Closing his eyes, he inhaled deep and worked to dispel the stupid tension gathered at the restaurant. Pathetic. There’d only been four of them there. No reason for the panic attack he’d nearly succumbed to, or the tightness still stretched across his chest.
She’d been there.
He opened his eyes and expelled the breath.
Caitlin.
Warmth rushed through his body, making him grimace. Dammit. Was he going to have to deal with this shit the whole time he was in Harland County?
Jamming his keys in the ignition, he grumbled another curse and started the truck.
So…she was still hot and sweet. Big deal. He’d been with several women since leaving the Poconos. It wasn’t as if he lived like a hermit. He enjoyed the warmth once in a while. But he never connected with any of them like he had with Caitlin.
As he followed his brother-in-law the rest of the way to the ranch his sister now called home, he was vaguely aware of the endless fields on either side of the road and the occasional oak tree that dotted the land. There was a serenity in the vastness and he understood why Brandi never wanted to return to the northeast.
Although, he did miss the mountains, and trails, and the lake, and all the outdoor activities he and Greg used to do. If they weren’t working on cars in Matt’s garage, they’d gear up and disappear on the mountain all weekend. His stomach tightened at the memories.
God…he missed those times.
As he pulled up next to Kade, he pushed the dismal thoughts aside and whistled at the homestead spread out before him. A large house with a wraparound porch, a cabin, huge barn, barn, corrals, and in the distance was another large barn, a corral, and another house under construction. The ranch was much bigger than he expected.
He parked and got out.
“Welcome to Shadow Rock.” Kade met him in front of the truck. “Right now, we’re all staying in the main house, but Brandi and I are in the process of building our own place closer to the rescue.”
The muscles in Keiffer’s neck tightened at the thought of staying in the house with everyone, especially the younger Daltons. If he remembered correctly, there was three; Four-year-old, Amelia, her one-year-old sister, Sarah, and their seven-year-old cousin, Cody. He liked kids. He really did, but they had a way of breaking through his defenses so, now, he avoided them whenever possible.
“Don’t worry, the cabin’s free, and all yours,” Kade said, as if reading his mind. “It was built for the ranch manager, but he’s married to my cousin Jen, and they live in the main house.”
His shoulder’s relaxed as he nodded. “Cabin sounds good.”
“Come on, let’s drop your stuff off quick before we go inside.”
Keiffer nodded, grabbed his duffle and followed Kade to the cabin.
Maybe this won’t be so bad.
“Your sister updated it.” His brother-in-law opened the door and stood back to let him in. “I think she hoped you’d come down to see her.”
He stepped inside and immediately felt at ease. The open concept living room had vaulted, beamed ceilings, hardwood floors, a stone fireplace on a side wall facing a modern kitchen with an island snack bar, granite counters, and stainless steel appliances.
The style was rustic and simple, just like him.
Now he felt like an ass for staying away, and yet, he hadn’t been ready—still wasn’t ready. He rubbed at his tightening chest. “She didn’t need to do all of this.”
He was only staying a few weeks.
Kade chuckled. “Tell that to your sister.”
His lips twitched. “True.” Brandi always was a softie, but once she got an idea in her head, it was tough to shake her off course.
He walked past the kitchen down a short hall and peeked inside the first door. It led to a large three-piece bathroom with huge walk in shower, separate soaker tub, large vanity, and earth-tone tile floors.
“They’re heated.” Kade nodded to the floor.
She remembered.
Another smile tugged at Keiffer’s mouth. Back in the Poconos, he’d appreciated the heated floors in the bathroom of the townhouse his sister had remodeled for him at the resort. They were great, especially this time of the year.
As he entered the bedroom, he noted the curtains on the two windows, and bedding on the king-size bed, matched the hunter green sofa and loveseat in the living room. Guilt clawed his gut, and his smile faded. Damn. Brandi had done so much work, paying special attention to details, and incorporating his favorite color into the color scheme.
Just like the townhouse.
And just like at the townhouse, he wasn’t staying.
