Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch Book 7)

by Vivian Arend

  Allison’s expression changed to concern. “Which hospital did you send him to, or should I assume ‘ran into him’ wasn’t meant literally?”

  “He’s fine,” Melody assured her. “Just another Coleman living in Rocky Mountain House as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Good. That means I can invite you to the Coleman Canada Day picnic, and you’ll come?”

  Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Melody deliberately smiled. “Of course. I’d love to join you.”

  She was surprised her nose didn’t grow three inches.

  Steve pushed through his front door with his shoulder and came face to face with his brother.

  “I hope that’s supper.” Trevor reached for the plastic bags hanging from Steve’s hands.

  “It is, but it’s my supper,” Steve growled, reluctantly letting go and following his brother into the kitchen area. “Why the hell are you here? Go home. You have your own place.”

  “My fridge is just as empty as yours was when I checked a few minutes ago.” Trevor flashed a grin. “I swear I’ll restock for both of us at Costco when I hit Red Deer this coming weekend. Invite me to stay for supper…” he begged.

  Steve reached for the package of sausages after tossing an oversized cast-iron pan on the stovetop. “I thought Jesse was going to restock for everyone the last time he did the drive.”

  Trevor made a face, hauling eggs from the container in the fridge. “He forgot.”

  “Screw him,” Steve grumbled.

  The unmarried cousins were slowly dwindling, which meant there’d been changes in living arrangements across the board. The three youngest—all from different local Coleman clans—now occupied the rental that he, Trevor and friends used to live in.

  The family who owned the house had moved into town years ago, and there was plenty of space for four or more, but Steve had had enough of the bullshit. He was over thirty, and sharing a place with twenty-year-olds with nothing on their mind but a good time had gotten old. Trevor agreed, and the two of them had moved out. Steve had built a bungalow. Trevor had hauled a trailer onto Moonshine land.

  Still seemed as if Trevor ended up over at his place a hell of a lot.

  He grabbed a couple of plates, putting them within easy reach to load when he finished cooking the eggs. “You notice there’re a lot of things Jesse forgets?”

  Trevor made a noise. “He has selective memory. I’ll agree with you on that.”

  Steve didn’t know that it had reached the point of making a big deal of it. Even though he wasn’t living in the place anymore, their youngest brother, Lee, had moved into the rental, and Steve kept on eye on the kid. Or at least he had over the past nine months.

  Another part of the growing up and being more responsible business.

  Nope, Jesse was family, and so far he’d paid his portion of the rent on a regular basis without being too big of a pain in the ass. “Fine. If Lee complains, we’ll intervene.”

  “Otherwise, let them learn, right?” Trevor looked far too pleased with the idea of the school of hard knocks whacking some sense into the younger crowd, and there were times Steve agreed. Then he’d think back to how stupid he’d been only a short while ago, and have to reconsider.

  Maybe if someone had given him a smack on the head he wouldn’t have screwed up with Melody along the way.

  Once their plates were loaded with sausage, potatoes and eggs, they made their way to the table, talking easily about the day’s activities. The entire time, though, Steve was distracted by the large change in his agenda.

  Trevor took advantage of a break in conversation to face him. “You may as well tell me what’s wrong. You know I’ll get it out of you before long.”

  “Ass… Nothing’s wrong.” Steve finished the last bites of his meal as he gathered his thoughts. “You ever made a huge mistake you wish you could take back?”

  “Oh, man. This is going to be one of those discussions?” Trevor pushed his empty plate away then leaned his elbows on the table as he stared across at Steve. “People make stupid mistakes all the time. It’s impossible to go back and fix them.”

  Truth. “So since you can’t fix them, you have to look forward.” Which was what Steve had been planning.

  “Right. And try not to get caught doing the same stupid thing more than once.” Trevor frowned. “Now you have me curious. You screw up on the job today?”

