by Lexie Ray
“Because it concerns her, too,” Chance said, giving me a funny look. “Why don’t you find a seat?”
“I’ll stand, thanks.”
Now everyone was looking at me funny. I was generally the most easy-going of all my brothers, and this was atypical behavior for me. But the only semblance of an open spot on any of the couches or benches that had been stuffed into the front room was by Amelia Banks. If I couldn’t say her name or look directly at her for more than a breath or two, how could I possibly sit next to her for the duration of a family meeting that was probably about her?
Our family had always been big, with five Corbin boys, myself included, but seeing everyone together in one room — a rare occurrence these days with how busy all our various projects were — really hammered home the idea of family expansion. It felt like we were pairing off, one by one, bringing additional members into the fold.
Hadley had been the first, a physical therapist the rest of us had agreed to bring on to help Hunter find himself again after he’d lost a leg and all sense of self-worth in Afghanistan. They’d fallen in love, which had helped him perhaps even more than his prosthetic leg did in terms of returning to normalcy.
Then there were Zoe and Toby, mother and son, scooped out of Hadley’s hometown and away from an abusive relationship. Zoe kept house, and Toby kept us all young. We all tried to make sure they always felt welcome here, though Zoe, with her foul mouth and sharp wit, didn’t need any coaxing.
Paisley had entered the fray next, marrying Avery in a business arrangement that had saved both our ranch and her father’s. It had been tough for her and Avery to learn how to live with each other, but once they’d opened their hearts to each other, neither had regrets anymore.
Peyton was the newest addition, shacking up with Emmett and helping to get our horse rehab initiative up and running. She hadn’t had a chance at much of a family before belonging to this one, and she looked almost as ill at ease as I felt.
“I don’t have to be here,” she murmured to Emmett, and I only heard because I’d been paying attention to her.
“Yes, you do,” he replied with a wry grin. “Welcome to the Corbin family. We meet like this on the regular. You should’ve brought a flask.”
“I’ll learn,” she said, leaning back, getting comfortable in her seat, resigning herself to whatever was about to happen.
“I guess you should probably tell us why we’re here,” Hunter said. “Chance? Tucker? New girl?”
Amelia flushed, and Chance sprang to action.
“This is Amelia Banks, everyone,” he said. “She’s going to be staying here with us for a while. That’s part of the reason I asked everyone here.”
“Hello,” Amelia gulped, wiggling her fingers.
“Hi,” Toby piped up. “Me and my mom stay here, too. It’s fun.” He’d really come out of his shell since their arrival. He’d been a sober little gentleman with big, dark eyes that took in everything and everyone around him, trying to judge the situation and the quality of everyone’s characters before participating. Now he was back to being an eager boy, just getting ready to start school at the neighboring elementary campus.
Amelia managed a ghost of a smile at him. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“What’s the occasion?” Avery asked. None of my brothers could take their eyes off of me. Normally, I’d simply absorb their stares or deflect them with a crude joke or something. But I felt paralyzed by all of this. I didn’t want to be here, not when Amelia was here. Not with what she knew, what we shared.
Chance simply looked at me for a few long moments. “It’s up to Amelia and Tucker to share whatever details they think are necessary about this arrangement.”
“That’s a little evasive,” Paisley observed. She looked restless, like she resented being summoned to this meeting. She was the CEO to the Summers side of the ranch, and she had probably been called away from something much more important than this idiocy.
“It’s not really my story to tell,” Chance said, sitting in the vacant seat beside Amelia, since I’d flat out refused to take it.
“Story time?” Hadley raised an eyebrow. “I think this is a Corbin first.”
“What kind of story?” Toby asked, scooting forward from his spot on the floor, at Zoe’s feet. “I hope it’s a scary one — those are my favorite.”
“Not before bed they’re not,” Zoe said, fixing him with a meaningful stare.
“This isn’t a story for kids,” I said quickly, before Amelia could say whatever was going to fall out of her mouth. Toby deflated, and I felt like an asshole. “Sorry, buddy. It just isn’t. And if we’re being honest, it’s not a story for anyone.”
“And that’s downright anticlimactic,” Paisley complained. “Seriously, you guys, what is going on here?”
“I’ll tell you,” Amelia said.
“Stop.” I cut her off harshly, in a voice that I hated to notice made both Toby and Zoe cringe. I knew just what kind of person I was being, but I couldn’t stop myself. Not when this terrible thing was about to be revealed to my family. I’d wanted to protect myself and my past, and Amelia had pierced through all of my efforts over the years to do both.
Hunter was watching me carefully, and I hated it because I’d watched him before with that very same expression. He was preparing himself to do something if I did something. I’d had to keep him from beating the shit out of Chance before, and I could see him flexing, wondering if I was about to make a fool of myself.
Amelia would tell too much. That much I knew. If I wanted to have any kind of control over this situation anymore, I had to step up and start talking.
“What you need to know is that this woman and I know each other from when I was still working for the Dallas police department,” I said.
“Why is she here?” Avery asked.
“Because there’s a killer—” Amelia began, but I interrupted her again.
