Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch Book 7)

by Vivian Arend

  “The good thing is Gary is scared shitless of me. Maybe at some point he’ll be frightened enough to clean up his act. I hope so, for Rachel’s sake.”

  His little brother had to be talking out his butt. “You don’t want her to stay with him, do you?”

  “If that’s what she wants, of course. As long as he’s doing right by her, why would I want anything less than what makes her happy?”

  For a kid barely out of his teens, Lee was putting Steve to shame in the maturity department. “You’re a better man than I am,” Steve admitted.

  “Then how come you’re the one with the girl, and I’m the one over here singing the achy-breaky songs?”

  Lee had no idea what happened after he’d left the bar. “I don’t know about that. It seems you and I have something in common tonight.”

  “What?”

  “We’re both on Anna’s shit-list for starting fights at Traders.”

  Lee glanced up, surprise streaking his face. “You?”

  Steve checked out the distant mountains himself. “Even better, after I slammed my fist into Barry Ragan’s face, and Anna read me the riot act, Melody gave me hell. She isn’t talking to me.”

  “Ahhh. You did something she asked you not to.”

  His little brother was far too canny. “At the time, I didn’t think so. After a moment’s reflection, probably, though I still think I’m right.”

  “Listen to yourself. What a bunch of bull.”

  Their father’s deep tones echoed from behind them, and they twisted to watch Randy make his way onto the deck, joining them at the railing.

  “You eavesdropping?” Steve asked.

  “Tonight, yeah. The windows are open, and I was sitting in the living room. But more than that, I’ve been listening to you two boys since you were born. You make your own decisions, but if you’re willing to hear your old man out for a minute, maybe I can give you a thing or two to consider.”

  Lee waved a hand in welcoming. “Go on. You’ve never been the type to interfere unless you had something worthwhile to say.”

  Randy rested an elbow on the railing as he glanced at them. “When I married your mother, Mike and Marion were already going together, and it was pretty clear Mike would be the one to take over control from our father when he passed on. I had no trouble with that—Mike’s a good man, and between him and Marion, they set up a strong lead for us Coleman boys to follow.”

  Steve and Lee exchanged glances before Lee spoke. “You want to get to the part where this sweet family history has something to do with our particular problems, Dad?”

  “Don’t get cocky.” Randy looked him in the eye. “They say those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. The first six months Kate and I were together, we lived in the Peters’ house right next door to Mike and Marion, and I thought everything was going grand until the night your mother walked down the stairs and plunked down a suitcase.”

  “She was taking a trip?”

  Randy stared back, his face gone cold. “She was leaving me.”

  He definitely had their attention.

  “How come we’ve never heard this story before?” Lee demanded.

  “Because you never needed to hear it.” Randy folded his arms over his chest, his breathing loud as they waited for him to continue. “Fortunately, before she left she gave me a straight talking to. Said she loved me, loved Mike and Marion, and loved being a Coleman. But there was no way in hell she was going to stop being Kate.”

  Lee was nodding, but Steve wasn’t sure he’d gotten the message. “And had you asked her to? Stop being Kate?”

  “I didn’t think so, not at first. But when she left—and she did leave for a week—I sat down and thought it through and, hell yeah, there were a lot of things she’d had ideas about that I’d basically ignored. It wasn’t that she wanted to run things, but she had a voice, and an opinion, and while she didn’t care in the end whether we did things the way it had always been done or some newfangled way, she wanted to be heard.”

  Steve’s problem had always been he hadn’t listened. “Shit.”

  Randy stood up and patted the railing under his hands. “One of our solutions was to move a little farther apart—we built this house, and established the Moonshine spread so there’d be a bit of separation between us. It wasn’t an earth-shattering change, but it proved I was listening, and valued her ideas.”

  And what Steve had done was the exact opposite. “I think I get it.”

  “Every day Kate proves she knows how to take care of us. The entire time I’ve been feeling poorly she’s been a rock, and somehow found a way to get it done.” He nodded at Steve. “That’s why I called bullshit on you. It doesn’t matter whether you think you’re right or not. When you have a relationship, you make decisions together, and that means listening to each other.”

  Steve had enough to chew on. He slapped his father on the shoulder in appreciation.

  “I understand what you’re telling Steve, but maybe this time I’m the stupid fool,” Lee said. “There’s not much listening I can do when I don’t have the right, and that just plain sucks.”

  “It does,” Randy agreed. “But here’s the other thing. Sometimes the people who listen the best are our friends.”

  Lee shook his head. “I don’t see Gary approving of Rachel and I being friends.”

  “And it’s so much more helpful when you punch her husband out?” Randy’s condemning glare had Lee squirming. “Maybe you should leave it up to Rachel if she needs a friend or not, instead of Gary.”

  Lee didn’t answer, just got a far-off look.

  The three of them stood in silence, listening to the owls debating territory from the nearby trees.

  “When did life get this complicated?” Steve asked.

  Randy’s chuckle echoed off the wall of the house and wrapped around them. “Wait until you have kids. Then you’ll know complicated.”

