by Laney Powell
“Who the hell are you?” she shouted.
Oh, shit. Wrong answer, lady. I held my hands up and waited. I wasn’t going to get my ass shot because this crazy woman had a big mouth.
“You need to step off the porch with your hands over your head,” the officer said. Several flashlights shone on us, making me squint. I put my hands over my head and started down the steps.
“I don’t have to listen to you!” Margaret shouted. “This isn’t any of your affair! This is a family matter!”
Wow. When Taylor had told me about Margaret before, part of me thought she was exaggerating. But this was beyond crazy, and I realized that Taylor hadn’t been exaggerating at all. Margaret was crazy. If she couldn’t see what was happening here, she deserved it when they used a taser on her.
Which wasn’t a kind thing to think, because Margaret was old enough to be my mother, but damn. This woman had been responsible for terrorizing my girlfriend, and for dragging her half-dead son out here for God knows why. So if a taser was in her future, I hoped I’d be able to watch it.
It was a like an episode on the cop show where you knew shit was going to go sideways.
Chapter Sixteen
Taylor
I stared at Kasper. “Why are you here?”
“Because I miss you.” His answer came automatically. Almost by rote.
“No, you don’t. You haven’t missed me for a long time.”
“That was the drugs. And the alcohol. I’m a different person.”
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it. We’d talked about this, Nadine and I, and there was a lot that went into the sustaining of the addict. One of the things that she and I were working on was my part as an enabler. I hated to take ownership of it, just as I’d finally realized I wasn’t responsible for the things he did, but Nadine told me that I had to take ownership of my part, and I did have a part.
But it wasn’t this part.
“You’re the same person,” I said. “I’m the same person. We’re choosing different things, making different choices. But we’re the same people we’ve always been.”
“We were good together,” Kasper said.
“When?” I stopped him. “When were we good? When you and I first met, and you swept me off my feet, not giving me time to breathe? Or when we moved in, and you were angry you couldn’t afford the escape you wanted? Or when you were angry that I wouldn’t give you our rent money to get high? Was that when we were good?”
“You’re mad, and I get it. I deserve it. But things will be better,” he said. “I’m asking for one more chance.”
“You brought your mother here,” I said, my eyes narrowing.
“She’s my mom. She loves me.”
“She’s something,” I said. “But she doesn’t love me, and she seems to feel I’m responsible for you. How do you feel about that?”
“Well,” Kasper said.
That was it. I held up my hand. “Nope. There’s no ‘well’ anything. You and your mom need to leave.”
“You’re damn right you do,” Mom came out of the bathroom, holding her cell phone.
“What? Why?” Kasper asked.
“Because I wasn’t lying when I told your mother I’d filed a complaint against her with the cops,” I said. “I would bet my mom called them and told them to come and get her out of our house.”
Kasper’s face went blank, then it twisted. “My mom was right about you. You’re a piece of trash!”
“Now that I won’t pick up after you and your sorry ass?” I yelled, feeling my anger getting the better of me.
Kasper took a step toward me, raising his arm as he did so. I moved, and before I knew it, I punched him in the nose. He fell back, both hands over his nose.
“You bitch!” he screamed.
The front door burst open then, several cops shouting as they came in. There were flashlights, and a lot of noise, and it felt like the house was under attack. I held up my hands and closed my eyes.
I could hear shouting outside. There was a vicious sense of satisfaction that rolled through me when I realized it was Margaret shouting. One of the police officers led Kasper away, and he was saying something to me, his face ugly in anger, but I didn’t pay any attention.
I was looking for Raif.
The police questioned me and Mom, and still, I hadn’t seen Raif. Then two of them left, taking Margaret and Kasper with them.
“You’ll need to come into the station,” one of the officers said. “If you want to file a report.”
“Damn right I do,” I heard myself saying. I’d never be at the mercy of these people again. Not ever.
Mom and I were allowed to drive to the police station, and still, I hadn’t seen Raif. I wondered where he was, if he’d been arrested. Oh, Jesus, I hope not. Not because of me. I made it through the filing of the report, even as Margaret yelled all the hateful things she could at me as they moved her into a jail cell.
