Home on the Ranch: The Montana Cowboy's Triplets

by Allison B. Collins

  “The dead farmer?” Cody leaned forward, too, his Batman pajamas almost touching his plate.

  Hunter slid his eyes to Mackenzie, and saw her bite her lip to keep from laughing.

  “It was...my...hat!”

  “No way!” Tripp shouted.

  “Way.” She picked up her fork and took another bite of pancake.

  “Cool.” Cody sat back, and Hunter could almost see the thoughts whirring in his head.

  “Are there more monsters? Did you see any?” Eli asked.

  “Scotland is a mystical, magical land. There are many supernatural creatures, so many it would take weeks and weeks to tell you about.”

  “You boys finished eating? We need to get the dishes cleaned up.” Hunter stood and picked up his plate.

  “Aw, Daddy. Puhleeze? We wanna hear more, Miss Mkeznie,” Eli begged, garbling her name.

  “Why don’t you call me Mack? That’s what my brothers call me.” She stood and started picking up plates.

  “Miss Mack, Miss Mack, Miss Mack,” Cody sang at the top of his lungs.

  “Okay, Miss Mack.” Tripp got up and shoved Cody.

  “We’ll take care of the dishes.” Hunter took the stack of dishes from her hand. “Thanks for the story. You’ve got a great way with kids.”

  Her cheeks turned pink, and she started walking out of the kitchen.

  “Mackenzie.” He waited till she turned around. “I enjoyed the story, too. I wouldn’t mind hearing more sometime.” He grinned at her.

  And she fled the room as if the Loch Ness Monster was hot on her heels.

  Chapter 6

  Mackenzie took a deep breath of crisp mountain air. She’d had a bad case of cabin fever, aching to get outside again. Sure, it had been fun playing games with the triplets, even when Hunter joined in. But she’d needed some time by herself, so she worked on her newest hobby—jewelry making.

  The weather had finally cleared enough they could film outdoors again. Today they were shooting the scene in which the hero and heroine were lost in the wilderness, snowbound by the aftermath of a blizzard.

  At least Mother Nature cooperated yesterday by dumping heaps and heaps of snow.

  Mackenzie zipped up the thick coat that matched what Carley wore. Everything had to be the exact duplicate, down to their hairstyles. She pulled on gloves and headed toward the van equipped with tracks to ride over snow that would take them to the film location.

  “Yo, Mackenzie.” Steven, the lead actor’s stunt double, caught up to her.

  Mackenzie hadn’t worked with Steven before. She’d heard he was the nephew of some big producer who had pulled strings to get him this job. She really hoped he knew what the was doing, otherwise someone could get hurt. They’d been closeted with the stunt coordinator and the assistant director that morning, going over procedures.

  She glanced at Steven, then behind him. Hunter walked out of the barn, leading his horse. His sons followed him, each with smaller horses of their own.

  “Hey, you listening to me?” Steven slung an arm around her shoulders. “I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

  “We need to get moving.” She shrugged out from under his arm, and saw Hunter watching them. She waved at the boys, and Eli waved so hard his hat fell off. Cody took his hat off and waved it. Tripp grinned at her.

  Climbing into the van, she made sure to take the single seat in the back so I’m-God’s-gift-to-women Steven wouldn’t sit next to her. The driver took the crew out to the edge of a field overlooking a ravine, and they all disembarked.

  After hours of blocking and rehearsing, the director called action, and she held still, watching Carley and Bryant as they trudged through the snow. Desperate to find shelter after their plane had crashed, and having no one else to turn to, they would end the scene with an argument about which way to go. The script called for Carley to peer over a ravine, then lose her footing and slide down toward the freezing river.

  The camera stopped rolling, and Mackenzie walked out to take Carley’s place. The wind whipped her hair around her head and blew snow up into her eyes. She tucked her chin down into the warm red wool scarf while Brody attached the harness to her safety belt.

