Heartbreak's Reward (Double Dutch Ranch Series: Love at First Sight Book 2)

by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

  “Well, what the hell happened for her to not want to see you again?” Jase held him against the truck. “Dammit, Davy. I trusted you, and forced Brenna to trust you, too. What the fu—”

  “I prevented someone from touching her. Some asshole who had every intention of hurting her!” Davy shoved him back, got into his truck and drove off.

  “Teenagers! Sonofabitch.” He lifted his hands in frustration and walked inside. Brenna stood waiting with her arms folded.

  “I’ll have his ass arrested. You said I could trust—”

  “He didn’t do anything.” Jase took her arm and went to the sofa. “Sit down, Brenna.” He dropped beside her. “Davy prevented someone else from touching her. I don’t know the details, but I believe him.”

  Brenna lifted her hands to her head. “Someone else? Where were they?”

  “Hell if I know! Sounds like you need to talk to baby sis.”

  “Yes, I’ll do that in a few minutes, but she needs to calm down.” She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head toward him. “Are you sure?”

  “Sure as sand in the desert, sweetheart. Somebody punched the kid in the mouth. He’s bleeding.”

  Brenna’s bottom lip curled. “I’m more mad right now than anything. This means she might be up to her old tricks.”

  He pulled her back off the edge of the sofa. “Give her some credit. She’s been so good since she’s been here. I doubt she ran out and started just like that.”

  She attempted to get up but he held her. “I hope not.” Brenna wriggled out of his clutches and sat back.

  “Do you mind if I go up and talk to her?” Huh, where’d that come from?

  Brenna crossed her arms in front of her, and huffed out, “You?”

  His eyes widened. “Call me crazy.”

  Brenna hesitated and relaxed against the couch. “I doubt she’ll let you in…but okay. Probably better than me going right now.”

  He headed upstairs. On the stairway he peered back at her and winked. “Calm down.” She melted his heart with one glance, even with a stern look on her face. When he knocked, Chloe jerked the door open. He held his hands as if surrendering. “Can I come in?”

  She turned back toward her bed and he entered. “What happened?”

  She was sniffling. “I don’t know.” Chloe plopped down onto her stomach and stretched across the bed.

  He took a seat in a chair beside it. “Are you okay?” What am I doing here? Panic kicked in. He was trying to comfort a seventeen-year-old girl. What did he know about a thing like that?

  “Why are you here?” she asked.

  He moved to the edge of the chair and put his hands together. “I don’t know. It felt right. If you’re hurt, I want to know.”

  “I’m not.” She sat up and folded her legs. “I probably shouldn’t be mad at Davy. He might have saved me from being…”

  “I get it. Just so Davy didn’t touch you.”

  “He didn’t, at least not how you’re thinking. He wouldn’t.”

  “Where the hell were you guys? Did you give him the fat lip?”

  Chloe looked up at him with tears in her eyes and a fatherly emotion came over him. He’d have a teen daughter one day and if this is what it was about, he might as well break himself into it. He waited.

  “No, I didn’t hit him. Someone else did because of me. We went to that nightclub in the valley.”

  He sighed. “You’re supposed to be eighteen to get in there.”

  “I know, but I insisted he take me. He didn’t want to.” Chloe took up her pillow and hugged it against her. “Bren will be pissed. I guess I asked for it.”

  Jase jumped up from the chair and pointed a finger at her. “Hey, girl, don’t ever say that. Don’t ever think that either.”

  Chloe stared at him with innocence in her eyes. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll leave and let you and your sister talk. She’s here for you, Chloe, and always will be. Yeah, she’ll be mad, but she loves you more than anything.”

  “I know.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll go talk to her. I’m hungry, too.”

  “Were you drinking…smoking anything, pills?”

  “Jase?” She rolled her eyes at him.

  He shoved his hands into his front pockets, shut-down and reprimanded. “Yeah?”

  “Don’t try to be my father.”

  He removed a hand from his pocket and raised it. “Nah, maybe a big brother.” He turned toward the door.

  “Okay.”

  He stopped before opening it, turned back and smiled at her. He never had a sister. Being her big brother felt kind of good.

