After the Sunset
Page 17
“No, you’re not,” he told me. “Get up.”
I rose and he put an arm around my waist as I slid mine around his shoulders.
“I’m gonna put Stef in bed, make him some lunch, and I’ll be back down to feed all the rest of ya.”
“Take your time,” Tyler told him, smiling. “You did real good with the rodeo, Stef. I’m real proud.”
“I still want to talk to you about your kids, Tyler.”
“Both those kids is older than you, Stef.”
“What does that have to do with anything? I’m going to invite them out here to the Red.”
“And for you, on Rand’s invite, they might come,” he confessed.
“Good.” I gave him a grin.
He shook his head and settled back into his chair.
Inside the house, I told Rand that he needed to talk to Glenn and Zach.
“I know,” he said as he bent, put an arm under my legs, and lifted me into his arms.
“I’m not an invalid.”
“Just shut up and let me carry you in my own house if I want to.”
As he mounted the stairs, I leaned my head into his.
“Better.”
“Did you tell Rayland that you weren’t giving him the grazing rights?”
“Yes.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said that if he were me, he wouldn’t give them to me either.”
“And?”
“And I dunno, Stef. We’ll have to see where we go from here. We ain’t never gonna be a father and son since I already had one, but maybe we can get to be somethin’ better than we are now.”
“You’re gonna let Zach stay, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“And what about Glenn?”
“I will help Glenn with the restaurant and whatever else he needs to a point.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means I ain’t lookin’ to let him have you.”
I scoffed, leaning to kiss behind the man’s ear.
He put me down, there in the hall, and when he was certain I was balanced, he bent and hugged me. I was pressed tight to him and wrapped up so that his face was in my hair and he was breathing me in.
“I love you so much,” he whispered fiercely, squeezing tighter.
He really did. “I love you back, Rand.”
We stood there, tangled together, each of us content until he lifted me up and carried me the rest of the way to our bedroom. I was put down, and pillows were shoved under my leg, propping me up, making me comfortable.
“Here.” I patted the space beside me. “Lie down a minute.”
He shook his head. “I got lots to do.”
But I knew that Mac Chapman had everything under control. Rand’s foreman had been pleased to see me like he never was when I got home, clapping me on the shoulder that morning at breakfast, telling me that all cowboys got thrown from horses at least once or twice in their lives.
“Just for a second, Rand, please.”
He pulled off his boots and put his hat down on the nightstand and crawled up on the bed beside me. His head went to my heart and an arm curled around me. I stroked the thick black hair as I talked to him.
“Your mother and you, you guys must have talked while you were inside, huh?”
He grunted.
“Is she okay?”
Nod.
“Good, I’m glad. I want her to forgive herself for not telling you.”
“I told her I was sorry, and she said she was too.”
“I knew you two would be okay. I just didn’t know about you and Rayland.”
He pressed his big muscular body against me tighter, lifting so his face was tucked into the side of my neck. “Rayland doesn’t get me and you. When he does, the day he does, he can be more.”
And that made sense.
“I think the idea of you helping Tyler with his kids is real nice.”
“We’ll both try, Rand, all right?”
“Okay.” He yawned. “You looked real nice at the bachelor auction, Stef. Did I tell you?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Never again though. You don’t go nowhere without me.”
“I won’t.”
He yawned again, nuzzling, and when he sighed the last time, I knew he was falling asleep. Big strong scary man, and he was wrapped around me, clutching tight even when he drifted off.
Bella came to check on me minutes later, coming in the room, jumping up on the end of the king-sized bed, and waiting for my word.
“It’s fine, this once,” I told her.
She lay down, head on her paws, and pushed her muzzle into the arch of my foot. I could feel her warm breath through my sock.
When her head popped up, I looked toward the door. May was there seconds later.
“Oh, there he is.”
“He’s kinda beat,” I told Rand’s mother.
She smiled gently. “He’s kind of in love, is what he is.”
“Me too,” I told her as she walked over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room, picked it up, and carried it over beside the bed.
“I can’t believe he kept this old thing.”
“He loves it—that was your chair, wasn’t it? He sits in it usually when he’s planning something, when he has to think.”
She chuckled. “I used to do the same thing.”
We were silent for a few minutes, each thinking, I was sure, about Rand.
“So you talked to Rayland?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And nothing’s changed, but Rand knows and that lightens things between us.”
“James was an amazing man.”
“Yes, he was and I see so much of him in Rand.”
“He really loved his father,” I said, kissing my cowboy’s forehead.
“Well, it went both ways. I mean they never said such things to each other, but they both knew.”
“I like being able to say it and hear it.”
“Oh, Stef, I love that Rand is the kind of man who isn’t afraid to speak his heart. He never did with Jenny and I was worried that he never would, before you.”
