This Place Called Home: Includes Bonus Story! (Forget-Me-Not Ranch)

by Sara Richardson

  His niece had been through a lot, but so had Kyler. She couldn’t imagine losing a family member and suddenly gaining a traumatized child to take care of all on your own.

  “You’re welcome.” Some wild impulse took ahold of her and she almost turned to hug him so he would know he wasn’t alone, but before she could, Agatha’s cheerful, “Yoo hoo” came from outside the stable.

  “In here,” Emery called, darting forward to open the door. Had she really been on the verge of hugging the man? He would’ve thought she was some crazy, overdramatic groupie…

  “There you there are.” Agatha traipsed inside, seeming to bring the sunshine with her. That was one of the things that had drawn Emery to the woman when they’d first met—the light that seemed to shine inside of her.

  “I didn’t know what to think when you were all missing this morning,” the woman said.

  “Some of us are early risers,” Kyler said, nodding toward his niece.

  “Indeed, some of us are.” Agatha winked at Emery and then walked directly to Cookie’s pen. “My, my, my. How handsome that pony looks.”

  Brielle grinned, and Emery could see what Kyler meant by the light returning to her eyes. They were wide and bright and expectant.

  “Since you’ve been working so hard, I think it’s time to come on back to the house and test out one of the homemade cinnamon rolls I just pulled out of the oven.”

  That seemed to get Brielle’s attention. She spun around, nearly dropping the brush. “Is there frosting?”

  “Gobs of it,” Agatha confirmed. “And good black coffee as well,” she added, focusing on Kyler. “Nothing takes the sting out of an early morning like my black coffee.”

  “I can attest to that.” Emery opened up Cookie’s pen and Brielle gave the pony a kiss before hurrying out to join them.

  Agatha gathered the girl under her arm. “After we eat, you and I can go up and milk the goats.”

  “Really?” Brielle gasped. “You can milk a goat?”

  “Sure.” The older woman led the way out of the barn. Kyler paused and gestured for Emery to go through the door first.

  “And while we’re milking the goats, I’ll send your uncle and Emery into town to pick up something I ordered from the hardware store.”

  Wait. “What?” Emery stopped walking. She couldn’t go into town.

  Agatha turned to look at her. “The hardware store called and told me the special surprise I ordered for Brielle was in and I could come pick it up today.”

  “Special surprise?” The girl squealed. “What is it?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” Agatha winked at her. “As long as your uncle and Emery can go pick it up for me.”

  “We can do that.” Kyler approached Emery. “Right?”

  “Um. Well…” She was supposed to be avoiding town right now. That horrible man was probably still hanging around waiting for her to pop up somewhere. “I’m not sure—”

  “Pleeaase.” The girl spun, ambushing her with those ridiculously adorable puppy-dog eyes. “I love surprises.”

  How could she tell her no? Especially after what Kyler had just said in the barn?

  “Of course, we can go.” She would simply have to be extra careful.

  Chapter 5

  Emery was sure taking her sweet time getting ready to go into town.

  Kyler leaned down to unhitch the trailer from his truck so he wouldn’t have to haul the whole thing into town.

  Agatha and Bri had tromped away to milk the goats fifteen minutes ago, metal pails swinging from their hands, and Agatha had told him Emery would be out in a few minutes.

  More like a half hour. He leaned against the tailgate of his truck and watched the front door.

  The woman hadn’t seemed exactly thrilled by the prospect of going into town. Or maybe she’d reacted to the company more than the errand. She sure didn’t seem to like him much, but he couldn’t think of what he might’ve done to offend her.

  He hoisted himself onto the trailer bed, loosening the straps from his bike. Might as well move it off the trailer.

  He couldn’t wait to get out there on those winding mountain roads. Bri would love zipping past the trees, following the dips and bends and curves in these mountain roads.

  Of course, Bri did seem to have quite the full social calendar here at the ranch. With all of her other activities, who knew when he would be able to get her out on the bike.