  She shuffled forward to look over the ravine. A steep drop from the rocky crag ended in a wide river lined with boulders. A second camera crew had set up on a narrow strip of land to film her as the character fell over the edge and slid down the ravine. Tom had found a pathway down to the water and hurried toward the crew. He’d mentioned wanting to watch the stunt for real, not just on a monitor.

  Mackenzie waited for the cue to begin her downward slide.

  “Action!” Tom’s voice sounded tinny as he spoke through a radio.

  She went to work. Sliding her foot forward, she felt for the soft spot and pushed. The edge of the cliff gave way like they’d planned. Her arms flew up as she tumbled down the cliff. Sharp rocks poked at her, and spikes of adrenaline shot through her stomach and chest. She scrambled for a handhold, but with the snow and ice so deep, any brush she could have grabbed was buried. Perfect for what the script called for.

  Halfway down the slope, the harness yanked her to a stop. One of the straps dug into her stomach, right over a scar. Her skin was still sensitive, and she bit her lip against the reminder of the fire.

  The crew high above started lowering her down, and she finally touched the ground. Brushing the snow off her hands and face, she waited while the director watched the playback on the screen.

  “Great job, Mackenzie. You made that fall look realistic. Should be good to go on this stunt,” Tom said, and gave her a thumb’s up.

  “Thanks.” She kept her face calm, gave a slight smile. But inside she jumped up and down. Woohoo! Always a relief to have a stunt go right. And on the first try, too.

  She walked into the crew tent to warm herself at the space heaters. The lead actor, Bryant, stood at the back getting some coffee, and Carley looked up at Mackenzie.

  “I hear you’re staying at Hunter’s cabin.” Carley set a script down on a small table.

  “Aye, that’s correct.”

  Carley glanced at Bryant, then pulled a small compact out of her pocket and looked in the mirror. “I hope you’re not getting any ideas about him. It won’t go anywhere.”

  Mackenzie’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Just in case you’re thinking he’ll go for you, he won’t. We’ve been seeing each other since I arrived.” Carley snapped the compact closed.

  Bryant brushed past them and tossed his cup in the trash. He yanked the tent flap open and shot a look at Carley, then walked out.

  “You forget I was snowbound with him in his cabin during the blizzard.” Sometimes Carley irritated her so much. The actress thought the world revolved around her.

  “You—” Carley jumped up out of the director’s chair emblazoned with her name.

  “Oh, relax. He’s no more interested in me than I am in him.” Mackenzie walked to the tent flap and held it aside. “Besides, we had three chaperones, remember? His boys?”

  She pushed through the tent and walked outside. Why would Carley think she had any interest in Hunter? Although, it had been very tempting to let Carley know Hunter had seen her naked.

  The assistant director hailed her. Time to go back to work. She had to stand in for Carley as they filmed Bryant’s reaction scenes. This was the boring part. She could lose herself while Bryant ran his lines for the camera’s close-up shots.

  She loved action work best. Flying through the air, swinging from a harness, riding on top of a semi, hanging off a cliff. It was more than just a rush of adrenaline. For years, she’d felt the most like herself during stunts.

  Since before she’d realized she could never again rely on a man to make her happy, to make her feel alive. Doing stunt work, she was in control.


  Thirty minutes later, she’d finished standing in for Carley. Instead of waiting to ride back with the crew, she opted to walk the couple of miles back to the ranch to begin laying out the next stunt. And thaw out her frozen toes in a warm bath.

  She trudged down the road, the warm scarf pulled up to her nose. An engine sounded behind her, and she moved off the road, trying to avoid the muddy patches.

  One of the smaller ranch snow coaches pulled up alongside her and stopped. The window rolled down, and one of Hunter’s brothers—Luke?—poked his head out.

  “Hey, Mackenzie. Need a ride?”

  “Sure, that would be grand.”

  He shoved the passenger door open and she grabbed the handrail, hauling herself inside.

  “Where you headed? Back to Hunter’s cabin?”

  “The barn by the lodge, please. I want to check on my horse.”

