by Amy Vastine
Hadley didn’t have to think about it. She jumped off the sofa and tackled him to the floor. There wasn’t anything she wanted more in this world than to be part of the Blackwell family. “Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
Tyler gently rolled her over and kissed that newly applied lipstick off once again.
Hadley couldn’t stop staring at the ring on her finger. It was a good thing her mother hadn’t asked to see it until the real deal was in place. It felt a thousand times better to talk to her parents about her engagement and fiancé now that they were real.
“Are you sure you’re ready to get to know the Sullivan family?”
Tyler twined his fingers with hers. “If you can survive the Blackwells, I should be able to get through a weekend with the Sullivans.”
“Ah, you think because I only have one brother that it won’t be so hard? You underestimate the power of Asher Sullivan, my friend.”
Tyler’s eyes went wide as the fear settled in. Hadley laughed and pulled him up the porch steps. Her family really wasn’t that scary. She was actually excited to show them this amazing place where she planned to build a life with Tyler.
They took her family out on horseback and showed them all the sights, stopping at the pond to skip a few rocks. Her dad was pretty good. He managed to skip a rock nine times and was so close to making it all the way across. Tyler tried to teach her mom but she was about as hopeless as Hadley.
“You look really happy, sweetheart,” her dad said as they stood by the horses, waiting for the rest of the group to finish with their rock skipping.
“I am, Dad. I’m really happy.” Quite possibly the happiest she’d ever been.
“I have a feeling you weren’t as happy when we first got here.”
Hadley was surprised to hear him call her out. She didn’t think her dad paid that much attention. “What makes you say that?”
“I’m not going to speculate about what’s been going on the last few weeks, only because when your fiancé over there came to ask my blessing today, he assured me that he is one hundred and ten percent committed to making you the happiest person in the world. Said he couldn’t explain, but you two were in need of a redo in the engagement department and wanted to do everything by the book this time.”
Hadley placed her hand over her beating heart. Tyler asked permission to marry her. Everything was real this time.
“Sometimes you have to make a couple mistakes to figure out what you really want. I can promise you, Dad, that Tyler is what I want. This life with him on this ranch is definitely what I want.”
“Then we’ll just keep the fact that this is a redo to ourselves. No need to get your mother all worked up.”
Hadley threw her arms around her dad. Their secret was safe with him. “Thank you.”
“Do you have guests here year-round?” Asher asked, staring at his phone like he had been off and on the whole ride. He had a lot of research to do to learn how to play a real cowboy. In LA phones were used for constant ego stroking. On a ranch, phones were more for emergencies rather than checking your social media status.
“Summer is the main season but we’re looking to expand into a year-round guest ranch. Hoping to be somewhere people come for weddings and corporate retreats.”
“I told my producer I was visiting my sister, who’s marrying a guy with a ranch in Montana, and he’s been texting me about it ever since. Wants to know if he could send a location scout out here.”
“A location scout? He wants to check this place out as the location for your movie?”
Asher flashed her his most charming smile. “You’d give us a deal, right? We’re family after all.”
“I’d have to talk to Tyler and Ethan, but I bet we could work something out.” This was one time Hadley would happily mix her personal life with business. The media attention they could get would be priceless.
“You’d have to talk to me about what?” Tyler said, helping her mom up the rocky path to the horses.
“Asher was saying his producer wants to send a location scout out here to see if our ranch could serve as the setting for his new movie.”
“Sounds like I need to get ahold of Chance.”
Getting the last Blackwell brother’s vote was imperative to making all of this happen. Without it, all the work Hadley and Ethan had been doing would be worthless.
* * *
SOME TWINS SWORE they could tell when the other was in pain or that they could read one another’s minds. Tyler and Chance never claimed to have any psychic abilities. When Tyler broke his arm in seventh grade, Chance didn’t have any sympathy for him let alone sympathy pains.
Still, Chance was the one Blackwell brother who Tyler never ignored. If he called, Tyler answered. If he texted, Tyler texted back. When he emailed pictures of Rosie, Tyler always replied back with a big thank-you. Unfortunately, Chance wasn’t always as good at getting back to Tyler in return.
“How was your ride with the future in-laws?” Katie asked as she helped Tyler untack the horses.
“Good. I’m certain I made an excellent first impression.”
“There never was a doubt that you would, was there?”
Tyler chuckled. “Given all the things that have happened the last couple weeks, I have learned not to take anything for granted.”
“Yeah, you almost screwed things up big-time,” she said, checking Goliath’s hooves for stones.
“I learned my lesson. No more hiding my feelings or making up stories. Honesty is my new policy.”
Katie got quiet. She ducked her head and averted her eyes. Hopefully, she’d forgive him for lying to her. It wasn’t like he was trying to hurt anyone.
