Forever Falcon Ridge (The McLendon Family Saga Book 7)

by D. L. Roan

  Discussing what had happened was the last way Clay wanted to start his day, but something had passed between them last night that hadn’t set right in his gut. Something he couldn’t let go unaddressed. “We need to talk about Jackson, Pop.”

  “And I told you last night, I’m not talkin’ about it,” Virgil said in an even tone without looking up from the tablet. “Nothin’s changed about that.”

  “But Pop, Jackson’s got things twisted up.”

  Virgil didn’t respond.

  Clay set his cup down on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, reluctant to ask the question that had been burning in the back of his mind all night. “Do you blame Jackson for what happened to Mom?

  Virgil stilled, then peeled off his reading glasses and looked up at him with a steely glare that made Clay feel like he was twelve all over again. “I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Clay shook his head in disbelief. “Pop, it was an accident. You can’t blame—”

  “I said drop it,” Virgil demanded.

  “But, Pop…” Jackson couldn’t go on believing what had happened was his fault. “We need to talk about this.”

  “I can’t!” Virgil pounded his fist on the table, rattling the salt and pepper shakers, and shot to his feet, the tendons in his neck straining. “Don’t you understand? I can’t go back there.” He picked up his glasses and tablet, then pinned Clay with another warning glare. “There are things you don’t know.”

  Things? “What things?”

  “It’s in the past, son, and I suggest you leave it there.”

  “Pop, wait,” Clay called out as Virgil turned to leave, but he knew better than to push the issue. He hesitated, at a loss for what else to say. How could his dad ignore this? He stared down into his cup as if he’d find the words swimming around inside.

  Virgil stood impatiently at the screen door, a hard expression on his face that dared him to say more.

  “I was wondering…” Clay cleared his throat. He hadn’t planned on bringing up the subject that morning, but considering the whole herd of elephants already in the room, he figured it as good a time as any. “Is Mom’s ring still in the safe?”

  He cursed the tremble in his hand as he brought his cup to his lips. Virgil caught the tell and the hard lines etched into his dad’s face relaxed into a knowing grin. “Your head finally catchin’ up to what the rest of ya already knows, huh?”

  Clay swallowed. Hot coffee scalded its way down his throat to the anxious knot in the pit of his stomach as he nodded. Dani had flipped his switch. From the day he met her, he’d been flying on a wing and a prayer, but last night had cleared up whatever doubts he’d had about settling down.

  “You sure about this?” Virgil asked as he leaned against the doorjamb. “Because you don’t look so sure.”

  “That’s not it.” After spilling his guts to her about his mom, and the stark reminder of how easily he could lose her, he’d woken up in her arms that morning surer than ever he wanted to tie himself to her in every way possible.

  “This about Shannon?” Virgil prodded.

  Clay shook his head. He hadn’t given Shannon a thought.

  “Good.” Virgil nodded. “So, what’s holdin’ you up, then? It’s not like you to drag your heels when you know what you want.”

  Clay sighed, considering his dad’s question. “Just don’t have all the logistics worked out yet, I guess,” he said, then took another sip from his mug.

  “Logistics?” Virgil cocked a brow and grinned. “You need another trip out to the breedin’ barn?”

  Clay choked, his coffee sloshing from his cup. “Not that kind of logistics.” He swore to himself as he mopped up the splash on the counter. “There’s more than a thousand miles between us, Pop.”

  He’d already left Sterling Eagle once when he’d enlisted, and he knew now that had been a mistake. And Pop was getting older. Like it or not, he was eventually going to need their help to keep the ranch running. Moving away again, even for Dani, was an impossible option, but convincing her to leave Falcon Ridge was going to be a Texas-sized challenge. That was if she said yes, which was ludicrous considering he hadn’t even told her he was in love with her yet.

  “I’ve got my business and the ranch,” Clay continued, “and she’s still got a year of college.” It was easy to forget how much younger she was. Eight-plus years didn’t seem like a huge difference on the surface, but what woman would want to settle down when they were just taking off in life?

