Front Range Cowboys (5 Book Box Set)

by Evie Nichole

  “My father wouldn’t have promised to leave my mother,” Laredo insisted.

  Darren suddenly appeared with Maggie by his side. Had the two of them honestly pulled up right there in the truck and Cal hadn’t even noticed? Had they all been so engrossed in the reading of the journal that they were oblivious to anything else?

  Cal had a feeling that the answer was yes. Maggie held her hand out, and Cal handed over the journal. She began skimming the entries. Cal knew that she was looking at them and trying to read as far between the lines as she possibly could.

  “Laredo,” Darren drawled. “Our father is absolutely capable of lying to any woman when he wants something. Do not kid yourself otherwise.”

  Maggie nodded. “And honestly, the relationship between Avery and Joe had been degrading for a long time. I’m not really surprised to imagine it being rough even when this was written all those years ago. Avery and Joe were a horrible mismatch. Talk about a woman who had no idea what she was signing on for.”

  “I feel like that’s why most of this happened to begin with,” Aria said softly. She glanced around at the rest of them as though she were looking for confirmation. “Don’t you think?”

  Cal thought back to what he remembered of Amelia. She was a lot like her daughter. Jesse had that same zest for life and unapologetic way of being feminine without being girly. “Amelia was the opposite of Mom. That’s for sure. She loved ranching. She loved the ranch life. She rode and roped and threw her hand in with just about anything she could try. Mom was timid and she hated the outdoors. She wasn’t a partner to Dad, but she wasn’t supposed to be. She was a trophy.”

  “Great,” Laredo muttered.

  Aria turned to stare at him. “What? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.”

  “I did.” Laredo shook his head. “I only just realized that I married my mother the first time around.”

  “Oh.” Aria bobbed her head, and her expression said she was seriously considering that thought. “Yeah. Helena and Avery were very much alike.” Then Aria smacked him on the shoulder. “At least you’re not making that same mistake twice.”

  “Ha. Ha.” He made a face at her that finally seemed to render him slightly less of a jerk. Sometimes Cal could not stand being around his overly serious brother. Aria at least brought out the human in Laredo.

  “Okay, forget about this journal.” Darren gestured to the offending piece. “Let’s talk about the man. Adam, was it?”

  “Yes.” Cal thought about Adam Connolly. “He looks like he’s approximately an age that puts him between Darren and Cisco. And let me tell you, he looks just like us. There is no doubt in my mind, and if any of you saw him, you would feel the same way.”

  “How do we get ahold of this guy?” Darren demanded. “How can he just show up at Jesse’s claiming that the place is his?”

  “Well,” Cal mused. “I think if you want to get ahold of him, we need to contact Paul Weatherby. I believe that’s how he thinks he knows what’s going on with us and with our situations. But as to how he can just call Jesse’s place his own? I’m going to say that it’s because he’s Amelia’s son and he’s older than Jesse is.”

  “But the ranch belonged in Rawling’s family,” Darren pointed out. “That was something that used to drive Dad crazy. There was no way to get that land out of Jesse’s name. Not even when he and Mom legally adopted her.”

  Cal was the only one facing out toward the road. The rest of his family had their backs to the driveway and were ranged across the front porch. He figured that’s why they didn’t spot the big rooster tail of dust coming up the road at a fast clip. Cal’s eyes were used to looking across those hills searching for tiny specks that might be cattle or wolves. He had spotted bears and cougars as well. At the moment, he knew he was seeing a snake heading right toward their front door. The truck sported the Flying W brand on the side, and there were two people in the cab.

  “Well, guys,” Cal said, sounding far more put together than he was currently feeling. “I think you’re about to get the chance to meet our long-lost relation.”

  “That bastard has brass balls,” Met muttered. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

  “Adam?” Daphne swung around to stare at Met.

  “No.” Met pointed to the man currently behind the wheel and looking to park the truck. “Paul there. He must have a set of brass balls to come on our property with this imposter in tow.”

