Austin slammed the truck door on those words. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Tell her to let me pass,” his father ordered.
“No.” Austin stared up at her. “Do you know how to use that thing?”
She gave him a cocky lopsided grin and stared down the barrel at her target. “Shoot. Shovel. Shut up.”
Austin busted up laughing. “Damn, sweetheart. That’s badass.”
Mr. Hubbard fumed. The muscle took a menacing step forward.
She eyed him. “I can dig a hole deep enough to fit you, too.”
Austin moved forward and waved for her to put the gun down.
She didn’t. “Your father wants to take the paperwork from your grandfather’s office.” She held Mr. Hubbard’s infuriated gaze. “I guess your guy didn’t get his hands on it, so you came yourself after Chris told you Austin left the property to run errands in town.”
Mr. Hubbard didn’t flinch at the accusation, but she read it in his eyes. He despised her for uncovering his plot to use one of the workers she’d hired to get his hands on whatever he wanted from the office.
Chris had been just a little too pushy to get in there.
She’d let it go. Until now.
“I don’t owe the likes of you an answer to that absurd statement.”
“Well, see, I do work for my sister Roxy. I’m an accountant. In my last job, I specialized in forensic accounting. You know, finding money, property, whatever people try to hide in the numbers. What’s there can sometimes tell you what’s missing.”
“Alan didn’t have much. What he had went to Austin. I’m here to make sure everything pertaining to my wife is accounted for and returned to me.”
She pointed the barrel of the shotgun to the boxes with Annie’s name printed on them stacked on the keep pile. “Your wife’s things. She didn’t leave much here, just clothes and old blankets. Mementoes from her childhood. Pictures. I’m sure you have no use for sentimentality, but I bet Austin would let you go through them and take what you want.”
Austin waved his hand out to the boxes. “Take a look if you want.”
“That’s not what I came for.”
Sonya wondered what Grandpa Alan had that Mr. Hubbard wanted. Obviously, something he didn’t want Austin to see. “Austin is perfectly capable of sorting through his grandfather’s statements and records. If he finds something related to his mother, he can share it with you, but at this point, I don’t see the relevance as she’s passed.”
“He doesn’t know what’s relevant and what’s not. My relationship with Alan and Annie goes back before Austin was ever born. And it’s not for you to decide what I can and cannot do when it comes to my father-in-law.”
Austin walked up the steps and stood beside her. “It’s my call. I own this place. You kicked me out and cut me off. You wanted nothing to do with me so long as I held on to this ranch. As guilty as I feel about the state of this place and how Granddad was living, you’re just as responsible. You didn’t do a damn thing to help him.”
“He wasn’t my responsibility.”
“He was Mom’s family. She was your wife. Didn’t you owe it to her to look after him?”
“Your mother turned her back on me long before she died. She ruined our marriage and destroyed any kind feelings I had when she took Alan’s side and—” Mr. Hubbard clamped his jaw shut so tight the muscle in his cheek ticked.
“And?” Austin, vibrating with anger beside her, prompted his father to continue.
“Always so stubborn. Why can’t you just do what I tell you? Your continued stubbornness is what has put us on opposing sides.”
“I’m stubborn? You’re pissed because I won’t sell this place to you. Why? You’ve got your own land, the mines, wealth, everything a person could want and more than most ever dream of having. Why isn’t that enough? Why do you have to take the only thing I have left of her and Grandpa? Why can’t I have this?”
“Because it was meant to belong to me! She ruined that, too.”
Austin’s shoulders slumped and his head tilted. “Yeah. She died before she inherited. How dare she!” The words came out bitter and filled with scorn for his father. “How dare I get what you thought should be yours. But here’s what you don’t get. I will never sell this place. It’s my birthright. I’m Grandpa’s blood. I love this place the way he loved it. This is my home. The same home Mom ran to when you treated her like shit and she wanted to get away from you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“With everything I uncover in this house and the memories that come back to me, I’m getting a clearer picture of the past. She protected me when I was little. As I grew older, I was too busy and self-absorbed to notice what was going on between you two. But when she got sick, I saw the way you ignored her. You never even tried to comfort her. She wasted away, miserable and unhappy and so angry that she didn’t have more time. She resented you.” Austin’s lips drew back in a half frown. “No, she hated you. How could you turn your back on her when she needed you so badly?”
“She wanted out. But no wife of mine was going to leave me. I wouldn’t allow it.”
Austin turned and stared down at her, the question with no answer—Do you get it?—in his eyes. She shook her head, feeling his pain.
Mr. Hubbard had no heart. And without a heart, he had no kindness. He wanted what he wanted and demanded it from others without giving anything back. The more Austin refused him, the more Mr. Hubbard hated his own son for defying him.
No, it didn’t make any sense.
Nothing Sonya said or did would make it right for Austin. And she wanted to make it right because no one should feel the kind of pain Mr. Hubbard inflicted on his son with every callous word out of his mouth.
Sympathy, the kind that makes you want to protect and vindicate and ease someone’s pain, rose up and tensed her muscles for a fight she could only wage with words.