“There is a case that remains open.” I glared daggers at Amelia for the briefest of moments, and she stared down at her lap. “Recently, we have reason to believe that the suspect in the case has re-emerged. And that this woman needs to stay here because of it.”
Paisley — analytical, no-nonsense Paisley — narrowed her eyes. “This killer…”
“Suspect,” I emphasized, giving a discreet nod toward Toby, who was drinking in every syllable we said.
“Is Amelia in danger?” Paisley asked, after struggling a few seconds to formulate a question that wouldn’t scare the shit out of the kid in the room.
Chance stepped in at this point. “The ranch is going to act as sort of a safe house for Amelia — for the time being. She sought out Tucker for help, and we’re going to help her.” I noticed that he didn’t say that I was going to help her.
“I think that’s good,” Emmett said, nodding decisively. “If someone comes to us for help, and we’re able to help them, we should.” Peyton covered his hand with hers. She knew firsthand just what it was like to need a safe place to go after being assaulted by her own father. That was how she came to live with Emmett here on the ranch.
“Same here,” Zoe said. “If you all hadn’t taken me in, I don’t know what Toby and I would be doing.”
Avery gave a short laugh, and everyone looked at him. Paisley smacked him on the arm. “Ow, what? I’m not laughing at Zoe. I just had a funny thought — if the dude ranch doesn’t work out, we could always use the barracks as a safe house. Use the ranch as a cover for a witness protection placement or something. The infrastructure’s there.”
“Very funny,” Paisley said, rolling her eyes at him. “I guess I just wish we could have a little more information about the situation. Of course we’re going to help you, Amelia, but if there are details we need to know…”
“I would be happy to fill you in on anything you have questions about,” Amelia said, eager. “I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Do what you want,” I said shortly, knocking her friendly demeanor down
a couple of watts and not feeling very proud of myself. “But now isn’t the place or the time for those kinds of details.”
I thought I’d cowed her, but Amelia bit back, surprising everyone in the room. “Those details belong to you, too, Tucker. Doesn’t your family know anything about you?”
“He doesn’t tend to talk about his time on the police force very much,” Hunter said, choosing his words wisely as my face darkened. “For the most part, we’ve respected his decision to keep those details private.”
Toby sighed mightily. “No one’s going to tell a scary story, are they?” he asked, clearly disappointed. Everyone except for Amelia and me chuckled, and it helped to clear the tension somewhat.
“Not to you,” Zoe said, standing up and pulling him up with her. “Come help me in the kitchen. We’ve been talking so long that it’s going to be a late dinner. I could use an extra hand.”
“I can help,” Amelia said, popping up from her seat. “I have a little experience in the kitchen myself.”
“I’d love some company,” Zoe said, pleased. “It’s right this way.”
“I can follow my nose,” Amelia said. “You already have something that smells delicious in the oven.”
The three of them left the front room and chattered down the hallway as if they were old friends. I made a move to leave through the front door again, but Chance cleared his throat.
“We’re not quite done here, Tuck.”
“I’m done,” I threw over my shoulder, but as badly as I wanted to just march out and leave them to puzzle over my reticence and search online to try and come up with more details, I couldn’t just walk out on everyone. This was my family, as misinformed as they were. They didn’t know any better because I had never told them about anything. That, and the simple fact of having Amelia out of sight made me a touch calmer.
“You’re not usually the hothead,” Hunter said. “Actually, I kind of resent that. I thought I had that deal locked up.”
I shuffled back to the front room and looked at everyone still assembled.
“Just sit down,” Chance pleaded, spreading his hands. “Let’s have a conversation.”
“Are you sure it’s not an interrogation?” I sniped, but sat down anyway. I didn’t like the way everyone was looking at me, like I was a problem to be studied, but I understood what I’d done to deserve it.
“We really do need some details,” Paisley said, sounding apologetic. “There are a lot of people who live here and make their livings here, and if there’s a viable threat on any level to anybody on this ranch, we need to understand what it might be.”
I heaved a sigh. I’d never wanted to tell this to any of my brothers — or anyone else, for that matter — but I couldn’t sit here and lie to their faces. They all stared at me, expectant, and I knew that if I didn’t satisfy them now, they’d just encourage Amelia to flap her jaws about everything later.
“There might be a threat,” I said. “But there might not be.”
“There aren’t any children in the room anymore, Tuck,” Avery said. “You can be specific now.”
“The most specific thing I can tell you is that I don’t know how real this threat might be,” I said. “At the end of my career with the police force, I was a part of an investigation into a series of killings.”
“The Oscar Green case,” Chance added helpfully. “If that rings a bell for anyone.”
There wasn’t a pair of eyes that didn’t widen in that room.
“I think there’s a documentary out about that whole thing,” Emmett said slowly. “We saw it advertised when we were scrolling around, looking for something to watch the other night.”
“Creepy,” Peyton said softly, and I had to agree with her while reminding myself to steer clear of streaming entertainment services for the rest of my life.
“Wait, didn’t they never catch the guy?” Avery asked, his furrowed brow shifting quickly into aghast surprise. “Holy shit. Is that the threat?”
