by Vanessa Vale
I couldn’t turn the car back on and pull out of the driveway. I was nervous, not rude.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped out, went up the walk.
“You look like you’re freezing. Come inside,” she said.
She closed the front door behind us and took my hat and gloves after I tugged them off.
“Just as I imagined. You look nothing like the rest of us,” she remarked.
I shrugged out of my coat and hung it on a peg by the door beside a few others. Big men’s coats and a shimmery silver one that had to be Kady’s.
Boots were lined up on a mat beneath, so I assumed this was a no-shoe house. I toed off my new ones as Kady chattered.
“Penny’s short and blonde, Cricket has darker hair but is taller. Curvier. But she has nothing on Sarah, who’s like a pin-up girl.” She put her hand to her hair and rolled her eyes. “Then there’s me.”
“I’m the one built like a boy then,” I countered, looking down at myself in my jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt. In comparison to Kady, with her soft and lush new mother curves, I definitely had the physique of a boy. I’d dressed in my apartment when I got up this morning and now I was standing in front of a sister in Montana. Crazy.
“I bet Sam and Ashe didn’t think you’re built like a boy.”
She grinned and I could feel my face heat. I looked anywhere but at her, took in the entry and the great room beyond.
“Oh my god.” She grabbed my arm and stepped close. “You slept with them.”
I glanced around some more. “How can you tell that?” I countered. Just then, a baby screamed from some other part of that house. “Don’t you have to um…go see to your baby?”
She waved her hand through the air as if it were no big deal. “She and Cord are taking a bath together. Don’t worry, that’s not a bad cry. She’s happy.”
Whatever. She had that mother thing where she knew the various sounds her baby made and the DefCon status of each one.
“You slept with Sam and Ashe. I knew you’d get along with them.”
“Get along?”
“They’re sweet and kind and manly and drop-dead gorgeous.”
“Who are you calling drop-dead gorgeous?” A man walked over to us, a smile on his face, easy demeanor. If Cord was in the bathtub, this had to be Riley.
He confirmed it. “Good to finally meet you,” he said.
“You, too.”
He was in jeans and a Henley, his fair hair a little wild as if he had yet to comb it today. Or Kady had been running her fingers through it. The way he pulled her into his side and kissed her temple, I assumed it was that.
“Sam and Ashe,” Kady told him, putting her hand on his biceps.
“Ah,” he replied, not adding to that. He was a smart man and he’d no doubt gleaned from my tone and adamant stance on keeping my being in town in secret that I didn’t want anything to do with those two.
“Kady and Cord know you’re here, but none of the others, as you asked,” he said as if reading my mind.
Kady lifted her hands to the praying position in front of her, her big diamond ring catching the light. “Please, please let me call the others. We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me? I just found out about all this”—I circled my finger in the air—“just the other day.”
“We’ve been waiting for our last sister for months.”
I glanced to Riley who was smiling indulgently at his wife. “It’s true. I never had sisters—brothers either, actually—so I can’t say if they’re any different than other families, but these four are really close.”
“I’m an only child,” I admitted, then shrugged. “Until now.”
“It’s true what Kady said, all four of them have been waiting for you, which means you’re in trouble.”
I frowned. “Trouble?”
“Please?” Kady begged, not answering my question.
I sighed, gave a small laugh, then nodded. “But just your sisters.”
This wasn’t that bad. The nerves I’d had since I stepped off the plane were gone. Riley was nice, Kady was ridiculously friendly and excited to meet me. Four sisters weren’t Ashe and Sam. I wouldn’t have to think about them at all or their trickery. How bad could four sisters be?
* * *
“You’re not married, no boyfriend. So what’s the scoop?” Penny asked an hour later.
As soon as I’d given Kady the go-ahead, she’d grabbed her phone and started calling. Instead of everyone—and I meant everyone—going to Kady, Riley and Cord’s house, we’d gone to the main house at Steele Ranch. Penny and one of her men had been horseback riding there and it was agreed it was easier for so many people to get together in the big house.
