Luckiest Cowboy of All--Two full books for the price of one

by Carolyn Brown

  “This is what I was trying to tell you,” Jessa whispered. Or maybe she didn’t whisper. Maybe Lance just couldn’t hear past the blood pounding in his ears.

  “Surprise,” Lucas said with a healthy apprehension weighting his eyes. They’d agreed he wouldn’t come back. It was best for Luis that way. Best for Levi. For the family.

  The shock of seeing him started to thaw. “What’re you doing here?” he asked, carefully controlling his tone. He didn’t want to startle Jessa, but what the hell? No warning or anything. He’d just decided to show up after years of being away?

  Lucas and Jessa shared a look. They shared a look. And suddenly, he had a bad feeling.

  “I called him,” Jessa said firmly. “And Levi. I asked them to come home.”

  He didn’t look at her. Couldn’t. His eyes were locked on Lucas. “You should’ve told me.” He wasn’t sure if he was saying it to his brother or to the woman he’d slept with.

  Lucas stepped up to him. “I didn’t have time. Jessa told me she’s worried about Dad and I wanted to come as soon as possible.”

  His head turned slowly, like someone was cranking it click by click, until he was staring at Jessa’s worried expression.

  “Luis and I had a talk,” she said, wringing her delicate hands. “And he said how much he missed Lucas and Levi. Given the incidents he’s had lately, I thought it would be nice for them to come.”

  Nice. She’d thought it’d be nice. Well, she didn’t know a damn thing about his family. About what they’d been through. Anger prickled his neck. What the hell had she been thinking? She should’ve talked to him first.

  He faced his brother. “Can you give us a minute?”

  Lucas slipped in front of Jessa. It’d been years, but obviously his brother could still recognize when he was pissed.

  “Don’t blame her. She’s trying to help.” Lucas seemed unfazed by all of it. But then he’d always been the mellow one. The one who didn’t worry, who didn’t carry the weight of the damn world on his shoulders. That’s why they’d decided it should be him who went away. By the time he was fourteen, Levi had already gotten caught stealing twice. He’d thrown a rock through the ice cream shop’s storefront and shattered the whole damn thing. He’d been so angry at Luis, who was always out with a different woman, and he’d taken it out on the town, targeting the places where the women worked.

  That’s why Levi had gone to the stables that night. He’d seen Luis messing around with the commissioner’s wife. So he found some gasoline and a lighter. He hadn’t meant to hurt anyone, he’d said later. He was just so angry.

  Lance didn’t have anger issues, but he was stressed all the time. So he drank. Had two underage tickets under his belt by then. But Lucas…he was too serious for stuff like that. Serious about school. Serious about following the rules. Serious about Naomi.

  So they were sure he’d get a slap on the hand. Community service. Maybe house arrest. But they hadn’t counted on the judge being the commissioner’s golf buddy. It seemed he wanted to punish all of them. When Lance heard they were charging him as an adult he’d tried to beg the judge to reconsider. But the man had dismissed him like he was a stray dog, threatening to have him arrested if he came back.

  “It was time for me to come home, anyway,” Lucas said quietly, as though he’d resigned himself to whatever consequences this little reunion would bring. “Don’t you think? Dad’s getting older. I want to be around.”

  Maybe it was time. But he should’ve had a say in it. They should’ve discussed this, planned out how it would go. Jessa had taken that away from him. As if she had some right to play the healer for his family. His jaw pulled tight as he stared back at Lucas. “Give. Us. A. Minute.”

  His brother looked at Jessa.

  “It’s fine,” she said, glaring back at Lance and crossing her arms in a fighter’s stance. She wasn’t afraid of him and it was a damn good thing because they were going to have a serious chat about her butting into his family’s business.

  Lucas anchored a hand on Jessa’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze before walking away. Seeing him touch her like they had some kind of bond didn’t do much to douse the anger.

  As soon as his brother disappeared Lance faced her. “You had no right to do this.”

  “What do you mean I had no right?” she fired back. “This isn’t about you, Lance. This is about your father.”

