by Lynn Stark
When Cherry started drooping, her sudden burst of energy finally burning out, Peaches took the bowl of peas she had been snapping and helped her from her chair. “Go take a nap, hon, you really look wiped out. I’ll come get you for lunch. Then you can watch as I enter the exciting world of ranch finance.” Peaches took care of all the bookkeeping for the ranch, in addition to everything else she did. It was amazing how much she accomplished in her day. Though there was a woman from town who came out to help with the cleaning four times a week, her sister managed to keep the place going.
Cherry gave no argument as she got to her feet. She was more than tired. Her entire body was beginning to hurt. The one thing which gave her hope, which helped keep her from depression, was realizing the pain wasn’t as intense as it had been in months past. Yes, it hurt. It hurt like hell sometimes. But it wasn’t as bad as it had been.
The pain wasn’t going to drag her down. It wasn’t going to get the best of her. Walking to her room she pushed off her shoes and went to stretch out on the couch in the small living room. It was facing the window, giving her a perfect view of the mountains in the distance. Sighing, Cherry thought about how much she loved this place. The wildness appealed to her. Though her brothers-in-law and sister ran a very successful and modern ranch, there was a fine line between order and chaos.
There were the frigid temperatures and unbelievable amounts of snow in the winter. The summers were hot. There could be wildfires across the mountains and meadows. There was flooding at times in the valleys. Then there was the wildlife, not the least of which was the occasional brown bear and mountain lion. Oh, yeah, it was a very wild, but interesting place. And it called to her like no other place ever had.
As did four unbelievable men who lived on a ranch not so very far away.
Sighing, knowing what she had to do, Cherry reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled her cell phone out. Bringing up the screen, she pushed her finger over it until she found what she was looking for. One more push and there was ringing.
No one answered even as her anxiety level rose and her chest began to hurt. Sitting up, Cherry forced herself to take calming breaths. She pushed the screen again, ending her attempt at the call as she tried to catch her breath.
Once the attack had passed, she fell back weakly against the front of the couch, pulling her knees to her chest and sobbing quietly. What could she really offer the brothers right now? Yes, she was getting better, but she still felt more broken than fixed. Though her health was improving, and it definitely was, there would be times like this when she was such a mess she knew she couldn’t ask them to take this on, take her on.
They had hardworking lives like all ranchers and farmers did. Was someone going to take care of her twenty-four-seven? Oh, there were ways around that. They could hire a person to come in to help her during the day, on those days when she couldn’t push past the pain, those days when the world seemed like it was going to crush her. She still had too many days like that.
Sniffling, Cherry twisted, grabbing hold of the couch, struggling to get off the floor. Once she was on her feet she wobbled to the bedroom and all but fell across the impossibly wide bed.
Driving from the airport to the ranch had been a major accomplishment. No one would know how much it had cost her both physically and emotionally. Her parents had worried, particularly her mother, but Cherry had been determined to do it.
Though pain was radiating up Cherry’s right leg in fierce waves, she ignored it. If it didn’t ease up, she would take a pill for the pain. Until then, she would deal with it. Once again her experience as a police officer had allowed her to witness what happened when a person became dependent upon medication. She wasn’t foolish enough to believe that she wasn’t susceptible to the same pitfalls as other people.
Sighing, breathing through the pain, Cherry stared at the ceiling until she fell asleep. When she woke up two hours later she had a new resolve.
“Quit being such a baby,” Cherry told herself firmly, sitting up in the center of the bed. “No one likes a whiner. Suck it up. Move on.”
Sliding out of the bed, she went to the bathroom, took a couple of over-the-counter painkillers she found in the medicine cabinet, and then rebraided her hair. Going back into the bedroom she got a fresh, wrinkle-free shirt and exchanged it for the shirt she had slept in.
Once she was feeling more confident, Cherry left the suite and walked down the hall toward the kitchen, where she could hear the men’s voices blending in with her sister’s and the children’s. She paused in the wide archway, smiling as she looked at them seated around the table, the men with huge amounts of food in front of them, eating heartily, talking to their children between mouthfuls. Peaches was smiling and nodding, keeping track of falling food and tipping cups, as she chatted happily with her family.
Don’t be a whiner. You can have this, too.
Cherry stiffened her aching spine and headed toward the place set for her at the table. Everyone smiled at her. She smiled back.
“I was just wondering if I should wake you. Did you have a good sleep?”
Cherry sat down, spreading a napkin over her lap, before reaching for the ever-present bowl of fruit in the center of the table. Cottage cheese was next, along with a grilled chicken breast. Her stomach growled and her nephew giggled. She winked as she reached for the bottle of honey mustard. Peaches poured her a glass of iced tea. She took it before she settled in to eat.
“It was a very good sleep. I think I’m ready for a little more action this afternoon. Does anyone mind if I groom a couple of horses?”
There was silence in the room as the adults looked at her with concern. “Are you sure? It’s up to you, of course. You know what you’re ready for. It wouldn’t hurt to rest for a couple more days.”