They hadn’t been wrong. There were fourteen of us, plus a few ranch hands. Together. Kady’s rancher in town was a nice size, but this was like a Thanksgiving dinner. The Steele family had built a beautiful farmhouse back in the 1800s that had grown and morphed over the generations to be even bigger. I guessed five or six bedrooms, at least five-thousand square feet. Since our father hadn’t claimed any of us, I had to assume it had been quite large and empty for just him. In death, he’d brought us all together.
Cricket lived in the house with her men, Sutton, Lee and Archer, and it suited them, especially since Sutton worked on the property and Lee, a professional rodeo rider, stabled his horse here. As for me? It was lovely but way, way out in the boonies.
It had taken ten minutes more for Sarah to show up from the town library, sharing that she’d closed up early just for me. Cricket and Boone had arrived a few minutes later in scrubs, having come from the hospital, although it had been quickly clarified they weren’t together. As in together, especially since Cricket greeted her three men—and not Boone—with very thorough kisses. Thirty minutes after that, Penny came with Jamison from the stable. Boone was the third of that group. Two ranch hands, Patrick and Shamus rounded out the party.
I’d lost track of who belonged to who after that, completely overwhelmed. All I knew was the head count.
Four new sisters and nine brothers-in-law! Plus two ranch hands.
And now I was in the kitchen surrounded by all four of my sisters. I sat on a high stool at the peninsula part of the counter, three of them on one side, one on the other. It wasn’t a sneak attack, but darn close. And the questions…gah. All four of them were eyeing me, waiting for my answer to Penny’s very direct and personal question.
While Penny had a baby on her shoulder and she was patting his little butt in a blue striped onesie, she had the look of a woman out to get the 411.
At least the men weren’t in the kitchen. In the great room, the TV was on some sport and they were talking, although I couldn’t hear—or process—what they were saying. Kady, Penny, Cricket and Sarah were all staring at me, waiting.
Oh yeah, Penny’s question. “The scoop?”
While we all shared the same father, none of them looked the same, just as Kady had said, but they rolled their eyes in sync.
“No husband,” Penny said.
“No.”
“No boyfriend,” Sarah added.
“No.”
“Yes to Ashe and Sam,” Kady tossed out.
“What?” Cricket said, her voice almost gleeful. “They are gorgeous and need a woman.”
Kady leaned on the counter so she was closer to me, the others leaning in as well. “She slept with them. And by slept, I mean they didn’t sleep at all. Right?”
6
NATALIE
* * *
I felt my cheeks heat as I stood up and went to the fridge with my empty glass. I knew I was a guest, but I wasn’t going to just sit there and be interrogated, especially on such a touchy subject. Why they were so eager to learn about my night with Ashe and Sam was surprising. I was a brand-new sister. Didn’t they want to know about my bra size and the type of shampoo I used? I found the pitcher of iced tea and refilled my glass.
“I bet they were good.�
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“Are you a thing now?”
“Where are they? They must be so glad you’re here.”
After shutting the fridge door, I turned to face them. They leaned against the counter, wide- eyed, waiting for answers to their peppered questions. “Do you only do this to the new sister? Hazing?”
Kady put her hand on her chest. “I was first. I had to deal with Cord and Riley all on my own. Then there was the bad guy and the murder and my other half-sister and—”
My mouth fell open as I listened to her.
“I was second,” Penny said, cutting her off. “Kady wasn’t much help because when I showed up, she wasn’t even in town. I had to deal with the whole losing-my-virginity thing on my own.”
“Jamison and Boone certainly helped,” Sarah countered, reaching out and patting baby Locke on the back.
“You’re one to talk,” Penny countered. “Wilder and King refused to even take off their pants until you married them.”
Sarah bit her lip to keep from replying, but from the bright color of her cheeks, Penny wasn’t tossing out wild accusations.