  Virgil snickered. “You always were an over thinker.”

  Clay raised an incredulous brow. “There’s a lot to consider, Pop. It’s not that easy.”

  “Trust me, son,” Virgil continued, “it is that easy. I met, married, and got your mom pregnant with Beau in five days. Mark my words, son. You don’t pull the trigger on that one, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life, no matter where you hang your hat.” He clapped Clay on the shoulder and hip-checked the screen door open. “I’ll get you the ring before I head out tonight, which reminds me. Nann’s got a new band playin’ up at the Bulzeye tonight. She’s tryin’ to drum up business with some of the locals. I’d appreciate it if you’d consider stoppin’ in for a drink. Help her out.”

  Clay nodded. “I’ll see what Dani wants to do.”

  Virgil chuckled. “See there? You’re already gettin’ the hang of it.” His dad walked out the door, but stuck his head back inside before he left. “And whatever y’all decide about tonight, keep to the driveway on your way back in from now on. Got enough work to do around here without fillin’ in tire ruts in my yard.”

  Clay rolled his eyes at his dad’s version of get off my lawn and emptied his cup into the sink, then poured a fresh one for Dani. If he was going to convince her to marry him and move to Sterling Eagle, then he’d best get to showing her all the reasons why she should.

  To his disappointment, the bed was empty when he returned to the guesthouse. The sound of running water beckoned him to the bathroom and he opened the door, almost spilling the coffee when he saw her naked form behind the foggy glass door.

  Fuck me sideways.

  If he’d had his mom’s ring, he would have fallen to his knees and proposed that very second. Instead, he set the coffee on the bathroom counter and shed his clothes. His plans for the day just got derailed in the most delicious way.

  “Clay?” she called out as the water shut off.

  Grinning, he pulled open the shower door. “At your service, ma’am,” he said and squeezed inside the tight space, twisting the knob to turn the water back on. Damn, what he wouldn’t give to be in his own place. Fuck-sized showers would be the first thing he designed when he did finally build their house.

  “I was just finishing—”

  “And I’m just gettin’ started.” Clay pressed her against the shower wall, his satisfied groan filling the steamy air as their tongues met in a long, slow dance and he drank in the flavors of minty toothpaste and Dani. “Mmm,” he hummed, diving in for one last taste before he released her. “Mornin’, beautiful.”

  Even with her skin flush from the hot water, he could see her blush. Her innocence was so damn cute and rare, and to know he was the only one to ever see it made him want to claim her all over again.

  He traced her rosy skin with the tip of his tongue, licking the drops from her slender neck, her collarbone, the plump swells of her breasts, dipping down to take one of her beaded nipples into his mouth. Just because they couldn’t fuck, didn’t mean he couldn’t play.

  “Ahh!” She arched beneath him and he sucked harder, glancing up to see her rapturous expression, which turned to shock as the hot water abruptly turned freezing.

  Clay cursed a blue streak as he reached over and flipped off the water, mentally adding monster-sized hot water heaters to his list of custom home design demands.

  Dani shivered. Drops of water beaded on her lashes as she glanced up at him with an animated smile. “Good morning,” she said with
a giggle, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into another kiss.

  Clay growled against her lips when she shivered again. “You were two minutes away from an even better mornin’,” he said, then opened the door and pulled a towel from the rack on the back of the door.

  No room to maneuver, he handed it to her, then stepped out to get his own, watching her as he dried off and wrapped the towel around his hips. Tempted to set her on the vanity and pick up where they’d left off, he scooped up his clothes and backed out the door. As much as he wanted to spend another day making love to her, he had an agenda, and his time was running short. She would be leaving in a couple of days, and though she’d promised to come back, he wasn’t taking any chances.

  “Drink up.” He nodded to the thermos of coffee he’d made, light and sweet just like her. “Then get dressed. It’s about time I show you Sterling Eagle.”

