Don't Fight It: Hazard Falls Book 1

by Samantha A. Cole

  “Oh, so you have more kids than Joey?”

  “Mm-hmm. She’s our baby. We have three—Cody’s the oldest, then there’s Kyle, and Joey—the first and last were total surprises. I’d gotten my tubes tied after we had Kyle. My GYN said she’d done hundreds of them and mine was the first one to fail. Go figure. Anyway, Joey’s our miracle girl, and she’s got her dad and brothers wrapped around her little finger.”

  Paige grinned. “Sounds like Arianna.”

  “Oh, yeah, she’s another one. Those two are going to be hell-raisers someday. God help us all.” Nicole gestured toward the kitchen behind Paige. “C’mon—Shane asked me to show you around a bit more, since you haven’t had the grand tour yet. He’s out with the hands fixing the fence in the west pasture before the herd has to be moved there. We’ll start with the office, which is in the small cottage next to the horse barn.”

  A half hour later, Paige had been introduced to the other two office staff members, Clark Gibson and MaryEllen Stokes, and a tour of some of the buildings surrounding the compound. As she and Nicole strolled back toward the main house, Paige blurted out the question she’d been trying to get up the nerve to ask. “Did you know Shane and Tucker’s wife well?”

  “Phew.” Exaggeratingly, Nicole wiped her brow. “I wasn’t sure if they’d dropped that little bomb on you yet after you said they were a gay couple yesterday.”

  “Shane told me last night. He figured I’d hear about it sooner rather than later. I was a little surprised Quinn hadn’t told me, since it doesn’t seem like it’s a big secret or anything.”

  “Well, it’s not exactly something you come across every day . . .” She gave Paige a lopsided smile. “. . . unless you read ménage romance like I do.”

  Paige chuckled. “Actually, I do. I’ll read practically anything in the romance genre.”

  “Oh, good! Another bookie to compare notes with. MaryEllen and I are in a book club on Tuesday nights, if you’d like to join us. There’s currently eight of us. We just get together with some wine and munchies and chat about our favorites. Last week we read Kristen Anders’s new book, and this week we’re reading Avery Gale’s new ménage. Have you read any of hers yet?”

  “Love her! And Kristen Anders! I’d love to join your book club. I was in one in California.” She didn’t add that she’d dropped out after her husband’s arrest; three of the women in the group had been among his victims.

  “Great. Everyone will love having new input. Getting back to Sarah, though, she was one of my best friends. She was a sweetheart and a strong woman to boot. She had to be with Shane and Tuck. They can be overprotective at times. When they first went public with their relationship, you can imagine the talk. I’m not telling you anything that’s not public knowledge, mind you. The older folks did the traditional eyebrow raising and the sign of the cross . . .” She acted out her words. “. . . that go with everything they don’t approve of. As for the rest, I think most of the gossiping women were more jealous than appalled, and the men . . . well, some jerks thought since she was involved with two men she was a slut and easy. Then they either got their asses kicked by Shane or Tuck, or they got their balls kicked by Sarah—she didn’t take crap from anyone. In fact, I think she was surprised more than most when she’d ended up in a ménage relationship. When they first got involved, Shane and Tuck weren’t . . . um, together together, if you get my drift. While everyone knew Shane didn’t discriminate when it came to sex—either gender was fine with him—Tuck had been straight ’til then.” She shrugged. “Somewhere along the line, though, their relationship changed, but I think it was kept under wraps for a while until Tuck was more comfortable with it. He took Sarah’s death harder than anyone. He’s the quieter one, while Shane rarely lets anything get him down. Don’t get me wrong—Shane was heartbroken, but he bounces back from whatever life throws at him better than Tuck does. If it wasn’t for Shane and Arianna, I think Tuck would be a hermit by now. They’re the only reason he really smiles anymore.”

  Paige knew all about not wanting to smile anymore. While she hated what Myles had become—a swindler—he’d always been good to her, and she mourned not only his death but the end of their marriage.