“Which took what, two days from when you guys finally got your heads out of your asses after a decade and got together?” Cricket asked. She turned to me. “I’m the slut of the group. I had a one-night-stand with Sutton at a rodeo and he pulled in Archer and Lee. Let’s just say it was a weekend-long one-night-stand with three guys. Then I left them.”
“But you’re here,” I replied, knowing there was a lot unsaid. Their stories were interesting, and hilarious.
“Long story short, I was put in sheriff department handcuffs, brought to Steele Ranch and fucked,” Cricket added.
“Oh,” I said, taking a sip of tea. One of her men, Archer, wore a sheriff’s uniform, so I had to assume the handcuffs belonged to him. I had no idea how to respond. “I want the long story long. All of it. And that murder thing Kady blurted out.”
“Oh no,” Sarah said, holding up her hand. “It’s your turn, sister. We want the dirty details. The dirtier the better.”
I glanced from one to the next. Kady, with her red hair and pretty clothes. Penny, all petite and blonde with the sweet little baby. Cricket with her spunky attitude and sly smile. Sarah with her long black hair and killer curves.
“How is it there are nine men out there and they’re not bothering any of us? Aren’t they thirsty or anything?” I asked.
“They are well-trained.” Sarah narrowed her eyes. “And I see you are skilled at evading. This is what happens when you arrive last. Four sisters to torture you.”
I bit my lip, torn between liking the feeling of them so interested in me, but also bothered, as if they were poking an open wound with a stick.
“I don’t like them,” I replied simply.
“Ashe and Sam?” Penny asked, frowning. “Why not?”
I took a deep breath, let it out. “Because they told me after I slept with them who they were, that they’d been investigating me, had an entire folder on me.”
They stared, and stared some more. Penny’s hand even stopped patting the baby.
“They didn’t tell you who they were? Like made up fake names and stuff?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, they were truthful about that, but the next morning, I was…well, in the shower with Ashe and he just spit out that I was an heiress and he was in Boston to tell me that.”
Sarah blinked. “That’s awful, but I’m stuck on the mental image of Ashe in the shower.”
Kady laughed. “Me, too!”
“You’re not bothered by it like I am?” I asked, surprised by their lightheartedness.
Cricket came over to me, tugged me across the room so I was in front of them again. “If you hate them, we hate them, too. We’re on your side.”
They all nodded and Sarah pulled me in for a hug. She was so much shorter, so curvy and in a few decades, would make a perfect grandma giving some sugar. “The jerks.”
I laughed then. That wasn’t sugar, but it felt good knowing she had my back. “I felt…embarrassed. Used. Tricked.”
The words came easier now.
“Yeah, the jerks,” Penny added. “But I’ve known them for several months now. They’ve never behaved that way that I’ve ever seen.”
“Ashe drove me to the hospital when my water broke,” Kady admitted. “I’d been at home and I called the office. Riley was in court with Cord so Ashe came right to the house. He took the turn into the driveway on two wheels. You would have thought he was the dad. He was completely freaking out.”
It was hard to imagine, the Ashe I knew had seemed to be so…chill.
“Maybe they just screwed up,” Cricket added. She cocked her head to the side, studied me. “I mean, look at you. You’re gorgeous. Any guy would be thinking with his dick at the sight of you. And those two? Yeah, you might think they’re dicks for how they revealed everything, but I bet they have really big ones. Dicks, I mean.”
I laughed then. Fully. “Yeah, they do.”
All four of them laughed and hollered, whooped it up and gave each other high fives.
“What did they say when they apologized?” Kady asked.
“They didn’t.” I held up my hand when they looked ready to go after them with pitchforks. “I mean, I didn’t give them a chance. I was so upset, I stormed out of the hotel room. I haven’t seen them since.”
“Well, I heard Cord say they were back in town. Why not let them have a chance to explain?”
“Yes, Natalie, why don’t you let us have a chance to explain?”
