This Old Wind (Leanin' N Book 5)

by BA Tortuga

  She deserved it.

  After a few minutes.

  Chapter 6

  Michael’s phone started ringing about the time he sat the girls down for their spaghetti.

  Ford.

  “Hey, man, what’s up?”

  “I need a favor. Right now. Can I send Quartz to sit with the twins and you bring your guitar?” Ford sounded a little stressed-out, which was at once cool and terrifying.

  “Absolutely. I’ll be right there.” He stripped off his T-shirt and grabbed his second-best button-down. “Girls, Uncle Ford needs me. Quartz is coming to hang out. You’re cool? You can both have ice cream for dessert.”

  “Yay! Is Uncle Ford okay?” Chloe asked.

  “I have to bring my guitar, so I say yes.” He clapped his cowboy hat on his head and slid his boots on.

  He opened the door, Quartz standing there. “Hey, I’m here to twin-sit.”

  “Thank you. No Cokes for them. They can have ice cream. They can watch TV.”

  “I’ve got this, Mr. Michael.”

  “Thanks.” He headed for the main house at a jog, where Ford was waiting. “What’s up?”

  “Come with me.” Ford led him into the house. “The bride and groom are getting married. Like, right now. With no one but me and Stoney and you. Can you play something soft and sweet and pretty? Something to make it special?”

  “Oh God. Of course.” Oh, that sucked. “Is Si—is her brother okay?”

  “Banged up. But he’s sleeping, her folks aren’t coming in until early tomorrow, her in-laws are staying in Aspen tonight, her best friend cancelled, and she’s livid. They want to get married and leave. They have a limo taking them to Denver in an hour.”

  “Damn.” He shook his head and blew out a long breath. “Yes. I’ll be quiet and play pretty music. I can do that for her.”

  “Good man. I set you up a stool.” Ford nodded past the little arch of white balloons Stoney was moving into place.

  The bride had been crying, but she was wearing her dress, and she was holding a bouquet of wildflowers tied with a purple ribbon. The groom stood there, looking resolute and like he’d eat anyone else that bothered his girl.

  Michael settled on the stool and started strumming, thanking God he’d tuned up before he left home for just this key. He would do “I Cross My Heart,” by King George first, music only.

  The ceremony was short and sweet, and he could tell they loved each other more than anything. That was perfect. This was about them, no one else, and that was how love went.

  They looked to him once the vows were said, and he played and sang “Remember When,” because they had all that ahead of them and that was what they needed to know right now. They had their dance, and three cowboy types might have gotten a bit misty.

  Then the bride kissed his cheek, the groom handed him five hundred dollars and a business card, and they were off, laughing in her white dress, the veil flowing behind.

  “Tiny? You got pictures?” Stoney asked.

  “Yes, boss. And we got video.”

  “Good man.”

  “Geoff packed them a feast for tonight in the car, and stuff for breakfast tomorrow before they fly out.”

  Stoney gave a half smile, and the brim of his gray felt hat dipped. “There you go. Well, I reckon we’ll just have the rehearsal dinner menu family style for anyone here, and we can all have ice cream.”

  “Excellent. Geoff made my girls spaghetti, because they were starving, so they’re with Quartz.”

  “They’re waiting on ice cream, are they?”

  Michael nodded, putting his guitar away carefully. “They’re stoked.”

  “Good deal. I should go rescue Quartz, hmm?”

  “Yeah. You mind if the girls run Haley around on the leash rather than going to one of the runs? They want her to be able to sniff.”

  “Sure. Absolutely. Are you sure you don’t want Quartz to help? You can drop the guitar off and join us for supper…”

  Michael shook his head. “I can’t. It’s for the family. They paid for it.”

  “Honey, the family isn’t even here, really. Miss Stevie said to make it a family meal, so we will.”

  Michael paused, tempted as all get-out. “I don’t want Quartz to miss out.”

  Stoney hooted. “He had spaghetti and garlic bread. They can all come for ice cream.”

  “Fair enough. If no one minds, I’ll take some grown-up chatter.”

  “Me too!” Stoney winked at him, and he headed off to start cleaning up.