“The ‘they’ you’re talking about — that was me,” I said curtly. “So, no. I never caught him. And yes, that could be the threat. He wasn’t ever found. Not after that night.”
“What night?” Hadley asked, as horrified and engrossed as everyone else, but I noticed Hunter place his hand on her thigh and squeeze. I felt a shot of gratitude for the baby of the family. Everyone else might think they could fire questions at me, thoughtless of how much I hated sharing this part of my past, but Hunter understood. No one grilled him about Afghanistan, and he hadn’t offered any stories, either.
“The night I met Amelia,” I said finally. “And came as close as anyone did to catching the guy. Caught three bullets instead.”
This was new information to several people in the room, and I let it sink in.
“So now you know what the threat might consist of,” I said. “A notorious killer with unfinished business.”
“That sounds … really risky,” Paisley admitted. “Should we alert the police? I don’t know … call in the National Guard to secure the place? Something?”
“That might not be the threat at all,” I said. “He might not be back. He could be dead, for all anyone knows. It’s not like he’s been under surveillance. No one knows his whereabouts, just like when he was actually active. This woman received a note that was reminiscent of other notes he left during his tenure. It could be him. And it might not be.”
“You can say her name,” Chance rumbled.
“He doesn’t if he doesn’t want to,” Hunter said, coming to my defense once again, probably reading the way I shifted in my seat, the way the atmosphere dropped a little in the room.
“You obviously don’t like her being here,” Paisley said. “Why?”
“She reminds me of the worst period of my life,” I said dully. “And the absolute worst night of my life. I’m not a cop anymore, and I never will be again. I think she’s come to the wrong place for help.”
“I disagree,” Chance said. “She’s a woman in need, and I’ve already told her she could stay here with us for as long as she deems it necessary.”
“But you heard Tuck,” Paisley said. Did I have an ally in her? Another friendly in the room besides Hunter? It was starting to look that way. “He doesn’t do police work anymore. He’s been a rancher. It’s not like he’s going to pin a badge to his chest and go out there and find the guy, is he?”
“No,” I said. “I’m not.”
“Then maybe she did come to the wrong place,” Paisley said. “I can appreciate trying to help people, but maybe she would be better served by being put into contact with the authorities — people who could actually help her.”
“This is something that is non-negotiable,” Chance said, studying Paisley for a moment before looking around at everyone else in the room. “I’m not saying that we’re opening up a detective business to go with the ranch. I don’t think anyone expects Tucker to go find this guy, wherever he is. I certainly don’t. But what we can do is offer a frightened woman a place of refuge after she came here specifically asking for it.”
“I’m sorry, but this can’t be a unilateral decision,” Paisley said a little loudly. “There are more people who live on this ranch than you, Chance. I say that if there’s even the slightest chance that this guy could come and make trouble here, we should send Amelia somewhere else. Somewhere that’s actually equipped to handle this kind of threat, whatever that would entail.”
“Amelia stays,” Chance said, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s final.”
“It is not final,” Paisley fired back, standing up suddenly. “You are one of two CEOs of this ranch. And the other one says she goes.”
“This isn’t ranch business,” Chance reasoned. “It would be different if I was asking you to put her up in your house.”
“And lure Oscar Green there?” Avery said, laughing uneasily. “No, thank you.”
“I’m afraid it will turn into ranch business if we have any more violence around here,
” she said. “Chance, think about it. Aren’t we already dealing with enough problems as it is without adding another to the pile?”
“I don’t see Amelia as a problem,” he said. “She just needs a place to stay, and I’ve already offered her one.”
“It’s not like we’re commandoes or anything, though,” Paisley said, sitting again after Avery tugged on her hand. “Why is it so important to her that she stays here?”
“Tucker makes her feel safe,” Chance said.
“Tucker doesn’t want to have anything to do with her, and I can’t blame him,” Paisley said.
“I saved her life,” I said finally, and everyone directed their attention back to me instead of watching the volley of arguments between the two CEOs of the Corbin-Summers Ranch.
“You did?” Emmett asked, sounding dazed. “That’s some heavy shit.”
“That’s why she came,” Avery mused. “Because if you saved her once, you could probably do it again.”
“That’s the thing, though,” I said, feeling bone tired and through with everything. “Saving her almost killed me, and I was a cop with a firearm and training. I was lucky, and I still almost died.”
“No one’s asking you to put yourself in the line of fire again,” Chance reasoned. “I just think we ought to do the right thing, and the right thing is trying to help her out as best we can.”
“Minus any Corbin sleuthing,” Hunter said, taking a crack at a joke to get everyone to lighten up.
“Well, I guess a decision has been made, then,” Paisley said. “Though I don’t like it, and I don’t think Tucker does, either.” She stood to go, and Avery stood with her this time.
“Stay for dinner,” Chance cajoled, but she shook her head.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said. “Lots of numbers to crunch. I’m sure you do, too, because of our budget meeting tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it,” our oldest brother said in the same tone of voice someone might say they were looking forward to a colonoscopy.
“Dinner’s ready,” Zoe announced, poking her head into the front room. “I hope everyone’s planning on sticking around. It’s a good one.”