  Kyler straddled the motorcycle, released the kickstand, and eased it off the trailer backwards. Maybe he’d take Emery for a ride.

  Something shifted in his chest at the thought of her sitting behind him, her arms around his waist, her ody close—

  “I’m driving,” the woman announced from behind him. “Agatha told me we’ll need a truck to make the pickup.”

  “We can take my truck.” He pushed off the bike and turned around to face her. Huh. She’d changed after breakfast.

  Instead of the jeans and sweater she’d had on this morning, she wore baggy sweats and a sweatshirt that looked to be at least three sizes too big for her frame. She’d pulled her long dark hair into a ponytail that stuck out the back of a baseball cap and dark aviators covered her eyes.

  “I’m driving,” she said again, more firmly this time. With the ball cap shading her face it was impossible to read her expression.

  This morning when they’d interacted in the barn, that firm frown she seemed to wear a lot had softened, but now her jaw set.

  Yeah, she wasn’t thrilled about being forced to spend time with him.

  “Fine by me.” Being raised by two strong women—his mom and his sister—he knew when not to argue.

  Without another word, Emery led the way to a beat-up Ford pickup on the other side of the garage.

  He climbed in next to her and clicked in his seatbelt.

  Emery turned the key, but the engine only clicked.

  Maybe he’d be driving after all. “Sounds like the—”

  “It’s the starter,” she interrupted, her mouth twisting into a look of determination. “No big deal. I’ve been babying it along.” She reached across him and rifled through the glove compartment until she pulled out a hammer. Then she popped the hood and hopped out of the truck.

  A couple of hearty taps echoed from underneath the truck, and then Emery slammed the hood back down and climbed in next to him, tossing the hammer to the floor.

  This time when she turned the key, the engine roared.

  “Wow. I’ve never seen that actually work.” And he’d had plenty of cars with bad starters—especially in his younger days.

  “Works every time for me.”

  Why didn’t that surprise him? Likely because she seemed to be one of the toughest most determined women he’d ever encountered.

  Emery pulled the truck out onto the driveway, both hands on the steering wheel, her shoulders appearing tense.

  “I’ll have to keep that trick in mind.” She wouldn’t look at him, but Kyler couldn’t seem to stop looking at her.

  Where had she learned how to get a starter to cooperate? Where had she learned about Harleys? “Did you grow up around here?” He had to know more about her. He’d never met anyone like Emery.

  “No.” She slowed the truck as they approached the highway, not offering any additional information.

  He waited a few more seconds before asking, “Where did you grow up then?”

  Emery eyed him without turning her head. “New Mexico.”

  It wasn’t much, but at last she hadn’t ignored the question. “That’s not too far away from me. I was born and raised in Lubbock.”

  “No surprise there.” She made a left turn onto the highway, the wheels kicking up gravel and dust behind them.

  “Why not?” How was it she seemed to have him figured out when she remained such a mystery?

  “Bull rider. Belt buckles. Cowboy boots.” Her raised shoulders gave her an air of confidence. “You put off a Texas vibe.”

  No telling if
that was a good thing or a bad thing in her estimation. She’d covered up too much of her face. It was a shame, too, because he’d liked looking at her face without the cap and sunglasses.

  “Not sure how much longer I’ll be a bull rider.” The thought came barreling out, but it didn’t scare him as much as it had those first few days after he’d taken custody of Bri.

  “You’re quitting?” Emery took a right turn onto a street lined with shops and stopped in the middle of an intersection, turning to gape at him.

  Didn’t matter much since no other cars were coming.

  “I have to quit.” He’s spent the first month trying to work it all out in his brain—how he could keep competing, how he could travel and still be a parent. But when it came down to it, that wasn’t the responsible thing to do.

  “Bri can’t lose another parent.” That was the bottom line. “I won’t even risk it.” He’d never given one thought to his safety out on the circuit until he looked into his niece’s eyes when he’d met her at the hospital after the accident.