When we were finally able to go home, I saw Raif sitting on the porch. Waiting for us. Waiting for me.
And I wondered if this was too much drama, too much seedy, tacky baggage for him to handle.
Mom gave my hand a squeeze and walked ahead of me. She stopped and said something to Raif, and I heard her say thank you, and then she went inside. I walked up the steps a bit slower, not wanting to hear the bad news.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, slugger,” he said, wrapping his arms around me.
“You saw that?” I asked, my voice muffled into his chest.
He leaned back and smiled down at me. “Are you kidding? I think the entire town saw it. Nice job,” he said.
“Really? I feel so… so tacky.”
“Not at all. You took care of business.” His voice was firm.
“I don’t like violence,” I said.
“Sometimes people won’t stop until there’s a violent end to it. And it wasn’t violence. I saw him get ready to hit you. I was about to take him apart. That’s where I’ve been. They hauled me off when I tried to get inside after he threatened you.”
I wrapped my arms around him. “I thought you’d left.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“Because this is so trashy, so sad,” I said.
“Nope. You’re not getting rid of me. Not over a little tacky, trashy ex mess.”
I laughed at the way he said it. “So you still want to do dinner?”
“Every night I can,” Raif said, leaning down to kiss me.
Epilogue
Raif
I stopped my truck in front of the house. It was perfectly normal, well kept, and looked like every other house we’d passed in the last ten minutes. But this house was different. This was where Gabe Morrison’s parents lived.
Next to me, Taylor squeezed my hand. “You can do this,” she said softly.
“It’s a lot harder to do than to say that to someone else,” I grumbled.
“I know. But you can do it. Come on.” With a last squeeze of my hand, she slid out her side of the truck.
The past five months had been the best of my life. After Kasper and Margaret Anton were arrested, I took a couple of days off from the ranch and took Taylor away to Bozeman. We stayed in a nice hotel, coming out only to eat, and that was it. In between loving one another, we talked.
At one point, we both cried. As we drove back to Paulson from our vacation, I said, “I love you.” It came out of nowhere, and I was scared shitless the moment the words left my mouth.
Taylor brought my hand to her cheek. “I love you, too.”
From that moment on, we spent all our free time together. She was out in my cabin every night. One morning, Freeze knocked on the door, and told us both to get up and come in to breakfast. Taylor had been leaving before breakfast, because she didn’t believe in overstaying her welcome. I had to work, and so did she.
Feeling like a couple of guilty kids, we got dressed, and went into the house. Axel and Pris were there. Freeze indicated two
chairs on one side of the table. We sat.
“So here’s the deal. You practically live here, Miss Taylor. You’re burning up the miles on your car going back and forth between here and the town. Not that I mind,” Freeze held up a hand. “You and Raif are good together, good for each other. But I need something, and I think you’re the one to do it.”
“What’s that?” Taylor asked.
“I need a barn manager.”
Axel choked back a laugh. Freeze glared at his grandson. “Laugh all you want, boy, but be glad I’m the one paying attention. We have two operations going on here at the ranch. The first is the cows, and the bulls. That’s one part, and that takes all of us, right?”
I nodded. After a moment, so did Axel. I noticed that Pris was smiling and not looking anything other than pleased. That meant Freeze had talked to her already.
Which made me laugh. Axel didn’t stand a chance between his wife and his grandfather.
“Then we have all the barn chores, which have to happen at least twice a day. Three times is better. And now your wife wants pigs.”
“What?” Axel turned to look at Pris.
She nodded. “I met a guy who has to get rid of six pigs. I told him I thought we could take them.”
Axel shook his head. “I need a bigger barn for you,” he muttered.
“Exactly. I’m already looking at hiring a couple of the high school kids in the 4H program. The three of you gave me no choice there,” Freeze spread his glare between me and Axel. As I’d agreed to, I went with Axel and Jensen and told Freeze we needed more help. After what had happened with Taylor, I knew I wasn’t leaving her.
Not ever again. I’d called my CO and told him to start my separation papers. And then I signed up for animal husbandry classes at the local community college. This was where my life was, and this was where I’d be.