  When he dropped off his guitar, Chloe was doing some sort of interpretive dance to accompany whatever movie Quartz and Mickey had on.

  “Y’all okay? Ice cream in a bit, but Stoney and Ford want me at the house a little more. Quartz, is that good?”

  “That’s awesome,” Quartz said, not even glancing away from the movie.

  “Thank you for your help. You girls be nice, okay?”

  “Yes, Daddy,” they answered in unison.

  “Don’t forget to walk Haley.” He grinned, betting the beagle would end up at ice cream time.

  He headed out to the kitchen, humming under his breath, singing along with the music in his head. The ranch gave him a happy, it really did. Even if things weren’t going one hundred percent.

  The kitchen was pretty empty, but the vast amount of food was stunning—brisket, potato salad, coleslaw, corn bread, beans, mac and cheese. Wow.

  “Y’all will be eating good for a week,” he murmured.

  “All of us will. Dig in.” Stoney chuckled and shook his head. “We’ll see how many of the family stay after they find out the news.”

  “Yeah. I feel bad for the bride.” Actually, he felt bad for anyone who had contributed to this once the groom got ahold of them.

  “She was determined, man. She wanted out of here, and Jesse was more than willing.” Stoney shook his head. “But we did our job.”

  “Well, that’s what matters.” Maybe he could play some music tomorrow. “You still okay with us staying?”

  “We are. We got nothing else on the books for almost two weeks.” Ford came to grab a plate. “Your girls will be able to do all the things.”

  “I love that. Thank you. We’re all excited to have a little vacation.”

  “Us too. Quartz was downright excited about sitting with the girls, since that means movies and dogs.”

  “I’d be happy to pay him for his help, y’all know that.”

  “It makes him happy. His fee is built into what we charge guests.” Stoney winked, and he had to laugh.

  “Well, I’ll give him a guitar lesson.”

  “He loves that. You know it.” Quartz was pretty good already, but he loved jamming.

  Music people loved music. “He’s good. Hell, y’all are all good eggs. Geoff, this brisket is a revelation.”

  Especially given that the man didn’t eat meat. That was some crazy talent.

  “Thanks, man. There are rolls as well as the cornbread. Oh, and honey butter.”

  “Honey butter…” He groaned and got himself some of that.

  “Yeah.” Ford gave him a look of complete understanding. That shit was addictive.

  “I make it at home, but it’s not like this.”

  “Geoff has magic, I swear.” That was Tanner, who pulled up a stool, licking his lips. “Hello, dinner.”

  “Now Tanner, you’re into boobies,” Ford teased.

  “I know.” He said it sorrowfully, shaking his head. “If I was gonna turn gay for anyone…”

  “Your lady would kill you.”

  “His new lady, you mean…” Butter wouldn’t melt in Stoney’s mouth.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Tanner sighed. “I try to keep them, but ranch work is hard.”

  “Man, I could so tease you about hardness…” Michael muttered under his breath.

  “Nope.” Tanner plopped brisket onto his plate. “La-la-la.”

  They all cracked up, leaning together, howling with laughter.

&n
bsp; They were all wiping tears away when someone cleared their throat from the doorway. “Hey. Uh. Is my sister, uh, here?”

  They all blinked up, shocked, but it was Stoney who stood. “Are you supposed to be up and about?”

  Oh, nice nonanswer answer.

  “She’s not answering.” Simon held up his phone.

  Stoney and Ford looked at each other, but Michael was the one who’d known Simon, so he stood up and manned up. “She left. She got married about an hour ago and headed out.”

  There, pull the bandage off and have it said.

  “Wow.” Simon sighed but gave them a tiny smile. “I guess we screwed up pretty bad.”

  “She was just ready to have it done, I think.” Ford led Simon to a chair, so careful. “We have video and pictures for everyone.”

  Everyone kept their eyes on the food, the laughter gone. No one knew what to say but Ford, it seemed.

  “Thanks. Did I interrupt a family meal? I don’t want to be a bother.” Simon sank into the chair. God, he looked like hell.

  “No, this was…already prepared, so we were keeping it from going to waste.” Stoney smiled at Simon, and the expression was warm and real. “Geoff, get the man a plate.”

