by C. C. Coburn
“Too late,” Luke said, then dumped a handful of cheese into the mixture a good five seconds after Sasha had voiced her protest.
Cody wasted no time devouring his eggs, tomatoes and bagels, and was looking around for more to eat. Luke poured him some extra juice and asked if he’d like coffee. Cody seemed surprised, as if no one had ever asked him that. Which they hadn’t. Megan didn’t think it was a suitable drink for a fourteen-year-old.
“Okay?” Luke asked, holding the coffee carafe poised over a mug.
Megan appreciated his asking. “Okay, but make it weak,” she said.
“Cool!” Cody said, and watched his father pour the coffee, then add some hot water. He sipped it and his nose wrinkled.
“Sugar might help,” Luke suggested, pushing the bowl toward him.
Cody dumped in two spoonfuls, stirred and drank. A look of bliss crossed his face. “So this is what everyone raves about.”
LUKE SMILED TO HIMSELF and decided that if his son hadn’t tried something as relatively harmless as coffee, he probably hadn’t been experimenting with street drugs, either, in spite of his tough-guy image. The knowledge filled him with hope that their trip wouldn’t consist of him trying to keep Cody out of every back alley they passed in Cheyenne, searching for drugs. He hadn’t seen a cigarette between his lips even once, although many of the hands smoked around the ranch during their breaks.
He had no doubt that Cody had probably tried cigarettes in his recent past, but at least he wasn’t addicted to them.
Luke served the scrambled eggs to Daisy and Sash, completely ignoring his older daughter’s protests. Daisy pronounced them delicious, finished hers and reached for Sash’s plate. Sash smacked her hand, then picked up her fork and dug in.
Luke couldn’t hide his smile as he looked across the table at Megan. They were going to make it as a family; he was more determined about that than anything else in his life.
He drank his coffee and glanced around the table, taking in the scene, storing it for later, when he was feeling lonely during his trip. Except this time he’d have one of his kids along for company. He’d always imagined Daisy would be the first of his children to accompany him to the Cattlemen’s Convention. He wondered how she was feeling about that, not being first.
He watched her, eyeing Sash’s eggs as she forked them into her mouth. Nothing seemed to faze his second—make that third—child. Strange how he’d have to get used to the new family dynamic. The birth order. He wondered how he would’ve felt if an older child had suddenly turned up in the midst of his own family. How would he have felt being relegated to second child when he’d been so used to being the oldest? He decided to allocate some special time to spend with Sash when he and Megan got back from their honeymoon. Perhaps Sash was jealous and that was part of the reason she was being so disagreeable. Maybe with Cody gone, she’d return to her usual sweet-natured self.
Then he saw Sash glaring at Megan and thought perhaps not.
Celeste, of course, had had no problem accepting not only a new mother, but also an older brother. In fact, his youngest child had been the glue that had held the family together over the past few stormy days. She loved and accepted Megan as her mother and, judging by the way Megan had slipped so easily into mothering Celeste, the feeling was mutual.
Cody had the look of the O’Malley men, but not quite the temperament. All the O’Malley brothers—apart from Will—had been conformists. Working at respected professions or trades, never giving their parents a moment’s worry.
Although their mom maintained that Will was responsible for every gray hair on her head—of which there were few, since she was a blonde. It was their father who’d gone steel gray. Proof of Will’s antics and itinerant lifestyle as a ski movie actor before he’d settled down to respectability with the town judge.
Luke wasn’t sure Cody hadn’t already added a few more gray hairs to his own head. These past few days he’d noticed that his temples seemed grayer. But that might also be a result of looking in the mirror more often—to make sure he appeared presentable enough for Megan.
The girls finished their breakfast and, amid noisy chatter and clattering dishes, cleared the table and started loading the dishwasher. “Leave that for me,” Megan told them as she got up to help, Celeste still clinging to her neck.