  The girl had lost both of her parents in one horrific moment, and now he had to make sure he did everything he could to stick around for her.

  A car honked behind them. Emery seemed to shake herself and pulled the truck forward. “That must’ve been a shock for you. Losing your sister like that. And becoming a parent at the same time.” For the first time since they’d gotten into the truck, her voice had a less formal ring to it.

  “It’s still a shock.” Most mornings he woke up wondering if it had really happened—then wishing it hadn’t happened. He still dreamed about his sister, the way she used to tease him about his nomad lifestyle, the way she would text him weekly pictures of Brielle so he could watch her grow up even while he was gone.

  “I figured I would go long before Michelle. She was careful, never took any risks.”

  “Were you two close?” Emery parked the truck in front of what appeared to be a small café.

  “We were.” Tension rose inside of him again—that war between the sadness and the joy the memories brought. “She practically raised me. My mom had to work a lot, so we were mostly on our own.” Michelle had become a parent long before she’d given birth to Bri.

  “I’m sorry you lost her,” Emery said quietly. “I always wanted a sibling.”

  The vague revelation of her past almost felt like a gift. “You were an only child?”

  “Yep. And neither of my parents were around much.” She cut the engine and withdrew the keys from the ignition. “The hardware store is across the street, but there’s never any parking over there.”

  He wanted to ask more about her parents, about who’d taken care of her if her parents hadn’t been around, but she climbed out of the truck and walked away, giving him no choice but to follow.

  He’d almost caught her when she stopped abruptly in the middle of the street.

  “Hey, what’s—”

  Emery suddenly whirled to face him, grabbed his arm, and dragged him back toward the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the hardware store.

  “Whoa.” He tried to get a look at her face. “Is there a problem?”

  Instead of answering, Emery marched onward, not letting go of him until they’d made it back to the truck. “Get in. We have to go.” The edge in her voice didn’t sound like anger as much as it sounded like fear.

  “What about the order Agatha wanted us to pick up?” He hesitated outside the truck. Bri would be bummed if they didn’t bring back her big surprise.

  “We’ll get it later.” Emery got into the truck and then leaned over to open his door. “Come on. Please.”

  The panic breaking her voice forced him into the truck. “What’s going on?” He looked out the window trying to see what she was so afraid of. “What happened?”

  “Nothing.” Emery cranked the key in the ignition but again it simply clicked. “No.” She slammed her hands against the steering wheel. “Come on, come on.” She tried to start it again but got the same result.

  Kyler leaned over and picked up the hammer off of the floor mat. “I’ll go out and tap the starter aga—”

  “No!” She snatched the hammer out of his hand. “Everyone will hear. We can’t draw any attention. Not right now.”

  Kyler stared at her, seeing her fast, shallow breaths, the pale tint to her cheeks. What the hell happened out there? “Hey.” He turned to face her fully. “Are you okay?”

  “No.” Emery stared out the windshield. “There’s a man out there. Sitting at the coffee shop next to the hardware store. He can’t see me.”

  “Okay.” Kyler tried to keep his tone calm, but that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He’d rather not consider the possibilities for why Emery was afraid of a man.

  Too much baggage with watching his mom get pushed around by a few jerks.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Emery murmured beside him. “I can’t go out there.”

  “I’ll go then.” That way he could get a look at the guy and try to assess the threat. “I’ll go get whatever Agatha ordered at the hardware store and bring it back here. Then I can figure out how to get the starter going. You won’t even have to get out of the truck.”

  “Okay. Thank you.” The woman inhaled deeply. “That would be great.”

  While she shrunk down in her seat, Kyler climbed out of the truck and headed across the street. There was only one man sitting at a table outside the coffee shop and he looked like a real badass, dressed in all black, dark glasses, military-style haircut.

  Still, Kyler would take him on if he had to.

