One Last Sunset (The Long Ranch Series Book 1)

by Prince, Michel

  Melody ran her fingers through the five o’clock shadow on Sunny’s jaw tickling her palm. Yesterday he’d been clean shaven, but the little bit of scruff was nice. “Maybe you’ve just been looking for something.”

  “Guess I’m Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz,” he teased while his thumb stroking against her belly set off butterflies. “Everything I ever wanted was at home.”

  Mel’s lips quirked into a small smile. “I’m everything you ever wanted?”

  “I knew you for most of your life, but for the first time, I’m discovering who you are. And I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than you in my arms.”

  Chapter Eight

  Leaving Melody at the clinic was harder than Sunny expected. He’d never had a woman he couldn’t stop kissing. Thinking about a woman after she’d left his sight was strange. Damn, could he be falling in love with Smelly Mellie? Melody Renee Long hadn’t been Mellie for years, that’s for sure. He just wished he wouldn’t have missed those early years. Then again, he wondered if she would be as open to him as she was now. He would’ve never guessed she’d had a crush on him all those years ago.

  Sunny had a list to work off as he loaded up the cart with asphalt shingles and roofing materials, paint, patch, and about a thousand dollars worth of supplies. His stomach tightened as the costs added up and the young clerk looked at him with the total.

  “One thousand, two hundred, sixty five dollars and seventeen cents.”

  “That added up quick,” Sunny sighed. “You got a coupon or something?”

  “Nope, sorry.” She giggled, then tucked back a loose strand of hair.

  “This man sleeps with whores, Carrie, don’t play with him.” A congested sounding guy with an accent spoke from behind Sunny, who turned to see the asshole from the bar.

  “This from the man who keeps running into my fist.” Crossing his arms, Sunny stood his ground. “If you call Melody a whore again, I’ll have to find a new place to hit you.”

  “She’s the one who keeps coming around me. Just yesterday she followed me to my job, kinda like a stalker.”

  “You work for Conrad?”

  “What’s it to you?”

  “Nothing at all.” Sunny turned back to the clerk. “This needs to be charged to the Long’s.”

  “No money either.”

  “Um—I’ll need to check with my manager,” Carrie said, calling over Chuck who’d worked there since Sunny was in junior high.

  “You’re back in town?” Chuck smiled as he gave a big slap to Sunny’s back.

  At six-five and close to four hundred pounds it took all of Sunshine’s muscle control to not fall flat on his face from the gesture of endearment. “Yes, I’m stayin’ with the Long’s, so I can fix up one of their buildings.”

  “That why you called me over here, Carrie?” Chuck asked.

  “You can double check with Walt if you want.”

  “He’d probably be insulted if I did,” Chuck said as he nodded to Carrie.

  She pulled up the Long account.

  “Which building you fixing?”

  “The cabin. You know, the main house is getting pretty full.”

  “With no sign of it stopping. Has Tina decided if she wanted that shed?”

  “Not that I’ve been told.”

  “K, well Carrie, give Taylor a call from the back to help Sunny load up his stuff.” Chuck headed back to his office. “It was good to see you again, Sunshine.”

  “You sleep with him too, Blanco,” the ranch hand behind chided. “Maybe I’m calling the wrong person puta.”

  “Outside of Mel telling you to eat a dick up till you hiccup, what is your issue with her? A girl never tell you to take a flying leap before?” Sunny challenged. “Something tells me it’s a regular thing with you…or don’t you remember because of the repeated blows to your head?”

  “Women don’t say no to me, ever.”

  “Says the serial rapist,” Sunny retorted. “Maybe I should tell Conrad to look out for those heifers on his farm. Are you sure you don’t want to start working for Derek Ness instead? Or did you already lose a job working with sheep?”

  The ranch hand reared back.

  Sunny stood his ground, not even jumping when he acted as if he were going to hit him. Instead, Sunshine turned his head to look down at the fist an inch from his face. “I’m sorry, did you need me to finish?” Sunny inquired and slowly placed his chin on the man’s knuckles. “Ouch.”