Shaking his head, he dropped his duffle on the floor. “She shouldn’t have gone through so much trouble,” he repeated.
“Are you kidding?” Kade’s brows rose as they headed for the front door. “You’re family. Try telling her not to make a fuss.”
They were walking across the driveway, heading for the house when the front door opened and his sister flew out onto the porch.
“Keiffer!” she cried, joy lighting her face brighter than the Christmas trees stuffed in the storefronts he’d noticed in town. Gaze warm and cheeks flushed, she raced down the steps, her caramel waves bouncing past her shoulders as she threw herself into his arms. “Thanks for coming. It’s so great to see you.”
“Great to see you, too, Sis,” he replied, and realizing he meant it, he relaxed in her warm embrace.
No one hugged like Brandi. It was never just with her arms, it was with her heart, too. Normally, that would freak him out, but not this time. Hauling her closer, he closed his eyes and stood for several moments reconnecting with his sister.
It felt good.
Over seventeen months had passed since he’d seen Brandi, and even then it had only been a few days. He’d been suffocating. Grief and anger and memories had choked the life out of him at every turn in that damn town. His whole body had been so tight with anxiety even breathing had hurt. Time wasn’t working. It wasn’t healing like the old adage expressed. Not very long after her visit, he’d packed up and left home.
A slight tremor ran through her body and she tightened her hold. He could feel she needed the time to get herself together. Hell…she could take all the time in the world, because the last thing he wanted was to confront an emotional Brandi.
And as he understood it, pregnancy made things like that worse.
Funny how the stork hit the Wyne family with a double dose. Brandi and Kade, plus and their brother Ben and Lea were having babies. He was happy for all of them, and for his nephew Tyler, who was finally going to have two cousins.
Tyler.
Keiffer’s stomach bunched. God, he missed the eight-year-old.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Brandi’s hold slackened, she sniffed, and drew back. “And I can’t believe how different you look with longer hair and a beard.”
He snorted and held her warm gaze. “Different? As in I look like crap?”
“No.” She laughed, touching his beard, then hair. “Just the opposite. You look good, except…you know…for the dark circles under your eyes. I’m guessing you’re not sleeping well.”
Her subtle way of stating she knew he wasn’t.
Knowing better than to try and bullshit her, he shrugged. “Some nights suck.”
“Well, I fixed up the cabin just for you, so don’t worry about being stuck in our chaotic house.” She set her hands on his shoulders and held his gaze. “I wanted to make sure you had a place to chill.”
Pleased she wasn’t trying to fix him, he smiled down at her. “Kade already showed me. It’s great. Thanks.”
“Everything my wife works on is amazing,” his brother-in-law remarked, bringing a pretty blush to his sister’s face.
She released him to step to her husband and kiss his cheek. “Thanks, honey. You’re sweet. Between the cabin, our house, and our baby, I think the creativity is being sucked out of me.”
Kade stilled, and
concern flickered in his eyes. “Are you overdoing it? Maybe you should let our house go while I’m gone.”
Keiffer stilled, and took a closer look at his sister. There was a slight pallor under her blush, and exhaustion pulled at her features.
“No. I’m fine.” She smiled and patted Kade’s chest. “Just your normal pregnancy fatigue. Honest. I was talking about work. My designs are kind of simple. I’m worried they’re boring.”
Boring?
Keiffer almost laughed. Now there was a word none of the Wyne’s would ever use to describe his sister.
“Never.” Her husband’s gaze softened before he gently ran his hand over slightly swollen belly.
“Not possible. And our baby you’re carrying will be your best creation yet.”
“Aw.” His sister sniffed. “There you go again, being sweet.” She drew back and wiped her eyes. “This child is part of you. The best part.”
Kade’s eyes sparked with tenderness and a fierce emotion Keiffer felt from several feet away as he watched the guy cup his sister’s face and kiss her.
He and his brothers definitely did not have to worry about Brandi ever again. She was in excellent hands.