  “Not an imposter.” Aria whistled. “Holy shit, Cal. Remind me never to doubt you again. I mean, I heard what you said, but seeing is really believing.”

  “Oh my,” Melody breathed. “You’re not joking. He looks just like you guys!”

  “Well, hello, Clan Hernandez!” Paul Weatherby boomed as he put first one boot and then the other on the gravel of their driveway. “I can see the shoe—or might I say the boot—is on the other foot today.”

  “Why is that?” Aria demanded.

  Paul’s cocky expression faltered. Adam was already out of the truck and stalking up to the porch. There was no doubt in Cal’s mind that this man was his half-brother. He even had the shitty attitude to go along with it.

  Paul kept his gaze glued to Adam as he tried to pretend he was still confident of how this visit was going to go. “I mean, dear Ms. Callahan, that today I’m coming to you instead of you all coming to bug me with a litany of groundless accusations and rude requests.”

  “Rude requests?” Cal shook his head at Paul. “Yeah. Asking you to quit stealing our stock and then returning them with the wrong brand on their butts is really a ridiculous request.” Cal could not resist adding some sass. “I realize that your ranch hands don’t have much to do on your place, but you should just lay them off. I bet we’ve got enough work to keep your whole crew busy over here on this real ranch.”

  “I had heard you were a real asshole.” Adam Connolly suddenly pointed at Cal. “It’s nice to know your reputation isn’t exaggerated.”

  Cal eyed the stranger and wished they could all just be friends. “I aim to please.”

  “Where’s Jesse?” Adam looked around at the group of them. “I see a bunch of Hernandez losers standing here, but not the Collins whore who can’t seem to resist them any more than her mother could.”

  “Where do you get your information?” Met said in his slow Western drawl. It was practically impossible for Met to sound rude or be rude. His tone was conversational, and he was actually half smiling at Adam.

  Unfortunately, Adam did not return the good turn offered to him. “I get my information from the only place that seems to offer any.”

  “Weatherby.” Met nodded. Then he gestured to Paul. “I would be careful with that source. In fact, at the moment, he’s being investigated by Internal Affairs for everything from livestock theft to misuse of authority and even a civil murder investigation. So, if you think about it, Paul has enough of his own problems. The idea that he can help you with yours seems a bit farfetched.”

  Adam only shrugged. It was Paul who looked visibly startled. Cal couldn’t help it. He smirked. “What’s the matter, Weatherby? You never thought that we would have a chance of finding that original police report on Amelia’s accident?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Paul abruptly turned and walked back to his truck. “Adam. Let’s go. There’s no point in hanging around here if Jesse is in Denver.”

  First of all, nobody had said where Jesse was. So, obviously, Paul was stalking her to some extent. Secondly, the way that Adam coolly glanced at Paul and then shrugged before heading back to the truck spoke volumes. The man had only thrown in his lot with Paul Weatherby because he thought there was something in it for him. This guy was the worst kind of loose cannon.

  Cisco could not let the conversation end there though. He waved after Paul. “You didn’t hear the best part! With the switch to digital and scanned crime scene photographs, the original police report actually got scanned into the system! It’s already in the investig
ator’s file. You should be hearing something about that shortly, Paul! I’m sure you’ll want to be ready for that awkward conversation!”

  Cal stared at his brother and shook his head. Paul and Adam were already driving off. Yet Cisco looked ready to go out and make an attempt to keep badgering them. It was the lawyer in him. Cal knew it.

  “Are you done?” Darren asked Cisco, taking the words right out of Cal’s mouth. “Because I think we’ve probably told him plenty. Don’t you think?”

  Cisco shook his head. “No. He needs to stew on it. He needs to know exactly what’s coming because there’s nothing he can do about it. Not right now.”

  Cal nodded. He could only hope that whatever Adam wanted with Jesse could wait until she was safe here at home. She didn’t need to tangle with those two while she was alone. This was most definitely a family affair.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jesse shifted back and forth from foot to foot and waited for Avery Hernandez to answer her front door. She was here. Jesse knew that she was. There had been movement behind the peephole in the fancy front door. Not only that, but someone had left the side entry garage door open and Jesse could see that every single car was inside. So, unless Avery had called a taxi—unlikely, in Jesse’s opinion—then she was inside the house trying to pretend like she didn’t know that Jesse was outside.