  “No, nothing like that,” Steve was quick to deny. “This is more like a huge mistake I made a million years ago. And I know I can’t fix it, because too much time has passed.”

  He just had no idea how to go about getting what he very much wanted.

  Trevor waited. “You have to give me a few more clues, because I’m lost.”

  “Melody’s back in town.”

  Understanding dawned in his brother’s dark brown eyes as he sat frozen in his chair, shock flooding his expression. Of course that was his instant response, and three seconds later, shock was replaced by amusement. “Oh, you are in for one hell of a time.”

  Steve ignored the jibe. “I’m going to get her back, Trevor.”

  “Masochist.” Trevor was grinning now. “This is the woman who broke up with you by dousing you in beer. Then when you tried to talk to her outside the bar, she just about ran you over.”

  “That part was an accident.”

  “Whatever you say, bro.”

  A growl of frustration escaped. “You don’t have to look like you’re having so much fun. I’m serious about this. She’s important to me.”

  Trevor shrugged, tilting his chair back to snatch up a new box of cookies from the counter behind him. He grabbed a handful, shaking his head as he passed the box to Steve. “Doesn’t matter what you’re serious about, does it? She was very serious about you being the last guy on earth she ever wanted to be with. I still don’t know how you managed to get Melody that pissed at you.”

  And Steve had worked hard to keep the details of that stupid incident a secret. He’d never explained to anyone, and it seemed Melody had kept her mouth shut as well. “I was an idiot, okay? That’s all you need to know. “

  “For such an easygoing woman to dump you on your ass like that in public? You’re more than an idiot. You’re an idiot of epic proportions.”

  “Agreed,” Steve said. “But that’s in the past, and now that she’s back, I’m going to change things.”

  Trevor carried their empty plates to the counter, stacking them to one side. “That’s bold of you. I don’t know who you knocked out, but somewhere out there is an optimist who wants his half of the glass back.”

  “Screw off.”

  “Only someone who thinks unicorns fart rainbows could imagine it’s going to be a piece of cake getting back into her good graces. I don’t know if you have a chance.” Trevor folded his arms over his chest and looked thoughtful. “But maybe…?”

  “What?”

  His brother paced a few steps away before turning with a grin. “Maybe I should give a certain veterinarian a call. See how she enjoyed her time away.”

  Steve shot to his feet so fast his chair tipped over. “You keep the hell away from her.”

  Trevor waggled his brows as he beat a hasty retreat. “Lady’s prerogative. If she’s interested…”

  He escaped from the room, laughing his fool head off.

  Steve refused to chase after him like they were a pair of twelve-year-olds brawling around the house. It didn’t matter anyway. There was only one Coleman Melody Langley was going to pay attention to, and that was him.

  Chapter Three

  Steve crawled his way out from under the mass of preteen boys who had dragged him into an impromptu wrestling match, laughing as he disengaged the most enthusiastic combatant from his leg. “Enough. Don’t you have someone else to torment?”

  The shining white cast on Robbie’s right arm wasn’t slowing him down one bit. Seemed the kid was following in the tradition of ranch families everywhere. It was a rite of summer Steve remembe
red well—amongst the Coleman clan there had always been someone in a cast before school had been out more than a week.

  “They told us to pick on you,” Robbie admitted with childish honesty. “You and Uncle Trevor.”

  Steve glanced toward the main gathering at the Coleman Canada Day picnic, and laughed to see that one of the other boys was attempting to drag Trevor toward them. “Who is they?”

  “Uncle Joel and my dad.”

  Figures. A quick glimpse to the side revealed cousin Daniel from the Six Pack clan standing beside his wife, Beth, keeping an eye on his sons even as Robbie leapt and tackled Steve.

  Steve let the boy take him to the ground again, laughing as he turned the wrestling into a tickling match, and suddenly the bodies crawling on top of him weren’t just preteen boys, but a couple of petite girls with blonde pigtails.