  “Your girlfriend is crossing a lot of lines. Tell her to go back to what’s she good at.”

  “Only an infant would think animal husbandry and human copulation are the same thing.”

  “I’m not talking about the police. There are more dangerous things to a black woman than a cop.”

  At that, Sunny couldn’t do anything but shake his head. Fifty cent words were lost on the monosyllabic and Sunny loved them. He had work to do and this dipshit’s love of all things Melody—while he could understand the draw—were only his concern when she was in danger. Right now, she was in the clinic, so…

  Sunny looked out into the parking lot and saw a truck with a livestock trailer attached. He may just need to go back to the clinic before he headed to the ranch. Doc Carlisle could protect Melody, but he was sure she was too embarrassed to tell him about the harassment. Long pride and all.

  Mel was happy to see him, especially when five minutes later when the still-bruised Casanova came in to pick up the Winston’s heifer. With Sunny there, he actually behaved, probably for the first time ever. Through the exchange, the hair on Sunny’s neck rose when he saw Melody physically shaken around him.

  “Why won’t he leave me alone?” she asked softly when Doc brought him to the holding pens. “I don’t get it.”

  “Some men just don’t understand the word no,” Sunny said as he stroked his thumb across the top of her hand. “You know one call from Walt and Conrad would fire that guy faster than lightening if you told him what is going on. The guys only saw him going after me. I kinda have the reputation of getting myself in messes.”

  “They still were there to help you clean it up.”

  That’s what he feared. Losing the only brothers, he’d ever known. His mother loved him, but he was secondary to his father every time with her. “I better get going,” Sunny said as he watched the truck and trailer pull out of the parking lot. “Maybe you can come out and have supper with me later?”

  “Beanie weenie?” She smiled.

  Sunny’s heart soared at her grin.

  “Tempting.”

  “That is a Parker staple of life. You too good for it?”

  “Not too good, just a bit old.”

  “Maybe I’ll swing by the grocery store on the way home and pick up grown up food.”

  “Seven?” she asked.

  Sunny looked around the lobby to see even Velma was gone before he leaned over the counter and laid a kiss on her. Hmm. That wasn’t nearly enough to hold him until seven. Sadly, a noise from the back made him pull back.

  Doc came out holding a stack of papers. “Mel, we have a big problem.”

  * * * *

  Thankfully, Doc hadn’t seen Mel kissing Sunny.

  Sadly, he had to leave and even the tone in Doc’s voice hadn’t been enough to stop the tingling running down her spine. Damn, if Sunny didn’t make a girl’s brain a bit fuzzy even with a bruised, battered, and otherwise still healing lip. What would he do to her whole? When they’d made love he had to catch his breath a few times because of his ribs. The slow down had her gripping him praying for release. Had he been whole she might of lost sight from the orgasm.

  She tried to read the lab reports in front of her, but saw numbers crossing and blurring out. Sunny’s cologne was still knocking her off balance with the smell of man.

  “I got a call from the lab and they’ve notified the EPA already.”

  The Environmental Protection Agency would need to be involved. It would have been Mel’s first suggestion. She worrie
d about the lower levels on her ranch. They shouldn’t be drinking or cooking with the water. Maybe not even bathing. “I have to call my family,” she said.

  “No,” Doc said firmly. “We can’t start a panic.”

  “Quentin’s a baby. I can’t sit on this.”

  “You weren’t even supposed to run tests from your ranch.”

  “I had a feeling. The stream runs across a dozen ranches in this area before dumping into the Rio Grande.”

  “Melody, we don’t even know what these numbers mean yet!”

  “I can tell you if I drop a lit match in the creek running through the Winston’s land, I’ll start a blaze.”

  That sobered Doc up. “We need to figure out how to fix the animals.”

  “They live off the land. There’s no way to fix them without fixing the land.” She couldn’t understand why Doc was acting like this wasn’t a big deal. No one could live ingesting the poisons polluting the land out there. “The few that got pregnant are probably going to have issues and there’s no way these cattle can be slaughtered for human consumption.”