  As he passed by, the man seemed to be watching the streets. Kyler had to fight the urge to march over there and demand to know what he’d done to Emery. She likely wouldn’t appreciate him butting into her business.

  Instead, he cruised into the hardware store. There were a few people milling around, but he went straight to the counter. “I have a delivery to pick up for the Forget-Me-Not Ranch,” he told the clerk.

  “Right!” The young girl gave him a bright smile. “Oh my God, the playhouse looks like so much fun! I would’ve loved to have one of those when I was little.”

  “Playhouse?” Agatha had ordered Bri a playhouse?

  “Well, yeah.” The girl pointed to a large flatbed cart behind the counter with at least four massive boxes. “I’ll help you bring it out.”

  “That’s not necess—”

  Before he could finish, the girl effortlessly pushed the cart out from behind the counter.

  All right then. He opened the door for her and led the way back to Emery’s truck, checking the coffee shop again.

  The man was gone.

  “Hi Emery!” The store clerk called when they approached the truck. Kyler could see the woman shrink further down in her seat.

  “She’s not feeling well,” he told the girl. After a few tries, he got the tailgate down, and he quickly loaded the boxes. “Thanks for the help.”

  “No prob!” The girl wheeled the cart away. “Tell Emery I hope she feels better!”

  “Will do.” Kyler opened the passenger’s door and slid back into the truck.

  “He walked past me,” Emery hissed, still breathing like she was about to hyperventilate. “I think he saw me.”

  Kyler scanned the streets, but there was no sign of the guy. “He’s gone now.”

  That didn’t seem to help her calm down. She held her head in her hands, her shoulders rising and falling sharply.

  “Hey.” He rested his hand on her arm, not knowing what else to do for her. “It’s okay. You’re not alone.”

  Whatever she feared she didn’t have to face it alone.

  Chapter 6

  She had to stop.

  Emery tried to hold her breath to ward off the panic attack that squeezed her lungs, that had her heart palpitating toward an explosion.

  She hadn’t had a full-on panic attack since those months right after she’d been discharged from the Army and sent home. She couldn’t give in
to one now.

  “What do you need?” Kyler asked beside her.

  She needed to get it together, but that didn’t seem to be happening. Her body had taken over, sending shots of adrenaline roiling through her.

  “I can’t drive,” she gasped. Her vision had started to blip, flashing with images of the past.

  “I’ll drive.” Kyler got out of the truck and then appeared at the driver’s side door.

  Emery dragged her body to the passenger’s side of the bench seat and grabbed the seatbelt. Her hands shook too hard to secure it into place.

  The truck engine clicked when Kyler tried it, but she couldn’t seem to make herself grab the hammer. She couldn’t get out of the truck.

  That dark, dangerous man might walk by her again. He knew. He had to know she was here, and he wasn’t going to leave until he found her…

  Kyler picked up the hammer, popped the hood, and disappeared. She couldn’t hear anything over the rush of blood in her ears. Would the man drag her off into the woods and kill her? Or would he bring her back to Nick so he could?

  “Not sure if I have your touch, but hopefully that worked.” Kyler slid back into the truck and turned the key in the ignition. The engine started right up.

  While he backed the truck out of the parking space, Emery rested her head on the seat behind her and closed her eyes. Breathe. She had to breathe.

  “Do I need to call the police?” Kyler asked quietly.

  Emery sat up straight. “No.” She didn’t want anything to do with the police. She didn’t want anything to do with anyone. She wanted to be left alone. “I’m fine.” It would’ve sounded more convincing if she could’ve steadied her voice.

  Kyler steered the truck onto a dirt pull off on the side of the road. “Listen. If that guy hurt you, I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

  “He didn’t hurt me.” She fisted her hands and shoved them under her thighs so they’d stop shaking. “I don’t even know him.”

  The man’s gaze narrowed with confusion. “But—”

  “Someone else hurt me.” And she’d never told anyone except for her staff sergeant. What a mistake that had been.