  There weren’t that many kids in the clan yet, although from the looks of things, there would be a lot more added over the next couple of years. But whether it was kids or people joining the family through more grown-up ways, the Coleman party grew larger all the time.

  He’d just scooped up Blake and Jaxi’s two oldest girls, one in either arm, and was ready to change the game when a bell rang.

  “I need the kids over here,” Steve’s mom called from beside the house. “Not you,” she scolded Jesse as he slipped into the lineup next to Robbie who had raced up at a full-out sprint.

  “I’m young at heart,” Jesse protested.

  “He is,” Robbie agreed, linking his fingers through Jesse’s. “He’s like me.”

  Kate laughed. “What do you say, Jesse? You want to help us with the scavenger hunt? I was going to get Steve to volunteer, but if you want, you can stay.”

  Robbie leaned in and whispered loudly enough they all heard him. “You want to stay. There’s always candy.”

  Jesse laid a hand over his heart. “For candy? Of course I want to help.”

  The family around them were still chuckling as Steve passed over the girls in his arms, the small group of kids heading to where Steve’s mom had tables set up with supplies, including what was definitely a stash of candy.

  “You timed passing off the rugrats well,” Trevor teased.

  Steve faced his brother, stealing the longneck out of his hands. “Never underestimate the power of preplanning.” He took a drink before glancing over his shoulder to take in the crowd. “Nice to see Jesse show up at a family event.”

  Trevor nodded. “It looks as if we’ve got just about everyone. Thank goodness the Moonshine clan only has to host the picnic every four years.”

  “At this rate, four years from now there’ll be a dozen more kids,” Steve pointed out.

  His brother shuddered. “As long as they’re not mine, that’s all I can say.”

  “Yeah, right. I bet you right now you end up with kids before I do.”

  Trevor stole his beer back. “You didn’t see me in the bottom of that pile, did you? No, I was playing it safe and staying away from the kid cooties.”

  “Idiot.”

  “Ass.” His brother winked. “Come on, Blake and Gabe said we could get some cards in before dinner. It’s not poker, but it’ll be fun.”

  “You go ahead. I’ve got a couple of things to do.”

  They marched in different directions, Steve drifting through small groups of conversation. Nodding politely at his aunts and uncles, and wondering at the sheer volume of noise the group generated.

  When he’d arrived at the picnic, he’d left his truck back by the barns and walked to the house. He wasn’t the only one—half a dozen trucks were parked in a row facing the nearby alfalfa field. With four families in the area, a gathering of the entire clan meant a whole lot of bodies.

  Boxing Day and Canada Day were reserved for the family free-for-alls. They’d eat, take turns entertaining the kids, take turns entertaining each other with stories that had been told a million times before, and would be told a million times again.

  He didn’t mind any of it, but for a moment he wanted space. He slipped away to the closest barn, heading for the ladder to the hayloft.

  A sense of mischief struck, as if he were ten years old, hiding out when there was work to do. Or more often than not, he would’ve been the one to simply not notice it was time to do the next thing.

  This was different, he reassured himself. He wasn’t a distracted child at play, or a youth trying to get out of work. He was a grown-ass man who wanted a moment to relax before returning to enjoy the gathering.

  A couple of moves adjusted the bales in one corner into a comfortable nest. Another quick grab nabbed him the blanket from near the ladder—the one they kept around for just such occasions.

  He laid out the fabric to create a comfortable platform and crawled on top, rolling to his back to stare into the rafters as the peaceful sounds of a beautiful summer day drifted around him. At this distance, the voices in the background produced a constant hum, the occasional burst of bright childish laughter punctuating the air with joy.

  Eyes closed, breathing slowing, he relaxed and let his mind wander.

  It was a little annoying that images of the last time he’d been in the barn with Melody were the first to intrude. Hell, he had memories of her nearly everywhere on the ranch.

  Now he had to find a way to make new ones. That was what he needed to put his energy toward.