Cherry appreciated their concern. It warmed her heart. She nodded. “I’m good. I promise to quit if I get too tired. And I won’t overdo it. If I do, someone might have to carry me back to the house, but I’ve got to get back to doing things.” She wiggled her eyebrows at her handsome, sexy brothers-in-law. There were sexy chuckles and comical leers in response. Then she grimaced. “It can’t be any worse than anything I’ve done in therapy.”
Going out to work with the horses in the stable became a daily activity. It was therapeutic in more ways than one. It helped her both physically and mentally. Cherry worked, she thought, and she unraveled her problems in her head. And she talked to the horses. A lot more than she wanted to admit to herself, let alone anyone else who might overhear. Some horses were more understanding than others. Some just didn’t care. Cherry didn’t mind. She patted them on the rump when she put them back in their stalls, all shiny and primped like teenage girls.
Logan grumbled that his horses didn’t need to be so darn pretty. Cherry just stuck her tongue out at him, continuing to weave their manes and tails into spectacular braids. It was time consuming, but it was just one more way to work out her problems.
The first couple of days Cherry’s body protested so much about the unfamiliar activity that she nearly called it quits. By the morning of the third day getting out of bed was easier and her hot morning shower was shorter.
At breakfast she was beginning to eat nearly as much as the men. Everyone gaped as she ate two bowls of oatmeal, a serving of fruit, two pancakes, three eggs, and a slice of ham. Even little Merilee was impressed when she stirred her chocolate milk with a piece of bacon then drank it down. She winked and purposely belched, sending her niece and nephew into a fit of giggles.
By the fifth day she was taking horses out to lunge in the round pen. She put them through their paces. By the end of the day she was tired but happy. She had a sense of satisfaction, too.
Everything inside her was feeling better, as if the broken bits of her spirit were fitting back into place like pieces of a puzzle.
The sixth day was Saturday. She worked in the house with Peaches, helping with the canning. By the time the men came in they had cleaned
up the kids and taken turns getting showers.
“You ladies look like you’re expecting an evening out,” Logan commented, the first to cross the kitchen to kiss his wife, where she was little more than an exhausted heap in the chair. “Give us a few minutes. We’ll be ready. What’s it going to be?”
“It’s our pick tonight, Daddy!” JJ proclaimed. “Mommy said so.”
“Then I guess it’s your night to pick out where we go to eat.”
“Merilee and I want pizza.”
“Then pizza it is.”
Merilee clapped, bouncing in place and nearly managing to topple herself over. “Peeesssa!” she cried happily, her tiny hands patting together. “Peeesssa!”
Fifteen minutes later they were all strapped into one very large black SUV and heading into Silver for a relaxing meal of pizza and beer. Cherry couldn’t help but laugh at Ryan. If he wasn’t teasing Logan, then he was teasing his children from his position in the center seat, between her and Damien. Logan growled and the kids laughed. It was all good and she realized, as she sat there smiling and looking out the vehicle’s window, she hadn’t been this happy in a very long time.
An hour later Cherry’s newfound happiness went up in smoke as the door to the pizzeria opened up and four very tall, very hairy men strode in like they owned the place. There were shouts from diners around the large room as the Preston brothers, in all their hairy glory, yelled back.
She watched as they greeted a tall woman who had just paid for her meal and was on her way out. The woman, who she heard one of them call Sheila, didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave as she stood there and chatted in a friendly manner. They laughed collectively at something she said, and then patted her on the shoulder in a friendly manner before they excused themselves to move further into the dining area. The woman paused, turning back, shrewd eyes moving from them to glance over to the table where she was seated with her family. Cherry frowned as their gazes locked. She couldn’t decipher what was in the woman’s expression, couldn’t figure out why anyone would look at her in that way. The woman turned abruptly back to the door and left. As the brothers moved closer she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to jump up and run out of the place. She had tried to call them several more times, telling herself she owed it to herself and them to settle the past between them. They had not answered. They had not returned her calls. Peaches had been wrong, but she was determined to respect their silence as their answer. They no longer wanted anything to do with her. Now, just as that acceptance had taken root, it was ripped out. She didn’t want to respect their wishes. She wanted them to scoop her up and hug her like they used to. She wanted to be held tight by strong arms, inhaling their individual masculine scents, absorbing the strength and heat of their big, hard bodies. Yeah, so she was weak. She was where these four men were concerned. They were hers.
The four men stopped dead in their tracks as they saw her sitting at a large round table in the center of the pizzeria.
“Cherry,” Collin whispered, his bluish-gray eyes moving over her stunned face with eagerness.
At least she thought it was Collin. He and Cody were so similar in looks. With the heavy growth of beard on his face Cherry really couldn’t be sure. Her bewildered gaze went from one man to the other.
“The beards were their way of protesting your absence,” Damien told her dryly. “They vowed they wouldn’t shave until you came home. They haven’t shaved since they saw you last.”
They obviously hadn’t done much trimming, either. They all looked like something out of some scary backwoods movie. She wouldn’t have been surprised if a bear suddenly came through the door looking for them.
“At least the jerks have been taking baths,” Logan snorted. “Well, don’t just stand there staring at her. Everyone in the place is waiting for one of you to kiss her.”
