by Vivian Arend
He told them about their options. About leaving town, or settling in and fighting. About going somewhere else by themselves, or staying and having the backup of the Coleman clan.
The entire time he talked, Cassidy’s expression grew more astonished until by the time Travis was done Cassidy was pretty much shaking his head.
“Your family just…”
Ashley squeezed his hand tighter. “That’s the point, Cass. They’re family. Real family.”
Travis stayed quiet. He’d said his piece, and now was time for them to share. This wasn’t his decision alone, and that made the idea of leaving his family tolerable, because he’d be with family no matter where he ended up.
Only both of them turned toward him. Two fair-headed angels with stars in their eyes as they smiled, lips curling farther as their grins grew wider.
“What?” he asked. “What are you two smirking at?”
Ashley stroked his cheek. “So serious.”
Cassidy nodded. “You can’t possibly think there’s anything more to discuss about staying in Rocky?”
Travis waited, hoping, but not daring to say it until they did.
“Dammit, T. We’re staying.” Cassidy laid his hand on Travis’s shoulder and held on tight. “No amount of gossip is going to scare us away, not if your family is behind us. That was my fear after the fire—that the vandalism was meant to hurt not only us, but your family. I couldn’t bear for you to lose them.”
“Marion? Is gonna kick some bitches’ butts,” Ashley murmured happily.
“You’re really good with staying?” Travis asked.
Cassidy answered for them both. “We’re in a better place than we were when we started a couple months ago, T. We’ve been making friends, been accepted by your folks. All of that is huge. We’ve got to give the community a chance, but in the meantime, we got each other.”
“There’s nothing more that I need.” Ashley pressed tighter to him, and the knot in Travis’s chest loosened slightly.
“Besides.” Cassidy shrugged. “If some jerk on the ball field wants to get his ass beat, I’m good to give him what-for.”
Ashley stiffened in Travis’s arms. “What happened on the ball field?”
Shit. Travis bumped Cassidy in the shoulder. “Nice going.”
Cassidy looked sheepish as he answered Ashley. “Nothing much. Nothing compared to what happened to you, but it doesn’t matter now. Now? You go to sleep so you can get better, and we can take you home.”
Home. Because wherever they ended up, if they were together, it would be home.
There was one more thing that had to be said. Travis slid himself up on the bed right next to Ashley and took a deep breath. “Ash?”
She hummed, her eyelids fluttering closed as she cocooned herself against him.
Travis glanced up to see Cassidy give him an encouraging nod. “Ash, I got something to tell you.”
She cracked open one eye. “You really gonna say it now?”
He laughed. “Yeah, I am.”
“Jeez. And me dopey on painkillers.” Ashley snickered. “Fine. Go ahead.”
Cassidy snorted.
Travis cupped her face and stared into her half-open eyes, the thin slivers of blue like the first glimpse of a morning sky. “I love you, sweetheart. I love your smiles and your energy and the way you never give up on me. The way the world lights up because you’re around. I love everything about you with everything in me.”
She took a deep breath and sighed happily. “That? Was lovely.”
Her eyes closed again and her breathing settled.
Cassidy pulled the blanket over the two of them.
“Hey,” Travis whispered. “I was going to let you hold her.”
“You stay where you are. That bed won’t hold three, but that’s okay. I’ll be right over here.” Cassidy kissed Ashley, then Travis, laughing softly as he moved away. “Where’s my poetry and mush?” he complained. “All I got was an I love you.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “We can wrestle and do the guy shit later.”
“Deal.” Cassidy settled into the chair beside the bed, stretching his legs out and staring up at the ceiling. “We’re going to be okay, T. The three of us—we’re going to be okay.”
Travis drove them out of town, but he didn’t turn on the side road that led to the trailer.
“Where are you going?” Cassidy asked. It had been a hard couple days waiting for Ashley to be released, but now that she was free to go, he wanted her home.
To be able to thoroughly reassure himself that she was okay.
“Side trip.”
Cassidy didn’t like that answer. “We should take Ashley straight home, T. She just got out of the hospital.”
“Got a stop to make first.”
Ashley laid a hand on Cassidy’s thigh. “He’s being a Sphinx again. It’s really annoying. Like he’s the one in charge or something.”
“I’ve noticed he gets like that on occasion.” Cassidy leaned forward to watch Travis’s face. “Maybe we should lock him out of the bedroom for a couple days. Or tie him to a chair so he can’t order us around, but has to watch.”
Travis grinned. “You think being tied to a chair is gonna stop me from being in charge?”
Ashley wrinkled her nose. “He has a point.”
Cassidy laughed. “He still missed the turn to the trailer.”
Travis shook his head. “Never missed it, just got a place to stop first. Trust me, I know all things.”
He turned them into the yard outside the second Coleman house, the one that Blake and Jaxi had lived in for the past three years. The rest of the clan were already there, trucks filling the parking space.
Ashley held Cassidy’s hand as they followed Travis to the front door. “You know what the hell he’s doing?” she asked.
“Not a clue.” And this was one time he would have liked to be in on the surprise. He resigned himself to wait a little longer as they entered the living room to be met by most of the family. The only one missing again was Jesse.