  “Well, here we are.” Nicole stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading to the main house’s back porch. “I’ve got to get back to work. The lunch wagon gets here at 11:45 and lets us get our food before heading out to wherever the hands are. Come over and eat with us. Hannah used to do it all the time.”

  Shane had told Paige that since a lot of her duties would occur during the early morning, late afternoon, and evening when Arianna was home, she could take some time to herself during the day. Her pay was based on eight-hour days, so as long as she didn’t lounge around all morning, she was free to make her own schedule. “That’s sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

  With a wave to Nicole, Paige turned to go inside. She was climbing the stairs to the back porch when the door opened. Seth stepped out, and his eyes lit up when he saw her. “Just the person I was looking for. I’m heading into town for a few things and wanted to see if you needed anything.”

  “Actually, I made a grocery list last night after going through the pantry and fridge. I was going to drive into town myself—Shane gave me the keys to the SUV.”

  “I’ll drive you if you want. I can show you where everything is for next time.”

  Considering she could barely remember how to get to the small town from the ranch—she’d planned on using the GPS—this was probably a better idea. She’d only seen the route from the school and the restaurant, which had been on the edge of town closest to the ranch. “That sounds great, as long as it’s not too much trouble.”

  He held the door open for her. “No trouble at all. I can drop you off at the grocery store, run my errands, then pick you up again.”

  “Great.” She entered the kitchen with him on her heels. “Let me just grab my purse.”

  “I’ll meet you out front.”

  After pointing out several shops and businesses he thought she’d be interested in, Seth dropped Paige off at the bank across the street from the Stop & Go store. They didn’t have a branch of the bank she’d used in California, so she needed to open an account here and deposit a $100 check for now, so she had it for her first paycheck. If she ended up staying on after her trial run, she’d transfer the rest of her meager account. Thankfully, the courts had let her keep the small inheritance she’d received after her father passed away, while they’d frozen everything else.

  “Hello, may I help you?”

  Paige smiled at the older man who’d approached her after she’d walked into the bank. “Yes, hi. I need to open up a checking account.”

  “Well, then, you’ve come to the right place.” He held out his hand. “I’m Willard Knutt. You must be new in town.”

  She shook his hand, then moved to the chair he indicated in front of a nearby desk. “Yes. I’m Paige Merritt. I just started working at the Red River Ranch.

  “Oh.”

  Paige wasn’t sure how that one word, or the fact he’d raised his eyebrows, should be taken. Her eyes narrowed. “Is there a problem?”

  The man shook his head and pasted on a forced smile. “Uh . . . no, not at all.” He opened a drawer next to him and pulled out a piece of paper. “Just fill out this form, and I’ll need some ID and a deposit, and we’ll get you all set up.”

  “Thank you.” Paige coolly took the paper from him. She got the feeling this was one of the people who thought the owners of Red River were “perverts.” “Do you have a pen, please?”

  “Oh, yes.” He plucked one from a pen holder on his desk and handed it to her. “Sorry.”

  Paige began to fill out the form, then realized she didn’t know the address to Red River. Instead of asking the man in front of her, who suddenly appeared to want to be anywhere but where he was, she pulled out her phone and brought up her internet browser. A quick Google search and she had the information she need
ed. After filling out all the boxes on the form, she handed it back, along with her license and a check.

  Knutt swiveled his seat around to face the desk computer. A few minutes of silence passed as he entered her information. Paige glanced around. It didn’t appear the bank had been updated, decor-wise, since the 1980s—typical of small towns. Many residents could be averse to change. In the big cities, though, if you didn’t keep up with the times, your business would almost certainly go down the tubes.

  “You’re all set, Ms. Merritt. Here are some starter checks, and here are the designs you can choose from for us to order for you.”

  Paige picked out the ones with hummingbirds on them, then opted for the script font for her name and address. Once done, she stood and put her license and new checks in her purse. “Thank you, Mr. Knutt.”