  Well, it’s not going to work.

  Jesse pushed on the doorbell until she heard the mechanism buzzing. The gong-like chimes bonged throughout the house at a deafening level. “I know you’re in there, Avery!” Jesse shouted. “I can see you moving around behind the door! Just open up. I’m not going until you do.”

  “I’ll call the police!”

  Finally. A response. Not a great one, but at least it was an acknowledgement that proved Jesse wasn’t losing her mind. Avery was indeed behind that door. Jesse took a deep breath and wondered how to incite the woman to open up.

  Just then, a very interesting thought occurred. Jesse got right up to the peephole so that all Avery would be able to see was the inside of Jesse’s mouth. “Are you going to call your friend Paul Weatherby? You know, that guy who managed to not only get rid of your rival once and for all but also managed to unearth your dead husband’s long-lost love child.” Jesse paused to let that sink in. “I’m sure that he would be really thrilled to talk to you as well as to introduce you to Adam Connolly.”

  The locks on the door clinked so loudly that Jesse wondered if the woman was actually trying to claw them off. Finally, the door swung open. Jesse started to speak again but nearly choked on her words when Avery grabbed her by the T-shirt and yanked her inside the house.

  Jesse stared in shock as Avery actually glanced out the door from left to right as though she were trying to determine if someone might have heard what Jesse was yelling. Then Avery swung around, put her hands on her hips, and glared daggers.

  “Well, then,” Jesse said wryly. “I suppose we’ll just dispense with the greetings and the condolences and all of the other bullshit.”

  “What are you thinking?” Avery snapped. “You cannot shout that kind of thing right outside my house! You’re going to make me the laughingstock of the neighborhood!”

  “Actually, I can say whatever I want.” Jesse looked down her nose at Avery. This woman had been her mother figure for almost a decade, and this was the treatment she got? Sometimes life just sucked. “Just like you can stand there and put an unnatural amount of emphasis on the last word of every single sentence even though that does absolutely nothing to make your meaning any clearer.”

  Avery looked taken aback. She sputtered a bit and did not manage to come up with a real sentence for several moments. Good. Jesse wanted her off-balance. There was absolutely no good way to bring all of this up. Jesse would have liked to sit down, have a cup of tea or something, and talk like grown women about the past and how crazy and painful it could be sometimes. Unfortunately, Jesse had a bad feeling that Avery would rather stab Jesse in the eye than sit down and have tea with her.

  “What do you know about Adam Connolly?” Avery finally demanded. “Who told you that name?”

  Jesse figured she could give as good as she got. “Who told you that name? How do you know about him? Adam Connolly is your husband’s middle son. He was born to my mother. How is it that you know all about him? And if you do, why were you so worried about the medical examiner allowing paternity tests?”

  “I didn’t want him to be able to confirm it,” Avery said stiffly. She folded her arms over her chest and managed to give Jesse a look of disdain down her nose even though Jesse was several inches taller. “He can claim whatever he likes. That doesn’t make it true.”

  Jesse stared at this woman. It was difficult to imagine that she had ever lived on a ranch. She was the picture-perfect pastel grandmother. Her short blond hair was cut into a perfect pageboy. Her fingernails and toenails were both painted the same blush shade as her cardigan sweater, and her sandals had probably cost more than Jesse’s best pair of boots. Who was this woman? She had been citified quite thoroughly, and Jesse was almost certain that she was absolutely thrilled with the results.

  Avery Hernandez loved her sons. That much was true. She loved her grandchildren. She was a woman who had been wronged repeatedly by the man she had married. And that was after he had taken her to the middle of nowhere for a life she hadn’t even expected to lead. Avery had thought she would be a rich rancher’s wife. She just hadn’t had any clue what that would mean.

  “Have you ever seen Adam Connolly?” Jesse asked bluntly.