As much as she wanted them, Cherry did have to hold on to at least a modicum of self-respect. “I’ve been calling you all week.”
Cherry felt rather than saw Peaches look at her in surprise. She heard her sister whisper, “You did?” very, very softly. She nodded as she waited for their explanation. Everyone in the place waited, too.
All four men swore, which earned them a scolding from an elderly woman seated nearby. “Sorry, Miss Bradley,” they said in unison. Then to Cherry, “We’ve been gone all week. Are you really back, Cherry?”
They moved tentatively toward her, hope in their expressions. Cherry didn’t want to hurt them, but she knew they had things to settle before they could move on.
But whatever Cherry wanted to say to them was delayed by the question, “Why the hell are you guys covered with fur?”
Sun-darkened skin flushed. The bits of skin she could see. Never in her life, other than in movies, and a few homeless men living on the streets, had she seen so much facial hair on any man. Four hairy beasts stood before her, looking rather boyish despite the manly hair. They were sheepish, uncomfortable, and easy targets for her brothers-in-law. Peaches, thankfully, silenced the three with a look. Cherry threw her sister a grateful look of her own, getting a reassuring smile in return.
Cherry glanced around at all the interested faces. She was aware how close the residents of Silver were. But, for now, she didn’t want everyone to know their business. At least not anymore of it than they already knew. There would be plenty of time for that later. Right now she wanted time alone with the four Preston brothers, to settle the past and to see if they could make a future together.
Rising to her feet, Cherry moved toward them. “Can we talk somewhere?” She glanced around again. “Somewhere a little more private than this is?”
Within seconds they were surrounding her and guiding Cherry out of the pizzeria. As they went, they heard Logan shout, “Don’t you guys screw this up!”
The night air was pleasant, with only a hint of chill from the air brought down from the snow-covered mountains miles away. They walked along the sidewalk, heading in the direction of the town’s quaint square, a few blocks away.
Not one of the men touched her, though Cherry could sense their anxiety, their agitation. It was probably as great as what she was feeling. She felt as if her heart was going to pound its way out of her chest as it slammed against her ribs.
“We’ve missed you, baby,” Mick said hoarsely, finally reaching up to touch her shoulder. When Cherry didn’t move away from the contact, his hand slid across her until his fingers curled over the top of the opposite shoulder. “We wanted to come see you right away, but Peaches asked us to wait until you had settled in. Then our granny called, wanting us to help her move.”
Cherry had heard dozens of stories about their maternal great-grandmother. The woman was a spitfire, even at the age of ninety. They loved the woman dearly and were clearly devoted to her. It was a wonderful thing to see, considering how many in their society seemed to forget about the elderly, saw them as useless and as an encumbrance on their families.
“Where is she moving?”
“Back here. She has a house in town. She had been staying with a friend for the past eight months, until the woman was taken to a hospice.”
“And her friend died?”
“Yes, last week. Granny finished settling her friend’s business, and then called us to help her move back.”
Cherry felt bad for the older woman and her friend. “How sad it had to be for them. But nice, too, that they had each other.”
Mick nodded. “They were friends since they were kids here in Silver.”
They were in the center of town now, the tall, brick Victorian town hall at one end facing the large park across the street from it. In the center of the park there was a large white gazebo, play areas for children, and picnic tables and benches. The streets surrounded it, bordered by buildings which were most definitely from a different era. Even though it was night, black iron lamps were lit, their glow illuminating each and every beautiful facade. There were no cars parked along the streets, no neon signs glaring from
windows. Everything looked much as it would have more than a hundred years earlier. Cherry almost expected to hear the clip-clop of horses’ hooves and the rattling of a carriage down the charming, lamp- and tree-lined streets.
As they stopped at one of the large picnic tables and sat down, Cherry looked at each of the brothers. Her lips twitched. “How long were you planning on growing fur?”
“Until you came home, until you came back to us,” Collin said hoarsely, reaching across the table to take her slender hands in his. “Cherry, we have to have you back.”
“So you can shave?”
Jake chuckled, sliding in beside her. He was a lot like Ryan, her brother-in-law. He was the youngest and most playful of the four. Their arms touched. The heat from his body radiated toward hers. “Yeah, well, that would be nice.” He tugged at the growth that had reached his chest. “We have to have you back. We love you.”
Cherry looked down at the hands she had linked with Collin’s. Their fingers were entwined. His were so tanned and strong while hers looked pathetically fragile and pale. It reminded her of how much further she had to go in her recovery.
“I was horrible to the four of you when we last saw one another,” she whispered hoarsely, emotion choking her. She felt her skin heat as shame washed over her. “You were by my side from the first day. I don’t know if I was aware of it or not, but it still means a great deal to me that you were there.”
The four men had then taken turns being with her, supporting her, once she came out of the coma and began the long road to recovery, which included several additional surgeries. Days had turned into weeks, weeks into months. Two of them were with her at all times, while the other two returned home to help with the demands of their ranch.
When Cherry had reached a point where she really seemed to struggle, as if she had peaked and wouldn’t be able to get any better than she was at that moment, something inside of her had snapped. It was mortifying to know she had taken her frustration out on these fine, loving men.