  Exactly. It was about his father and Luis already carried enough guilt. How’d she think he’d feel when he learned Levi had started that fire because he’d caught him in the stables with someone else’s wife?

  “Do you know what Luis told me?” Jessa asked.

  It must’ve been a rhetorical question because she hardly paused.

  “He told me that his biggest regret in life is not making things right with Lucas. Did you know that? Do you know how much it tears him apart?”

  He almost laughed, it was so absurd. That was nothing compared to what he’d regret if he found out the truth. “You don’t understand.” The anger had drained away, but he tried to hold on to it. Anger was easier than the other emotions he was going to have to deal with now that the past stared him in the face. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

  “What I’ve done?” she repeated, her face hardened with indignation. “What I’ve done is brought your brothers home. And you know what? When your father saw Lucas walk through that door, he was so overjoyed he cried. He cried.”

  That revelation freed the guilt. It flowed out, overpowering everything else. He’d done what he thought was best at the time. They all had. Hell, they were only kids. The day they’d hauled Lucas away, they’d all changed, each trying to atone for it in their own way. Luis stuck around the ranch more, cooked dinner, helped with homework, all the stuff he’d been too distracted to do before. And Lance and Levi trained, taking out the anguish in the arena as if that could bring back their brother.

  But it was too late.

  “Lance…” Jessa moved closer, studying him carefully. “Why are you so upset? Don’t you want your brothers around? Tell me how this could possibly be a bad thing.”

  “I can’t.” They’d never told anyone. They’d tried to protect their father. But there’d be no way to keep the secret now. It would come out. Everything would come out.

  “What’s up, bro?” Levi bounded down the hall and captured him in a bear hug, lifting him off his feet. Typical. They’d always protected him from ever having to deal with reality. He was the party boy, the fun one. Which was ironic, considering he had more to lose right now than any of them.

  “Let’s head out to the old watering hole and celebrate the fam getting back together.” Levi slung an arm around him. “What do ya say? Drinks are on me.”

  Jessa still stared at Lance, her eyes focused and intent, demanding an explanation, but he turned away and clapped his long-lost brother on the back. “As long as you’re buying, I’m in.”

  God knew, he could use a drink right now.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Well, this is awkward. Jessa sat in the back seat of Lance’s extended cab, wedged between Levi and Lucas. No one had said a word since they’d gotten in the truck, the jovial tone of the reunion between Luis and his two sons deadened by the eldest son’s stony-faced silence.

  For the life of her, Jessa couldn’t figure out what she’d done wrong. Lucas and Levi had obviously simply needed an invitation to come home. When she’d called them, both of them had been concerned about their father. Both had said how much they’d missed him. And Lance, for that matter. Levi had gotten away from Oklahoma as soon as he could and Lucas had picked him up at the airport in Denver. Now all three Cortez boys were together with their father and no one was saying a damn word.

  She drummed her fingers on her thigh. She’d had a feeling Lance would be surprised to see his brothers, but this is not how she’d pictured things going. Lucky for them, she’d always been good at breaking the ice.

  Scooting forward, she pee
red between the seats at Lance and Luis. “So how was your training today?” she asked politely.

  “Fine,” he muttered.

  “Training?” Levi, who was sitting behind his oldest brother, ruffled Lance’s hair. “Decided not to hang up the spurs yet, eh, old man?”

  “Nope.” Jessa watched Lance’s grip tighten on the steering wheel.

  “So, Lucas,” she turned to him, hoping to steer the conversation away from Lance’s retirement status, which had definitely been a sore subject lately. Having Levi poke fun at him would not end well. “How are things at the McGowen Ranch?” she asked, as if she had some sort of clue as to who the McGowens were and what they did on their ranch.

  “Good,” he answered dutifully, but he was eyeing Lance as though watching for an impending explosion.

  Another silence fell like a heavy blanket, smothering her visions of a happy reunion for a father and his sons. Yes, okay, she was a bit idealistic, but she’d imagined chatter and laughter, not a wary distance. Even Levi, who was always the life of the party, seemed subdued, staring out the window like he wanted to avoid eye contact with everyone else.