  Luke put the big machine in gear, and they rolled forward over the snowy road. “So you like doing stunts in movies?”

  “Aye. I can pay bills doing something I love.” The only thing she hated now were scenes involving fire. At least she wouldn’t be trapped in a box this time. She just hoped she wouldn’t freeze up and not be able to do it. She didn’t want to gain a bad rep.

  “You played along great the other night at dinner.”

  Luke’s words interrupted her dark thoughts. “Oh, you mean about Hunter saving me?”

  “Yeah. We take every opportunity to mess with him.”

  And they had. Every one of his brothers had poked fun at him. “And he goes along with that?”

  Luke shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. He’s too pretty for his own good, so we have to take him down a notch whenever we can.”

  She started feeling sorry for Hunter, and felt bad for her part in the raucous teasing that night.

  “Don’t get me wrong. He’s our brother, and all. Sometimes it’s just too much to resist.” Luke steered the snow coach to the barn. “Believe me, he dishes it out just as much.”

  Grinning, she opened the door. “Understood.” She slid out of the coach. “Thanks for the lift.” She walked into the barn and over to Rory’s stall. “Hi, handsome.” She rubbed his nose.

  Rory nudged her shoulder, then her pocket. She laughed and opened the stall door and went in. He always knew when she’d brought him a treat. She pulled the apple out of her pocket, but he shifted and bumped into her. The apple fell from her hand, and she bent over to pick it up.

  The barn door creaked open, and with the burst of cold air came the sound of Carley’s flirty laugh.

  “Hunter, you naughty boy.” She squealed, then laughed again.

  Hunter’s voice rumbled, but his words weren’t clear enough for Mackenzie to hear what he said. More than likely, he was whispering sweet nothings into Carley’s ear.

  Just like a man. Wink at her in the morning, seduce another woman in the afternoon.

  She wondered who would be on his radar for that evening.

  Oh, well, none of her business. It wasn’t as if she was interested in him. She had a job to do, and she needed to do it perfectly. If the weather held out a few more days, her part would be done, and she could leave and look for another stunt job.

  The coordinators, and especially Brody, were good about telling her who was hiring stunt people, but sometimes it felt as if all she did was hustle for work.

  Carley laughed again, and it sounded like the one she used for her romantic scenes. That hot and sultry laugh that made Mackenzie think about Elizabeth Taylor. The barn door slammed shut.

  A little trickle of something pinged around her chest. Not jealousy. Absolutely not. A man like Hunter would never look at her as anything more than a pal, a buddy. Especially when pretty, feminine Carley was in the vicinity.

  And no skin off her own freckled nose. She wasn’t here for romance.

  Mackenzie fed the apple to Rory, and took extra time to brush him as a treat. She hung up the brush, kissed him on the nose, filled up his feed bucket and gave him clean water. “Good night, mo charaid.” She made sure he was secure, then walked out of the barn and closed the door.

  The wind blew a dusting of snow into her face, and she wrapped the scarf around herself more securely. The sun had already started setting by the time she walked the distance to Hunter’s cabin.

  Ready for a hot bath, then to settle down with her notes for her next scene, she opened the front door to the cabin, but stopped when a pickup truck pulled into the driveway.

  Nash got out and helped the boys down. The Triples raced toward her, shoving each other aside to give her the first hug.

  Nash limped up the walkway, looking at his phone. He stopped abruptly and ran a hand over his chin. Even from the doorway she could tell something was wrong. He hurried the rest of the way to her.

  “Mackenzie, tell Hunter I can’t stay after all. Kelsey just texted she’s having pains. I have to go.” He didn’t wait for a response, but turned and limped back to his truck and got in. The engine roared to life and he sped off around the corner.

  The boys had already raced inside, and she followed them. She hoped Kelsey would be okay. They had only briefly talked the other night, but she really liked the other woman.

  “Dad’s not here!” Cody said to her as she walked into the big living room.

  That was odd. Nash had sounded like he was supposed to be meeting Hunter here. “I’ll text him.” She pulled out her phone and texted him to let him know the boys were there, and that Nash couldn’t stay.