  Downstairs he took a seat beside Brenna. “She’ll be down to talk. I’m taking off.” He faced her. “Like I said, Davy didn’t do anything. He’s probably gone for good, so you don’t have worry about him anymore.”

  “She hurt him, huh? When I was beginning to really like him.”

  “What do you think? He’ll be okay, and so will she.” He drew her into his arms. “See you in the morning.”

  She walked to the door with him and rested her palm against his face. “I love you, baby doll.”

  “It’s hard to go when you say stuff like that.” He gave her a kiss before leaving.

  Chapter 28

  Brenna pulled up at the ranch two days later in jeans and boots. Ready to ride. “Baby doll, I can’t wait to go for a ride through the desert, but it’s so hot again.” She wiped sweat from her face. “Chloe should be here soon. It seems she and Davy made up. He came back over later that night.” She sighed. “I went to bed after making them promise not to yell at each other. Whatever else happened, I don’t want to know.”

  “You’re looking good in those jeans and boots. I had no idea what a cute cowgirl you’d make. We need you a better hat.” Jase slapped the old standby, brown felt hat on her head and winked. He leaned in to kiss her and his phone rang. Glancing at it, he chuckled, and said, “This time it’s a cousin interrupting my sex life!”

  “A kiss, honey, a kiss this time...not sex,” she whispered.

  He put it on speaker phone. “Hey, Double Dutch Ranch.”

  “Jase, they’re here. Your kids are here.”

  Jase stood straighter. “What the hell are you talking about, Caulder?”

  Brenna peered up at him with her eyes wide and listened to their conversation.

  “They’re in the stands right now. I’m in Yuma doing a show. How fast can you get here?”

  “I don’t know. Fast enough, I hope. Are you sure it’s them?” He lifted damp hair off the back of his neck.

  “I’m pretty sure, dude. Send a photo?”

  “I’m scrolling as we speak. Okay, found the most recent. They can’t have changed that much. Who are they with, can you tell?” Staring at the barn floor, he shook his head, his eyes blinking uncontrollably.

  Brenna could do nothing but watch in awe as he listened intently, and she sensed he was near a breaking point after hearing this news.

  “Not anyone I know. It’s not Rebecca. Definitely not Rebecca.”

  Jase continued pacing. At the back of the barn he stepped outside, looking for one of his ranch hands. “Did you get the picture yet?”

  “I’m looking at it. Jase, it’s them, man. Joey waved. He recognized me. I’m looking right at ’em.”

  “I’m coming. I’ll call Tristan. You have to keep them there.” Jase paced from one stall to the next and came back to stand near Brenna.

  “Hey, they’re my family,” said Caulder. “They ain’t going anywhere. Get here.”

  He took hold of Brenna’s hand and almost ran to the back door. “My cousin has my kids, Brenna. My kids.” Inside, he dialed. Jase paced from the kitchen to the back door, waiting for his brother to answer as he threw water bottles into a cooler. “Come on, answer the damn phone!”

  “Hello, Double—”

  “Trist, I’m on my way over. Stop what you’re doing. Caulder called. My kids are at a show in Yuma.”

  “Oh! What?
Are you sure? I’m changing my jeans. I’ll be ready.”

  Jase hung up and turned to Brenna. “My brother’s going with me to Yuma. It’s my kids, Bren. Come on.”

  “Let me grab my purse. I’m coming. Oh, Jase I’m so excited for you. I’m about to cry.” She already dialed her sister’s number.

  “Go ahead, darlin’ do it for me too.” They jumped into his truck and drove like hell the back way through the desert. He drove past the barn and backed in at Tristan’s office. Brenna scooted to the center. His brother ran out and jumped in. “I can’t believe it. Let’s roll.” Tristan turned. “Hey, Brenna, it’s good that you came along.”

  Jase dropped it into gear and took off. “Over three hours to get there. The show don’t last that long.”

  Tristan rolled up the window when they got on the highway. “Hey, did you grab your divorce papers to prove custody?”

  “Yeah, got it. And there’s water in the cooler back there if you want it.”

  “How are we gonna make it?” asked Tristan.