Muffled giggles had him turning toward the porch to see Kevin and Caitlin’s sister Shayla, and their two cute little girls watching with interest.
“Well, now.” The snickering cowboy grinned. “You two are so adorable your child is probably going to be a teddy bear.”
“A teddy bear? Really, Daddy?” the older girl asked, eyes wide as saucers. “I want a teddy bear.”
The toddler, he estimated to be almost two, jammed a thumb toward her chest. “Me bear too.”
“Now look what you’ve done.” Shayla shook her red waves and smiled, picking up the toddler. “Aunt Brandi isn’t having a teddy bear. She’s having a baby. Your daddy’s just being silly.”
“He does that a lot,” the five-year-old said without missing a beat.
Kade laughed, slipping his arm around Brandi. “You’re right, Amelia. He sure does.”
Kevin scooped up the smiling girl. “Don’t listen to him, sweetheart. He’s the one out here smooching his wife in front of her brother. Not the best way to treat a guest. Sorry about that, Keiffer. I would’ve at least brought you inside and offered you coffee.”
He stepped forward to shake the man’s outstretched hand, eager to get the formalities out of the way. “Good to see you again, Kevin. Actually, Kade took me for breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” The jokster raised a brow. “Where?”
“We met Connor at the Pub.”
Kevin’s head jerked back. “The Pub? Dam—pening dingdongs,” the cowboy added after a quick glance to his daughters. “You went and ate a Kerri breakfast with McMoose and didn’t invite me?”
“Hey.” Shayla’s eyes narrowed. “What was wrong with the breakfast I made?”
“Nothing, darling.” Kevin bent down to kiss the redhead’s temple. “You make the best burnt toast and rubber eggs this side of an iron stomach.”
That earned the jokester a smack upside his head from his wife, and Keiffer actually smiled with the others as he walked inside the house with them.
The first thirty minutes weren’t bad. Keiffer got the tour, reunited with his nephew’s buddy, Cody, who introduced him to his parents, Brock, the ranch manager, and Jen, Kevin’s sister. Sitting with them in their kitchen, Keiffer nursed the coffee Kevin had mentioned, and watched the Daltons interact. There was a warmth in the room he hadn’t been a part of since he’d left home.
Warmth was trouble.
Warmth led to pain, and God knew he’d had his share. He didn’t want more.
Anxiety prickled his neck and he fought to remain calm. Just when he was about to excuse himself and retreat to the cabin, he noticed alarm tighten Kade’s features while he took a call.
“Was that about the rescue?” Brandi asked after her husband hung up and shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“Yeah. That was Jesse. It’s not looking good.” Kade stood and glanced at him. “I could use your help.”
Keiffer stood, nodded to the others then followed his grim-faced brother-in-law from the house. He was happy to escape the gaiety of the kitchen, but not about the circumstance.
On the short ride down the drive to the rescue barn, he sat in Kade’s truck and listened while the disgruntled man filled him in on how several animals and two horses had been found restrained and abandoned in a dilapidated barn on a rundown property.
By the time they parked next to a truck and familiar car, Keiffer had a strong hate going on for the piss-poor excuse of a human being that had owned the horses. In an attempt to rein in the anger scalding his veins, he got out and concentrated on his surroundings, mildly surprised to note a second building behind the barn.
“That’s for regular rescues,” Kade explained, apparently noting his surprise. “We keep the abused horses in this barn.” Opening the wooden door to an older, renovated barn, his brother-in-law motioned for him to enter. “It’s quieter.”
If there was one thing Keiffer understood, it was the need for solitude. No one asking questions, giving orders—depending on him.
“Keiffer…Kade.” Caitlin appeared in the doorway of a stall in a long aisle of stalls, her blue gaze dark and somber.
Awareness instantly skittered down his spine. Shit. The car outside must be hers. Was she following him?
No. He vetoed the thought the instant it formed. The stethoscope around her neck and the fact she’d been studying to be a vet tech when they first met gave him a clue. Caitlin wasn’t there to see him. That should’ve been a relief.