She dropped the gun barrel and stepped down to the tread below Austin. She faced off with Mr. Hubbard and let him have it. “You wouldn’t allow her to leave and instead made her life an even bigger misery to her dying day. Getting this land because you think it’s owed to you because you married Annie means more to you than your only child. Be careful. You don’t have the land. If you continue to alienate your son, you won’t have him either. Last I checked, sapphires weren’t warm and loving.”
“Sentiment from a whore.”
She swung the barrel up, but Austin caught it in his hand and shoved it down. “This is getting old. You don’t get your way, so you start calling people names. You belittle me, Roxy, and now Sonya. You’re nothing but a bully who lashes out like a child.”
“I don’t hear you defending her.”
“She doesn’t need me to defend her against your lies. She’s got you on the wrong end of a shotgun. She doesn’t care what you think of her. Why would she? You aren’t worth her time or consideration.”
“Her time will cost you,” Mr. Hubbard shot back.
Over the years, she’d grown numb to those kinds of taunts and insults.
Austin tensed and stopped breathing for a second before he let out a ragged sigh. He still had a grip on the shotgun barrel and pulled it from her grasp. “Get off my property and don’t come back, or I’ll shoot you myself.”
Mr. Hubbard opened his mouth to speak, but Austin shook his head, stopping him with a deadly look. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. You have five seconds to get in your car or I’ll start shooting.”
Mr. Hubbard, his face contorted in anger and frustration, spun on his heel. The two men walked back to their car.
Mr. Hubbard hesitated before getting in. Standing behind the open door, he stared Austin down and tested his patience and resolve once more. “This isn’t over.”
Austin set his shoulders. “There’s nothing here for you. You wanted me out of your life. You got it.”
Walter glared and pointed his finger at Aus
tin. “You brought this on yourself.”
Chapter Nine
Austin seethed at his father’s parting shot. Every muscle in his body felt rigid. His hand ached from gripping the shotgun so tightly. He never expected his father to show up here now. He hated that for a split second he’d thought his father had come because he wanted to share in his mother’s memories, that maybe he wanted to help with his grandfather’s house despite having done nothing while Granddad was alive.
Nope.
Austin should have known his father only came because he wanted something.
He still didn’t know what his father thought he’d found in the house. Something he wanted or something he didn’t want Austin to find?
Sonya’s hands settled on his shoulders. “Are you okay?”
He turned, coming nearly face-to-face with her standing up a step from him. He reached up and cupped her soft cheek in his free hand. “I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Your dad’s an ass.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“The shotgun isn’t loaded.”
Austin stared up at her, then burst out laughing. A full-on belly laugh. He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed about anything. “Damn, sweetheart. What if they’d tried to get past you?”
“Swing it like a bat and knock some sense into them,” she suggested, not missing a beat again.
He wrapped her in a hug. “You continue to surprise me.” It took him a second to realize she’d gone completely still in his arms. Then his whole body became aware of her pressed down the length of him, her breasts against his chest, arms around his shoulders, and her hair tickling his cheek. The wave of heat that swept through him coincided with the overwhelming urge to hold her closer and kiss her.
She leaned back and stared at him, her eyes wide with the same surprise catching him off guard. No doubt he was attracted to her. But the intensity of having her this close burst through him. He saw the same desperate desire reflected in her eyes and it was all he could do to stop himself from taking everything he wanted.
He found the strength to go slow and lowered his head until he was a breath away from her tempting lips, and then her phone rang. She jerked and caught herself before her lips actually touched his. She stepped back, but her gaze never left his as she took the call.
“Hey, Mama, everything okay?”
He noticed she assumed her mother had a problem and wasn’t just calling to say hi.
The heat in Sonya’s eyes took on a whole other meaning when her body went rigid and anger vibrated off her. “Where are you?” She listened for another few seconds. Her lips drew into a tight line. “Are you hurt?” Tears filled her eyes and one cascaded over her cheek.
Austin stepped up and took her by the shoulders, wanting to offer comfort, but unsure what to do.
“Which one of them?” The answer only seemed to make her angrier. “Both of them.” The haunting way she said that tightened his gut with the same dread filling her eyes. “Hang up and call the cops.” Sonya shook her head too many times to count as her mother spoke. “I don’t give a fuck what people will think.” Her eyes narrowed and her mouth pressed into a tight line again. “Mama, if you don’t report them, they will keep doing this.” Sonya’s head fell back and she stared up at the stars, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please don’t cry, Mama.” She looked back at him, but her shoulders sagged with the weight of whatever happened to her mother. “How much did you give them?” Sonya swore at the amount. “All right. I’m sending help.”
Sonya kept her mother on the line and held her hand out to him. “I need your phone.”
He pulled it out and handed it to her. “What can I do?”
“Nothing. This is my problem.”
She used that same direct, do-what-I-say tone telling him what to do the last couple days on the job. It grated then, but pissed him off now. She’d helped him through all his emotional shit, but she wouldn’t let him return the favor.
“Let me help you.”
“You can’t.”