Luke took a moment to drink in the sight of them together, then rose to take Celeste from her arms and put her in a chair at the table. His daughter whined but complied. He prepared her granola and sat with her while she ate. Slowly. He avoided glancing at his watch, knowing it upset Celeste when he counted down the minutes till he had to leave. But he and Cody needed to get on the road, and soon.
“Are you going to help Megan around the house this week, sweetie?” he asked, then cursed himself because Celeste dropped her spoon and began to answer him in long and breathless detail.
“We’ve got a few things planned,” Megan said, as if she knew how to keep Celeste eating. “But you’ll need to finish breakfast, Celeste, before we can start.”
Luke glanced up at Megan, nodded and mouthed “thanks,” then returned to watching Celeste eat. He kept up a one-sided monologue, careful not to ask any questions until she’d finished.
Luke was already missing his daughters. But if he was honest with himself, he was missing his wife, too.
He needed to get moving. Cody had come downstairs with his bag and loaded it into the truck. He was now out in the yard, reversing the Ford 350 up to the goose-neck trailer they’d be using to bring home a prize bull he’d arranged to buy from a friend in Wyoming. Orion, one of his old bulls, wasn’t as virile as he used to be and needed to be replaced. Instead of using artificial insemination like many other ranchers, Luke preferred to breed the old-fashioned way.
He smiled at that, thinking about his upcoming honeymoon. He intended to make love to his wife—the old-fashioned way. Only this time he’d make sure he took plenty of condoms.
“What are you grinning about?” Megan asked, waking him from his musings.
“Trust me, wife,” he said gruffly. “You don’t want to know.” He rose from his seat. “Time for us to hit the road. Will you see us off?”
“OF COURSE,” MEGAN SAID, wiping her hands on a cloth and following him out the door, wondering exactly what Luke was smiling about and feeling a strangely uplifting sense of belonging when he’d called her wife. Her feminist sensibilities should have had her protesting his proprietorial remark, but instead, all she felt was pleasure. A sense of belonging in the nicest possible way.
The girls were outside watching Cody reverse the truck up to the trailer. Daisy yelled one set of instructions, while Sasha yelled the opposite. Cody was obviously learning how to handle his sisters, because he closed the window to block out their voices and expertly used the rear-vision mirrors to complete his mission.
Pleased that her son was already so accomplished at what she knew to be a difficult task, Megan turned to Luke with a smile and found him standing right behind her, his hands raised slightly as if he was about to put them around her. He lowered them and stepped back. “I…I’m amazed at how quickly he’s picked up driving,” she remarked.
“He’s a natural. I’m sure he’ll get his license the first time he tries.”
“You won’t let him drive to Wyoming on the highway, will you?”
It was back again, that fear she couldn’t completely suppress. The fear that something bad might happen to Cody because she wasn’t there to watch over him. “I’m sorry, that was a stupid question and totally uncalled for.”
“Apology accepted. And for what it’s worth, I’ll only be allowing him to drive on private property while we’re away. I’ve promised him that once he turns fifteen he can do driver’s ed at school.”
Startled, Megan said, “I’ll bet that won him over. They didn’t offer it at his school.”
He touched the end of her nose. “Add that to your list of good reasons for moving to Colorado.”
&nbs
p; “I don’t have a list for that,” she said.
“Make one,” Luke murmured, then kissed her.
Megan had expected a farewell peck on the cheek, but Luke covered her lips and moved his mouth over hers as he slid his arms around her. She tentatively lifted her hands to his hips, hoping the girls wouldn’t choose this moment to look back at the house and see them making out. For making out they were. Luke was seeking entry to her mouth, his hands squeezing her back and roving lower. She needed to put a stop to it. But just a little longer wouldn’t hurt….
The blast from the truck’s horn had them jumping apart like teens caught in the act. Which was exactly what Megan felt like when she looked around to find four pairs of curious eyes observing them. Her heart still racing from Luke’s kiss and the fright of the blast from the horn, she said, “I don’t think we should subject the children to such, uh, public displays in future, since it seems to embarrass them so much.”