  Avery shifted uncomfortably and plucked at the pearl buttons on her sweater. “Well, no. But that doesn’t matter.”

  “You’ve never even seen a picture, have you?” Jesse would have paid money to see Adam walk in here with his trademark Hernandez insolence and arrogance. “Because if you had, you would know that a paternity test is really a formality. And by the way, you can do a DNA test using one of Adam’s brothers in order to determine paternity. It’s this weird little thing we call forensic science.”

  “You’re such a little shit,” Avery spat. She narrowed her blue gaze and pointed at Jesse. “I gave you everything! You ungrateful girl! I gave you a home and a mother who loved you. I tried to help you be a woman—a real one.”

  “As opposed to what?” Jesse was so done with this guilt trip. They’d been down this road a dozen or more times. “Being the kind of woman who attracted your husband?” Jesse said ruthlessly. “Like my mother was?”

  “Shut up!”

  “No!” Jesse pulled the handkerchief-wrapped ring from her pocket. She brandished it in Avery’s face. “Explain this away, Avery. Try to tell me that this is my fault too!”

  “That’s mine!” Avery shrieked. She made a grab for the ring, but Jesse pulled it out of reach just in time. “Those are mine!”

  “Then why are my mother’s initials on the handkerchief, and why was this the engagement ring that my father—Rawling Collins—gave to my mother? You stole them, Avery! Why would you do that? You stole my mother’s things and her journals.”

  The blood drained from Avery’s face. “Where are the journals? Those are mine! You have no right, Jesse Collins. No right at all!”

  “Excuse me? How do you even pretend to figure that to be true?” Jesse could not begin to understand how this woman’s mind worked. “How can you say that something is yours just because you stole it from someone’s home after they died? Those things were mine. Not yours. They’re mine because those were my parents and my home, and you destroyed my ability to understand what was happening because you took something that didn’t belong to you.”

  “You’re a liar. Just like your mother.”

  “No.” Jesse waved her hand in front of Avery’s nose. “My mother might have been a lot of things. But she was not a liar. She told the truth in those journals. And let me tell you, Cal is reading that journal about Adam and about Joe to your other children as we speak. Do you hear what
I’m saying to you? We all know about Adam. We know about Joe and Amelia. We know everything. There’s nothing left to hide, so why don’t you stop worrying so much about what everyone else thinks and focus on your own family?”

  “You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” Avery pointed in Jesse’s face. Her expression was ugly, and she looked almost angry enough to spit. “That woman owed me! Do you get that? She owed me because she tried to steal my husband and nearly got away with it!”

  “I don’t deny that you have every right to hate my mother,” Jesse said quietly. She had to be fair. If she had been in Avery’s shoes, she would have hated Amelia too. Jesse’s mother was the “other woman.” “She didn’t behave very well when it came down to it. Personally, I can’t believe that she got involved with Joe at all. He was a lot older, but maybe that’s what attracted her to him. I don’t know.”

  “Like mother like daughter,” Avery said snidely.

  Funny, but that didn’t hurt. Jesse only shrugged. “Guess so. Huh?”

  “Your mother was a whore.”

  “Your husband was a liar.” Jesse shook her head. “I’m being honest here. I’m not defending my mother. But you need to be honest too. Joe Hernandez was a lot of things, but we all knew he was a big talker.” Jesse paused for a moment to see if Avery was going to pull the sainted dead husband bit, but that didn’t happen.

  Avery lifted her chin again as if she was a queen and Jesse was some peasant coming to beg. “We don’t know what he told her.”

  “Actually, we do.” Jesse stared at Avery and wondered if the woman was really that far into denial. It was probably possible. “You read those journals. You know what he told her, because she wrote it down.”

  “It could have been lies!” The protest was shrill and reeked of panic.

  Jesse sighed. “Why would she lie? What reason could there possibly be for Amelia to lie in those pages? You read it. I know you did because the things are worn out! You sat there and read and reread them like some sick novel. So, don’t sit there and tell me you think it was some fabrication. Why would she lie?”