“I’m sorry for not being honest with you. Your friendship means a lot and I didn’t want to deceive any of you. I just didn’t want you to think I was a loser.”
“No, I get it,” she said, grabbing the currycomb from the grooming bucket. “Sometimes we have to keep things from people for the greater good.”
“I don’t know if I would call what I was doing for the greater good, but I appreciate your understanding. I wish my brother would understand that I need to talk to him.”
“Which one?”
“Chance. I’ve called, texted, emailed. He won’t respond. I need him to vote to keep the ranch but that’s a little difficult when he won’t communicate.”
“Boy, I feel like that’s a bit of karma coming for you, Ty. I seem to remember a time when Ben, Ethan and Jon were desperately trying to get ahold of you and all those calls went to voice mail.”
Okay, that was true, but Chance would have gotten a call back had he been the one to reach out. It bugged Tyler that his twin wouldn’t show him the same courtesy. “I’m going to have to go do this face-to-face if he keeps ignoring me.”
“Sure would be nice if you could get him to come home and bring Rosie with him. It would mean a lot to my dad to get to see his granddaughter before he dies.”
“I’ll have to remember that when I make my case. I’m sorry for all you’re going through, Katie. We’re here for you. You know that, right?”
She finished brushing Goliath and turned to face Tyler. “I appreciate that, Ty. I really do. I wish Chance understood how important family was. I love looking at the pictures he sent me of Rosie, but you can’t hug your computer screen.”
“Chance feels very strongly about family. Lochlan was the one who made it clear that if Maura married him, they weren’t his family anymore. Chance took that to heart. And when Maura was sick... Let’s just say there are a lot of hard feelings.”
“My dad isn’t a perfect man. Not by a long shot. But he’s not the only family Maura had.”
Tyler could see the hurt in Katie’s eyes. Chance lost his wife but Katie lost a sister. Neither one was any more or less tragic. “I’ll try to remind him of that. I promise.”
After dinner and a stop for some ice cream at South Corner Drug and Sundries, Tyler and Hadley retreated to the Heavenly Pines. It was late, after nine. The sun had begun to sink behind the Rockies.
“I feel like there’s so much to do and tomorrow is Friday. I don’t know how I’m going to entertain my family and take care of all the things I promised Ethan I would get done before the weekend.”
Tyler pulled Hadley over to the old bench on the front porch. “Isn’t it time we stop thinking about work and watch the sunset together instead?”
“Who are you and what have you done with Tyler Blackwell? The man never stops thinking about business. He’s all business all the time.”
“Not this new and improved Tyler Blackwell. This Tyler makes time for what’s really important, like his very real fiancée and her supersoft lips.”
He kissed her slowly, taking his time to enjoy every moment of this second chance they had been given.
“Okay, I like this new Tyler a lot,” Hadley said, pulling back for a breath. “He’s a keeper.”
She snuggled against him as the sky went from blue to the most vibrant shades of orange and purple. Nature at its finest. The quiet serenity of dusk settled in. This was how Tyler wanted to spend all his evenings going forward, with Hadley in his arms and the beauty of the ranch laid out before them.
Tyler was most definitely home.
EPILOGUE
“WHAT CAN I get you to drink, cowboy?”
Elias Blackwell removed his tan cattleman hat and set it on the bar in front of him. The bartender had more tattoos than a bird had feathers. He didn’t mind a little ink, but this was ridiculous.
“Whiskey on the rocks.”
“Coming right up.”
Elias glanced over his shoulder at the empty stage in this hole-in-the-wall bar. Los Angeles wasn’t exactly his favorite place to visit, and it was joints like this that made him realize why. Everyone standing around waiting for the show to start was on their phones and dressed like their clothes had been run through a shredder. Did anyone in LA own a pair of jeans that didn’t have a hole in them? Even their cigarettes were electronic. This generation was interesting to say the least.
He had to remind himself he was here for a reason and it didn’t have anything to do with the people in the crowd but everything to do with the man who would be on stage in a few minutes.
“Here you go,” the bartender said, setting the drink on the cocktail napkin with the words Tuned Up printed across it. “That’ll be seven dollars. Do you want to pay now or start a tab?”
Goodness, he could get a whole bottle of whiskey for that price back home. Elias pulled out his wallet and threw down a ten-dollar bill. “I’ll pay now. I can’t afford to start a tab.”
He set his hat back on his head, grabbed his drink and made his way through the crowd to find the perfect spot to watch the show. The lights dimmed and a young guy in black jeans—surprisingly not ripped—and a Tuned Up T-shirt got up on stage.