  “Save us all,” Lee intoned. He tilted his head toward the house. “Come on. If anyone wants a drink, I’ll see what I can find.”

  “I might have discovered something I can eat,” Randy added with a grin. “So far the more grease, the more fat and the more calories, the better.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Steve offered as he held the door open and let them go in ahead of him. “I thought that stuff was what made you feel worse, not better.”

  “Hush. Don’t mess with my brain. I don’t care if it’s that placebo effect kicking in, I’m happy.”

  For the first time since Melody had closed the door on him, Steve didn’t feel like all hope was lost. He had a lot of work to make up, and it definitely came down to following Melody’s timing, but somehow they’d get through this.

  He wanted to be able to share this story with his own stupid son someday.

  Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, and Allison sat quietly, her hands folded on the table between them. “Now that you’ve had a hug, let me find something heavy to knock some sense into Steve.”

  Melody stirred the spoon in her cup even though the sugar had to have long since dissolved. “I don’t know how else I can possibly make him understand.”

  “How long until Mathis gets back?”

  “This is the last week of work without him.” Melody eased back in her chair and looked around the comfy cabin Allison and Gabe had turned into a home. “He should be back in town by Saturday, but dumping everything on him the instant he walks into the office is a crappy way to end his holiday.”

  It was Allison’s turn to give her a stern look. “This is not about inconveniencing him, it’s about you doing the best job you can. And if it takes him stepping on a few of his contemporaries to get things straightened out, you know Mathis will stand up for you.”

  Melody was pretty sure of it, but the part that made her sad was she didn’t want only Mathis’s support —

  I want Steve’s.

  She put her head down on her hands and sighed. “Steve called this morning an
d left a voicemail, but I can’t deal with him yet.”

  “Any idea when you might be ready?” Allison reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “Honey, I know he messed up, but I really don’t think he meant any harm.”

  “He didn’t,” Melody agreed. “That’s what made it worse. You should have seen his face, Allison. He had no idea what he’d done wrong. And maybe I overreacted a little, but I was so upset.”

  “Hey, I don’t think you overreacted. There were no pitchers of beer involved this time,” Allison teased.

  The reminder was enough to make her smile. “Go me.”

  Allison winked. “He knows you care. I think…” She paused and examined Melody. “How much do you care? Maybe that’s the question.”

  Melody dragged her gaze off the picture on the wall. The one with Gabe and Allison sitting on the hillside, smiling at each other like they were the only people in the world.

  She wanted that. She wanted a home…

  With Steve.

  “I care enough to want us to work this out before I confess anything about rainbows and puppies and…” Melody met her friend’s gaze. “When I tell that man that I love him I’ve got to love all of him, and right now, I don’t.”

  Understanding lit her friend’s face. “Although, you know even after you say I love you? Chances are you’ll both make mistakes and do things the other person won’t like.” Her expression grew more serious. “And that’s when you realize they need you to love them all the harder.”

  Melody breathed out slowly to stop the tears in her throat from making it up to her eyes and escaping. “I’m scared.”

  “I know.” Allison stood and offered another hug, and it was everything that Melody needed at that moment. Acceptance, giving…

  Everything except it wasn’t from Steve.

  Allison patted her back. “There’s nothing wrong with you taking a few days. Once Mathis is back, that will change so many of the stresses you’ve been under—think about it.”

  “Even though you’ll probably have one or the other of us over here every night until we do make up?”

  “Not a problem,” her friend insisted. “And after you make up, you’ll be over here together, and that’s fine as well. The door is always open, honey. For both of you, because we love you.”

  “I’m going to be bawling in a minute if you don’t watch it,” Melody warned.

  “Got it covered.” Allison grabbed the tissue box strategically placed on the nearby counter and held it out. “Pregnancy hormones. You ain’t got nothing on me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Half the town might think she was incompetent, but she still had a job to do. Melody set a new box of supplies on the counter in the clinic storage room as guilt and amusement hit at the same time.

  Melodramatic much?

  Even as she gave herself grief, she went to work unpacking the order. After a couple cancellations that morning, she’d ended up finished far before five—and while she wasn’t sure if the jobs were cancelled because the farmers were making a point, or something had simply come up, she might as well put her energy toward being productive.

  Tom was blessedly busy. Far too busy to do more than toss her disapproving glances when he caught sight of her. And every time it reminded her how unfair the entire situation was.

  At some point she would get over her mad, but it would not be today. Not with the thoughts running through her mind, most of which involved impaling certain customers on blunt objects and listening to them beg for mercy.

  Not a day to be out and about providing customer service—nope, not at all.

  Her cell phone rang. She took a deep breath and focused so she didn’t take her bad mood out on some innocent person.

  “Melody Langley.”

  “Hi, Melody. Marion Coleman calling.”

  Great. Now his relatives were getting involved. “What can I help you with?”

  The older woman offered a chuckle. “Well, first off, I wanted to tell you Kate and I agree that Steve was one hundred percent wrong, but we’re also sure you guys can work this out.”

  Ummm. “We’ll see.”