Kady, Sarah, Penny and Cricket whipped around at the sound of Sam’s voice. The baby made a funny whimper/burp sound at the jostling and Penny started patting his butt again.
My heart lurched, skipped a beat and then started racing at the sight of him. Sam. God, he looked good. Better than I remembered. Bigger. Broader. More…chiseled. He didn’t even afford the other women even a glance, his dark eyes squarely and solely on me.
“Sam, um…hi.”
“Me, too,” Ashe said, moving into the doorway to stand next to Sam.
Oh, god, the full effect of the two of them could still ruin my panties, even after hating them for the past few days. My mind might be wanting to strangle them, but my body wanted to climb both of them like a tree.
“How did you find me?” I asked. I didn’t think Riley would have said anything. He’d be a terrible lawyer if he had.
“You two are jerks,” Penny said, stepping in their way. She was a foot shorter than both of them and the way she had to tilt her head back to yell, the effect was lost. Especially with a baby on her shoulder. “And how did you find her?”
They didn’t look at Penny, but at me. Her being so short, it was a clear view. But Cricket stepped behind her and so did Kady. “If you’re in trouble with our sister, you’re in trouble with us.”
“Flight records. It wasn’t a big leap to think you’d come see Riley, then end up here,” Ashe admitted.
Kady had her hands on her hips and Cricket’s chin was tipped up, listening. “That was smart,” Kady admitted. “But you’re still jerks for upsetting our sister.”
In that moment, everything came into sharp clarity as if things had been out of focus and I’d put on some glasses.
My sisters were standing in front of two big guys, protecting me. It was like I was on the elementary school playground and they were blocking me from a bully. Or two. I’d never had anyone do that for me in my life, and these women? I’d only known them for about an hour. Yet they were ready for a WWE smack down with Sam and Ashe.
I laughed, hiccupped, then began to cry. And I wasn’t a good crier. In fact, I was a hot mess when I cried, splotchy face, swollen eyes, lots of snot, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop it.
Hands patted my back and I was pulled into a chest, hugged. Grandma Sarah and her big bosom.
“See? You’ve upset her.”
I cried even harder at the way Sarah snarled at the men.
> “What the hell is going on in here?” I recognized the voice as Cord’s, which was as big as he was.
“Ashe and Sam made her cry,” Kady said, sounding just like a little kid tattling. It made me laugh, the sound a weird mix of a sob and a snort, which had to be extra unattractive to Sam and Ashe. But it wasn’t them that had made me lose it. Well, them partially. It was that I had four sisters who were like mama bears protecting their cub.
Before Ashe and Sam were dragged out back and beat up, I stood upright, wiped my face and moved away from Sarah.
“Better?” she asked, eyeing me with concern.
I nodded. “You all just met me and are ready to march those two out to the woodshed.”
“You’re our sister,” Cricket replied, as if that answered it all.
“But you’ve known them longer.” I cocked my head toward the duo. “You said you liked them, that…that they were your friends and still, you believe me, stood up for me.”
“Honey, look at them,” Sarah prompted.
I glanced at Ashe, who had his shoulders slumped, his head angled down and watching me cautiously through his thick lashes, and Sam, whose hand was running over the back of his neck as if ready to climb out of his skin.
“We know them, yes, but they’re men,” Sarah continued. “They’re stupid and often think with their dicks, like Cricket said. That night in Boston, were you thinking with your dick, Ashe?”
“Yes, but can you blame either of us? Look at her,” he replied.
“See?” Cricket said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Our first glimpse of you, we were ruined,” Sam admitted. “It’s like the other guys in this house. Cord here, for example. When did you know Kady was the one?” he asked, glancing to the side at the big…BIG man.
Cord grinned, eyed Kady. “The second I laid eyes on her in the baggage claim. She hadn’t been in town five minutes.”
“We wanted you, sweetheart,” Ashe said to me. “Want you. We weren’t keeping our reason for being in town a secret, nor your inheritance. It’s just that we wanted you more.”