“I think you’re the only one who’s embarrassed,” he said. “They’re just razzing us.”
“Still…”
Luke held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “All right, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, I won’t do it,” he said, and strode over to his vehicle.
Feeling foolish for making such a fuss, Megan barely had time to race down the steps to kiss her son goodbye as he changed seats with Luke. Moments later, the big truck roared out of the yard, leaving dust and a suddenly bereft Megan in its wake.
Chapter Eleven
Cody decided it wasn’t so bad having a father. He still didn’t feel comfortable calling him “Dad,” but Luke seemed cool with it. In fact, Luke seemed cool with a lot of things. And pretty uptight about others. Like his cell phone.
He’d been mad as hell his first morning in Colorado when Luke had snatched it out of his hand while he was texting Goose, one of the guys from the ’hood. Luke had confiscated it, saying he didn’t want him associating with anyone from his old life. Well, how dumb was that? These were his friends. He didn’t have anyone near his own age to talk to in Colorado—except his sisters.
That had been a big adjustment. He’d never had siblings before, never had to share his mom with anyone. He didn’t realize how much he depended on her until he’d had to wait in line for her attention.
He didn’t want to whine about it, though. He wasn’t a baby. Not like Celeste, who in Cody’s opinion demanded too much of his mom’s time.
His dad had given him back his phone just before they set off on their trip to Wyoming, saying, “I’ve replaced your SIM card and got you a new number.”
Cody had been furious. How was he supposed to connect with the guys if he didn’t have their numbers? And they couldn’t contact him on his old number, since he had a completely new one. He’d clicked through his contacts list. It was full of O’Malley relatives’ names. “In case you need to talk to anyone or you’re stuck somewhere,” Luke had explained with his usual abruptness.
There was no point in arguing about the fact that his father had taken away his SIM card. Cody knew he’d never get it back. He’d learned his father was really stubborn like that.
His dad had also given him a couple of driving lessons over the weekend. That had been the coolest part of moving to Colorado. He’d never imagined he’d learn how to drive. Some of the guys back in the ’hood had taught themselves to drive by stealing cars. Mostly they’d ended up smashing them—and themselves. And sometimes other guys in the car with them.
The one time Cody had accepted a ride, it had scared him so much, he’d made himself scarce whenever a heist was going down.
Anyhow, the truck his dad was teaching him on was far more powerful than any of the cars the guys had stolen in the ’hood.
Sure, his dad and he had words. But Luke never raised his voice at him. Not like the “fathers” back in the ’hood. They not only yelled at their kids, they often hit them, too.
Cody had been afraid that when he’d gotten mad at Luke over confiscating his cell phone, his dad might hit him. But he hadn’t. Cody had really pushed him on that one. Called him names. The foulest names he could think of.
Luke hadn’t shown any reaction. He’d just said, “That’s at least a dozen contributions to the penalty box. I’ll cut you some slack and call it an even ten. But next time, you’ll pay the full price.”
Since he’d exhausted his first week’s allowance with that one infraction, Cody had been careful to mind his mouth after that.
And because he didn’t have anyone he could call on his cell, Cody had rung his mom and his uncle Matt and even Daisy. Well, she’d called him. She’d wanted to know all about what he was doing, who he’d met that day, what he’d liked about the convention.
He didn’t want to admit it but he really liked Daisy. She was gutsy. He thought she might be mad at him for being taken to the convention instead of her. But she was really excited for him. Cody had never had other kids get excited for him about anything.
And now they were in this fancy hotel. He’d never stayed in a hotel before. On the New Jersey trip, he and his mom had stayed in a B and B run by some old people and he’d had to keep quiet. He’d expected that he and Luke would be sharing a room. That would’ve been weird, though, sharing a room with someone he hardly knew. He was relieved when they’d walked up to the check-in desk and Luke had asked if they could have adjoining rooms. Luke had shown him how to unlock the doors between them. For a while there, Cody had thought Luke would insist on leaving the door between their rooms open, but he hadn’t. His room was really cool. He had a king-size bed all to himself and the bathroom had free shampoo and stuff. The towels were super-soft, too. He also had a big-screen TV all to himself; he could watch pretty much whatever he wanted. Only problem was, the first night he was so tired after the long drive, he’d fallen asleep in front of an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter. His mom had never let him watch it at home.
