A Next Door Neighbor For The Cowboy Billionaire (Brookside Ranch Brothers Book 6)

by Hanna Hart

  The crowd roared as the concert began. Phoenix was incredibly talented, and his newest album was a true testament to his love of music. He had an effortless folksy sound with an incredible range that got the immense crowd up singing and dancing.

  Even Jaxon danced, risking looking like an absolute idiot. But it was worth it to be that close to Madelyn. They kissed like teenagers and moved rhythmically to the music. It was nearly the end of the set before they were separated.

  “I wanna call up my little brother for this one,” Phoenix called through the microphone, pointing down toward Jaxon. “Jam some guitar with me like I taught him to do when we were kids.”

  Jaxon’s heart raced as he made his way up to the stage. He didn’t know how his brother did this every night—he was about to play in front of hundreds of people, and he was terrified and exhilarated all at the same time.

  The two of them played a cover: one of their favorite songs they used to practice when Jaxon was a kid. He looked down at Madelyn during the song and could physically feel himself falling in love with her at that very moment.

  “Can you believe it, guys?” Phoenix announced when the song was over. “This is my baby brother. Now he’s got a great girl and an amazing little boy, and I have never felt older!”

  The crowd laughed at the comment, and Jaxon ran offstage and back down into the crowd. People high-fived him on his way back to Madelyn, giving him a small taste of how his brother must have felt every night.

  There was something powerful about being on the stage and having people cheer for you. Jaxon was hardly under the impression that the audience cared whether or not he was on stage playing guitar, but it gave him a wild energy, nonetheless.

  When he reached Madelyn, she clapped excitedly and threw her arms around him. “Are you having fun?” he asked.

  “Yes!” she yelled over the crowd.

  “Good,” he said, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers. Their mouths found their way into a familiar dance: soft tongues flicking against one another. When he pulled away, he kissed down to her neck and whispered, “I want you to have fun with me, always.”

  “And I always do,” she said, craning to look at him. “You’re really special, Jaxon Brooks. You make me feel like everything bad that has ever happened in my life was worth it just to get here to this moment and be kissed by you.”

  “Then I must oblige,” he grinned, giving her another small peck.

  “Is it way too cliché if I say that I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life to find you?” she asked.

  Jaxon’s heart lilted with nervous excitement. “Yes,” he smiled. “But I’ll take it.”

  “I think I’m really, really, really falling for you. You and Sutton make me feel…” she began, then trailed off.

  “I love how much you care about him,” he said.

  “I really do,” she said bashfully, fixing a long strand of dark hair behind her ears. “You have no idea how much.”

  Looking at her then, amidst the crowd and lights and sounds, he knew they had something real. It was only the second time he had ever looked at a woman and seen a real future with her before. The first time, with Skylar, he had been so wrong about his assessment of their life together.

  But this time, he knew he was right.

  14

  Madelyn

  It had been a good day for Madelyn. Two days ago, she had been called to do a case for a missing child.

  The police were involved and had issued a BOLO but deemed that the case did not meet the right criteria for an Amber Alert because nobody had physically seen the missing girl, Casey Amada, be abducted.

  Rumors also circulated that the police were unwilling to cooperate with the mother, Angela, on account of her past dealings with law enforcement. Namely from selling narcotics.

  Madelyn had nothing but the utmost respect for the police. Most of her co-workers at the Lochlan Group were retired cops. But this was not the first time she’d had been involved with a case where police didn’t take a victim seriously on account of their addictions or professions.

  Thankfully, Madelyn and Sarah didn’t have those same reservations about people just because they lived troubled lives. After a day and a half on the job, they were able to successfully locate four-year-old Casey.

  As it turned out, her father had abducted her after finding out that his ex-wife was going to leave the state with their daughter without telling him.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Angela sobbed as she rocked her young daughter in her arms. “You don’t know what this means to me!”

  “We’re just glad she’s okay,” Sarah said softly.

  Angela kissed her daughter repeatedly on the forehead. “I just don’t understand why he would do this,” she said, rocking her daughter in her arms and holding a limp cigarette at her side. “Stan has always been so even-keeled.”

  “You were going to move away with his child,” Madelyn said.

  “I know but…” Angela drew her brows into a sad, U-shaped frown as she defended, “I got a job. I had to go.”

  Madelyn nodded. She was happy to reunite mother and child, but something about this woman irked her. “Parents will do anything to stay with their kids,” she said with a hint of annoyance.

  Sarah gave Madelyn a curious stare before turning her attention back to Angela. “The good news is, now you have a record of kidnapping. This will be invaluable for you if you choose to go to court and apply for full custody, which I suggest you do.”

  The mother was beyond thankful. Without Sarah and Madelyn’s tips, who knew how long it would have taken the police to find her. They left Angela with her promise that she was going to file a charge against her ex-husband, at Sarah and the police’s urging.

  “That was harsh,” Madelyn said as she closed the car door behind her.

  Sarah put the key in the ignition and frowned. “What? Saying that she should file for full custody?”