“I’m stoked to introduce this guy. He’s been missing from the music scene for a couple years, but I’m happy to say he’s making a comeback. Please welcome, Chance Blackwell.”
The crowd erupted into applause and a few hoots and hollers. Elias was impressed with the reaction. They were excited to see the kid. Good for him.
It had been a long while since he’d seen his grandson. Ten long years to be exact. When he walked out on the stage it was clear that he was no longer a boy but a man. Mike’s boys were all grown up, even the youngest.
They turned the lights down low as Chance began to strum his guitar. He acknowledged the crowd and then got lost in his song. It was as if he forgot everyone was there. The boy was talented.
Elias listened to three songs before he noticed the other Blackwell in the room. Tyler was working his way over to the side of the stage where the bar owner had stepped off. Most likely trying to find a way backstage. It was a good thing Tyler’s source had been correct about Chance’s whereabouts and even better that Elias’s informant was able to pass that information on to him.
Tyler would hopefully convince Chance to go back to Montana. Chance was the last piece in this big ol’ jigsaw puzzle. Thus far, everything else had worked the way Elias had hoped. No reason to think this wouldn’t, as well.
Tyler glanced around the room. The last thing Elias needed was for the plan to be spoiled because he got busted in the eleventh hour. It was time to go. He weaved through the crowd and out the front door.
Zoe had taught him how to use the app that alerted people to the fact that he needed a ride. People in their personal vehicles would just drive on over to wherever he was and pick him up. He didn’t exactly get why someone would do that, but it was helpful when there were no taxis around.
Once he was back in his RV, there was only one last thing to do. He would drop this package off at the post office on his way out of the city tomorrow. His accomplice would know what to do with it as long as Tyler came through. It was about time the boy got this back and the whole family was where they belonged.
* * * * *
Read on for a sneak peek at The Rancher’s Homecoming—the stunning conclusion to the Return of the Blackwell Brothers miniseries—coming next month from acclaimed author Anna J. Stewart...
Keep reading for an excerpt from Ava’s Prize by Cari Lynn Webb.
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The Rancher’s Homecoming
by Anna J. Stewart
CHANCE BLACKWELL MISSED a lot about performing.
He missed the way the room went silent as he sang words he’d painstakingly chosen. He missed the oddly intoxicating smell of beer, perfume and rejection. He missed the way the lights were dim enough for him to pretend he was alone, just him and his guitar.
What he didn’t miss was walking off stage to find his longtime, long-suffering agent ready to pounce. Given the sour expression on Felix Fuller’s face, there wasn’t an “atta boy” in Chance’s future.
“I thought you had new material.” Felix’s disappointment was clear and cut almost as deep as Chance expected. Only five years older than Chance’s just turned thirty, Felix was as short as Chance was tall, pudgy where Chance was toned and as determined while Chance was...
Well, Chance d
idn’t know exactly what he was anymore.
Chance sighed and gripped the guitar he’d received as a gift his first Christmas after leaving the Blackwell Family Ranch ten years before. His wife, Maura, had worked a second waitressing job on the sly to buy it from a local pawn shop that Christmas they spent in Nashville. He could still remember her sitting on the floor next to the anorexic tree he’d dragged out of the back of a tree lot, her freckled face alight with excitement as he unwrapped it. The instrument had been the greatest gift he’d ever received. Until Rosie was born at least.
“The new songs aren’t ready,” Chance lied. “And the crowd seems happy enough.” Applause was applause, right?
“The crowd was being polite.” Felix followed Chance down the narrow hallway. “You can’t launch a comeback on old songs, Chance. Sentimentality will only get you so far. We need something new, something fresh. Something from the heart.”
From the heart? Chance swallowed against the wave of grief-tinged nausea. If that’s what was needed, no wonder his creative spark had been doused. “I need more time.”
“You don’t have more time.” Felix nipped at his heels like an overanxious puppy. “Unless you don’t have any interest in keeping a roof over Rosie’s head. Or yours for that matter.”
Chance’s guts knotted. He could live in his car and be fine with it, but no way did he want anything less than complete stability for his daughter. “I can’t write from a dry well, Felix.” And that’s exactly what he had. A dry, dusty well of inspiration. Ashes to ashes...
“Okay, okay, so let’s look at the bright side.” Felix’s voice dropped as he gestured toward the frayed, dark green curtains. “They’ve missed you, Chance. Your fans, your audience, they want you back. Which means we’ve got to strike—”
“I told you before this gig, I’m only dipping my toe.” Chance accepted the congratulatory slaps on the back and positive comments from patrons as he made his way to the makeshift dressing room that over the years had been occupied by far more talented and popular musicians than himself. Apparently they didn’t care that he was singing songs from five years ago. “I’m not diving in all the way again. I’m not ready.”