  “The EPA guys will be here in a week.” Doc’s face screwed painfully as he stared at the figures. “Until then we have to keep this under wraps.”

  “I’m telling my family. I have to.” Mel stood firm. “If it means I have to do my internship somewhere else, let me know, but I’m sorry. I can’t leave them out there like this.”

  “Just your family,” he warned, but his voice cracked when he continued, “It can’t go further.”

  “What happened to being an honest business? A lie of omission is still a lie.”

  The bells above the door jingled and Cassandra Hughes walked in wearing a freshly pressed dress suit with her hair perfectly teased. With no term limits on mayors in the town, Mayor Hughes had ruled over Tender Root for as long as Melody could remember. The only change being her once rich honey gold hair had matured into a stark white that she wore beautifully. She and her husband had a smaller ranch on the same creek.

  Strange that she made her way into the clinic.

  “Good morning, Myron.” She smiled with all the reality a politician could muster.

  “I thought I made an appointment with you, Madam Mayor.”

  “I saw that, but I got a disturbing phone call today and I thought you might know why the Environmental Protection Area wants to come to my town.”

  “Let’s go to my office and talk.” Doc turned and looked at Melody. “You too.”

  After two hours of discussion mixed with phone calls to various smaller office holders, Mayor Hughes shook hands and walked out of the office. Doc was exhausted, but Melody had a better understanding of the panic that could set in. Speculations could lead to more problems than solutions. Two decades of being mayor hadn’t led to complacency on the part of Mayor Hughes, that’s for sure. Sharp as a tack, she considered every business that could be impacted on the short and long term. Even siting possible lawsuits and disaster funding.

  Mel’s head spun with the overload of information. She’d known it wasn’t a little problem easily fixed by changing a diet in the animals. Tender Root survived because of the ranches. All the other businesses were tributaries. If they went down the town would be gone in less than a decade.

  “Go home, Mel,” Doc sighed. “There’s nothing we can do here now. Not until the EPA is done.”

  Melody drove home wondering what she’d do if they had to sell. Their ranch was the biggest and most profitable in the area. She’d never thought about who they all employed beyond the ranch hands. The meat processors, cattle auctioneers, store clerks… all of it stemming from the meat they raised. The meat that might be as tainted as the Winston’s. Conrad would know soon his animals couldn’t be sold. Living season to season… the words echoed in her head as she turned onto the Long Ranch and went to the main house.

  Tina had Quentin wrapped in some sort of fabric swathed around her chest. She, Walt Jr., and Nessa were working in the planting boxes Sunny had finished. Four of them filled with potting soil should be safe. Junior had the hose in his hand and Melody blanched.

  “Stop,” she called before Junior placed his lips on the cool water.

  “I’m thirsty,” he said.

  “I know, Junior, just—can you and Nessa go inside so I can talk to your mama?”

  “We’s plantin’ umkins.” Nessa beamed, holding a vine plant still in the black starter pot. “I’s gonna make pies.”

  “Tina, we need to talk.”

  “Okay, Mel.” She sighed and took off her gardening gloves. “Calm down. It’s time for lunch anyway.”

  In the house, everything seemed tainted now. When Tina had the kids wash their hands with her, Mel buried her head in her hands unable to watch. To her, everything needed to tested and retested. The cost would be astronomical, but nothing was worth her family. Quentin was now unstrapped from his mother and sitting in a high chair ready for lunch. His dark curls matted to his head from being out in the heat for so long. When Tina gave him juice instead of water, Mel visibly sighed in relief.

  “You okay, Mellie?” Tina asked and laid her wrist on Mel’s head as if she were one of her own children. “Why aren’t you at the clinic?”

  “Remember when I got stuck at the cabin?” Mel asked while Tina finished making sandwiches and cutting them into squares for the kids.

  “Of course. The guys are still finding damage from the storm. It’s a good thing Sunny’s around. They don’t have time to do that little stuff, but if they don’t fix it it’ll be a big problem.” Tina finally had everyone served.

