THE CORBIN BROTHERS: The Complete 5-Books Series

by Lexie Ray

  “Yep. Pretty much.” She looked at me for a few minutes, like she expected me to contradict her.

  “I respect whatever decision you make,” I said. “You deserve to do whatever you need to do to stay in this marriage. Because you are important to me, Paisley Summers. Maybe the ranch isn’t important to me. But you are.”

  “The ranch is my life,” she said. “It’s the reason behind everything I do. If you don’t love the ranch, Avery, then don’t bother trying to love me.”

  With that, she was back up on her horse, and I was left to follow and ponder all the various ways I’d fucked up recently. They were too many to count.

  I started back toward the barn at a trot, but when my phone buzzed, I goaded the horse into a canter without even having to glance at the display. I knew it was Chance, and I knew he was calling a meeting.

  I arrived with the last of the Summers ranch hands, gathering in the barn. I looked around for Paisley, but if she was in there, I couldn’t find her.

  “Thanks for getting here so quickly,” Chance said, eyeing everyone. There should’ve been more of us to man this ranch, but this handful was all we could ask for. “We’re looking at a mass cattle theft. We’ll start night chaperones effective immediately. Everyone will be expected to carry a gun.”

  Chapter 9

  It seemed that everyone in this family knew their way around a gun except for me. Dad had taught Chance, using BBs and cans as ammo and targets, when he turned sixteen. Tucker had learned in the police academy, and Emmett just seemed naturally gifted at it, probably reading a book or article somewhere and instantly absorbing all of the knowledge into his brain to be locked away forever, only brought out in times of need. I watched him secure his hair on top of his head before taking apart a pistol and cleaning it as if he did that exact process at least twice a week, every single week.

  Who knew what went through Emmett’s head sometimes? Maybe he really did practice with it.

  “Don’t be nervous,” Hunter cajoled, handing me a shotgun. “It’s easy.”

  “Easy for you to say it’s easy,” I said, wondering why it was so damn heavy, how I was supposed to heave it up to my shoulder in a moment’s notice.

  “You just have to practice at it,” he said. “Look, here’s the safety switch.”

  It chapped my ass to have my baby brother showing me the ropes on operating the shotgun, but I supposed there was no better teacher than a former Marine.

  “Do we really have to have all these guns around?” Hadley asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot as we ransacked the gun safe. “It looks like you all are going to war.”

  “We are, in a way,” Hunter reasoned. “We probably should’ve all been carrying them already, especially when we’re with the herd.”

  “Do you all not?” Tucker asked, befuddled. “I always do. Coyotes. And instant access if we have to cull one of the cattle.”

  “I just don’t think I can get used to carrying this around while I’m riding,” I said, hefting the weapon in my hands. “It’s heavier than it looks. What am I supposed to do? Balance it across my lap at a gallop?”

  “Dad had an old scabbard,” Chance said. “That should work, if we can find it.”

  “A scabbard? For a sword?” This was getting positively medieval.

  “For the shotgun,” Chance said crossly. “You can attach it to the saddle. That’s how you’d store it.”

  “It seems like this is more trouble than it’s worth,” I said. “I’d prefer not to carry a gun.”

  “But what are you going to do if you run into trouble out there?” Hunter asked. “Keep the shotgun. Even if you don’t fire it, you’ll at least frighten off any cattle thieves.”

  “Or I’ll shoot my foot off,” I muttered. Here was yet another way I didn’t fit in to this damn family. Everyone was all about embracing their Second Amendment rights except for me. I’d never so much as pulled the trigger on any of these guns. It didn’t matter how long they’d been in our family.

  “I don’t like guns, either,” Hadley offered, sidling up to me, evidently identifying with my horrified body language. “You’re not the only one.”

  “That’s because you’re a city girl,” Hunter said, snaking his arm around her waist and giving her a kiss.

  She snorted. “You’ve seen my hometown. It’s the opposite of city. No one can afford guns, there, so they just use their fists.”