“But I want someone who can manage the kids and make sure all the other animals are getting what they need. We can’t keep bringing them in if we don’t give them the same focus as the herd.” Freeze looked at all of us. “So I’m asking you if you’d like the job, Taylor. I’ve seen you with the goats, and chickens, and even the damn turkeys when you’re with Raif and he’s supposed to be working.”
Oh, shit. What else had Freeze seen? I’d taken a few personal time breaks with Taylor in the barn. I shared a glance with Taylor and saw that she was trying not to laugh.
“In exchange, we’ll build out the cabin, and give you all a place to live. Lord knows you need a bigger place.” He rolled his eyes. “What do you think?”
Taylor had said yes. Of course, she did. And she moved into the cabin with me that week. She’d been a 4H kid growing up, something I hadn’t known. It was the perfect job for her.
So now, we were dealing with one final thing. I joined Taylor on the sidewalk. I’d called the Morrisons to ask them if I could come and visit, and through tears his mother had told me they’d be delighted. Here we were. There was no running away from this.
“You can do this,” Taylor said. “I believe in you.”
“I hope so,” I said.
“Of course you can. Where do you think I got the strength to kick Kasper to the curb?”
“You did that yourself,” I said.
Taylor shook her head. “No. You helped me. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have had the strength. You saved me, and you didn’t even know it.”
That was it. I hadn’t saved Morrison. “I couldn’t save him,” I whispered.
“But you tried, and that’s the important thing. They want to know that he was brave, that he died fighting, that you loved him and miss him. That’s what they want to hear, Raif.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, but yes.”
I hugged her and then turned and together we walked to the front door. I leaned down and kissed her ear. “You saved me right back,” I whispered.
And I rang the doorbell.
His Destiny
Read on for a sneak peek of His Destiny!
Colt
I held my hand to my head. The ringing kept on going, like a fire klaxon that wouldn’t quit.
“No,” I said out loud, even though there was no one to hear me. “No, please stop.” I hated that my voice came out in a whimper.
What kind of candy ass was I?
I opened my eyes, and the dark of the hospital soothed my screaming head. The klaxon still rang, but with my eyes open, and nothing but darkness before me, it was calmer. Quieter.
“Bad dreams?” A woman came in and I remembered that her name was Mona.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Let me get you something for that, honey,” she said.
“No,” I croaked. Drugs didn’t make anything better. The doctors and nurses always told you they did, but in my case, they were full of shit and didn’t know what they were talking about.
Because if I took the drugs, that’s when I heard the screams again.
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About the Author
I'm a Midwestern lady, living life in the Rocky Mountains. I adore strong men with hearts of gold (even if that gold may be a bit imperfect) and that's what drives me to write the stories about them. The longer I do the romance gig, the more firefighter calendar pics I seems to collect. That's normal, right?
I write contemporary romance - see the Spar Island Girls and the Broken Falls Ranch and the Billionaire series - as well as paranormal with the Bite Club. There’s a lot coming in the next year from both sides! Because there’s nothing like cowboys and demons looking for love. And everything in between.
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Also by Laney Powell
Broken Falls Ranch
His Heart
His Redemption
His Destiny
The Bite Club Stories
(Written with the Bite Club Authors)
First Taste
Betrayal From Hell
The Spar Island Girls
(Written with the Flirt Club Authors)
His Naughty Nurse (The Halloween Honeys)
Hot Apple Pie (Second Helpings Short Story)
Naughty or Nice (Santa’s Coming Short Story)
Snow Job (Resolution Pact Short Story)
Dear Shy Guy (The Matchmaker Series)
Forever Mine (Ireland Forever Short Story)
Mr. Black (A Mr. Billionaire Short Story)
Spring Break Delight (A Spring Break Short Story)
His Buttercup (The May Flower Series)
Three Weddings and Forever (The Wedding Season Series)
Her Firecracker (The Fireworks Series)
Cowboy’s Heart (A Big Sky Short Story
Affair With The Billionaire
Episode One
Episode Two
Episode Three
Episode Four
Episode Five