“He tells me and shows me.”
“I know.” She nodded and I saw her eyes fill. “And I’m so happy that he can.”
She reached for my hand, and I took it.
“If you hadn’t gone to the rodeo, Stef, none of this would’ve happened. It’s wonderful that you did that, for all of us, not just Rand.”
“Well I don’t know if Rayland will ever accept me, and I don’t know if he and Rand will ever be friends, but at least the air is clear between them.”
“And Rayland sees the life that Rand’s made for himself, his ranch, his men, and his life with you.”
“Rayland hates me.”
“He doesn’t. He just doesn’t understand how Rand can love you the same as he loved his wife or….”
“You.” I squeezed her hand before I let it go.
“Yes.”
“He might never understand, and that’s okay. He just needs to accept it if he’s ever really going to be a part of Rand’s life.”
“Well, he wants that badly. What man in his right mind would not want to claim Rand Holloway as his own?”
“Nobody.”
She smiled at me.
“He’s your son, too, ya know? James didn’t raise him alone.”
Quick nod from her. “I know.”
I saw her scrutinizing me. “What?”
“You seem more settled to me, like you took off your parachute.”
“What?”
She chuckled. “Stefan Joss, I know that you came into this relationship with Rand ready to bail out if things got rough, pretty sure that they would. You were making sure you had a good enough job so you had an exit strategy ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
“Oh God,” I groaned.
Her laughter got louder. “But since you took that new job at the college,
I feel like you’ve sort of thrown caution to the wind. You’re committed to being here now, with him, and to staying. It feels like you’re staying.”
“I am.”
“I’m so glad. I’ve never seen my son this happy, and because of that, he’s not angry with me or Rayland. He’s better at accepting faults and forgiving. Not that everything’s perfect, but Rand’s in a good place in his life, and I love seeing him like this.”
“He and Rayland need to fix things between them.”
“That’s up to them, but we’re not talking about that anymore. I’m talking about you, Stefan Joss. You have changed things in Rand’s life, given him the home he always wanted, and now you have to realize, yes, everyone makes their own joy, but having you here adds to Rand’s. You’re the only one who can make him this happy. He’s building his life around you.”
I nodded because I knew that, and my throat had closed up hearing it out loud. Things you thought in your head always carried more weight when spoken.
“If you weren’t here, Stef, the fallout from all this, from Rayland and I keeping secrets, would have been horrible. Rand has a number of good qualities, but before you were here, forgiveness, acceptance, these were not among them. You changed everything.”
“I hope for the best.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” She smiled warmly, rising to kiss my cheek. “Of course for the best.”
I watched her stroke her son’s hair, put a hand on his cheek. “He’s a good man,” I told her.
“Yes, he is.” She nodded before walking toward the door, taking a moment to give Bella a pat. “And I love how you being here has influenced life at the ranch, Stef. Even something as simple as having a dog here in the house in the middle of the day and not only at night—just those little things are what makes a house into a home.”
She was at the door when she turned.
“Keep him up here as long as you can. He needs to rest. I can tell he’s tired.”
“May—”
“Charlotte tells me that she’s going to help you and Rand have children.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
“I’m tickled pink.” She smiled warmly. “Now I’m gonna get lunch started. I’ll bring you all up something as soon as I see what there is to fix.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She blew me a kiss before she left.
My future was stretched out in front of me, and I could see it clearly, my life with Rand, the ranch, the community he would create, all that he would achieve that was possible, amazingly, because I was there with him. He needed me to ground him, and I was thankful that I could mean that much to a man I loved with all my heart.
“Crap.”
I looked down at Rand as he rolled sideways onto his back beside me.
“I fell asleep, didn’t I?”
“Just for a few minutes.”
“Shit, Stef, I got things to do.”
I rolled over on top of him, pinning him under me to the bed. “Just stay a little while longer.”
“That ain’t fair. You know I can’t say no to you.”
“I know that, Rand Holloway, and it’s one of the many things I love about you.”
About the Author
MARY CALMES currently lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, with her husband and two children and hopes to eventually move off the rock to a place where her children can experience fall and even winter. She graduated from the University of the Pacific (ironic) in Stockton, California, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Due to the fact that it is English lit and not English grammar, do not ask her to point out a clause for you, as it will so not happen. She loves writing, becoming immersed in the process, and falling into the work. She can even tell you what her characters smell like. She works at a copy store but has been unable to incorporate that into a book… yet. She also buys way too many books on Amazon.
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Copyright
After the Sunset ©Copyright Mary Calmes, 2011
Published by
Dreamspinner Press
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Dan Skinner/Cerberus Inc. cerberusinc@hotmail.com
Cover Design by Mara McKennen
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
Released in the United States of America
August 2011
eBook Edition
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61372-092-9