  “That’s my girl.” He kissed her, and I rolled my eyes. Hunter and Hadley adored each other. Everyone got it. They didn’t have to mash their faces together at every opportunity to remind everyone how much in love they were with each other.

  “Where’s Paisley?” Hadley asked, frowning. “Isn’t she supposed to be here?”

  I shrugged, my stomach curdling a little bit to recall the latest fight we’d had. Maybe it would be the last of them. Paisley and I entered into our marriage like it was a business contract and we hadn’t grown any bit more compatible. Maybe it would be best if we just stayed separated forever, each of us pursuing the things that we actually wanted.

  “Well, when you see her, ask her about carrying guns while out with the cattle,” Hunter recommended. “All of the Summers guys already do it.”

  If my baby brother was trying to be helpful, it wasn’t working. I didn’t want to hear about being the only ranch hand who didn’t care to tote a weapon around. It was complete and total alienation. I didn’t have the passion for ranching like my brothers, couldn’t get along with the woman I’d married to save our operation, couldn’t even measure up to hired ranch hands, didn’t know where I was or what I was supposed to be doing in this world. Why was this so easy for everyone else?

  “Do we have any volunteers for first watch?” Chance asked the group at large who were still examining firearms.

  “I’ll do it,” I said after a long pause. Emmett was usually the first to jump to volunteer, but Hadley wasn’t letting him back on a horse yet. He was still recovering from his gorge mishap.

  “Thanks for your initiative, Avery,” Chance said, looking at me a little suspiciously. Sure, I was the last one to volunteer, but frustration had got the better of me. It would be hell sitting around, wondering where Paisley was tonight, worrying about the kind of scene she might make if I tried to get her from the bar again. I might as well be busy, immersing myself in a chaperoning expedition instead of dwelling on all the ways my marriage had gone wrong.

  “The scabbard goes like this, see?” Chance said, threading a few leather straps through my saddle. “And the shotgun fits right into it. There.”

  I mounted the horse gently, afraid I’d do something to set the trigger off that would murder me or the horse or both.

  “I don’t really like it,” I said. “It feels weird against my leg.”

  “Tough shit,” Tucker said, not a bit sympathetic as he walked over to check my progress. “You need the gun, Avery. It’s your only protection out there.”

  “One of the Summers guys is going to go with you,” Chance said, making sure the safety switch was on the shotgun. “He’ll meet you by the herd later.”

  “How will I know he’s not there to steal the cattle?” I joked weakly.

  “You’ll open your eyes and recognize him,” Chance said, scowling. “Don’t shoot any of our guys, Avery, or any of the herd.”

  “I’m not that hopeless,” I said, even though I doubted the veracity of that statement.

  “Be safe out there,” Hunter offered, and I spurred my horse into the night.

  Right away, the gallop didn’t work. The scabbard shattered my confidence and balance, and the horse noticed, slowing to a trot.

  “Let’s stop by the trailer,” I muttered to myself. “I have some extra cargo I need to jettison.”

  I wouldn’t need the shotgun. What were the chances of cattle thieves striking two times in a row? If they were smart at all, they would’ve figured that we’d notice thirty head of cattle gone the next morning and decide not to go fo
r broke.

  With the shotgun and scabbard safely stashed in the trailer, I was back to my confident self. It had been a long time since I’d ridden at night, but I trusted the horse. I didn’t have any choice otherwise, hoping that its skitters and little jumps were away from real threats and not its active imagination.

  The ranch in the dark, the seething herd of cattle, was really something. My eyes had long since adjusted to the sliver of moon and the innumerable stars, but the herd seemed to be something large and alive. The herd was restless shuffling around as one being, cows lowing quietly into the night. I wondered if there might be coyotes working around to get them into such a stressed out state, but I didn’t hear any of the telltale yipping.

  “You all are fine,” I told the nearest cow, as if she could convey that sentiment to the rest of the herd. “Wouldn’t it be better to be asleep right now instead of walking around and chatting?”