  “Caulder said he’d keep them there. You wanna mess with a bunch of adrenalin charged bull riders? He’ll find a way. I don’t know how.” Jase stomped on the gas pedal. “Keep an eye out for the sheriff. I sure as hell can’t take the time to get pulled over.”

  “Who are they with, their mom?”

  Brenna listened with joy as Tristan and Jase talked about the kids. Her happiness for him was overwhelming. Now, he had a chance to get them back. Tears rolled over her cheeks and she brushed them away. “I’m so happy for you.” She squeezed Jase’s thigh.

  Jase gave Brenna a smile and that look on his face made everything perfect. “He had no idea who they were with. Not Rebecca. Probably her sister. But Yuma? Dammit, traffic.” Jase pulled onto the shoulder, driving past a string of cars and trucks. “Screw the traffic.”

  “Turn off up here,” said Tristan. “We’ll get back on at the next exit.” He removed his hat and set it on his knee. “Was he sure it was them. I’m not trying to be negative, bro.”

  “He wasn’t a hundred percent sure at first either. I sent him a picture, but he saw Joey not that long ago…in the same damn place. Yuma! Joey recognized him.”

  ***

  Three hours later they pulled up at the venue. “Go, Jase, I’ll move your truck,” said Tristan, opening the door.

  Jase and Brenna hopped out. He grabbed her hand and headed for the door, getting held up at the gate. Jase couldn’t stand still. “You have to let me in. Caulder McCutchen, one of the bull riders here today called. You have to let me talk to him. It’s a fucking emergency!”

  Caulder came around the corner as soon as Tristan met Jase at the gate. He nodded for them to follow.

  Jase appeared to be close to hysteria by then. Brenna remained quiet, letting this play out, but her insides were so jittery, and she worried that they didn’t get here in time. He’d be devastated.

  Jase clenched a hold of Caulder’s shirt sleeve. “Do you have them? Caulder talk to me. Where are they?”

  “Come on,” he said in reply. He pointed ahead. “See that woman up there? That’s Velia, my, well, she’s my, you know, everything.”

  Jase looked to where he pointed and a dark-haired woman was standing in a doorway with her back to them. When they got closer, she turned. She was the photographer taking pictures for Caulder…but she was much more now. A little girl peeked around her, the child’s face bright enough to light the whole arena.

  Jase went to his knees when he got to her, and she and her brother at the same time yelled, “Daddy!”

  He grabbed both at the same time. Brenna introduced herself to the woman, Velia, and they both cried together. Tristan shook hands with Velia and stood beside Brenna, brushing his cheek, too.

  Joey peeked around his dad’s shoulder. “Hi, Uncle Tristan!”

  Tristan knelt and gave the kids a hug. “Hey, I sure missed you guys.”

  Two security guards barged through the crowd of people, and Caulder stepped in front of them, still wearing his vest and chaps. “He’s their dad. Leave them alone. You want someone, go after the people who brought them here.”

  Jase looked up with tears in his eyes, still hugging those two kids, and stood with them in his arms. “Jaelle, Joey, I can’t believe I’m holding you.” He buried his head between them until another security guard waited at the door.

  “What’s going on in here?” the guard asked. “Whose kids are these?”

  “Mine.” Jase walked out of the room, passed the guard, and focused on two men and a woman. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes at one of the men at the same time Tristan spotted them. If Brenna read their actions right, they recognized them. One of the men made his way forward while a security officer took hold of Jase’s arm, demanding release of the kids.

  Brenna noticed the spark in Jase’s eyes and took a big step back when he jerked free.

  “My kids! I have sole custody of these kids. If you want to hold someone get the people who took them from me.” He pointed at his old friend, Gary Strong and his younger brother Matthew. “Them.”

  Matthew came forward, standing between two big security guards. “Those kids came with me. They’re my fiancée’s kids.” He glared at Jase. “My fiancée’s kids.” He pushed forward and took hold of Joey’s arm, trying to get him free from Jase. “Come on, kids, you’re going back with me.”

  Joey pulled away and squealed, “No!”

  Jase shoved Matthew away with his shoulder. “Don’t you ever touch my kids.” He turned and walked through the door where he had found the kids. He released them to the floor. “Stay here, and don’t leave this room. No body’s taking you outta here but me.”