  “You got it. Brisket?”

  “I’ll take a little of everything, yeah. I’m actually hungry.” Simon sounded so surprised.

  “It’s good. Try the honey butter.” He managed a smile and resisted the urge to leave. He would make an excuse in a few and disappear, but he didn’t want to make it obvious. Simon hadn’t done anything to him. Except wreck his truck. He chuckled, drawing those gray eyes, which made him shiver.

  Well, wreck his truck and get his wife pregnant. She’d been over the moon about that, though, hadn’t she? Lord.

  It hadn’t been in the plans, but there must have been a condom break or God’s hand in the mix, because by August they’d both decided no one had the stomach flu that long. Ever.

  He shook his head slightly, and Simon frowned.

  “You okay?”

  “I am. No problem.” Michael found a grin. “Just woolgathering is all.”

  “Ah. I get that.”

  Geoff served up more rolls and cornbread, and they all settled back down, even if it was a little quieter now. For someone so famous, Simon could fade into nothing when he wanted.

  “Are you okay?” Geoff asked Simon. “Do you need anything? I’m sure you’re sore.”

  “I brought my Tylenol with me.” Simon reached into his pocket. “I needed to eat something with it.”

  “Well, we arranged that.” Stoney grinned. “All the food you can eat, man.”

  “Was…was she really mad?”

  “She was beautiful. Utterly beautiful and glowing.” Michael wasn’t going to let Simon worry. That was mean. She could do that.

  “You were there?”

  Fuck.

  “He did some music for them,” Ford said. “She didn’t want you to be hurting.”

  “Bullshit. She was pissed off because none of us were here for her rehearsal.”

  “That too,” Michael said. “But she’s the bride.” And this wasn’t about anyone but her and the guy marrying her, at least that had been Rhi’s position when her folks had a cat about their Burning Man wedding…

  Simon nodded. “I guess that’s true enough.”

  “It was just everything, man,” Ford explained. “She was tired, I guess. And that man of hers was tickled as all get out to be with her, you could tell.”

  “Yeah.” Simon picked at his food until he tried a roll with butter. Then two disappeared in short order.

  Yeah, those were good.

  “Is it time for ice cream yet, Daddy?” Chloe asked, Mickey, Quartz, and Haley-dog with her.

  “Sure, guys.” Geoff beamed at all of them. “This is Mr. Simon.”

  “Hi.” Chloe stared at him seriously. “Are you better now?”

  “I am. Thank you.” Simon smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You too. Lots. This is my sister, Mickey.”

  “Hi, Mickey. What kind of ice cream are we having?”

  “I’d like strawberry, please. It’s my favorite.” Mickey came right to Michael, leaned against him hard. Shy girl.

  “Mr. Simon also plays music.” He wanted to give her some common ground.

  “Me and Sister do too. We play a lot, don’t we, Daddy?”

  “You do!” He was so proud of them.

  “What do you play?” Simon asked, that genuine smile as charming as it ever was.

  “I play guitar, and I’m learning mandolin. Chloe plays fiddle. We both take piano.”

  He beamed at them. His girls. His musical amazing babies.

  “Wow. I love the mandolin and the fiddle both. I don’t play, though. Just the guitar and piano.”

  “Daddy can play anything. He loves music more than anything but us!” Chloe grinned at him.

  “That’s right. You’re my number ones, huh?”

  “Who wants to help me get bowls?” Geoff got the girls and Quartz marshalled, and man, they were ice cream focused.

  “Is their mom not coming to share ice cream?”

  “Hmm?”

  Simon motioned toward the girls. “Rhiannon. I haven’t seen her.”

  His chest clenched so hard for a minute he couldn’t breathe. “She passed away, Simon, I’m sorry.”

  “Oh.” Simon’s face went blank. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. She went to heaven when we were born. She went to sleep and never woke up.” Mickey’s words were straightforward, practical.

  Chloe’s chin bobbed, sagely. “Did you know Mommy?”

  Simon smiled a little. “I liked her very much.”

  “Daddy did too. She’s an angel now, like Quartz’s momma.” Mickey sounded like that was that.