Ashley got buried in hugs, and that made up for some of the wait.
They’d been accepted, they were being grafted into the family. Cassidy relaxed as that thought slipped deeper into his soul and healed a few more hurts.
Family was worth taking the time for.
“So.” Marion pulled Ashley from Vicki, separating the women who were chattering like magpies. “We have news for you, right, Ashley?”
Travis jolted upright.
Ashley smirked at him. “Who’s the one who knows all things?”
Cassidy’s laughter mixed with the others as Travis shrugged in resignation.
Travis’s mom beamed. “The girls and I have been talking, and we’ve done a little rearranging. Well, started it at least. I’d been thinking for a while that big ranch house was too large for Mike and me. All that space to ramble about in—and I can’t say that I love having six bedrooms and three bathrooms to clean. Since Blake and Jaxi seem to be doing their best to fill up bedrooms… What with a fourth baby on the way and all.”
Heads jerked toward the couple as congratulations rang out.
Jaxi shook a finger at Marion. “That’s the last time I tell you a secret.”
“You didn’t tell me, I guessed,” Marion stated, but she was gloating.
Blake got smacked on the back. Jaxi rolled her eyes.
“When are you due?” Hope asked.
Jaxi wiggled her fingers. “January, thereabouts.”
“So now is as good a time as any for us to swap houses.” Marion nodded happily. “Blake and Jaxi will move into the main Coleman house and the babies will use up some of those empty bedrooms, while Mike and I take over the trailer across the road. Joel and Vicki will move into the trailer Travis has been using—it’s a little more private and out of the way.”
“Leaving the Peter’s house, this one, for you three.” Mike waved a hand toward the ceiling. “Mind you, it needs a little fixing. It’s b
een lived in hard for a while, so I thought you could knock down a few walls, and replace some plumbing and…well…” He grinned. “Make it roomy enough for three adults.”
It was more than he could have imagined. “No one has a problem playing musical houses like that?” Cassidy asked.
Joel stepped forward. “It’s always been a part of how the family works. If it fits better for us to be out by the coulee, Vicki and me don’t mind. And I finally got ahold of Jesse, and he said he’s happy living with the Moonshine boys.”
There was a slight pause at that. A sort of sad resignation on Joel’s part, a hint of concern in Marion’s expression. Cassidy realized since they’d returned to Rocky Jesse hadn’t been around a lot, and it was clear his absence was being felt.
Mike broke the tension as he turned to Ashley. “I know you talked about the house swaps with Marion, but I have one more suggestion for you. We’re all damn sorry your artwork got ruined. I’m glad you’ll get another chance come January to have a show, and we’re all going to be there. But in the meantime, if there’s anything you need that we can help with while you start up again, you make sure you ask. Also, there’s a building out back of here that will make you a good studio, if you can find a couple of strong guys to help you renovate.”
Ashley grinned. “I think I know of a couple.” She hugged Marion. “Thank you.”
Marion sighed. “I’m still sorry I made you feel unhappy before. That wasn’t right of me—my old brain was so focused on how we could fit everyone into new places I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“You made me happy now, so we’re even. Forget it, please.” Ashley closed her eyes as Marion squeezed her tight, and Cassidy warmed all the way down.
Ashley was getting to set roots like she wanted. He and Travis would do everything they could to make sure she stayed beaming like that, and he didn’t much care which house they lived in if it made Ashley happy.
Mike paused then turned to Cassidy. “There’s one more thing. I know you’ve got the job down at the garage and all, but it seems kind of stupid to have a trained ranch hand working as a grease monkey and then hire some green kid on the side. What would you say to joining on the Six Pack punch-clock full-time?”
Cassidy’s jaw fell slightly. He hadn’t expected this twist to the day at all. “You’d hire me on full-time?”
Blake cleared his throat. “Actually, what Dad meant to say was we need another full-time worker, but we ain’t going to pay you. At least not hourly. Hell, none of the others in the family get an hourly paycheque. You’d be full on the papers, same draw as us. Good year, you make a little more, bad years you get to go hungry like the rest of the family.”
Unexpected, and the final straw. Cassidy felt tears rising, and damn if he could stop them.
He turned toward Ashley, but that didn’t help, because she had ribbons of moisture running down her face. She’d understood exactly what that offer had meant.
It wasn’t just a job offer; it was so very much more.
“You’ve got a family, Cassidy.” She barely choked out the words before she threw herself at him. He caught her close and buried his face in her neck, thankful for the excuse to hide for a moment as he pulled himself together.
A strong arm enveloped his shoulders as Travis embraced both of them. “You’re supposed to be happy, guys, not flooding the place.”
“We’re happy,” Ashley insisted. She lifted her chin, and as flush-cheeked and teary-eyed as she was, Cassidy had never seen her looking more beautiful.
Travis held them close as he spoke to his family. “I have to answer for us all, seeing as you’ve pretty much knocked them off their feet. Thank you.”
