Front Range Cowboys (5 Book Box Set)

by Evie Nichole

  “Man, that’s rough.” The boy clucked his tongue. “I think we have duct tape behind the counter. We could try that.”

  “I don’t want duct tape on my leather shoe,” Aria said quickly. “I can have someone repair the shoe if I can just find my car!”

  “Oh. Right.” Middle guy, just a hair shorter and a lot chunkier than the other short guy, seemed to be the smartest of the three. “Let us find your car. What kind is it?”

  Aria almost laughed out loud as she tried to decide just how girly to be. “Well it’s white. I like white, you know? It’s easy to keep clean.” She tried to talk as fast as possible and add as much mundane unnecessary information as possible. She could see Laredo opening the box full of keys behind the valet stand. “So, it’s a pretty small car. It’s got two doors.”

  “What make and model, ma’am?” The tall one was looking annoyed.

  “Oh? I’m not sure about that stuff. It has a really pretty logo though. It’s on the hood. It’s sort of round right here, and then it curves down…” Aria was actually moving her fingers in the air to outline a probable shape for the logo of a car that she did not have. Under other circumstances, she would have been laughing her butt off.

  “Ma’am,” the first valet was looking distinctly annoyed. “We can’t go into the parking garage to help you find your nondescript white two-door car. Do you have any idea how long that’s going to take?”

  Suddenly, she saw Laredo wave at her. “Oh!” Aria exclaimed brightly. “I think that nice gentleman found my car! He was helping me look inside, you know?”

  “Hey!” The valet shouted to Laredo, looking suspicious. “Were you helping this lady find her car?”

  “Yep. I’ve got it.” Laredo gave those young men a nod that was filled to the brim with that man-to-man full annoyance with the stupidity of a woman. If Aria hadn’t purposefully portrayed that image of the helpless and silly woman, she would have been offended. As it was, she deserved whatever those poor valets wanted to dish out.

  With that in mind, Aria gave the young men a jaunty wave. “Thanks so much for your help!” She snatched her shoe from the one guy. “Y’all have a nice evening!”

  Aria schlepped down the sidewalk with one shoe on and one shoe off and knew she looked silly but did not care. Laredo was smiling at her as though he had just won the lottery and was thrilled with his prize.

  “You crack me up,” he told her after they were well out of earshot. “You played that to the hilt, and you’re not even that kind of girl!”

  He put one arm around her waist, put the other beneath her butt, and swept her off her feet and into his arms. She gasped as she was swung off the ground. She had never been that kind of woman before. Men didn’t pick her up or carry her around. Her build was a little solid for that kind of thing. Yet right now she felt like she was pixie sized. It was strangely exciting. She’d never felt so feminine before in her life.

  Aria gently touched his cheek. “You don’t have to carry me.”

  “You’ve got one bare foot,” he pointed out. “I can’t let you walk around in this parking garage with one bare foot. Besides, you weigh about as much as a newborn calf.”

  “Did you just tell me it’s like carrying a cow?” she teased. Her mock outrage was just that, and she could not help but laugh as she said it. Then she touched his cheek and gently let her lips nibble their way across his jaw. “But do your baby calves do that?”

  One corner of his mouth quirked up in a wry grin that gave her heart palpitations. “Sometimes.”

  “I had no idea some ranchers were so involved with their cattle’s well-being. But you must really care about their emotional development as well as their physical traits,” she told him with a laugh. “You Hernandez boys were always so in love with your livestock.”

  “Oh, that’s us!” Laredo grunted. Then he sighed. “You saw my father, right? No, wait. I know you did.” He shook his head and started to slow down. She realized that his truck was right there in front of them. “You saw how drunk and crazy he was acting. Right?”

  “I did.” She wondered where this was going.

  Laredo unlocked the truck and opened the passenger door. He set her very gently on the seat but did not step away. He was standing between her knees. The skirt of her dress had been pushed up to the middle of her thighs, and she could feel the heat of him through her pantyhose. Right now, she was really beginning to hate the pantyhose.

  She kept her hands on his forearms. For some reason, she felt as though she needed the contact. His expression suggested that he was gearing up to say something very uncomfortable.

  “Do I act like that?” Laredo suddenly wanted to know.

  Aria didn’t know what to say. For just a moment, she was frozen. Then she realized that all of this talking and thinking about drunkenness and alcoholism and her past and her present and her future and whatever the hell else continually went on in her head was coming down to this moment and this conversation.

  “No.” She exhaled a breath of air that she did not even realize that she’d been holding. Her lungs felt tight, and she was worried that she was making an unforgivable error with Laredo. “You’re the melancholy, and sometimes rather mean, sort of drunk.”

  He drew back a little. She held tight to his arms. She needed the contact, and she knew he did as well even if he did not realize it yet. Finally, his brows drew together and she could see him trying to put that together.

  “So, basically,” he began slowly, “my father is a belligerent, wordy, and pretty attention-seeking sort of drunk.”

  “Yes.”

  “And I’m more the hide at home and pretend nothing is happening kind of drunk.”

  That wasn’t exactly what she would have said, but it certainly got the point across. “I suppose that’s one way to put it,” she told him. “I would say that you’re depressed. That’s why you drink. Right?”