  Marion hurried on. “Don’t worry, we’ll stay out of it. You go on and teach that boy to mind his manners. That’s the best way for him to remember it for the rest of his life. That’s not why I called.”

  “It’s not?”

  “No. Unfortunately, I need to talk to you about Ian Mailer.”

  Melody thought back, focusing on the old man. “Yes, ma’am?”

  “He passed away today. I’m sorry if that’s blunt, but he was in town having dinner at the café, and after his meal he just leaned back in the booth, closed his eyes and never got up. We don’t think he suffered.”

  Sounded like a good way to go when it was your time. “I’m sorry to hear that. He was a nice man.”

  Marion agreed. “He was, but he was also a bit of an eccentric. I don’t think anyone’s been up to his place in years. He was always nice to folks in town, but got completely ornery when anyone went near his place.”

  Melody clued in where this was going. “Bear. Did he have his dog with him when he came to town today?”

  “No. That’s why I’m calling you. Would you be willing to go to his place and check if Bear is there, or if he has any other animals that need to be cared for?” Marion clicked her tongue. “Ian had no next of kin, so the community is going to look after his things.”

  That was only right. It was also a wonderful distraction from the continuing pity party that was her other option for the afternoon. “I don’t mind. Is there anyone I need to talk to about getting into the house? I don’t want to cause any trouble with the police.”

  “I just finished talking to them, and they were thrilled to have the help. There’s a ruckus happening a county over, and all the constables are being called out. Anna said to tell you the key they found in Ian’s pocket is waiting for you at the RCMP building. When you’re done, you can either drop it off here or back at the station. Jaxi and I will be sending out a group of ladies to clean up the place before it gets sold.”

  Melody reached for her coat. “I’m on my way.”

  She stopped in the back of the clinic and picked up an assortment of things she might need. It only took a couple minutes to check the records for what animals Ian had brought in over the years, searching her memory for any animal-related questions he’d asked.

  Melody loaded a number of cages in the back of her truck, just in case, along with a backpack full of treats for both dogs and cats. Most of the cats would be fine, but she wanted to be ready.

  She also took the tranquilizer gun with her, and the shotgun. It hadn’t even been a day, so there shouldn’t be any wild animals moving in yet, but Ian’s cabin was set in a pretty remote area of the community. She hoped her truck could make it all the way to the door, because she didn’t look forward to hauling cages any distance.

  Steve’s cell phone went off, and for a split second he was tempted to ignore it. He didn’t need another woman telling him he was a jackass, he’d already gotten the message. And rumbling along in the tractor with his music blasting was a good enough excuse for having missed the call.

  Only…it was his mother on the line, and he couldn’t ignore her.

  He turned down the music before he answered. “If you called to lecture me, don’t bother.”

  “Not everything is about you,” his mother drawled. “Gee, maybe that was a lecture all in itself.”

  Steve groaned. “You couldn’t resist, could you?”

  “Miss an opportunity when it’s handed to me on a silver platter? Never.”

  Now he wished he’d gone with his first instinct and let the call go to voicemail. Still… “Mom, I hate to rush you, but I’m busy. What’s up?”

  “I called to ask a favour. Marion just let me know Ian Mailer passed away. I’m not going to be able to get back in time to help them deal with things. I want you to go and do all the heavy lifting,
you and your brothers. You understand me?”

  Loud and clear on this one. “That’s too bad. Ian was a decent guy.”

  “He was.” His mother paused. “Are you sure I can’t lecture you just a little?”

  He laughed, the sound harsh even in his own ears. “I’ve spent the last five days lecturing myself more than enough for the two of us.”

  “Steve. I really hope you figure this out before you lose that amazing woman.”

  “I thought every man was supposed to want someone just like their mother?” he teased.

  “Don’t go getting Freudian on me, young man. But yes, you should want someone like me. Or at least someone like me in terms of what I give to your father, which might be something entirely different when it comes to Melody and you. We’re not cookie cutters, son. We’re individuals, with our own hopes and dreams. Our own strengths and weaknesses. But don’t you go on being a fool and thinking the fact that she’s a woman is a weakness.”

  “Honest. I have been figuring that out.”

  “Good boy.”

  He stared out the window. “How is Auntie Deanna doing? Will you be home soon?”

  “By the end of the week. Do you miss me?” she teased.

  “Not me. I have my own woman troubles, if you haven’t heard. But Dad? He’s missing you something awful.” Steve grinned. “Well, except for the part where he’s had bacon every single day since you left.”

  “You mean the stuff in the downstairs freezer in the container labeled ‘spinach’?” his mother asked.

  “Yes.” He paused. “You know it’s really freaky when you do that.”

  “Come on, I’m a mother. We have eyes in the back of our heads.” Kate laughed. “Don’t tell your father, but that’s turkey bacon. He can have it every single day if he wants. Heck, he can have it three times a day until he’s got it coming out of his ears if it makes him happy. I cooked it up a few weeks ago in the hopes he’d find it and start sneaking bites. He needs a few more calories to fatten him up for winter, and if he can keep it down, that’s wonderful.”

  The entire race of women was far too tricky for him. “You scare me, Mom.”