Cowboy Take Me Away (24 page)

“I know she really pulled one over on you, bro, but I think you should hear her out. Try to figure something…”

“She fucking lied to me, Ryder. Am I supposed to just forget that?” Chase was pissed but he knew it wasn't his brother's fault. “Sorry, I just … I don't even know what I'm thinking.”

Nate grimaced, his face drawn into a frown as he stared at his beer. “My gut instinct is to hate her for what she did, Chase, but she's the mother of your son. And you guys used to be pretty close.”

“Yeah, but maybe I didn't know her as well as I thought.”

“Or maybe she knew you better than you realized,” Ryder said.

“Hey, whose fucking side are you on?”

Ryder held up his hands in surrender. “Yours. But I'm just sayin', maybe she had her reasons. I just don't want you to cut this kid out to spite Hope.” Ryder shrugged. “We know what it's like to grow up without a dad, but we were lucky to have Granddad. Who's this kid got except his mom?”

Chase knew Ryder was right, but it still didn't make it any easier.

“I loved her,” Chase confessed for the second time that day, only telling his brothers was easier than telling Hope had been. “I never told her, but I did.”

“So make things right,” Ryder said.

Chase looked at Ryder, his barely noticeable nod telling Chase that both his brothers thought he needed to at least listen to what she had to say.

“And what if I can't forgive her?” Right now, Chase didn't even want to see her face again. What Hope had done was unforgivable as far as he was concerned, no matter her reasons.

“Then don't,” Nate said. “But remember that nothing is the kid's fault, this is on her. We're here for you, and the boy deserves to know that he has a dad and uncles. He might have lost his mom's ranch, but he'll always have a place here. He's a King.”

“Can we just get drunk and forget all about this for the rest of the day?” Chase asked.

“Damn straight we can,” Ryder replied, holding up his beer bottle and clinking it against Chase's.

“Yeah, and while we're at it we can try to figure out how the hell we're gonna catch us a thief,” Nate said. “I've organized cameras to be installed, but I doubt whoever it is will be coming back anytime soon.”

“We gonna install them ourselves so no one knows what's going on? In case it was an inside job?” Chase asked.

Nate nodded and took a pull of his beer.

“Hey, did I tell you guys that Hope had this weird theory about it being Randy?”

Ryder laughed but Nate's face remained impassive.

“What?” Chase asked. “You believe her? I reckon it's one of the younger guys. One with nothing to lose. I saw a couple of them hanging around the barn today, and one stuck to Randy like glue the day before yesterday, when Hope was here.”

“I don't know what I believe,” Nate said. “All I know is that there are only three people on this ranch right now that I trust without question, and you guys are two of them. The other is Chloe. As far as I'm concerned it could be anyone else.”

Chase finished his beer and headed over for another. If he wanted to forget about Hope, he needed to start drinking faster.

*   *   *

Chase rolled out of bed and cringed when he opened his eyes. Drinking away his troubles had seemed like a great idea at the time, but he was going to pay for it this morning. He kicked his shirt out of the way and reached for his jeans, keeping his movements slow so he didn't aggravate the steady thumping in his head, and pulled them on, heading first into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face, then straight downstairs for coffee.

“You look terrible.”

Chase ignored his brother and pushed the button on the coffee machine.

“Want something for the pain?” Nate asked.

“Yeah, that's why I drank whiskey last night.” Chase glanced around, saw that Nate had already tidied up. “What's the time?” Maybe Mrs. T had already been in and tended to their mess.

“It's nine. You slept in.”

Chase glared at Nate, not needing to be called out on having a late one. He was usually back inside after doing the rounds, sipping his second coffee of the day by now—one morning behind the eight ball wasn't gonna kill anyone.

“So what are you thinking this morning?”

“Fuck, Nate, I've just woken up,” Chase grumbled, staring at the thick black liquid pouring in a steady stream into his cup. “I haven't even had time to think about her.” This was why he'd have been better off surrounded by people who didn't know anything about Hope the night before.