  “I guess.”

  “That’s self-medication.”

  “And you know all of this how?”

  Aria swallowed. This was where her baggage came into play. How nice. “My father. He was a mean drunk. He used to clear a twelve pack every night starting at about seven o’clock. Then he would start yelling at me and my mom.” Aria tried to muddle through the myriad of complex feelings that she had regarding her father. “My dad taught me a lot. He taught me how to ride and to rope and to break a horse. He was wonderful with a horse. He was great at the rodeo. But he was a man who could not survive without his alcohol binge every night, and I never understood why my mom let that go on.”

  “I had no idea.” Laredo looked utterly aghast. “Did anyone know?”

  “That’s the thing with alcoholism,” she whispered. “It’s very easy to hide if the family is willing to pretend it away.”

  “Bella isn’t willing to pretend it away.” Laredo whispered the words.

  “No,” Aria agreed. “Your daughter is a far better, far stronger person than I was. She also has other family members to support her. She loves Darren and Maggie. She loves Jaeger. She loves her grandmother, and I know Avery has been there for her. That means Bella doesn’t feel alone, and that’s a good thing.”

  “She likes you,” Laredo pointed out suddenly. “I’ve noticed that. She’s really comfortable with you, and yet I can’t imagine how the two of you have even met.”

  Aria swallowed back the shame. This was so bad. Here they were, sitting in the truck having a very solemn conversation about something extremely important, and she was lying to him. It was unforgivable, but she could not do something about it just yet. It wasn’t really her secret.

  Laredo leaned forward until his forehead was resting on hers. “I need help,” he whispered. “I don’t want to be like your father. I don’t want my family to hide my drinking. I don’t want to be like my father and embarrass myself and my entire family by airing personal business in public. I want to be a good man. Will you help me?”

  She felt the enormous weight of wha
t he was asking. She wasn’t that kind of woman. It wasn’t her thing to get involved with a person and become their accountability partner or their buddy. She didn’t do stuff like that. Aria Callahan was a loner. She always had been. That was her thing. It was what she was comfortable with.

  “I don’t think I’m qualified,” Aria began softly. She wanted to draw back, but it felt so good to be close to him. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that they weren’t even talking about something this serious. “I can’t keep you sober. I can’t take away all of the triggers that make you want to drink. There are professionals for this sort of thing, Laredo. I’m not one of them.”

  “I don’t want you to do this for me,” he told her. There was such gentleness in his voice. How could she deny him anything? “I just want you to help me. I want you to be there for me. I want to be with you. I want you in my life.”

  It was a tall order. It was a lot. She already was in his life. She was helping him with this ridiculous notion to start competing his horses. She was teaching his daughter to ride, but that wasn’t public knowledge. How could she be any more enmeshed in his life without losing her own sense of independence and freedom in the process?

  “I have to think about this,” she whispered. “You’re a great guy. I really enjoy being around you. I always have.”

  “You have?” He actually drew back far enough to laugh. “You used to ride me like a naughty pony, woman. Do you remember that?”

  “Do you remember when I stopped?” Aria licked her lips. Why shouldn’t she tell him? He had just asked her to help him with his drinking, for goodness’ sake!

  “No. Why did you stop?”

  “Because I saw a woman named Helena ream you up one side and down the other with a pack of lies that made you look like you had just been cut down at the root. That’s why. I heard her tell you all that stuff about looking ridiculous on a horse and being a terrible cowboy. I heard that. And even that night I knew that she was wrong, and that she was as jealous of you as she was in love with you.”

  Laredo stumbled back a step. “I had no idea.”

  “I never said anything because it would have felt wrong. It was a very private moment, and I know that neither you nor Helena knew that I happened to be sitting up in the stands. I used to watch you. I always loved to watch you. Then you got together with her, and all of a sudden, you weren’t you anymore.”

  His head was nodding, but she could see from the vacant expression on his face that he was having a tough time with what she’d told him. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe things between them would cool down and eventually things would go back to normal. That was good. Right?

  Chapter Twenty

  “Did you see that?” Bella was bouncing excitedly up and down in her saddle as she pointed emphatically at the barrels in Aria’s riding ring. “Smokey and I ran that barrel pattern like a boss!”

  Aria couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. “Where on earth did you hear that phrase?” she asked. “You sound a little bit silly. How about just saying you guys did a great job?”

  “Doesn’t sound as amazing,” Bella pointed out. “Boss is like the best ever!”

  Aria shook her head. “I must be hopelessly out of it.”

  They were just finishing up with their lesson that wasn’t a lesson. Jaeger and Darren were inside untacking Charlie, and Aria could see her next class just starting to wander out of the barn and head toward the ring as they got ready to mount and start their hour-long group lesson. It was a beautiful late spring day on the front range. The sun was shining. A light breeze was blowing. And the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold.

  Aria had just opened her mouth to suggest that Bella get down from Smokey’s back and take her back to the barn to remove her saddle when she spotted a truck barreling up the driveway. The huge cloud of gravel behind it was consuming. In fact, it was so large and thick that it was difficult to tell who was actually in the vehicle. Then the thing turned, and Aria spotted the Flying W logo on the side of the truck.