Cassidy pulled himself to vertical and dashed the moisture from his eyes. “Thank you from me as well.” He took the time to meet each of the brothers’ eyes, amazed at the acceptance he saw. “I’ll make sure you never regret it.”
Mike Coleman nodded. “You keep on doing your best like the rest of my boys, and you’ll be fine.”
He patted Cassidy on the shoulder, then Travis, then turned and shouted at Matt and Blake for something he’d spotted left undone the previous day. Joel stepped in to tease them for getting shit, and the rest of the family settled into groups to visit or get supper together.
Travis pulled Ashley and Cassidy aside. “I’m not sure what just happened. All I was told was to bring you two over for dinner.”
Ashley had her arms around them both, her eyes shining. “I only knew about the house thing—you don’t mind, do you?” she asked Travis.
“How could I mind? Anywhere you are is home.” Travis kissed her, right there in the middle of the kitchen. A tongue-tangling, spine-melting affair that had her clutching him tight as he ignored that they were smack dab in front of his family.
They were both breathing damn hard when he let her go.
“Whoa,” she said. “My head is spinning. Excuse me while I sit down for a minute.”
Travis turned to Cassidy, and the fire and mischief and fuck-it-all passion that Cassidy remembered being so drawn to—all of that was back. This was the friend who’d become so much more. The friend who was his lover, and now his family—this was the man who stood before him.
Travis cracked off a grin and reached for him. “I’d warn everyone what I’m about to do, but I figure they pretty much already know.”
Cassidy glanced over Travis’s shoulder. Some of the family were watching, smiles in place. Some were busy at their tasks.
And then it was past time for looking anywhere but at Travis as he fisted the front of Cassidy’s shirt and pulled them together.
Tender? Yes. Thorough? Oh, God, yes. As hot and passionate as the kiss Travis had branded Ashley with. There was no doubt they were both being claimed.
There was nothing Cassidy wanted more. He held Ashley’s hand and kissed back the man he loved, wallowing in the acceptance of the family that had embraced him.
The sign on the front gate had never been truer.
Welcome to the SP Ranch. Make yourself at home.
About the Author
Vivian Arend in one word: Adventurous. In a sentence: Willing to try just about anything once. That wide-eyed attitude has taken her around North America, through parts of Europe, and into Central and South America, often with no running water.
Her optimistic outlook also meant that when challenged to write a book, she gave it a shot, and discovered creating worlds to play in was nearly as addictive as traveling the real one. Now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of both contemporary and paranormal stories, Vivian continues to explore, write and otherwise keep herself well entertained.
Website: www.vivianarend.com
Blog: www.vivianarend.com/blog
Twitter: www.twitter.com/VivianArend
Facebook: www.facebook.com/VivianArend
Look for these titles by Vivian Arend
Now Available:
Granite Lake Wolves
Wolf Signs
Wolf Flight
Wolf Games
Wolf Tracks
Wolf Line
Wolf Nip
Forces of Nature
Tidal Wave
Whirlpool
Turner Twins
Turn It On
Turn It Up
Pacific Passion
Stormchild
Stormy Seduction
Silent Storm
Xtreme Adventures
Falling, Freestyle
Rising, Freestyle
Six Pack Ranch
Rocky Mountain Heat
Rocky Mountain Haven
Rocky Mountain Desire
Rocky Mountain Angel
Rocky Mountain Rebel
Takhini Wolves
Black Gold
Silver Mine
Diamond Dust
Paradise Found
Coming Soon:
Baby, Be Mine
The best type of growing up involves getting down and dirty.<
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Rocky Mountain Rebel
© 2013 Vivian Arend
Six Pack Ranch, Book 5
Vicki Hansol made different choices than her less-than-reputable mom and sister, yet her fiery temper has left her branded with the same town-bad-girl label. When she desperately needs a change of scenery, her get-out-of-town-free ticket arrives—and requires she face down one of her deepest fears.
Easygoing Joel Coleman has nothing to complain about, but he’s never really done anything to brag about either. The youngest member of the Six Pack Ranch is looking to make some changes in his life that include stepping out from under his twin brother’s shadow.
So when the bold beauty with the smart mouth approaches him with a proposition, Joel is intrigued. Her request for him to teach her to ride soon takes on a whole new meaning. All that passion in his arms, his bed, in the barn…hell, anywhere he can get it? Bring it on.
But tangling the sheets leads to unanticipated complications, and by the time the dust settles, everything family means is going to be challenged.
Warning: Saddle up for some youthful vigor applied with great enthusiasm. Ropes, rails and raunchy sex—there’s more places to get dirty around the ranch than first meets the eye.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Rocky Mountain Rebel:
No, she wouldn’t play the blame game. No matter how she’d been treated while growing up, no matter what her family’s reputation, she was an adult and responsible for her own actions.
Right now? There was no one to blame for being unemployed but herself. She’d love to say it was Eric’s fault, but he wasn’t the one who’d moved his fat head into her fists.
She shouldered her backpack and headed down the alley, thankful he hadn’t pressed assault charges. He could have, and it would have been nothing more than another round of he said, she said… The town bad girl acting out against the star valedictorian.
Another round with another loss for her.