  She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

  In mtg. Can u watch them?

  A slow burn started in her stomach. How dare he treat her like a babysitter! Another text interrupted her inner rant.

  Pretty please? Won’t be long. Will owe you. Big time.

  A string of emoticons followed, with hearts and kisses. She laughed. Always the flirt.

  Fine. But it’ll cost you. Big-time. She sent the text, then remembered hearing him and Carley in the barn. Was he really at a meeting?

  At the sound of shouting, she hurried upstairs. She hadn’t ventured to the upper floor yet, not wanting to be a snoop.

  Walking through one of the open doorways, she stopped and stared. The bedroom and play area took up almost the entire second story. There were three loft beds made of dark wood, each outfitted with a narrow staircase instead of a ladder. Beneath each bunk sat a pint-size desk and chair. Shelves ran across one short wall, floor to ceiling, and were filled with books and games.

  Big windows overlooked the trees, mountains and lake. The walls had been painted to look like trees, the shelves like tree branches. Leafy green accents dotted the room, with a mural of Montana wildlife painted on one wall. It was like living in a huge treehouse, and she loved it. Her brothers would have loved it, too.

  The boys were running around as if they’d been supercharged on sugar. Toys were flung hither and yon, and her head started hurting from the noise.

  She caught Cody as he ran by her, but he wiggled away when she reached for Tripp. He got away from her, too, and she’d finally had enough. Using the whistle that always stopped her brothers in their tracks, she was happy to see it worked the same on these little American heathens.

  “Is this how you act when your da is not around?”

  Tripp shrugged from where he sat, holding Eli in a weird wrestling position.

  “Why don’t you boys grab a book and read?”

  “No way! School is over!” Cody piped up.

  “A game?” she asked, hoping against hope.

  Eli shoved Tripp off him and raced around the room.

  She really needed to get a workout in—she’d missed it the day before. She cocked her head. Maybe they could join her and use up some of that energy at the same time.

  “I need to practice my stunts. You boys want to learn so
me?”

  They all stopped and looked at each other, then at her. “Yes!”

  “Brilliant,” she mumbled to herself. “Gather the pillows off your bed and lay them out here.” She pointed where she wanted them placed. “I’ll be right back.” She hurried down to her room and changed into yoga pants and a fitted tee. Jogging back up the steps to the boys’ room, she hoped they hadn’t done anything too crazy in the few minutes she was gone.

  “Have any of you taken tumbling classes or gymnastics?”

  “Gymnastics is for girls.” Tripp wiped his sleeve across his nose.

  She put her hands on her hips. “You think so? What’s your favorite action movie?”

  “Spider-Man!” they all shouted loud enough to shake the rafters.

  “So remember how Spider-Man leaps and jumps and flies from rooftops and buildings all over town?”

  They boys nodded.

  She walked to one side of the playroom with plenty of space and turned to face them.

  Running a few steps, she leaped through the air, landed, tucked into a tumble, hopped up immediately into a handspring and flipped herself over to land on her feet.

  She ended up at the opposite side of the room and turned around to see the boys gaping at her, eyes so wide they looked like a caricature of pugs.

  “Is that girlie?” she asked, hands on hips.

  “How’d you do that?” Tripp asked.

  “Teach me!” Eli hollered.

  “Whoaaaaa,” Cody drawled.

  “I learned how to somersault when I was just about your age. And now I can do all of this. And you know what?” She crooked her finger to beckon them closer. “I get paid to have fun doing tumbling.”

  “Cool!” the boys shouted.

  “So who wants to learn how to somersault?”

  They spent the next hour tumbling all over the room, with the pillows there to keep them safe. The next hour she graduated them into handstands.

  She got the boys all situated in expert—for the most part—handstands using the wall for support. Bending over to fall into a freestanding handstand, she glanced at the big clock on the wall and noticed how much time had passed. Hunter had promised to be home soon—looked like that was one promise he’d broken rather quickly.