” Finn sent off the message. “She was like that with O’Roarke’s, too. Ideas flying, texting back and forth at all hours of the night.” His phone chimed again. “She loves the logo concept and wants to know if we have somebody to design it.”

  “Tell her yes.” Lexi could already picture the beautiful job Ben would do. “A talented saddle maker.”

  “T-shirt slogans and a logo.” Cade nudged his hat back with his thumb. “It’s starting to seem real.”

  “It is real.” Lexi put her drawing back in her pocket. “We’re going to make this happen.”

  Finn chuckled. “Chels wants to know why the hell we didn’t mention the saddle maker. He should give classes.”

  “That’s a terrific idea. Now I really wish I could call him. He’s talked about wanting to pass on what he learned from his mentor, who’s now retired. I love this. Chelsea’s brilliant.”

  “I’ll tell her you said so.” Finn typed quickly and smiled at the response. “She wants to meet you.”

  “Tell her she’s invited here anytime.”

  “Okay.” Finn sent the message.

  “In fact, she should come if she can get away, so she can see what she’s helping promote.”

  “That’s true.” Finn looked at the screen. “She’s pretty busy for the next couple of months, but she’ll keep the possibility in mind. I can tell she’s excited about this project.”

  “I’m glad,” Damon said. “But I really am done for the night. See you all in the morning.”

  “I’ll go with you. I need to charge my phone. It’s almost dead.” Finn stood and glanced at Cade. “You coming down to the cabin?”

  “Well, I—”

  “No, he’s not, genius. He and Lexi have some things to discuss.” Damon started out of the kitchen.

  “Oh, right. I forgot. See you two in the morning, then.” He followed Damon out the door.

  Damon glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t suppose I could talk you into silencing your phone for the rest of the night.”

  “Uh, okay. I guess I could.”

  “Nah, don’t.” Damon continued on toward the front door, but his voice carried easily to the kitchen. “I hate it when you sound like that.”

/>   “Like what?”

  “Like you just dropped your ice cream on the sidewalk.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake. I don’t sound like that.”

  They were still bickering as they went out the door.

  Lexi grinned at Cade. “I’d forgotten how funny they could be.”

  “Yeah.” He smiled briefly, but then his expression grew thoughtful again.

  “Chelsea’s certainly enthusiastic.”

  “Yep.”

  “I don’t know if it’s the project or Finn that’s motivating her, but either way, Thunder Mountain Academy will benefit.”

  “That’ll be good.” He pushed back his chair and held out his hand. “Ready to take a drive, pretty lady?”

  The minute she put her hand in his and let him pull her up, she felt the tension humming through him. One look into his eyes told her he had more than sex on his mind. “I should have asked you instead, since I’ll be driving.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry. Old habits die hard.”

  “No worries.” But that confirmed that he was distracted. They’d had a long and somewhat significant discussion about letting her drive tonight. Obviously something more important was occupying his thoughts.

  She squeezed his hand and released it. “My purse is in the bedroom. I’ll be right back.” When she returned to the kitchen, he was standing right where she’d left him, his hands in his pockets and his head down. Yeah, he was wrestling with something, all right. His concentration was so intense he hadn’t heard her come back.

  “Ready?”

  His head came up, and he blinked. “Yep.”

  They drove to their make-out spot in silence, and the longer it stretched out, the more nervous she became. Any minute she expected him to blurt out whatever was bothering him, but instead he got out the minute they stopped and came around to open her door.

  “At least let me help you down.”

  “I’d love that.” Placing both hands on his shoulders, she shivered as he gripped her around the waist with hands strong enough to support her and gentle enough to give her exquisite pleasure.