  I was answered by a sharp and an impact that sent me scrambling to dismount the horse. The herd shifted wildly in panic, and I only stayed upright and not trampled because I was holding on to my horse’s reins. My shoulder throbbed deeply, insistently, and I touched it, trying to figure out what happened.

  “Stop running,” I hissed at the cattle. “Stop mooing. Shut up a second.”

  They didn’t listen to me — they never did — but I was able to hear gallops of shoed horses against the hard ground over the cows scattering.

  “You’re trespassing and breaking the law!” I shouted, hoping they’d hear me over the panicked herd. “You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They used to hang fucks like you for shit like this!”

  Jesus. My shoulder was really hurting. I took my hand away from it, dimly registering that the darkness I was seeing was blood. I was bleeding. My shoulder was bleeding.

  “What the fuck,” I murmured, touching it again. The throb had transformed into a full-out scream of pain, and that’s when it finally clicked that I’d been shot.

  “Okay, that’s fine,” I coached myself. “Just a shoulder. You can ride with a shoulder.”

  I remounted my horse, intent on stopping whatever these idiots had decided to start when shots rang out again. My skittish mount reared and tossed me off, and I hit the ground hard, wheezing and gagging from the lightning bolts of pain radiating from my injured shoulder.

  A whoop came out of the darkness. “I’ll find you, assholes!” a hellcat of a woman screamed, and I realized belatedly it was my hellcat — Paisley, her face shining white and furious in the night, riding a horse at full tilt and aiming a gun like she’d been doing it all her life. She probably had been, a more talented rancher than I could ever hope to be. There wasn’t a reason to be jealous. That was my wife. Ranching was in her blood. It was in my blood, too, but that didn’t mean I had to be as passionate about it. It was easier to unravel things right now, in this moment, the pain in my shoulder sharpening everything, honing it to a fine point. I’d figure out what made me happy. Right now, it was Paisley, a valkyrie riding on the swift wings of justice, defending the cattle that was her livelihood and passion.

  “Get them, Paisley,” I shouted, pumping my good arm at her as she passed by. “You show those idiots they came to the wrong ranch!”

  There were a few more shots, and then I saw Paisley turn her horse sharply back toward me.

  “Avery?” Paisley was aghast, pale-faced in the night as she slowed her horse’s approach. “What the hell are you doing out here?”

  “Lying in wait,” I said weakly, grabbing at my shoulder. It hurt even worse now, if possible. “Trying to catch the thieves.”

  “You’re shot,” she said, stating the obvious, perhaps in shock.

  “Looks like it,” I agreed. Lord. Was this simple fact the first thing we’d ever agreed on in our marriage?

  “Can you ride?” she asked, looking around. “We don’t want them coming back here to finish you off.”

  “It’s just my shoulder,” I said. “Should be fine.” I didn’t know about that, didn’t know how I could keep forcing words out of my mouth when I was in so much damn pain.

  “Where’s your horse?”

  I winced. That hurt more than the bullet. After Emmett was done murdering me for losing one of his precious horses — because they were all Emmett’s horses — Chance would do it over again for the money I cost them.

  “Got spooked at the gunshots and threw me,” I said. Was there a bigger idiot in Corbin history than me?

  “That’s all right,” Paisley reasoned. “Get up here with me. I’m sure your horse will turn up in the morning, though I don’t fancy the idea of him riding around the ranch all night with a shotgun still strapped to him.”

  I groaned as I clambered onto the horse behind her. “I didn’t have a shotgun.”

  “What?” She turned in the saddle to stare at me. “You weren’t carrying a gun?”

  “No.”

  “Why the fuck not, Avery?”

  I didn’t know why Paisley was so furious, but her whole body tightened up like a bowstring.

  “I didn’t want to. I don’t like them, and I didn’t know how to use them.”