  “Maybe they should try couple’s therapy, instead?” Madelyn shrugged. “Help them learn how to communicate.”

  “They’re divorced. We can safely assume that any therapy they’ve tried had been a complete and utter failure,” Sarah snorted.

  “Kids need both their parents.”

  “He tried to take her over state lines!” Sarah argued.

  “So did she.”

  With a shrug and an eye-roll, Sarah said, “Yeah, well, he did it first.”

  “He panicked.”

  “You are not sticking up for this kidnapper right now, are you?” her partner snorted.

  Madelyn looked away, gazing out the window at the luring suburban scenery as they drove back to where Madelyn had parked for the day. She paused for a long while and then shook her head. “No,” she finally answered. “I just feel bad for him…in a way. What he did was wrong, but I don’t know what I would do if someone tried to take my kid away.”

  “I didn’t know you had a child,” Sarah said thoughtfully, keeping her eyes on the road.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “I didn’t know having kids could be complicated,” she laughed. “Either you had one spring out of your womb, or you didn’t.”

  “Parents would do anything to protect their children,” Madelyn reiterated slowly.

  “Yeah,” Sarah agreed. “Which is exactly why Angela should file a restraining order and protect her kid from the dad who abandoned her.”

  Madelyn took a long inhale. She chose not to respond, desperately needing to drop the conversation. She felt attacked, somehow, by the judgments made against the father.

  She was happy to get back into her car and made the journey back to Kerhonkson. She would usually use the time she drove home to listen to talk radio or get in a podcast or two, but this time, she drove up in silence, just thinking.

  She thought about Angela and what kind of care her daughter would get from her. She thought about Casey’s father and whether or not he would end up in jail on kidnapping charges. If
he did, would that have been fair?

  Madelyn couldn’t decide on an answer. After all, had she not thought about taking Sutton on more occasions than one?

  She had.

  She would never do it, of course. She couldn’t bring herself to separate Sutton from the only parent he had ever known, but she wanted to. She wanted to resume the role of his mother and live somewhere new—start over from where they left off when he was just a few months old.

  After everything that happened that day, Madelyn knew she had to tell Jaxon the truth. She had to tell him why she came to New York and why Sutton was so special to her. She just didn’t know how to say the words out loud.

  It never seemed to be the right time to tell him that she was Sutton’s birth mother. After all of this time, she knew Jaxon wouldn’t take it well. It was shocking news, not to mention her revelation would call into question whether her feelings for him had been real.

  There was just no good way to bring it up. It wasn’t something you could casually slip into a conversation.

  Her love for Sutton came back with a vengeance. It was as though no time had passed at all between them. Her connection to him felt instant and mothering and protective, and once again, she loved in a way that she never knew possible.

  What she hadn’t expected was to fall for Jaxon Brooks. In some ways, it felt like he had been the man she’d been hoping to find all of her life. She remembered when she was a young girl, writing out lists with her friends of all of the qualities that made “the perfect man.” So far, Jaxon was hitting all of them.

  Kind? Check.

  Funny? Check.

  Handsome? Check, check!

  Without a doubt, she was falling in love with him. And the fact that he loved Sutton with such ferocity only made her fall harder.

  It was early evening when Madelyn finally arrived home. She knew she wanted to see Jaxon before the night was over but was determined to freshen up first.

  She walked through her living room and down the hallway into her bedroom. She pulled her long hair out of her ponytail and ran her hands through it. She hated the feeling of wearing an elastic in her hair for too long.

  As she freshened up, she set her phone down on her dresser and put it on speaker so that she could listen to the messages she had missed earlier.

  The first was her uncle Jim. His voice was light and friendly, but straight to the point as he said, “Hey, kid, it’s your uncle. Just checking in to see what’s up.”

  Next up was her best friend. Her voice came through as bubbly but pouty as she said, “It’s Tracy. Remember when we used to be best friends? Answer your phone! K. Love you!”

  Madelyn smiled. She hadn’t kept in touch with Tracy as much as she would have liked. She made a mental note to call her in the morning.

  The next message stopped her in her tracks. Her feet halted at the full-length mirror next to her bed and she turned her head to look at the phone and her heart lilted at the sound of the voice on her answering machine.

  “Madelyn? It’s Dad. I just heard about grandma. I’m so sorry, Maddie. I know you were close, and uh, look, I’m just wanting to talk so don’t get all bent out of shape. I uh...I wanted to talk to you. If you’re willing to talk to me, that would be great. Okay, this is my new number, and I’m going to keep it this time so just—”

  Madelyn reached over and stopped the message. She didn’t want to hear it.

  He just found out that May died? That was months ago.

  The very thought that he was just reaching out to her now infuriated her. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted money, and that was the truth.

  She clenched her teeth and shook her head, mentally replaying the message, and wished she could erase her father’s voice from her mind.

  Madelyn turned around and turned her attention back to her mirror. She applied lip balm and immediately felt her lips tingle with the minty sensation of the gloss.

  Her doorbell rang, causing her ears to perk back like a cat’s. She inhaled a nervous breath, thinking that it must be Jaxon. She was nervous, not knowing exactly what to say to him yet.