  Mel waved off her offer of lunch.

  Tina then sat down to eat, although she was mostly cutting fruit into smaller pieces for the kids. “At least that’s what Walt tells me. I think he just wants to help out Sunny without it feeling like charity. Now eat your grapes, Nessa.”

  “I was getting samples for the lab.”

  “Samples of what?”

  “Water, grass, dirt.” Mel’s fingers wiped the condensation from the glass of sweet tea Tina had placed in front of her. “Hair from the cattle.”

  “Why?”

  “We’d been trying to figure out something at the clinic about the Winston’s herd.”

  Tina stopped focusing on Quentin and her deep honey eyes were full of concern.

  “This can’t go past our family. I promised Doc and Mayor Hughes.”

  “Mayor Hughes? Mellie, what’s going on?”

  “Really high petroleum levels. Like, really high.”

  Tina looked at Junior who had a mouthful of sandwich.

  “Whafft?” he asked when he noticed his mother staring.

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Tina instinctively said, then turned her attention back to Melody. “Should we not be using our water?”

  “The water by the creek isn’t as high as it is up stream.”

  “And our water?”

  “Isn’t as high as the creek, but the danger is spreading. Winston’s— it’s bad, Tina.”

  A snap of the screen door made them both jump as Walt, Clay, and Uncle Clevon came inside.

  “I have to make the guys lunch.” Tina stumbled getting up.

  Mel could tell Walt knew something was wrong.

  He went to Tina, who stepped out of the kitchen to gather herself.

  She’d graduated with a degree in environmental studies with a minor in business. Most times the guys were teasing her about being a hippie, buying organic, and trying to take away all their favorite toxic chemicals. One of Tina’s favorite parts of being on the ranch was the fresh air. Although she’d been able to get Walt to change a few things on the ranch for environmental reasons, it hadn’t been the easiest transition. Pesticides and vaccinations had been the standard for years.

  “Mel…? Hello, earth to Smelly Mellie,” Clay said while waving his hand in front of her face.

  She’d not heard him calling her since she was watching Tina conveying the information to Walt.
He had his hands on her shoulders trying to comfort his wife. “What, pest?” Mel snapped.

  “JT called. He needs us to bring his horses up now.”

  “Right this second?”

  “Sooner rather than later. You think Doc would give you a few days off to help Sunny take them to Minnesota?”

  Sunny? Mel woke from her toxic stupor. “What about Sunny?”

  “Damn girl, what is wrong with you?”

  Mel’s brain was mush. In a week, she’d gone from composed and studious to—she didn’t even know now. “I heard JT, Minnesota, and Sunny. What do any of those things have to do with me?” She asked, trying to focus on Clay.

  “He wants his horses.”

  “Good for him.”

  “Sunny’s going to drive them, but for that trip we need at least two people. Can Doc spare you?”

  “I have the rest of the week off anyway.”

  “You do?” Clay smiled. “Then it’s meant to be.”

  “Guess so.”

  “You guys should only have to sleep over one night. Sunny has a friend from the rodeo in Missouri. That’s good stopping spot for the horses.”

  “Sounds good. When do we leave?”

  “Tomorrow since you’re off.”

  “Okay, I’ll go out the cabin and tell Sunny now.”

  “Just call him on the radio.”

  “Isn’t he fixing it up?”

  “Melody,” Walt called from the living room right as Quentin splashed Clay’s cheek with the applesauce he’d been attempting to use a spoon with.

  “Darn, that’s me.”

  “Tina, your child’s a menace,” Clay yelled.

  “He’s a Long, what did you expect?” she retorted.

  Walking into the living room only took three steps, but the face of her cousin made the walk harder to handle. There was limited information at this time. Maybe Doc was right. This could only cause a panic.

  “Do we need a family meeting?”

  Mel’s heart pounded in her chest. She didn’t know what was going on. All she knew was it was bad. She didn’t have a solution. “I’m going to be taking JT’s horses to him,” she said, swallowing hard. Here she’d dropped a bombshell and now she was running from the damage.