  “You just point and pull the trigger, idiot,” she groused. “Most of the time, you don’t even have to get that far. If someone just sees one on your saddle or in your hands, they won’t mess with you. You came out here and made yourself an easy target and for what? What did you have to prove by coming out here at night, in the middle of a cattle thief crisis, without a goddamn gun?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, feeling a little lightheaded as the pain in my shoulder worsened with each movement of the horse. “I guess I just don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “Here on this planet? Because in case you missed it, Avery, someone almost did blow you into the next world tonight. You almost got your wish.”

  “Wouldn’t that be a good thing for you?” I asked, wondering how angry she’d be at me if I threw up on the back of her shirt. I was beginning to feel like I was going to have to in response to how much pain I was in.

  “Why in the hell would you dying be a good thing for me?”

  “So you wouldn’t have to be around me anymore,” I explained. “So you could do whatever you wanted. Be with whoever you wanted.”

  “As much as you try to forget it, I married you,” she said. “Maybe not for the right reasons for either of us, but what’s done is done. You’re stuck with me, Avery Corbin, just as much as I’m stuck with you.”

  I wasn’t sure if Paisley was trying to comfort me or insult me. But neither really mattered as I felt myself float off the back of her galloping horse and sink into the night.

  Chapter 10

  There were flashes of things I recognized: Hadley’s auburn hair brushing my face as she pushed all her weight against my shoulder, Tucker’s heavy brows behind a flashlight shown in my eyes, a backward glance from Chance at the wheel of the car. But there were things I didn’t understand — someone who sounded suspiciously like Paisley weeping from the front seat, though I hadn’t heard her cry like that since that day I saved her from the bully in elementary school. No, that didn’t make sense, either. She hadn’t cried then. She’d picked herself up and promised me the world. She’d cried like that before because she’d lived up to her promise and I hadn’t loved her enough, because after she’d given and given and given, me and life and everyone else had taken everything from her. Poor Paisley. Of course she should be crying.

  When I opened my eyes fully again, I wasn’t in my trailer. It could’ve been Paisley’s house, but that didn’t feel right, either. Had they moved me back into my room in our house? That wouldn’t make sense — it was Toby’s room right now, and they wouldn’t have kicked him out of it for me.

  “You’re in the hospital, Avery.”

  I turned my head to see Paisley, her eyes rimmed in red, curled up in a chair. She was still wearing dust-covered jeans and a T-shirt splattered in what could only be my blood, stiff after d
rying.

  “What a stupid place to be in,” I remarked, coughing a little. My mouth was dry, and Paisley uncrossed her legs and stood to pour me a glass of water from a plastic pitcher.

  “A stupid place for stupid people,” she said, handing me the glass. It tasted good to me even though whatever ice that had been in it melted long ago, leaving the liquid lukewarm.

  “What happened?” I asked, examining my memories and coming up significantly short.

  “You were shot.”

  “I mean after that.”

  “After that, you fell of my horse and hit your head.” Paisley looked away. “Hadley said it probably wasn’t a good idea to expect you to ride a galloping horse while losing so much blood.”

  “Where is everyone else?”

  Paisley gave a long sigh. “I stayed here with you because everyone else had to go back to the ranch. Hunter and Emmett stayed behind to continue to watch the herd, but then Hunter had some sort of episode because you’d gotten shot and everything’s gone about to shit, Avery.”

  “Because of me.”

  “Because of lots of things. But yes, you’re right on up there.”

  Hunter having an episode could only be bad. He’d seen a lot in Afghanistan, and he didn’t need to see me all bloody and bullet riddled. I couldn’t do anything right for this family or this ranch. It would be better if I were somewhere else, unable to cause any angst ever again. God only knew what or who Hunter was raging at. It had happened several times before. Hadley had explained to us about post-traumatic stress disorder and everything to expect from that, but I’d been his trigger.

  “Everyone was worried about you,” Paisley relented, watching me. “You gave everyone a big scare, but the doctors say you’re going to be okay. If you can believe it, the concussion was worse than the bullet wound.”

  “You were crying in the car. I remember.” I studied her. “Why?”

  She laughed at me as if that should be obvious. “I was worried about you.”