  A low creak sounded, and he rolled cautiously to one side, listening for clues of who’d invaded his territory. He wondered if the kids had escaped supervision, planning to make their own fun in the hayloft.

  Instead of a laughing horde, though, a single set of footfalls crossed the floor below him, followed by a curious thump from the far corner of the loft. Steve lifted his head far enough to spot a calico cat mincing its way over the top of the bales. She stalked forward, a limp mouse hanging from her mouth.

  The ladder creaked. Smooth, rhythmic—someone climbing. A pair of hands appeared followed by a lush mane of blonde hair as Melody turned her face toward him. Her pale-blue eyes shifted from side to side as she blinked hard and adjusted to the low light streaming in the small open window.

  He waited until she was away from the ladder before saying something for fear of shocking her into falling. “In the far corner.”

  Melody jerked, a small gasp escaping before she focused on him. “Steve?”

  “I didn’t mean to surprise you,” he apologized. “I didn’t want you to think you were alone then get frightened when you spotted me.”

  She approached slowly, eyeing his nest in the bales. One brow rose, and he was sure she was making a judgment call about him hiding from all the work and people. Not that he could blame her—

  “Taking a break,” he offered. “The party will go on for a while.”

  To his surprise, instead of offering a critical comment, she moved closer, sitting beside him and letting out a long, slow sigh. “Me too. Allison invited me. This may sound stupid, but it’s a little overwhelming out there. I swear there are more Colemans than I remember.”

  So he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Steve chuckled, curling into a sitting position and draping his hands over his knees. “I think we borrowed a few extras. There really aren’t that many of us.”

  She smiled before looking him in the eye. “Thanks again for your help the other day.”

  “Did Myrtle make it?”

  She offered a slow, sad shake of her head. “She’s gone.”

  “That’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear of your loss.”

  His joke dragged a reluctant laugh from her lips. “As much as I’ll miss her, I do have a new truck on order. It’s supposed to be here by the end of the week.”

  “If you need to borrow a vehicle until then, let me know.”

  Melody stopped. Tilted her neck to one side and examined him closely. “That’s generous of you.”

  Steve shrugged. “I figure you need a way to get around.”

  “I do, but Mathis gave me the vet tru
ck to use.”

  “Like I said, just let me know.”

  Silence stretched awkwardly for a moment, and Steve scrambled to find the next thing to say.

  He was rescued by a kitten, of all things.

  “Oh, look.” Melody held a hand toward him before pressing a finger over her lips.

  Lips that Steve desperately wanted to kiss, but instead of following through on the primitive craving, he followed her pointed gesture toward the opposite corner, where a teeny furry body teetered on the edge of the hay bale.

  “He’s okay,” Steve whispered.

  “I saw the mama cat climbing up—it looked like she had a mouse with her. They must be nearly old enough to teach how to hunt.”

  Steve swung his feet to the floor, standing slowly and motioning toward the opposite corner. “Come on. Let’s take a closer look.”

  She didn’t hesitate, slipping beside him as they inched their way across the slab-board flooring. Steve reached the other side and got on top of the bales, crawling on his hands and knees with Melody at his side.

  Talk about flashing back to his childhood—

  But it was more than that. As they moved in what was now-companionable silence, Steve thought back to the days before Melody had broken up with him. There’d always been something not quite right in their relationship. Sure, he’d been pretty relaxed about things, and that was a large part of the problem. He simply hadn’t noticed until all hell had broken loose.

  But after some retrospect, even in their good moments, something had been missing.

  He paused a short distance away from their target, resting on his heels and slowing his breathing to utter silence.

  Melody slipped a hand around his arm and pulled gently to bring him closer. “Over here. You can see the nest she made,” she whispered.

  Damn if she didn’t lean forward on a bale to peer into a spot that was impossible for him to see unless he moved right against her.

  To hell with it. Steve reached over her body, pressing a hand to the hay bales on either side of her shoulders as he joined in admiring the litter of kittens curled around each other.