  The doorbell rang a second time and Madelyn raced to her front door. She pulled the knob with a bright smile that faded as soon as she saw who was on the other side of her screen door.

  “Can I help you?” she asked unsurely. It took her a minute to register who it was, and once she did, her anxiety shot through the roof.

  Daniel Monroe.

  Before he could answer, Madelyn had already pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and had begun to dial the police. “I’m calling the cops,” she said.

  Daniel shook his head, yanking the phone from her grasp and throwing it across the lawn. “No, you’re talking to me right now,” he said gruffly.

  Madelyn made a split-second decision to step out onto the porch. She didn’t want to talk to Daniel, but she didn’t want him in her house, either. At least this way, whatever happened between them would be public.

  “How long were you following me?” he asked in a low, threatening tone.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said coolly. “I don’t even know who you are.”

  “Drop it,” he snapped. “You’re not the only one who can follow people around all day. How long were you following me?”

  Madelyn crossed her arms. “Look, man, this is my job. I don’t get paid to ask questions. If you want to take this up with somebody, take it up with your wife.”

  “Funny thing is, she won’t talk to me. Now, why would that be?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

  “That’s between you and her.”

  “Oh, now it’s between her and me?” he seethed, taking another step toward her. “Now that you’ve done all of your damage, now it’s between her and me?”

  Madelyn flinched at his movements. She didn’t think the man was going to hurt her, but then again, she’d never had anybody follow her home before. He could have been capable of anything.

  Daniel laughed and said, “You’re not so tough now without your little friend, are you? Who are you to be following me around? Do you know what you’ve done to my life?”

  “This is a monitored neighborhood. You need to leave,” she said sternly.

  “You need to stay out of my life and everybody else’s,” he said, mimicking her tone. “How many other men are you out there ruining? “

  “We don’t discriminate based on gender,” she said with a sly smirk.

  “You think this is funny?” he asked, and his eyes went wide.

  “I think it’s ridiculous that you came all the way to my house to—” she began, but he cut her off.

  “Oh, no? You don’t like being followed around, huh? It isn’t fun to have your personal life up for discussion, is it?”

  And within an instant, everything changed. Madelyn felt him set a hand on her shoulder, and suddenly, her whole body was jolted back, whipping against her front door. She felt the air escape her lungs and gasped for breath that wasn’t coming. “Listen to me,” he said gruffly. “If you ever follow me around again, and I do mean ever, I will make sure your life is a living nightmare. And don’t forget, I know where you live.”

  15

  Jaxon

  “Is Maddie coming home?” Sutton said sleepily as he pulled himself up from the oversized couch cushion.

  The two of them had taken the day off to spend some time together. They sat by the pool this morning, had a fantastic mac and cheese, and then spend a lazy evening watching movies. Every so often, Sutton would look out the side window to see if he could spot Maddie’s car in the driveway. Then he would ask when she was coming home.

  “I told you, buddy,” Jaxon said softly. “She doesn’t live here.”

  “When is she going to her home, then?” his son asked in a small, irritated tone.

  Jaxon cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes toward the window. “Is she still not back?”

  If it weren’t for the fact that Sutton was checking
on her every hour or so—and that Jaxon missed his girlfriend—he wouldn’t have realized how long she’d been gone. She took off at five this morning, and it was nearly eight at night and she still wasn’t back.

  There could have been traffic in the city, but Jaxon couldn’t help being a little bit worried.

  “She’ll be back in a little bit,” he said absent-mindedly. “But as for you, little guy. It’s time for bed.”

  “No!”

  “Yes, you have to go to sleep.”

  Sutton’s eyes draped closed under the haze of sleep, then quickly opened as he announced, “I’m not sleepy.”

  “Tell you what,” Jaxon said as he walked the boy up the staircase and into his bed. “Just lay down, and if ten minutes go by and you haven’t fallen asleep yet, you can come back downstairs and watch one more show with Daddy. Deal?”

  Sutton nodded. “Deal!”

  He was sure the boy thought he was getting away with something, but it was an old trick that worked like a charm. Jaxon hadn’t yet encountered a time when Sutton didn’t fall asleep within two minutes tops.

  Jaxon took the time to read his son a story before bed, and like clockwork, Sutton passed out cold. The boy had been beyond exhausted lately.

  He stopped at the landing of the staircase and looked out the hall window before heading back downstairs and noticed that Madelyn’s car was back in her driveway. His whole body went warm with the thought of her. He imagined her coming over late, crawling onto the couch together and tasting her lips for hours and hours.

  But his fantasy was cut short as he noticed Madelyn wasn’t the only one on her front porch.

  Jaxon cracked the window and could just barely make out the voices in the distance.

  “You think that’s fun? Is it fun now?” the man said.

  He heard Madelyn’s voice sound out but couldn’t make out her response. He noticed her voice was uncharacteristically small.

  Suddenly, he recognized the man’s voice. It was that same guy who had come lurking through the neighborhood the other day, looking for some private investigator.