Frustrated, he backed off, trying not to take her dismissive tone personally. But it wasn’t easy, because he really wanted to make her feel better and put the smile back on her face.
In her I-can-do-anything manner, she dialed and put the phone to her ear. “It’s Sonya. Get me Big Mama right fucking now.”
Big Mama? He could only guess that was someone at the brothel.
Sonya barely contained the rage shaking her small frame. “How the fuck did Roger and Fred take my mother off the property?” Sonya held the other phone with her mother on the line and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead as she listened to Big Mama explain.
This up-close view into Sonya’s life blew his mind. She had a mom who worked in a legal brothel. Until now he hadn’t given that much real thought. Whatever happened meant she had to call the manager to protect her mom.
The pain in Sonya’s eyes was a real reminder that, despite what her mother did for a living, she was a person with real feelings and in a desperate situation. Scared and apparently hurt, she’d reached out to her daughter for help.
He didn’t understand exactly what happened, but Sonya’s side of the conversation implied the situation was dire and this wasn’t the first time something like this happened.
Even stranger was the fact that Sonya’s mother paid whomever hurt her instead of being the one who got paid.
“She’s not supposed to go anywhere alone,” Sonya snapped. “She’s too vulnerable and easily manipulated. They took her. They hurt her again. How many times are they going to get away with abusing her?”
The fight went out of Sonya. Grief sent her collapsing onto the steps, her butt hitting hard as her knees went limp. “Send two security guards to go get her at the coffee shop in the Riviera. Call the doctor and be sure he’s at the Ranch when they bring her back. She says it’s not bad, but you know it is. Keep me posted. I’ll be there on the next flight.” Sonya listened for another minute, the tears streaming down her face. “It is my fault. I wasn’t there to stop it.” She hung up, handed him back his phone, sucked in a deep breath, hit the button to unmute her phone, then put it to her ear. “Hey, Mama, you doing okay?” She wiped the tears from her cheek and collected herself. “The guys are on their way. They’ll take you back to the Ranch. Big Mama is waiting for you.” She shook her head. “No, Mama, no one is mad at you. I’m glad you called me. I’ll stay on the line with you until the guys arrive.” Sonya stood, took the steps down to the yard, and paced in the dark just outside the light spilling from the house. “I heard you went shopping today. Did you buy anything pretty?”
Austin gave Sonya the space she obviously wanted and went to his truck to get the pizza he’d picked up in town. He doubted Sonya was hungry after the disturbing call, but she hadn’t eaten for hours and had worked her ass off all day. She needed something to eat before she took off.
The unhappy thought of her leaving stopped him halfway up the steps. He turned and stared at her back. Long dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail. One hand braced on her hip as she stood staring out at the dark pasture. Too thin, her tiny waist barely flared out at her hips, but she had a great ass and long slim legs. He smiled at the jeans bunched up at the top of her work boots that looked too heavy and cumbersome for her to move in all day.
But under that slight frame a core of strength and steely determination kept her composed and ready to take on anything. Even a call that made her cry but not fall apart. She’d held it together for her mother, who obviously counted on Sonya to take care of her.
Who took care of Sonya?
She’d run home to put the pieces back together for her mother, but who ran to Sonya’s side when she needed someone? It had to be Roxy. Her other sisters. But they couldn’t do that full-time.
She’d been by his side through this whole process of sorting out the house and cleaning up his life. She’d comforted him when his guilt over letting things get this bad for his gra
nddad became too much to bear and when they found his mother’s letter. She’d stood up for him against his father.
They’d shared a moment right before she got that call. For a second, she’d let her guard down and almost welcomed him in.
The need to kiss her still raged through his system.
He wanted her in his bed with a desperation that grew the longer they worked together and the more he got to know her. But more than that, he wanted her to trust him and let him into her world.
He wanted to understand her relationship with her mother, the way she grew up, and what she wanted for her future.
He wanted to wipe the worry from her eyes and ease the pain in her heart.
He’d never wanted to be there for someone, other than Noah, the way he wanted to make things better for Sonya.
She gave up her job in Vegas. Did she want to stay here in Montana?
Roxy lived here now. Why not start a new life near her sister and help him with the ranch?
He could do the paperwork and finances for the ranch, but in a very short time, he’d gotten so used to her being here. Yes, it had been a lonely year. But it went deeper than that. He wanted her to stay and help him. It might be nice to share the burden. Especially when getting the business started would be the hardest part. They still had work to do on the stables and pastures. Once the animals were on the property, he’d be busy taking care of them and maintaining the ranch; it would be nice to know someone else was watching over the business and sharing the load.
Sonya was strong, more than capable, and so independent.
Kelly had wanted him to take care of her, which hadn’t been a problem when he worked for his father. But she bailed when things got tough.
Sonya wasn’t like that at all. She’d stand by whoever she loved. She’d be a true partner. Adversity challenged her, it didn’t back her down.
He liked her even more for that kind of resolve and dedication to the ones she loved.
If only she’d widen that circle to include him.
Restless Rancher Page 7