  She glanced down at the thermos, her brows pinching together into an angry scowl.

  “What?” He paused at the door. “You don’t want a tour?” Had she changed her mind about seeing the ranch?

  “No. I mean, yes.” She pressed her fingertips to her forehead as she picked up the coffee with the other. “It’s um…never mind."

  “What is it?” He tucked his clothes beneath his arm and leaned against the doorframe. “You can tell me, whatever it is.”

  His heart beat wildly in his chest as she ran a hand over her wet hair and then lifted the thermos. “It’s the coffee,” she finally said with a sigh. “It tastes like rotten eggs and dirt.”

  Relief washed over Clay like a cold wave and he barked out a laugh as he took the thermos from her. “It’s the sulfur water from the well,” he explained as he dumped it down the sink. “I never thought about it. I don’t even taste it anymore, but it takes some getting used to if you’ve never tasted it.”

  Dani scoffed. “I don’t think I could ever get used to that.”

  Clay kissed her wrinkled nose. “No corn, no mayo, and no sulfur water,” he ticked off with a chuckle. “Noted.” He gave her ass a playful slap and she yelped. “Now get dressed before I lose my mind and keep you tied to that bed all day,” he warned and left her to get dressed.

  “That’s not a threat, you know,” Dani teased from the bathroom doorway as he pulled on his jeans.

  “Clothes. Now.” He pointed to the bathroom, shoving his feet into his boots. Besides the fact she needed a break, he would not be distracted from his plans.

  Dressed in only her bra and dick-hardening, lacy lime-green panties, she crossed her arms over her chest, her brow raised in defiance, and leaned against the doorframe.

  “Dani,” he warned.

  “Clay,” she taunted back, her cocky little smirk and the way her crossed arms squeezed her breasts together pushing all the right buttons.

  Moth-er-fucker. Stick to the plan, Sterling.

  Clay backed toward the door, unable to tear his gaze from that damn gorgeous lace. “I’ll meet you at the truck,” he choked out, twisting the doorknob and stumbling backward through the threshold.

  The blazing morning sun was broiling the earth by the time he packed a cooler, tossed a few breakfast burritos into the microwave, and met Dani at his truck. As was normal for that time of year, by noon, the air conditioning was coughing up an o-ring to keep the air inside the cab just above lung singeing levels.

  He tipped his hat back and swiped his forearm across his brow as he drove along the dirt trail shortcut from the stockyards to the breeding complex, the operational hub of the Sterling Eagle Ranch.

  So far, his plan to sell her on the idea of moving to Texas had gone over like a flat, warm beer at a beach party.

  A cattle grid had collapsed as they were crossing it and he’d had to radio one of the stockyard hands to come tow them out of the ditch. While he was under his truck hooking up the tow lines, Dani had taken shelter from the sun in the other work truck, where a damn scorpion decided to crawl out from one of the air conditioning vents and fell into her boot.

  Her scream had taken ten years off his life. After almost knocking himself out on the truck bumper, he’d scrambled to his feet and sprinted like a drunken race horse across the dozen or so yards between them. By the time he reached her, though, she’d managed to get her hands on a crowbar and there wasn’t much left of the menacing insect, or the floorboard of the truck, for that matter. She hadn’t gotten stung, thank Christ, but battling a giant scorpion wasn’t exactly a scheduled tour stop.

  “Your dimples are blinding me,” she said over the country song playing on the radio, running her fingertip over his cheek. “What’s so funny?”

  Clay shook his head and turned down the music, then reached over and laced his fingers with hers. “Just thinkin’ I’d better hide all the crowbars if you ever get mad at me.”

  Dani chuckled. “Just don’t bring home any scorpions and you’ll be fine.”

  Clay’s skin prickled with awareness. Had she even noticed what she’d said? Was it a simple Freudian slip, or was she already considering some form of forever with him, too?

  “How many barns do you have?” she asked, clicking another picture of one of the feed stations through the open window.