  Caving under the weight of their solemnity, she remained silent, pulled out her phone, and dashed off a text to Cassidy, Naomi, and Darla.

  Meet me at the Tumble Inn ASAP. In case they didn’t feel the urgency, she added a 911. Those girls had known the Cortez family longer than she had, better than she did, considering Naomi had seriously dated Lucas before the fire. And Levi had been like a brother to Cassidy before her brother Cash had passed away. Maybe they could help her figure out what was going on, because she was not making progress.

  Good thing the Tumble Inn was only an eight-minute drive from the ranch or she might have had to start singing to break up the silence. No one would want to hear that.

  When they arrived at the bar Lance took his sweet time parking, she couldn’t help but notice.

  They all piled out of the truck like they were about to head into a funeral instead of the lone country western bar in town.

  She hadn’t been to the Tumble Inn since the whole Cam fiasco, and now she remembered why. A huge banner hung below the sign.

  Two-step Night.

  Fabulous. Since she was young, Jessa had absolutely no rhythm. Her mother had attempted to put her in ballet, but after she’d knocked into another girl and caused a domino effect of toppling ballerinas during her first recital, she’d walked away from dancing and never looked back. In college, she’d tried to take a ballroom dancing class and had somehow managed to break her partner’s foot during the fox-trot, so nowadays she pretty much avoided any establishment that centered around dancing.

  The Cortez brothers followed their father to the entrance, but she hung back.

  “I let some friends know we were coming,” she called. “I’ll wait for them out here.”

  “Sounds good.” Levi was the only one who acknowledged she’d said something. “Make sure you save me a dance when you get in there,” he called, working his magic charm with a wink and dimpled grin.

  The man had no idea what he was asking. “Sure, I’ll do that,” she lied. Once she got inside, she planned to order a nice, easygoing glass of chardonnay and park it at the bar for the evening. No breaking her friends’ feet tonight.

  The men disappeared into the bar right as Darla and Cassidy pulled up in Darla’s BMW. Naomi was a few minutes behind, probably because she had to find a sitter.

  They all congregated in the middle of the parking lot.

  “You told us you’d never step foot in this place again,” Darla accused. Though she’d had only a few minutes’ warning, the woman had somehow managed to primp and change into a low-cut shirt that displayed her cleavage.

  “I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Jessa said, gathering them in closer. “Lucas and Levi came home and—”

  “What?” Naomi interrupted, suddenly appearing pale. “What do you mean Lucas came home?”

  Jessa took in the shocked—no, make that horrified—look on her friend’s face. Guilt churned her stomach. She should’ve warned them, but she’d gotten so caught up in the plans, not to mention a crazy week at the shelter. “I called them because of the issues Luis has been having,” she half-whispered, watching the doors. “He told me he missed them, so I got in touch and asked them to come home.”

  “I’m shocked Levi actually listened to you.” Cassidy’s normally sweet tone had turned bitter.

  Oh boy. She really should’ve thought all of this through. Darla was the only one who didn’t seem disturbed by the Cortez family reunion.

  The woman elbowed Jessa. “Way to go, girl. About time we got a few hot men back in this town.”

  Naomi whirled and made a move toward her car. “I’m not going in there.”

  “You have to!” Jessa caught her arm before she could escape. “It’s been horrible since they got home. I thought I was helping but ever since Lance saw his brothers, they’re hardly speaking to each other. I don’t understand.”

  “They went through a lot,” Naomi informed her, wrenching out of her grasp. “We all went through a lot when Lucas got sent away.” Emotion trembled through the words.

  But that was a long time ago. It wasn’t too late to work things out, even for Naomi and Lucas. Once she got over the shock of it, surely she’d be glad he was back. “I need some support in there, girls.” She had no idea what to do. How to make everything better. She needed backup.

  “I’m in.” Cassidy sighed. “As long as there are margaritas involved.” She patted Naomi’s arm sympathetically. “It’s not like we’ll have to talk to them. In an hour this place’ll be packed.”