  Chloe ran over to hug Simon, making him grunt with surprise. “I’m sorry you just found out.”

  “Gentle, baby! Gentle.” She eased off.

  “We’d lost touch, girls. That’s all.” Michael offered Simon a bittersweet smile.

  Simon gave him a grateful look, then hugged Chloe back. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

  “You’re welcome.” She kissed Simon’s cheek. “Time for ice cream!”

  “Yes! That makes everything better.” Simon winked.

  “Ice cream, ho!” Geoff started dishing out.

  “I’ll help, man.” He started to stand up, but Ford waved him down.

  “We’re good. Sit. Rest.”

  “Man, I’m gonna get spoiled.”

  Simon gave him a little wink. “I bet you could use spoiling.”

  “Oh, I do okay. They’re good girls.” He felt himself start to blush. “Seriously.”

  “Yeah, but people need adult time.” Simon didn’t look drugged up and loopy. Was he flirting? Or just teasing, because Michael felt like the only person he knew here…

  “Adult time? What’s that?” He went for wide-eyed and stupid, because he didn’t know what else to do.

  “Oh, this is worse than we thought,” Geoff said, and he was definitely teasing.

  “I’m a full-time dad, remember? Bad jokes, shitty dancer, periodic nail polish.”

  “Daddy, you said a bad word,” Chloe said, carefully laying out spoons.

  He pulled a dollar out of his wallet. “Sorry, baby.”

  She tucked it into her tiny purse, strung around her waist. “Thank you.” Then she grinned. “Our Disney fund. One day we’ll go.”

  “Yes, ma’am. One day.” He intended to match whatever they saved, and they were determined.

  “It’s good you like to cuss, huh?” Mickey was learning to wink on command, and for a moment she looked so much like Simon his breath caught.

  Shit. Shit, don’t even think that.

  “Be nice, now.”

  Simon chuckled. “You’re a bad influence, huh?”

  “I’m wicked. No question.” Shit, he was a loser.

  “
That can be good.”

  “Ice cream!” The girls, Geoff, and Quartz made up a parade, carrying bowls and spoons and what looked like three flavors, at least.

  “It’s like a sundae feast!” He applauded, giving the ice cream the attention it deserved.

  “There’s syrup and cream too!”

  “Are there bananas?” Did that just come out of his mouth?

  That got him a couple of grins and raised eyebrows. And Simon, well, he’d seen that slow-burn look before.

  No. No looking. No staring. None.

  Even if it was a good idea, Simon had been at the hospital all morning. So it was a bad idea. Period.

  He was a dad. A widower. Middle-aged. Dammit.

  He wasn’t about wild flings anymore. Shit, his kids were here.

  He didn’t even sleep in the nude, for fuck’s sake. Two little girls could have a lot of emergencies. Really. In the middle of the night.

  When he glanced up, Simon was smiling at him, the expression a little wistful. Was he that easy to read? Maybe he was.

  “Daddy! We made you a special sundae.”

  “Wow.” Really, what else did you say to a sundae as big as your head with sprinkles and whipped cream and M&Ms and strawberry jam and chocolate syrup. “That’s—wow, girls. That’s special.”

  “You’re welcome!” They sang it together, so cute with chocolate all over them.

  He chuckled and dug in, the whole thing vaguely banana splity. He figured he would be eating on it for the next ten years.

  “Would you like a sundae, Mr. Simon?” Quartz asked, then handed Simon a much more restrained chocolate and sprinkles cup of strawberry ice cream.

  Simon blinked. “Thank you!”

  Quartz managed to meet Simon’s eyes, then blurted out. “I have all your downloads. All of them.”

  “Really?” Simon sat up a little straighter. “That’s awesome. Do you have a favorite?”

  Now that was smart, not shorting Quartz out by forcing him to choose if he didn’t have one song picked out.

  “Yeah. I like ‘Chaos’ best. It rocks.”

  “Fun to do onstage too,” Simon enthused. “That’s too cool, man. Thank you.”

  Quartz grinned and then disappeared from the room like smoke. Damn, that took balls.

  Stoney gave Simon a grateful look. “Thanks, huh? He really likes your stuff.”