  Caulder made room for Velia to scoot through the door in the room where the kids waited and closed it after her. He stood in front of it with two other bull riders.

  Jase walked back to Matthew and Gary had joined him. “They’re my kids.” He got up in Gary’s face. “You both know damn well they’re my kids. You’ve known me for nine years, you sonofabitch.” Jase pushed him in the chest. “You know I have custody.” He grabbed Gary by his shirt and threw a punch, knocking him back against the wall. “You asshole, your druggie brother ran off with my wife?” He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and punched him again. “That answers a lot of damn questions.” He turned toward Matthew.

  Another woman came forward and took Gary’s hand when he picked himself up from the floor. “You can’t take those kids,” she said to Jase. “Their mom needs them right now.”

  Jase’s hands curled into fists. “Bullshit, Debbie! She didn’t have custody. Go back and remind your sister of that.”

  Gary got his bearings back, coming toward Jase, and lifted his arm to take a swing in retaliation. Tristan grabbed a hold of him and slugged him in the face. Gary hit the ground again. Security got a hold of him. Tristan squirmed out of his clutches and faced Gary. “That’s what ya get, asshole. Betray our friendship like that? You’re scum. Both of you…all of you.”

  By then three deputies came through the door. “Sheriff’s department. Don’t anybody move. Stay where you are.”

  Tristan was the first one to get handcuffed since he was still on a rampage, heading for Matthew this time. Another one grabbed a hold of Jase when he reached into his pocket and a deputy grabbed his arm and brought it around him. He put his hand on his gun.

  “What are you gonna do, shoot me? My divorce papers, showing I have sole custody of these kids, are in my pocket. I’ve been looking for them for months.” He nodded to Matthew still making a scene, struggling to get free from one of the security guards holding him. “My ex-wife never returned them to me after the judge ordered her to hand them over.”

  Matthew broke free and strode toward the room the kids were in and Jase jerked away from the deputy. He got grabbed and handcuffed before reaching Matthew. Caulder folded his arms across his chest, obviously daring Matthew to make a move for the door.

  The offic
er removed the paper from Jase’s pocket. Jase told him what page to look at. He read it over and indicated to another deputy to get Matthew out of there.

  “Where’s Rebecca?” Jase asked him. “Why isn’t she here with her kids?”

  “I’m not telling you anything.” Matthew glared at Jase and got it right back.

  The first deputy told the other to take Matthew and Gary away.

  “Jase, you damn bastard, what the hell you doing here anyway?” Gary blasted out as the deputy hauled him down the hall.

  Matthew turned back. “Rebecca has custody of these kids. Obviously, she didn’t want them with their father for a reason.” He continued the struggle to get free. “Get your hands off me,” he said to the deputy shoving him down the hall. “The kids belong with me and their mother.”

  The deputy removed the cuffs from Tristan and Jase.

  Caulder opened the door and Jase ran in, lifting both kids into his arms again. “I missed you two so much. Come on, I’m taking you back home where you belong. Grandma can’t wait to see you.” He lowered them to the floor and gave Caulder a hug. A real hug, not a don’t-touch-me-like-that-man way. “I don’t know how to thank you.” Jase glanced at Velia and hugged her too. “I don’t know you, but thank you.” Again, peering at his kids, he asked his son, “Did you like the show? This man is daddy’s cousin. Joey, you met him before, remember?”

  Joey nodded. “I want to be a bull rider like him, Dad.”

  “Daddy?” asked Jaelle, after taking a quick glance at Brenna. “Do you still have Sugar Plum?”

  Jase knelt in front of his kids. He brushed Jaelle’s hair back from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I still have your horse, sweetie.” He looked at Joey and scrubbed his hand over the top of his head, brushing his long hair out of his eyes. “Yep, I still have Shadow, too. I knew I’d find you kids.”

  Jaelle hugged him tight. “Daddy, I wuv you so much.”

  Joey did the same thing. “I missed ya, Dad.” He sniffled and wiped at his eyes. “I wanted to come home.” He buried his face into the curve of Jase’s neck and cried, and then Jaelle cried.