  When the sunshine hit her face after she’d exited the bank, she sighed. It seemed she’d traded one stigma for another. One being the wife of a criminal who’d swindled their friends, and the other working for a bisexual couple who’d been in a ménage marriage that only ended after their wife died. A sudden thought occurred to her. Had Willard Knutt assumed she was in a sexual relationship with Shane and Tucker? While the thought didn’t disgust her, in fact, it intrigued her, she wasn’t ready for a new relationship, especially not with her two new bosses, no matter how good looking they both were. Nope. She was here to do a job, which meant she had shopping to do. Pushing aside all her wayward thoughts, she headed for the Stop & Go.

  Chapter Twelve

  After Tuck and the hands left to start their workday, Shane strode into the kitchen and dumped his coffee into the sink. Paige was wiping down the small dinette table that was rarely used for anything other than Arianna’s homework and some food preparation. Her back was to him, and he couldn’t stop his gaze from finding her ass as she bent over to reach the other side of the table. Damn, she filled out those jeans to perfection. He’d always been an ass man—men or women—and Paige had a mighty fine one.

  When she straightened again, he’d barely had the chance to lift his eyes before she turned around. “Hi. Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. Everything’s fine—in fact, it’s been great.” A full week had passed, and there hadn’t been one hiccup with her working for them. Well, there had been, but as far as he knew, she wasn’t aware of it yet. A few of the ranch hands had told him the rumors of Shane and Tuck’s new house manager sharing their bed had already started making the rounds. He wouldn’t mind if the rumors were true—she was an attractive and nice woman—but it certainly hadn’t happened. He hoped she wouldn’t be too upset or offended when she got wind of them. “Tuck and I talked it over last night, and we’d like you to stay on with us if you want.” Actually, he’d talked, and Tuck had grunted his non-committal response.

  Paige’s eyes widened a little, and he had to wonder if she’d thought they would let her go. Hell, no. It hadn’t taken her long to whip the house back into shape, Arianna loved her, and well, Shane liked her—really liked her. The problem was, he couldn’t do anything about his attraction to her unless Tuck was on board. He’d never cheated on anyone he’d been in a relationship with since he’d been a teen. His father had had numerous affairs during his marriage to Shane’s mother—that was public knowledge—and his only son had never wanted to follow in his footsteps. Shane had seen the light leave his mother’s eyes every time she found out about another one of her husband’s indiscretions, and he never wanted to do something that would result in someone he loved losing that light too. So, unless Tuck got his head out of his ass, seducing Paige was out of the question for Shane. That didn’t mean he couldn’t help things along at some point, after Paige had settled in more and Tuck began to relax around her.

  “Really? Um, yes, I’d love to stay on. Thank you.”

  He wouldn’t tell her that the smile on her face right now was all the thanks he needed. “Great. Do you need any help arranging for your things to be shipped here?”

  “Thanks, but no, I don’t. Quinn said he’d take care of it once I knew if I was staying. His friend’s trucking company has routes that run not far from here, and he’ll arrange to get the boxes to me. There’s not a lot of them.”

  Snorting, Shane grinned. “My cousin has more contacts than anyone else I know. If he doesn’t know someone who can get something done, then I’m convinced no one does.”

  “I guess it comes in handy when helping people start their lives over.”

  The sadness that came over her face caused his gut to clench. Aside from the conversation they’d had on the day he’d picked her up at the airport, they hadn’t spoken about her past again. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. It must’ve been hard.”

  Paige shrugged and stepped around him, then turned on the faucet to start washing the dishes. Without thinking, he snatched a towel that was hanging on the oven handle and began to dry for her. “I think what hurt the most, besides the betrayal I felt from Myles, was realizing all the so-called friends I thought I’d had turned their backs on me as if I was the one who’d done something wrong. Only a few stood by me. The money wasn’t a big thing to me—I’d grown up in a simple family where extras had to be saved up for. After the government seized most of our assets, it occurred to me that all those things I’d gotten used to hadn’t been the reason for my happiness. Owning my interior design business, having a husband who loved me, those were the things that’d made me happy. Everything else had just been window dressing. Then the only two things that’d meant anything to me were gone, and I realized all those people who’d dropped me like a hot potato had only liked me because of the money. I’d rather be poor and be with people who like me for me, not what they can get from me, than to be rich with false friendships.”