Nate's laugh only annoyed him more. “I actually meant about finding the thief, but you wanna talk about Hope, no problem.”

Chase resisted the urge to swear at his brother and blew on his coffee, burning his mouth when he took a small sip. Once he'd downed a good strong dose of caffeine he'd start to feel human again.

“You're drinking it black again? You must feel like shit,” Nate said as he reached for an apple and took a bite.

A phone ringing took his mind off the grating sound of Nate eating and he looked around, realizing it was his. It was vibrating on the counter and he grabbed it, staring hard at the screen when he saw Hope's name displayed.

He didn't give Nate a chance to ask him who it was. “Yup,” he answered.

“Hi, Chase. I just wanted to check in.”

He cleared his throat. “They're all looking good this morning. I'm heading out to check them over again shortly.”

Chase turned his back on Nate, hoping Hope couldn't hear his brother's snigger. She didn't need to know he'd been drowning his sorrows in alcohol and hadn't even made it out yet.

“Okay. Well, I'll be over later on to check them myself, but it'll be forty-five days before we ultrasound.”

Chase took another sip of his coffee. Just hearing Hope's voice was pissing him off. “Will you be doing that yourself?”

She cleared her throat. “I could get another tech to do it. If that's what you'd prefer.”

“Fine. Thanks for the call.”

Chase hung up and spun around to find Nate shaking his head, looking at him like he was idiot.

“
Thanks for the call?
What the fuck was that about?”

“I was being polite,” Chase muttered, draining the dregs in his cup and putting his cup in the dishwasher.

“You can't just bury your head in the sand.”

“I reckon ignoring her is the best thing I can do right now. I'm not gonna turn my back on the kid, but I'm through with Hope. She screwed me over and I'm not giving her the chance to do it again.”

“And if she's right about Randy?” Nate asked.

“She won't be. And if she is, then what? It doesn't change what she did to me.” Chase opened the drawer where they kept medicines and found something for his head. He turned on the faucet and stuck his mouth under, taking a big gulp of water and swallowing the pills down. “A bottle of booze and a night's sleep haven't changed anything, Nate, and don't give me that look either.”

Nate raised his brows. “And what look would that be?”

“That goddamn look on your face right now. Don't go acting like you'd be behaving any different than I am if you'd just found out someone you'd trusted had fucked you over. She had my child and she never told me. She let the boy think her husband was his dad.”

Nate shrugged. “Maybe she didn't.”

Chase met his gaze, glared into eyes that were as dark and stormy as his felt. “Okay then, maybe she didn't. Bottom line is I'm done with her regardless.”

He left his brother and ran up the stairs, ignoring the pain in his head. Chase found a clean shirt, did up the buttons, and headed for the back door. There was plenty for him to do around the ranch, and the busier he kept himself the happier he'd be. He wanted to be in the saddle or working with livestock. What he didn't want to do was talk. Not to anyone.

“Wait up,” Nate called out, catching up to him. “Ryder just phoned and told me the cameras were just delivered. We can set them up ourselves and monitor them from my iPad.”

Chase grunted and pulled on his boots. “You thought about what we'll do when we find the son of a bitch?”

“No. You?”

“If anyone's throwing any punches, it'll be me. Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“We telling Granddad about this?” Chase asked.

“The old man doesn't like anything being kept from him, so yeah. How about we go pick him up today, bring him back here for the afternoon if he's up to it.”

“Sounds good.” Chase walked alongside his brother, falling into an easy rhythm. “I miss having him around.”

“Me too. And it's only gonna get worse.”

They both knew the inevitable was coming. He might be the strongest man they'd ever have the privilege of knowing, but even someone like their grandfather could only fight cancer for so long. The last thing they needed was one of the newer guys, or all of them if they were working together, pulling one over on them and getting away with it, and then their granddad hearing about it.