The next night they’d had dinner with a bunch of his dad’s colleagues, other ranchers. He’d never eaten such amazing food. And so much of it. And to have waiters running around at his beck and call was awesome. He’d downed so much food and so many root-beer floats that he’d fallen asleep in front of the TV again.
By day three of the convention, he’d met just about everyone there was to know in the cattle industry in the West and learned a lot. He was amazed by how much his dad knew and kinda wondered why he even needed to come to the convention, but he guessed that was what they called networking.
His dad had bought a bull to replace Orion, who was getting on in years and not impregnating as many cows as he should’ve been. His dad preferred what he called natural insemination rather than artificial insemination. He’d felt a bit embarrassed when Luke was talking about cows having sex, but he’d been so matter-of-fact about it that Cody’s embarrassment had evaporated. He’d also learned a lot about horse-breeding. Some of the ranchers had told him his dad was known for his horses and his training. They even said he’d been on the cover of a national magazine. Cody would ask him about it when he got the chance.
When they’d first left New York, Cody hadn’t wanted to believe anything good about his dad. He preferred his uncle Matt. Matt was cool. He’d been stunned to learn his uncle was the county sheriff. But when Matt had taken him on a tour of his offices and the jail as a reward for cleaning up the dishes the other night, he’d decided he liked having a sheriff in the family. Matt had even let him talk to some of the prisoners. Trusties, Uncle Matt had called them. People doing weekend detention or short-terms. The really bad guys were in a sealed-off section of the jail. He got to go into the control center where he could see everyone, but they couldn’t see him. Some of the guys in there looked really tough. They looked like older versions of some of the guys he used to hang out with in his old neighborhood. That realization had brought Cody up short. No wonder his dad had been in a hurry to get him out of New York.
THE WEEK FLEW BY for Megan. Looking after three active girls was more
of a handful than she’d expected, but she loved every minute of it. Even Sasha seemed to have thawed a little, particularly when she let her sleep over at Nick’s house for a couple of nights. She later learned that Luke forbade sleepovers on school nights, but Megan figured that if it helped to ease the tension in the house, then she didn’t see any harm.
Becky and Beth had taken over planning the wedding, saying they wanted it to be a surprise for Megan. They’d issued invitations, arranged the catering, flowers and all the minute details involved with a wedding, albeit one that was less than a week in the planning.
Their organizational skills and generosity had allowed Megan the time to look into continuing her accounting course. She was now officially enrolled in a local college and was looking forward to getting back to her studies and completing her degree.
Her paychecks from her previous employers had arrived on Wednesday, surprising Megan with their promptness—and the fact that they’d been sent at all. She smiled at the memory of Luke dealing with Jerry and Pat.
She’d taken care of her final rent and utility bills for her New York apartment. Their belongings had arrived by truck just yesterday. Now, with all the ties to her old life severed, Megan was looking forward to making a new life for Cody and herself in Colorado.
Cody called every evening to tell her about his day. He sounded as if he was having fun, meeting new people, making friends, feeling a part of the ranching community. It thrilled her to hear the enthusiasm in his voice. Her boy was back and she knew who she had to thank for it.
She’d been given driving lessons by Mrs. Robertson and Beth, been quizzed by Will on the rules of the road when he’d come to take her and the girls to his and Becky’s place for dinner on two evenings.
Now, as she prepared dinner on Friday evening, waiting for Luke and Cody to get home—thankfully one day earlier than expected—Megan could see the tent erected on the lawns out back, the truck unloading chairs and tables for guests. In twenty-four hours she’d be married. Or rather, married again. Maybe the traditional ceremony would make her feel more married, more a part of Luke’s life and family.