It wasn’t.
He didn’t want to start anything with her, and yet, disappointment rippled through his gut when she didn’t want to start anything with him.
He was an ass. A pathetic ass.
The woman deserved better.
Not him.
She was on the clock...and currently staring at him. Her open gaze raked over him and a single sweep of her baby blues heated his body with a remembered warmth.
Unwanted warmth.
Forcing himself not to stiffen under her scrutiny, he failed when a cowboy stepped out from behind her. Tall. Solid. Boyfriend? Vet? No to the latter. The guy didn’t have a stethoscope around his neck or medical equipment of any kind in his hands. So, what the hell was he to Caitlin?
He stiffened again.
Christ. What the shit was wrong with him? None of that mattered. He had no claim on her. Besides, he wasn’t the jealous type, not since raging hormones had ruled his life in his teens. But he was no longer in his teens, and neither was she. Caitlin was old enough to know who she wanted. It was no skin off his “only-temporarily here” back.
Still…
His gaze traveled from her to the rock-solid cowboy at her side. Who was he?
“I got him to drink a little but he won’t eat,” the guy stated.
Kade’s expression turned grim and lips thinned as he clenched and unclenched his fists. “Thanks for staying with him, Jesse.”
Even the guy’s grip was solid, he noted when his brother-in-law introduced them.
“Ah, Keiffer.” Jesse grinned. “Brandi’s brother. The one who took the stage with Kevin at Brandi’s bachelorette party.”
How the hell…?
He raised a brow and glanced at Caitlin, but although her cheeks were suddenly flushed, he got the impression it was more from the memory of that day—and night—than being guilty of talking about him.
“Tanner told me,” Jesse explained, releasing his hand.
Tension eased from Keiffer’s shoulders. “The cowboy Gwen hooked up with.” His brother’s ex had a fling with Kade’s buddy at the wedding, then rekindled it when she moved to Harland County last year. “Tanner mentioned you’d stayed behind to keep an eye on Jace’s mother and sister.”
Jesse nodded.
Kade stepped forward to set a hand on their shoulders. “I’m hoping K
eiffer can help out in here while I’m gone.”
“Just tell me what you need done and I’ll do it.” He liked routine. A plan. A steady system to keep his mind occupied. The past few months, he adopted that agenda, and it seemed to be mildly successful, once he gave up boozing.
The second time.
But he was done with that shit.
At times, his life felt out of control. Last thing he needed was alcohol to add to the chaos.
“Let’s see how he is.” Kade motioned toward the stall and they all headed inside.
Unsure what to expect, Keiffer braced himself for the worst. A skinny, dirty horse with a dull, overgrown coat, with his mane in knots so tangled they’d need cut out, in dire need of its hooves trimmed. That would make sense.
As he caught sight of the tan and white gelding, his heart rocked. A buckskin overo. A paint. The horse in front of him was cleaned up and brushed and must’ve been truly magnificent when healthy, and although he could see the gelding’s ribs and distended abdomen, it was the eyes that revealed his true status. A status Keiffer immediately recognized and empathized.
Lost.
The horse was floundering, desolate, grief-stricken. Broken. No amount of food and medication was going to help the poor animal heal. All the major damage was internal.
“Any improvement, Caitlin?” Kade asked quietly, inspecting the horse too indifferent to be skittish.
While Caitlin got into specifics about heartbeats and some medical mumbo-jumbo, Keiffer continued to hold the rescue’s gaze. The others were doing a great job helping medically.
It just wasn’t going to be enough.
Hygiene, food, and medicine only went so far. Fixed the outside. Mended external pains. Didn’t touch the soul. The heart. Not even close.
What the paint needed, they couldn’t give—his buddy back.
God, could he relate.
The horse must’ve sensed it, because he shifted closer to Keiffer, unsure, hurting, confused, not understanding why his friend was gone. Damn, he wished he had answers. But he didn’t. Not for himself or the horse. “What’s his name?”
Her Troubled Cowboy (Harland County Series Book 9) Page 3