“Are you gonna tell him about Harrison?” Nate asked, waving to Ryder as they approached.

“How about we just focus on how the hell we're gonna convince the nurses to let us take him out for the day,” Chase said, eyes on his herd as he approached the field they were in. They were grazing near the fence so he was able to get close to them straightaway. “But yeah, if we bring him back, I'll tell him.” He might be stubborn, but if there was one person who could always talk sense into him it was his granddad, and right now he could probably do with his perspective.

*   *   *

Hope arrived back at King Ranch, driving slowly past the house and heading toward the yards. She was hoping the herd would still be nearby, giving her the chance to look them over and go before she had to run into Chase or his brothers. She stopped and sat, immobile, not wanting to get out. Her eyes were still burning, like there was no moisture left around them, her pupils sore from a long day of work, then lying awake the night before, eventually crying herself to sleep. Not to mention the thumping headache she'd had all afternoon. It was times like this she just wanted to go home, only then she'd remember that home wasn't there anymore.

Hope forced herself to push the door open and dropped her feet onto the hard-packed ground. She straightened and stretched, glancing at her wristwatch and seeing that it was almost seven. Harrison would be so upset if she wasn't back to put him to bed—she was usually firm about being home early, he always came first, but today had been a disaster from the moment she'd rolled out of bed.

She stood and surveyed the cattle. They were a quiet mob, happily grazing and flicking their tails in the last moments of sunshine. She almost envied them—not a care in the world, only thinking about shelter and food.

“They're looking pretty good.”

The bottom dropped out of Hope's stomach, her entire body breaking out in goose pimples just hearing Chase's voice.

“Yeah.” She hadn't wanted to run into anyone, and yet here she was about to be face-to-face with Chase again.

“You'll be pleased to know we've set up surveillance,” he told her, standing a few feet away, his eyes averted, focused on the cattle.

Hope was pleased. The last thing she needed was his dark gaze settled on her, those beautiful eyes all tortured and angry like they'd been when she'd told him. Her stomach did its impersonation of being home to a kaleidoscope of butterflies, batting their wings with fury.

“Any idea who did it?”

He shook his head and she studied his profile, wondered if she'd ever be close enough to him again to touch him, to run her fingers across his cheek, to feel his soft, strong lips against hers, his stubble teasing her skin. Hope turned away, stared at one of the black-as-night cattle instead.

“You're wrong about Randy.” Chase's voice was flat, his mind made up. “We don't know who, but it's one of the younger ranch hands. We're fairly certain, just have to find out which one.”

“Hey, maybe I am wrong,” Hope said, shrugging and turning back to look at Chase. She straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and faced him. So she'd kept something from him and he hated her for it—it wasn't like she'd set out to hurt him, nothing could have been further from the truth, and she wasn't going to be some shrinking violet around him just because of who he was. Chase was powerful and attractive and rich, but that didn't make him better than her. “I don't trust him, there's just something not right about him that I can't put my finger on.”

“So you want me to accuse a foreman who's worked on this ranch for over twenty years of vandalism, based on a hunch?” Chase shook his head. “Not a chance. Not when I know in my gut that you're wrong.”

“Fine, don't,” she said, shrugging like it was no big deal. “Do whatever the hell you like, Chase, but all I'm saying is don't rule him out. If I were you I'd be keeping that video surveillance to myself and not breathing a word to him.”

“And what else would you be doing,” he asked, a cruel edge to his voice cutting straight through her,
“if you were me?”

Hope's body wanted to wilt like a flower in the burning hot sunshine, but she refused to let Chase have that kind of effect on her. He might be able to easily intimidate other women when he wanted to, but he'd never been able to do it to her before and she wasn't going to let him now. She also wasn't going to take the bait and end up engaged in a fight about Harrison. If he wanted to talk about their son then she would, but she wasn't going to let him be a bully about it.

“If I were you I'd treat everyone as a suspect. Who knows why someone would do this unless they had a reason to want to hurt you financially?”