  “You’re amazing.” Shit, had he really said that out loud? When she lifted her confused gaze to his, he knew he had. “I mean, a lot of people would have let all that beat them down, or would have screamed they were a victim too, trying to garner sympathy. Hell, a lot of people would have turned a blind eye in the first place and prayed their moneymaker didn’t get caught.”

  “I couldn’t do that.” She shook her head. “When I accidentally saw the books Myles had left on his desk one night when he ran out to meet someone, I knew exactly what I was looking at. They weren’t the dummy ones he’d apparently been showing the IRS. At first, I was in shock and couldn’t believe my husband was bilking people—our friends—out of millions of dollars. I talked to him the next day, trying to ask him questions about the investments without raising his suspicions, but his answers just made me realize it wasn’t something that had simply gotten out of hand. I’d never noticed how greedy he’d gotten—nothing else mattered beyond how to look better than the Joneses. It took me a few days to realize I had no choice but to turn him in, even if it meant my life as I’d known it—my marriage—was over. As much as I loved Myles, I couldn’t be a party to his crimes. Now, I have to start fresh.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’ll be doing that here. Arianna has fallen in love with you.”

  Paige grinned as she handed him a glass, and he tried to ignore the stirring in his groin. “The feeling is mutual.”

  When she pulled the plug at the bottom of the sink, he realized the dishes had all been cleaned. Time had flown while talking to her. After helping her put away the dishes, utensils, and glasses, he glanced around and failed to see anything that could keep him there. He really did need to get to work. Plucking his hat from the rack by the door, an idea came to him. “You know, Paige, if your interior-decorator eye sees anything that could be done to spruce the place up a bit, feel free to change a few things.”

  “I wouldn’t want to change anything Sarah had done.”

  He sat the hat on his head. “Sometimes change can be good. Nothing’s been updated in over two years. If you’re afraid to do some things you don’t think we’ll like, then make a list. We’ll go over it and see what we agree on, okay?”

 
; Her smile told him she did have a few ideas for the house. “Um, okay. Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll look around later and see what I can come up with.”

  “Great. Welcome to the Red River family, Paige.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Not able to sleep, Paige pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a matching hoodie, before sticking her feet into her slip-on sneakers. During the last three weeks working at the Red River Ranch, she’d had numerous nights where slumber just wouldn’t come easily. Tonight, it was due to her phone conversation with Quinn earlier. He hadn’t wanted her to hear it from anyone else, but someone had vandalized the house she and Myles had lived in—windows had been smashed and vile words had been spray painted on the front door, vinyl siding, and driveway. Since the security company her husband had contracted was no longer monitoring the property, the surveillance cameras had been off and there were no known suspects at the time. Since the house would be sold, along with everything in it that Paige hadn’t been allowed to take—she’d been able to keep her clothes and other personal items—the only way she was affected was emotionally. Knowing that the home she’d meticulously decorated, inside and out, had been desecrated hurt her, but there was nothing she could do about it. Hell, she didn’t even own it anymore.

  It was just after 9:30 p.m., and she hadn’t heard Shane get home yet. He’d left for a town commerce meeting after dinner, while Tucker had disappeared into the master bedroom suite after tucking Arianna into bed. Grabbing her phone and Kindle, Paige shuffled her way to the backdoor, and went outside. It was a beautiful evening—cool and crisp—and the moon was out. Instead of sitting on one of the rockers like she’d done on a few nights when she hadn’t been able to sleep, she took the steps down and walked around for a bit, trying to clear her mind. Minutes later, she found herself outside the horse barn and took a deep breath. The scent of fresh hay and the musky equines drew her in. It reminded her of summer days hanging out with her high-school girlfriends at the ranches a few of them had grown up on. There had been many happy times spent lounging around in the loft of one barn or another, talking about boys, gossiping, and confessing their dreams.