  “Bella,” Aria said quickly. “Go inside the barn. Now.” Aria reached up and tugged the girl out of the saddle. “Hurry up, sweetie, okay?”

  “Why?” Bella was staring at the big truck hurtling toward them. “Is that my dad? Is that why you’re so nervous?”

  “No, sweetie. Your dad’s truck is all crunched on the front. Remember? That’s a really nasty man who hates your dad and me and pretty much everyone else on the planet. I need you to take Smokey inside and stay with Uncle Darren until I tell you otherwise. Now.”

  Bella finally shrugged. “Okay.”

  Aria would not let Paul Weatherby try his intimidation tactics on a tiny little girl who had never done anything but be born a Hernandez. So, as soon as Smokey’s slow-trotting grey booty disappeared behind Bella into the barn, Aria felt a two-ton weight lift off her chest. Darren would keep the kids inside. Hopefully. And that would leave Aria to deal with the snake.

  Weatherby’s big truck skidded to a stop in her farmyard and, as he had before, sprayed the barn with gravel. Aria felt some of the tiny pea-sized rocks against her boots and the blue jean covered surface of her calves. The man was a menace. It was incredible to think that he was actually a police officer!

  “Standing there like you think you’re going to throw me off your property, eh?” Paul jumped down from the driver’s side of his truck and thrust a piece of folded paper into her hand. “Well, then, I’ll just give you this and you can go be smug and sure of yourself somewhere else. Like court.”

  “A summons?” Aria stared at the piece of paper. “I feel like this isn’t exactly legal.”

  “I’m a police captain,” Weatherby boasted. “It’s perfectly legal for me to serve you with a subpoena for court.”

  “You’re a party in the case,” Aria pointed out. “You want to explain to me how you think you can serve me with a subpoena when you’re the one I’m supposed to be testifying against?”

  “Not against. For.”

  “I would rather rot than help you.” Aria didn’t even bother to pretend that she didn’t hate him.

  “Oh. I forgot this one.” Weatherby tossed her another folded piece of paper. “It’s an injunction that legally prevents you from teaching any lessons.”

  “Excuse me?” She was sure she’d heard wrong. How was that even possible? “I have to teach. That’s how I make a living. Why would you even bother to legally make me stop teaching? It’s not like I’m a threat to you.”

  Weatherby’s smirk made her blood boil. “You and everyone else need to know what happens when you take up with the Hernandez bunch against me. People need to leave the Hernandez family alone. They’re bad news. Now, maybe you’ll figure that out.” Weatherby cocked his head. “Or I could put in a good word with the judge and have the injunction lifted if you just remove every Hernandez horse from your property and refuse all members of that family any sort of services.”

  “You’re out of your damn mind!” Aria fumed. “You can’t use the court system as your own personal hit squad! You are literally making trouble for people just to further your own business interests! That’s a serious misuse of your police power. You’re going to lose your job, Weatherby. You just wait and see!”

  He was already laughing to himself as he climbed back into his truck and let the gravel fly on his way out of her farmyard. She was left to stand there staring at him with an injunction in her hand that told her she could not turn around, walk to her riding ring, and do her damn job.

  “Are you all right?”

  Aria turned to see Darren, Bella, and Jaeger standing behind her with very curious expressions on their faces.

  “Ms. Aria!” Little Emily was waving frantically from her saddle. “We’re ready to go. Should we just walk around on the rail until you get here?”

  Aria held her breath and shut her eyes. She felt as though the entire world was trying to pound her into the ground. Laredo wanted her to be his alcoholics anonymous
accountabilibuddy. She was now legally prevented from teaching, which made her pretty sure that she was going to be having some serious financial issues in a few weeks. She now had to choose whether or not she wanted to give the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company and all of their family members, horses, and pretty much anything else associated with them the finger, or she could give Weatherby the finger. And all of this was because she was stuck in the freaking middle.

  “Aria?” Darren sounded concerned.

  “It’s fine.” Aria managed to get the words out between gritted teeth. “It’s all fine. It’ll be fine.”

  Suddenly, she looked down and found Bella tugging on her arm. “I don’t know what’s happening to make you sad, but I want you to know that you’ve made me the happiest I’ve been my whole life. Thank you.”

  Aria exhaled in a rush. She knelt down and gave the little girl a hug. “Thank you, Bella. I needed that.”

  Okay. With that cleared up, Aria turned and marched toward her riding ring. That arrogant piece of Weatherby crap could try and run her life as much as he wanted to, but she knew that somewhere, somehow, he was misusing the law for his own personal gains. They all knew that. And that only made Aria more determined to make sure she did not give in.

  She was going to teach her class this evening. And she would continue to operate her business in the same way that she had been since she took over from her parents, because it was her right to do so. There had been no complaints from customers. There had been no safety violations and no wrongdoing on her part. She wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.

  “All right, kids!” Aria called out. “Let’s start trotting. You guys all know how to do this!” Thankfully, this was a slightly more advanced class, so it was true. At the moment, she really didn’t have enough brainpower left over to deal with super-green beginners.