  “Yeah. We can hang out on the dance floor,” Darla offered with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Or on the mechanical bull.”

  “I’m not going near that thing.” Jessa would leave bull riding to the professionals. “Besides, we’ll be too busy to dance. We have to figure out how to get these guys talking so they can get past their issues for Luis’s sake.” All the man wanted was for his family to be together, and thanks to Lance’s rude entrance, they couldn’t even give him that.

  Before anyone else tried to bail, she swung one arm around Cassidy and the other around Naomi.

  “I don’t know how I’ll face Lucas,” Naomi said through a steady exhale. “I mean, I haven’t seen him since he was arrested…”

  “Can’t blame him for not coming back.” Darla followed them across the parking lot. “The whole town wanted to hang him.”

  Maybe back then, but things were different now. Jessa held open the door for everyone. “I never knew him that well, but he seems like a great guy.” He’d been so polite to her on the phone, kind even. A little soft-spoken. Thoughtful with words.

  “He was always a great guy,” Naomi said, pausing before the open door as though gathering courage. “That’s why I never believed he’d set the fire.”

  “It was years ago.” Cassidy took Naomi’s arm and led her inside. “And things were bad before the fire. They all fell apart after their mom left.”

  Was that all it was? Were they all still dealing with the resentment of their abandonment? Jessa stepped in behind her friends and let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. Most of the tables were empty, as it was still early for the party crowd. Thankfully, no one was out on the dance floor, though music played in the background.

  The Cortez men had all claimed stools at the bar, sipping their beers while seeming to avoid eye contact.

  “Look at them,” Jessa grumbled. “After years apart, they have nothing to say to each other?”

  “Sure they do,” Darla said, sashaying her way to the bar. “Men just need a little help getting the conversation going, that’s all.”

  Cassidy followed Darla, but Jessa had to practically push Naomi. When they finally made it to the bar, her friend slipped behind her as though searching for protection and stared at the floor.

  “Well, well, well,” Darla said, her voice shattering
the icy silence. “It sure is good to see you boys back in town.” She pulled up a stool next to Levi and plopped down. “My friends and I would like a round of margaritas, Rico,” she called to the bartender.

  “You got it, mi bombon.”

  Ah yes. Every male in town thought of Darla as their chocolate sweetheart. She charmed them all, just like she was doing now, chatting easily with Levi and Lance about the ale they were drinking.

  Not everyone was listening, though. Lucas had turned around and was staring steadily over Jessa’s shoulder.

  “Naomi?” He rose slowly and bypassed Jessa.

  Offering Naomi courage with a smile, she stepped aside to retrieve her margarita from the bar and to give them a minute, but stayed close enough that she overheard the nerves in her friend’s tone.

  “Hi, Lucas,” Naomi almost whimpered.

  “Hi,” he murmured with this sort of awed expression on his face. It was the sweetest thing Jessa had seen since Lance had told her she was beautiful. Since he’d looked at her the way Lucas was looking at Naomi now, like he wanted to take in all the details and remember them. Like he was powerless to look away.

  That lost-in-the-moment look only proved that the Cortez men might be made of steel but underneath that, they had this raw passion that ran much deeper than their brooding stares. She should know. She’d felt that passion seep into her skin and set her whole body ablaze…

  Levi appeared in front of her. “How about that dance?” he asked, holding out a hand like a true Southern gentleman.

  “Oh. Um.” Her cheeks pulsed. “Actually, no one’s even out on the dance floor.”

  “So?” She remembered that grin from her high school summers. The grin no girl could deny…

  Jessa glanced at Lance. He’d set down his beer and was watching her, his jaw set in a hard, angry line.

  And wasn’t that just typical? He seemed to be pissed off at her. Again. It’d become a pattern with him. One minute he was ravaging her up against a wall and the next he was glaring at her in a pout. Well, screw that. She faced his younger brother. “You know what? I’d love to dance with you.” He was fun, after all. And wearing boots, which would hopefully protect his feet from any significant damage.