  “All in all, about fifty, but only thirty or so are still operational since we cut the herd size.”

  “You said the ranch cut back because of the droughts,” she continued, already zooming in on another picturesque target. “Any plans to expand it again now that the drought is over?”

  Clay nodded. “Pop’s been talkin’ about it. He thinks it’s a bad idea to put too many eggs in one basket.”

  Dani lowered her phone and looked over at him. “Do you agree or disagree with him?” she asked.

  Clay shrugged. “Seed stock and genetics are our bread and butter now, but who knows what law the government may pass, or unknown factor nature may throw at us. I think it’s a good idea to stay diversified.”

  Dani nodded. “Me, too. It’s one of the reasons we keep crops as well as horse and cattle stock. Every season it’s something different.”

  Her levelheaded business sense called to something deep inside him. It’s what had piqued his interest in the first place, when they’d first begun working on the drone project together, weeks before they’d ever met in person. The reminder centered him, quieting his anxious doubts. She was meant to be his partner, in business, life, and in bed. She was his perfect match, in every way, and no matter how much time it took to work out the details, she was already his.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Wait! Is that…?” Dani squinted across the arid desert, the towering form in the distance wavering in and out of focus through the vapory heat.

  “The cactus?” Clay asked.

  “Yes!” One of the big ones she’d only ever seen in movies or pictures! She whipped out her phone to take a picture, but it was too far away to get a good shot. “Can we drive over so I can get a picture?” Before she’d even finished the question, Clay had veered off the road toward it.

  Clay snorted. “Of all the things on this ranch, I would have never thought to show you a cactus.”

  Dani laughed. “Con and Car have this picture of them hugging one—”

  “Ouch!”

  “Yeah,” Dani scoffed. “They were still touring at the time, and I think they were both drunk, but anyway. They were doing this selfie posting contest with their fans. The band was horsing around, and someone pushed Con, and he fell into it.”

  Clay drew in a hissing breath as he cringed. “What were they thinking?”

  Dani rolled her eyes. “That was back before they married Breezy, when they shared a brain cell, so who knows, but they both still cringe when they see one, so I want to send them a pic.”

  Clay laughed. “Sounds like something my brothers would do to me.”

  The cactus was so big she couldn’t get her arms more than halfway around it without touching any of the thorns. They took several pictures, one of her pretending to lic
k it and one of her kissing Clay, which he quickly turned into a soul-searing kiss, a picture she would not be sending to her brothers.

  She pocketed her phone and carefully plucked a thorn for a souvenir. Rolling thunder echoed in the distance and she looked up to see a dark line of clouds forming over the rugged mountains, casting ominous shadows across the tall peaks.

  Clay nodded toward the truck. “We should get moving. It might rain itself out before it gets here, but if it doesn’t, we don’t want to get stuck out here.”

  What seemed like twenty miles of desert later, a cluster of buildings appeared in the distance. “Welcome to Sterling City,” he said as they got closer. “Well, not a city proper, but pretty much anything related to running the ranch starts and ends here. That’s Levi’s lab over there,” he said, pointing to the modern looking warehouse on the far right.

  “What are the other buildings?” she asked, surprised to find what looked like a small town in the middle of nowhere.

  “Equipment, maintenance, storage,” Clay ticked off. “We even have our own vet’s office.”

  Dani stared out the window in awe, suddenly feeling completely out of her depth. Sterling Eagle Ranch was a much bigger operation than she’d ever dreamed possible. Grey had been right. Seeing it firsthand was a whole different ballgame than reading about it on their website. She couldn’t fathom what it took to run a ranch this size.

  They passed several semi and feed loading trucks as they entered the town area and Clay parked in front of what looked like a mechanic’s garage. He showed her inside and introduced her to the maintenance foreman, Joel. It was the only name she remembered as he did the same with every department until they reached what he called their coms center, which was the smallest of the buildings located at the far end of the row beside his brother’s lab.